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Do antidepressants and/or anxiolytics ever cause/caused you poor memory or reasoning skills?

NinaB

Active Member
So... for those who take medication for anxiety and/or depression while studying: since you started taking the medication have you perceived any decreasing in your ability for adding/retaining new memories, making math calculations or working it out in your head(if you can do it, i have a really hard time trying to do the math in my head naturally)?
 
I take natural anti anxiety tablets and within 4 minutes or even less, I suddenly feel this amazing calm come over me and can think more clearly.

I also use pure ginko biloba to aid the memory and it does work. I have a good memory, but a terrible short term memory and ginko actually helps me to retain the information.
 
I take natural anti anxiety tablets and within 4 minutes or even less, I suddenly feel this amazing calm come over me and can think more clearly.

I also use pure ginko biloba to aid the memory and it does work. I have a good memory, but a terrible short term memory and ginko actually helps me to retain the information.
Suzanne hello !:p what are your anti anxiety tablets called, does it tell you on the packaging !!!!what level of anxiety there are for?
you probably know get anxiety attacks frequently turn into panic attacks, I think it means I get Heavy anxiety as opposed to light thanks
 
Suzanne hello !:p what are your anti anxiety tablets called, does it tell you on the packaging !!!!what level of anxiety there are for?
you probably know get anxiety attacks frequently turn into panic attacks, I think it means I get Heavy anxiety as opposed to light thanks
sorry got the emoji wrong again:)
 
I absolutely noticed a significant decrease in my attention, which in turn affected my short-term memory, along with increased executive dysfunction on every single antidepressant I've taken. I also seem to show side effects at fairly low dosages, within a short amount of time, and it's not a placebo effect because I don't read the possible side effects until after I notice things that are off.
Last year, the harassment at my (now old) job got so bad that I had a combo of antidepressants and anxiolytics, at the lowest possible dosage for 6 months or so. I clearly remember that I was sort of calmer, sure, but also having the hardest time focusing and taking much longer to complete my usual tasks. Not quite dazed, but definitely not my best.
Funny thing: the last psychiatrist blamed it on the depression. I'm not sure how any unruly form of depression could leave your skills intact, and then the minute you start treating it, it starts affecting said skills. That would indicate that something is not working the way it should, wouldn't it?

Now, the tricky thing is, a lower performance for me is still much higher than average, so I'm not exactly taken seriously when I say I feel impaired. "Oh no, you are doing just fine", when in reality I'm not, not at all. If you're used to giving it 120%, and only know to function that way, falling to 90% is a steep decline, not "fine", and I don't care if it's better than the others, I care about the fact that I'm now struggling with the same amount of tasks versus an emptied intellectual toolbox. (I obviously have no scientific evidence of the level of performance, but when something that takes me 30 minutes now takes between 1 and 2 hours, I know something is wrong)
 
Suzanne hello !:p what are your anti anxiety tablets called, does it tell you on the packaging !!!!what level of anxiety there are for?
you probably know get anxiety attacks frequently turn into panic attacks, I think it means I get Heavy anxiety as opposed to light thanks

The trade name is: seditiffpc and for me ( as I cannot talk for others), they work well, because I only take when I have extreme anxiety, to the extent that I cannot think or speak and just feel so weak, I can barely move.

I only experienced panic attacks, when I stopped taking prozac and thankfully, since then, no panic attacks.

Here is what they look like:
boiron-sedatif-pc-90-comprimes_1406885796.jpg


Although in French, I have been told that they do sell them in the uk.
 
The trade name is: seditiffpc and for me ( as I cannot talk for others), they work well, because I only take when I have extreme anxiety, to the extent that I cannot think or speak and just feel so weak, I can barely move.

I only experienced panic attacks, when I stopped taking prozac and thankfully, since then, no panic attacks.

Here is what they look like:
boiron-sedatif-pc-90-comprimes_1406885796.jpg


Although in French, I have been told that they
do sell them in the uk.


thank you very interesting
 
I've tried a lot of different meds and the only one that did that was Topomax, which likely isn't the first choice of doctors anyway.
 
So... for those who take medication for anxiety and/or depression while studying: since you started taking the medication have you perceived any decreasing in your ability for adding/retaining new memories, making math calculations or working it out in your head(if you can do it, i have a really hard time trying to do the math in my head naturally)?

What was the question again??? Memory and meds are sometimes not a good mix for me.
Meds and my real self functioning in any area of life are not the greatest combination.

Yes, Meds seem to me help the "symptoms," but at what costs? Not money, but cognitive, later damage to other systems in my body, dependance, the worries of having to find something better when this quits working... Or is it really working? I'm a thinker, I'm a digger. I ask tons of questions of myself and of life, so this hits home with me.

Maybe the meds are okay, but the side effects always seem to worsen how I manage my normal life. I'm already a very quiet and somber person, so I'm more like a zombie on meds.

I try very hard to not take my meds (my doc knows this). They are only when I get into one of those head battles that I ALLOW to suck me in, and I cant spin myself out of it.

Overtime I have learned that the anxiety, panic disorder, and depression won't hurt me UNLESS I allow it to do so. Its not real, and yes it seems more than real, but in no case have I been sitting waiting to be a lions lunch (which is anxieties intended purpose to get me out of that). Mine is linked to some really tough childhood PTSD issues and maybe a really tough marriage situation. Who cares? Those situations are not to RULE this moment unless I ALLOW that... On meds I don't have that control. I'm just numb.

I just face those past situations in my head, or in real life, let the anxiety attack happen if its going too, and then do what I have learned to make it leave... and that is IGNORE IT! Immediately go start working out (but get some music rushing in my head). Go to sleep if I need too... I just refuse to let it get much traction in my thoughts...

I cant control my ASD, it is what it is - but anxiety, panic, and depression can be controlled to some extent.

I did that ON HERE the other day, I got depressed, I derailed over some really serious stuff, but I didn't catch it. I gave into it, and had to pay the price. I couldn't think straight and it sucked. ASD is a hell within itself sometimes, but add in trying to live a "normal life" and we get into some big mental messes.

NEVER think that I am telling you to toss or not take your meds (do not do that)... But when this happens just get very aware of what is happening... What were you thinking on that caused you to lapse out of what you needed to be studying, and start reverse engineering it. Then hit the books till it comes back because it will, I'm not going to sugar coat this, like I have some magic formula. Not at all... But we can beat a bunch of it.

Our brains are unthinkably powerful... Every thought we have produces a chemical compound that creates the very reactions we have (either in a good or bad circumstance)... That is the very reason to start reversing the thoughts to get your brain to realize the "feel good" chemicals that walks you right out of this stuff... It takes time and sometimes it still punches me in the head, but overtime I have gotten better and better at it.

I wish you luck, I hope you at least remember to maybe try this next time it comes around... : )
 
The trade name is: seditiffpc and for me ( as I cannot talk for others), they work well, because I only take when I have extreme anxiety, to the extent that I cannot think or speak and just feel so weak, I can barely move.

I only experienced panic attacks, when I stopped taking prozac and thankfully, since then, no panic attacks.

Here is what they look like:
boiron-sedatif-pc-90-comprimes_1406885796.jpg


Although in French, I have been told that they do sell them in the uk.
I just read up on them on the link tree helpfully provided and they say you should take than 3 times a day. But you're saying you only take one when you're super anxious? Have I got that right?
 
I just read up on them on the link tree helpfully provided and they say you should take than 3 times a day. But you're saying you only take one when you're super anxious? Have I got that right?

I chew on two only when super anxious. I have also been told by my local pharmist that I should take them regularly, but I ignore that and it could be why they continue to work well, because my body is not getting used to them.
 
I must say for taking Thioridizine (Mellaril) for a number of years for social anxiety, while it definitely dulled my personality I can't say it dulled my ability to do my job as an insurance underwriter. Go figure. o_O
 
So... for those who take medication for anxiety and/or depression while studying: since you started taking the medication have you perceived any decreasing in your ability for adding/retaining new memories, making math calculations or working it out in your head(if you can do it, i have a really hard time trying to do the math in my head naturally)?
It would be hard for me to tell if it was the depression and anxiety, or the meds, but I found I could not function well cognitively will on the meds Zoloft and Paxil. Zoloft made me very groggy and lethargic. I remember not being able to understand a paragraph despite reading it 3 times, I remember not being able to create a one page assignment without requiring an extension. I couldn't tell when I would be able to focus and be productive vs when my brain would be caput. There was one time when I showed up to class and couldn't understand what the teacher was saying, I just heard noises coming from her mouth. I couldn't respond back either other than some noise.

With Paxil, I understood stuff, I could write stuff, but I didn't retain stuff. Maybe I just needed to work harder, though, at repetition? On Paxil I lost some of my inhibitions as well as my anxieties, so I partied a lot.

I tried Ativan a few times for panic/acute anxiety - a friend of mine said that can cause memory problems. I have no idea if I used it enough for that to happen. To be sure I have trouble with memory, but now I don't know if that's just from all the trauma of being ASD and everything else that's happened in life.
 
It is well known amongst psychologists, psychiatrists and the clinical practitioners that many of these medications have adverse cognitive affects. I have experienced this myself on several medications which caused me significant deficit and distress.

The first was an antipsychotic, which sent me bananas because I wasn't actually psychotic and it had no positive impact at all. So I stopped that.

Then there was a series of antidepressants of various dosages, which equally didn't work..... I wasn't depressed. I was exhausted and frequently overwhelmed in a typically aspie fashion, but not depressed.

Then there was Quetiapine. Long pause............

I was part way through my degree when I was given medication. It was great to start with as I got the sleep I needed, but I gradually lost my ability to think, decide, take on new information and use it or apply it academically in the way I had before. I was headed for a 1st honours degree but by the end I literally couldn't read or write and had to submit essays at 50% word count, which brought my eventual grade down to a 2:1.

I became almost dependent on my partner to think for me and to mange all the money, paperwork etc, I couldn't concentrate or remember anything. In the end I stopped all medication cold turkey (I don't recommend anyone do that btw). The doctors weren't paying attention and the prescribers literally let me decide on the dosage with no regular checkups and no advice. It caused a lot of damage in my opinion and my cognitive abilities still haven't returned properly 2 years later. I still find it difficult to read despite having a degree and high IQ and I still cant retain new information.
 
It's hard to say if my memory is being affected by antidepressants, poor diet or depression itself but it's become a lot worse. Attention span shorter, also I have less mental energy for solving complex problems. Probably all three reasons have some part in it.

I'm sure that since the start of taking my medication my brain feels in a way 'sick'. The depression episodes are a lot easier, that's true, and I stopped being suicidal for now but my head feels foggy and 'blocked' in a way, too many swimming thoughts and impressions. It's a lot worse when I'm dehydrated though, so whatever you decide - drink water. It's essential.

And if you try meds, don't forget to take them. The fluctuating serotonin levels will make you feel definitely worse.
 
Though blanket statements are dangerous, Temple Grandin has recommended that people with ASD require much lower doses than NTs would.

I sometimes wonder if I could benefit from a low does antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication....but that would be one more thing on my plate to plan out, try out, deal with ups and downs, one more thing to pay for, one more thing in my system.....not enough motivation for that right now. I wish I could just be in a better place on my own. For me, the meds masked some of the emotional issues I needed to work through, and I am still working through stuff I think. Though some of it I just need to learn to ignore now, habitual patterns of fear/anxiety.
 
Though blanket statements are dangerous, Temple Grandin has recommended that people with ASD require much lower doses than NTs would.

I sometimes wonder if I could benefit from a low does antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication....but that would be one more thing on my plate to plan out, try out, deal with ups and downs, one more thing to pay for, one more thing in my system.....not enough motivation for that right now. I wish I could just be in a better place on my own. For me, the meds masked some of the emotional issues I needed to work through, and I am still working through stuff I think. Though some of it I just need to learn to ignore now, habitual patterns of fear/anxiety.
another one for me was thyroid dysfunction, started to take seaweed tablets, they have a lot of iodine which you need, do you get enough potassium?, do you drink enough water, and a variety of vegetables or seafood, same again never realised how much my heart pounds if I don't kick it
do you take enough vitamin B,I was shocked
at the effect when I started to take more
vitamin

B ever realised I wasn't taken enough,
 

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