Cognitive Impairment Overlooked Symptom

https://thesunnyshadow.com/cognitive...olar-disorder/

This article is really good and I had to share it.

That was good. It made me feel better because I get down on myself so much for being a dingbat who can't retain information any longer than a bird can stay on one light pole. Some days I feel dumber than an entire bag of hammers.

i think psych drugs make it worse, especially the antipsychotics/tranquilizers.

I always thought it was my meds making me that way. I could relate so much to the article. I’m glad to know it’s a bipolar symptom.

This is a good read, I shared it on another forum that I post on regularly.
thank you for sharing it.
bizi

The meds certainly don't help. I noticed a worsening of my memory loss when I went on the high dose of Lamictal. Plus I'm on two APs which I'm sure don't do much to foster higher brain functioning. But I have to stay on all this because to go without would do other kinds of damage. It took me four years to get stable. I guess I have to put up with a little (OK, a lot) of brain-fade.

Thanks for posting that article. It sure hits home for me. I feel my short term memory sucks and if I don’t write things down I’ll never remember. And that word retrieval....very interesting, sometimes carrying on and following conversations can be extremely challenging.

A few months ago I started playing Words with Friends. I also have word search books. I try to complete a page every two weeks. I joined Barnes and Noble....bought a book. It might take me a while to finish but I will do it. My book is called Number the Stars. It’s about the holocaust. I’m on chapter seven.

Follwed the refs links to this one too:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...polar-disorder

This is exactly me - my brain is mush right now - I'm supposed to be doing a PhD but can't even recall my students names even when they've just reminded me of them for the nth time! Taking me all day to mark one paper.

Great read! i know some of my horrific memory issues come from one of my meds... cogentin. but even when i'm not on them, im still not that bright

I was diagnosed years ago now, like ... at least 4 years or so. Nobody ever thought to tell me about this. I started complaining about brain fog and forgetfulness and whatever else, and a couple of the various shrinks were like "oh yeah that's normal for when you're depressed" without elaborating, and I had to research it all myself.

What the hell. Seriously. And I don't/didn't have bad shrinks either. One wasn't super great and was a bit wet behind the ears, but I can only conclude that they haven't figured out on the ground that they need to be proactive rather than reactive with bipolar, and inform clients what's going on up front once diagnosed. This is not happening.

That being said, I read a lot of bipolar research in peer-reviewed journals, and researchers are starting to figure out - especially after a recent study in which they asked bipolar people about their experience of treatment and its shortcomings - that they need to be more proactive and more integrated, because just being reactive and trying to stop symptoms only, does NOT cut it.

Since the research is going that way, maybe we'll see significant improvement in clinical tx in five years?

I’m really sorry this is happening to you. I’ve been thinking about going back to school. I was not symptomatic undergrad. But now I am

I blame my meds.

That's interesting. I may need to discuss this with my pnurse, since I have to put my full attention on doing things or else I forget. I also don't remember discussions I have with people if my mind wanders off (and it seems to wander frequently nowadays).

"Why won't this square peg fit into the damned round hole?! I'm getting angry..."

I'm sure some meds also have an impact on cognition but this is fundamentally also a feature of the condition, at least for some people (for example I don't take any meds). It's been known for a long time that severe depression has a serious impact on cognition, so much so that in extreme cases it can lead to 'psychomotor retardation' (I have experienced this myself during my lowest periods. I even went for testing to see if I had dementia, I don't, but the tests did show my working memory is severely affected although the tests also showed my overall high IQ enables me to compensate to an extent). What was not appreciated so much is how mania also impacts on cognition, I suspect here one of the issues is focus; particularly impacts on contention scheduling, multitasking and executive function.

It's so hard to distinguish between what's a symptom and what are the side effects of meds; I suspect it's some of both.

I know that I can't do what I used to be able to do before meds, so I think in my case it's the meds because, especially when hypo, I could do my job better than normal, better than ok, I was superhuman (I'm an interpreter which requires an incredible memory and very fast thinking). I used to be so good at it, even at baseline, before meds, I was much better than I am now. It hurts my self esteem, it makes me feel badly about myself. Hate it...

My cognitive decline began prior to taking meds regularly. It was put on “fibro fog” and it seemed to answer the “why” for a time. Some here know I use cannabis but this started far before I used it in any meaningful capacity........I thought it might have been from drinking but I’m unsure. I might have caused it myself or perhaps not. Some are sure I did, some assure me I didn’t. I’m not stupid but I fail to see obvious things often.

I can say I get all the classic bipolar one symptoms. Like when manic I can go full blown without the right meds. I started getting all the cognitive dysfunctions and manic symptoms at the same time. I thought I had ADHD. I went for a second opinion because the stupid DO provider said I had adjustment disorder and only gave me a AD. He said I was sick from my stressful social work life. I was put on leave from work. When I had the second opinion. I was full blown manic and only on a AD. I was immediately put on Lithium and then Risperdal. The cognitive dysfunction was present before meds and remain a problem after meds.

This is a side effect of the illness that really bothers me. I used to pride myself on my intelligence and now I can’t retain things or remember or process things as quickly as I used to and it infuriates me.

I understand. My last MH social work job. I was a rockstar for years. Then one day it was like someone pulled the rug from up under me.
I would be asked to correct work reports. It
got to the point they asked me did I need a effing
work partner?????!!!!! I had no clue what was wrong with me or that I had bipolar one...until
months later.

I went through a 4 hour battery of tests in January because I was having memory problems. After everything was scored, they diagnosed me with mild cognitive impairment which I guess can progress to Alzheimer's in up to 70% of those who have it. My neurologist's nurse was the one who gave me the diagnosis and was not empathetic or comforting at all. As you can imagine, I was extremely upset and scared.

I finally got in to see the neurologist himself. He said it's not necessarily mild cognitive impairment per se, but could be my bipolar meds causing it, or the bipolar itself. He said if I were to develop Alzheimer's it probably wouldn't happen until I'm in my '80s.

Cognitive impairment with BP is real and it can be scary. I felt like I was losing the part of my mind I had left. The good news is that your cognition can be improved. I write reminders and notes to myself and play challenging mental games and my memory has improved a lot.

Just one more wrinkle we have to deal with.