Trouble Thinking and Writing

Hi everyone. I am a 1st time poster here. Here is my questionHas anyone experienced memory or cognitive side effects on these medicines.
Such as trouble concentrating, trouble finding words, difficulty in thinking
when trying to write or speak. Does anyone know if this gets better with time
I have been off Lithium since January and am on Lamictal now.
Could it be the Lamictal thats causing this?
Could it have been the Lithium? If so is it permanent damage or short term damage?
And if so does it get better?
Someone PLEASE respond to this. I have always been an avid and articulate speaker
and writer. Sorry If I am rambling but here is a story. I am apart of a message board and I joined in Dec.06 and only have 294 posts. Some members there who joined around that date have 1,000+ posts. It makes me very frustrated and i feel down because I cant post as much as i liked to and am not popular there. I hate it. This side effect has greatly impaired me. Writing use to be a release for my frustration and depression. Can anyone share some experience or insight about this. Thanks

Every BP person I know experiences some degree of memory impairment, difficulty concentrating, difficulty finding the right word in conversation etc. over the long term. Dr Peter Breggin is one researcher who feels that these change are most likely permanent brain damage caused by the meds we take to treat the disease. Unfortunately, there is little to no research into the matter. Lithium is rather toxic and trends show that it can cause long term bodily damage to kidneys etc. so why not to the brain as well. Have you only noticed this since you started Lamictal? What do your friends and family say? Did they notice change while you were on the Lithium? Maybe you just didn't notice because of Lithium blunting?

I guess I have come to accept that I need some stability in my life. While the long term effects of the meds scare the crap out of me...I would basically be non-functional without them. However, I would work with your psyc doctor find the least toxic drug at the lowest effective dose to help minimize the damage. I think its good you are off Lithium...it is so toxic. There are many other safer options now.

I had drastic changes in my creativity and productivity when I started my medications. I could no longer do things I used to be able to in terms of creativity, and I was useless at work. But I have been on the medications lithium,etc for a while and things are getting back to normal and I am functioning as good as I ever was now. For me it was just a transition period of a few months when I was worthless. Hope that can help

Rex wrote:

I had drastic changes in my creativity and productivity when I started my medications. I could no longer do things I used to be able to in terms of creativity, and I was useless at work. But I have been on the medications lithium,etc for a while and things are getting back to normal and I am functioning as good as I ever was now. For me it was just a transition period of a few months when I was worthless. Hope that can help

Thanks Rex that gives me some much needed hope that things will return to normal. Brigid

Bp_Princezz wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a 1st time poster here. Here is my questionHas anyone experienced memory or cognitive side effects on these medicines.
Such as trouble concentrating, trouble finding words, difficulty in thinking
when trying to write or speak. Does anyone know if this gets better with time
I have been off Lithium since January and am on Lamictal now.
Could it be the Lamictal thats causing this?
Could it have been the Lithium? If so is it permanent damage or short term damage?
And if so does it get better?
Someone PLEASE respond to this. I have always been an avid and articulate speaker
and writer. Sorry If I am rambling but here is a story. I am apart of a message board and I joined in Dec.06 and only have 294 posts. Some members there who joined around that date have 1,000+ posts. It makes me very frustrated and i feel down because I cant post as much as i liked to and am not popular there. I hate it. This side effect has greatly impaired me. Writing use to be a release for my frustration and depression. Can anyone share some experience or insight about this. Thanks

Hi,

Just wanted you to know that since I have been on Lamictal (started last Spring) I have experienced quite a loss in articulation, consciousness, and memory. Like you, I had quite a vocabulary. I am lowering the dose on Lamictal gradually, since I am now on something that clearly has improved my depression. I am hoping that my ability to articulate, especially verbally, will return. One of my good friends, who has tried any number of anti-depressants, told me that when she was on Lamictal she found there was a dose level above which she found her mental faculties impaired.

Hope this side effect has passed, and if not, that your psychopharmacologist has found a way around your loss of thinking capacity. These side effects really matter and it may pay off for you to bug your doctor til you're onto some drug or combination that doesn't reduce your mental skills.

Good Luck,

Susan

I have the same problem and I believe it to be progressive. I admitted myself into a hospital when I was in my senior year of High School with the promise it was simply a six day evaluation. I met with the psychiatrist once and he suggested Pamelor. I asked if it could cause harm. He said no it would simply make me more open to therapy. I spent over a month there. If it weren't for the insurance stopping the need for hospitalization due to the facts adding up to me not belonging there I would have been subjected to the med that much longer. After being released into out-patient therapy with yet another psychiatrist the first meeting with him he immediately put me on Prozac with no lag time between stopping the Pamelor and starting the Prozac stating the dosage of the pamelor was so low in his opinion it would carry no risk. Not to long after starting the Prozac the inability to concentrate became extremely apparent. When speaking knowing the words I intended to say and the word or words that came seemingly from nowhere out of my mouth were very different and obviously annoying but also embarassing and frightening. I stopped the treatment on my own due to no one listening to my concerns. After going of the Prozac the concentration improved but never returned to the way it was. Ever since then it has gotten progressively worse even after stopping the meds. The symptoms you have expressed for me have come over time. If I talk to anyone about it they dismiss it as depression. Frankly I did not really know what depression was until after being treated for a depression that did not truly exist in the first place. I am a casualty. You may be one to. Seek help from those who will listen. If you can find someone.

Bp_Princezz wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a 1st time poster here. Here is my questionHas anyone experienced memory or cognitive side effects on these medicines.
Such as trouble concentrating, trouble finding words, difficulty in thinking
when trying to write or speak. Does anyone know if this gets better with time
I have been off Lithium since January and am on Lamictal now.
Could it be the Lamictal thats causing this?
Could it have been the Lithium? If so is it permanent damage or short term damage?
And if so does it get better?
Someone PLEASE respond to this. I have always been an avid and articulate speaker
and writer. Sorry If I am rambling but here is a story. I am apart of a message board and I joined in Dec.06 and only have 294 posts. Some members there who joined around that date have 1,000+ posts. It makes me very frustrated and i feel down because I cant post as much as i liked to and am not popular there. I hate it. This side effect has greatly impaired me. Writing use to be a release for my frustration and depression. Can anyone share some experience or insight about this. Thanks

I have the same problem and I believe it to be progressive. I admitted myself into a hospital when I was in my senior year of High School with the promise it was simply a six day evaluation. I met with the psychiatrist once and he suggested Pamelor. I asked if it could cause harm. He said no it would simply make me more open to therapy. I spent over a month there. If it weren't for the insurance stopping the need for hospitalization due to the facts adding up to me not belonging there I would have been subjected to the med that much longer. After being released into out-patient therapy with yet another psychiatrist the first meeting with him he immediately put me on Prozac with no lag time between stopping the Pamelor and starting the Prozac stating the dosage of the pamelor was so low in his opinion it would carry no risk. Not to long after starting the Prozac the inability to concentrate became extremely apparent. When speaking knowing the words I intended to say and the word or words that came seemingly from nowhere out of my mouth were very different and obviously annoying but also embarassing and frightening. I stopped the treatment on my own due to no one listening to my concerns. After going of the Prozac the concentration improved but never returned to the way it was. Ever since then it has gotten progressively worse even after stopping the meds. The symptoms you have expressed for me have come over time. If I talk to anyone about it they dismiss it as depression. Frankly I did not really know what depression was until after being treated for a depression that did not truly exist in the first place. I am a casualty. You may be one to. Seek help from those who will listen. If you can find someone.

Hi, I am bipolar II and take 300 mg lamictal pr. day.
Some of the first bi-effects I noticed was difficulty with writhing (which is a disaster when You work as a journalist, I had to explain it to my boss!!!)and short memory and finding the "right" words.
But after a year those symptoms are much better. I have to concentrate 100% more than before and read my stuff over and over. There is always a solution when You know about the problem, make your own way to deal with it, diary, dictonary, small notes etc. It WILL be better after a while, but not as good as it was. But again, rather spell words wrong than hellish depressions!
Ps. Someone out there noticing that PMS is worse than ever on Lamictal?
Kind Regards Lill from icy north

Hi,
I had very obvious memory loss and cognitive impairment almost from the first day of taking lithium. I had experienced some processing difficulties on Prozac previously, but was still very articulate and able to write very well. After taking lithium, I was no longer able to work as an attorney due to the impairment and it got only slightly better after I terminated my use of the lithium 8 months later. I used to love my mind, now I feel like a dullard. Doctors attribute my cognitive deficits to depression, but even when I am not depressed I have the same difficulties. It is depressing in and of itself.

I have been taking lithium for 16 years straight. I am very concerned with deteriorating memory problems. At first it was just words and forgetting what I was saying. Now I forget where keys are on the computer when I'm typing, I forget the entire topic when I'm talking, my memory for conversations past 1 hr. is shit, and I feel I have no continuity of thought from one day to the next. It is getting harder to analyze my problems to be able to change, and I am forgetting appointments and where I put things as well. I thought it would get better after being off work a couple weeks, but it hasn't. I thought it was only temporary because of the lithium and memory would come back if I stopped taking it. It is very scary to think that I am now a real airhead permanentely. I know I'm aging, but this year has shown a really noticable decline for me. I have been on depakote in the way past. I did try a reduction of lithium experiment in Feb, Mar. of this year. I take 900 daily now and my reading is always .5 or less, so I know it's the minimum for me. Anyway, after 6 weeks or so, I started to have suspicious thoughts and it scared me cause that's how I was when I got sick once before, so I decided it wasn't worth it and went back to regular dose. I had one major episode at 20 which included a 32 day hospital stay. Then after 6 mos. of meds, I started having kids and had to go off and was fine for 5 years. So the last two times I had symptoms and went back on was post-partum 5 weeks after my 3rd child and 2 weeks after my 4th and last. So I always wonder if those are genuine episodes considering the hormones after child birth. Sorry I am going on and on. I have never posted to any thing before. Is anyone going off Lithium after long term use and finding memory getting better?

I have asked not to be put on lamictal beause of the side effects. the one i am most afraid of is the weight gain. i have worked very hard to lose 150 lbs. i still have weight that i need to lose 30lbs or so, and I do not want my mental health meds to effect that negatively. You seem to be happy with the lithium can you describe to mehow it works for you. the meds that we have tried, avoiding the lithium, have not worked for me. i am cycling terribly, even to the point of suicide attempts. I really ould use your advice

the change was an exmaple of this horrible disease. I typed in the wrong nameof the medicine, and ityped the correction in. sorry blame it on the bp

I have had weight issues as well. Right now I am the right weight for my height, but I have spent a few years with OA (overeaters anonymous) which treats more than just the symptom. It is a physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery program which I would highly recommend. If you find healthy meetings and a good sponsor, the potential for change is good. I have less problems cycling dramatically on the lithium, although I still do have swings. I had a pretty rough weekend. Anytime I have a really happy period I am wary because I know what goes up must come down and the weekend was part of that boomerang effect. I try not to really buy into my moods but it isn't always possible. I have spent alot of time in self help groups through church and ladies small groups which has helped more than the meds I think. I have also been married to a man who proposed to me in the psych ward 23 yrs. ago. He isn't perfect, but he knew what he was getting and he can be supportive or at least tolerant of my inconsistencies. People can make the difference. You should get around some support group that you can be vulnerable and feel safe in. Everyone has issues...some of us just wear them more obviously. Good luck.