Questions

Hi all,

I have some kind of psychotic disorder (i haven't really asked the exact diagnosis) and I'm taking APs. I have a couple of stuff I'm unsure of and I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me.

1. I've been having some kind of brain fog (i don't know how else to explain it) where I have a hard time staying focused at work. It's like my brain isn't working anymore or it's working really really slow. Is it normal to feel like this? Do you guys ever feel like this? Why does it happen?

2. I've been wanting to quit my meds. I don't know how to control these urges. Do you ever get these urges. If so, how do you control them?

3. Do you think it's imporant to know what your diagnosis is? I've never asked my pdoc about my diagnosis and I kind of want to ask her next time but I don't know how.

Thank you

3 first I don't think the diagnosis is that important as long as they are treating all our symptoms....the only thing is this makes it had when dealing with other doctors who may want the actual name.

2 I remember how desperate I was to be in meds in the first place....I wanted something anything to stop the madness.

1 it can be 2 things....the illness itself can cause lack of motivation and altered cognition by the meds can cause you to drop a few IQ points as well at least they did for me.

What you have described is common. I get bad scatterbrain. Some days are better than others. Medication can help with this but it doesn't become noticeable for at least 2 or 3 months or after the side effects have lessened (e.g. somnolence).

After I got sick my intelligence seemed to decrease. My brain used to be really sharp. Now I have to put more thought and effort into doing things especially my studies. I have also become more literal.

I only take antipsychotics when I am struggling. I don't like how they make the world flat. When I was sick I was desperate to take medication because I had severe agitation, fear and noise inside my head.

I don't think the actual label really matters. The label does help make sense of the experience but I think it is a lot more useful to clinicians and support services.

P.S. S.P. I find you highly intelligent & informative, which tells me your an avid reader & highly IQued! Wow I would have loved to pick your brain before ya lost those IQ points. Just goes to show how we see ourselves so differently from others.

It's only about 15 points for me---I'm still at 125 even on meds so I'm not exactly impaired just slightly slower.....

Brain fog can be due to many things... eating a good diet & doing some exercise, even walking, will help a bit even if it is the meds.

Interesting you should say this... I find exactly the same problem even when I had no obvious symptoms & was off meds. I certainly noticed myself being & taking things much more literally. I have great problems with recall & sometimes the simplest question will throw me. I'm guessing I just don't process things the same way anymore.