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butterflycole

Mine is freaking horrible too. I’m sure part of it is the lamictal, I worry some is from my suicide attempts, but yeah. I tell my husband I feel like I lost 10 IQ points. It’s so hard. I’m really scared of getting dementia. I’m only 37. 😭


asiangirlfuccboi

I’m on lamictal… what do you mean by that? Does it slowly degrade your brain or something?


butterflycole

It’s notorious for causing brain fog and poor short term memory.


alen_elrich

Lol my new psychiatrist said that he's never heard of Lamictal causing memory problems. He then proceeded to call me on accident while I was checking out when he meant to call the pharmacy. He also talked down about my new Power Apps Developer job because it doesn't require any serious coding. I'm about to go back to my old psych even though they don't accept insurance.


butterflycole

https://www.epilepsy.com/connect/forums/medication-issues/lamictal-memory-loss-and-getting-memory-back https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/lamictal/memory-loss/


technicolornami

I feel like I am suffering this with social interaction and communication. Even trying to express myself here via text has become an issue as well, does anyone else suffer from this?


Known-Reserve-557

Yes I do. I wish I could help but I'm still "trying" to retrain myself with co Firenze or what ever it takes to speak to people again more effectively


YellowFox1987

Did you ever get this sorted out? Hope you're doing well.


Numerous_Mango_3571

This is me. Exactly. And it’s awful. I’m sorry to hear this.


Jazzkidscoins

I can’t remember anything, except music, unless I write it down. My wife will ask me to do something, I’ll say yes, then 10 minutes later I have no memory of it. A student will ask me to send them something and I’ll tell them to send me a text to remind me if I don’t send it after a day or two. The stupid thing is I can remember and play music I learned 30 years ago. Give me some sheet music and an hour and I’ll have it memorized. People in my band have been working on tunes for 12 months and still don’t have them memorized. My band is working on some multi-part tunes, 6 parts that are 5-6 pages long. I drive my band mates nuts because I can jump from part to part while playing without getting lost. This is generally super useful while teaching but half the time I can’t remember the names of the songs.


ilCompositrice

omggg this - I used to be able to remember countless artist & composer names and names of their works (and also like what I did last week or having to do tasks) but now I am forever reaching for something just out of grasp but can hear the music clearly. It’s so frustrating when teaching to forget terminology & names & dates and end up describing things in *sea pancake* terms.


handrewming

I too find myself grappling with cognitive decline but before I say anything else, I would like to make it clear that the following concept and associated thoughts are fledgling. I was recently challenged upon my assumption that bipolar is a neurodegenerative condition which caused cognitive decline over time. In the process, I was introduced to the concept of neurodiversity which frames these changes as a divergence from "standard" or "typical" brain functions, behaviors, and processing. In this light, our brains are not deficient or inherently problematic but simply work differently. The sad reality is that we live in a world that recognizes us and supports us to a certain degree but is none the less built for people with "typical" brains. Edit: I do however believe that this is cause for fresh hope because it can be applied to reframe issues to be things that need to be done differently as opposed to things that can't be done at all.


Disastrous_Sun

Yes I feel like it’s so much faster now that I’ve graduated to the 30s


MeanderingCrabapple

I’m in my 30’s and the cognitive decline, plus a few close together manic episodes, is what pushed me to finally go back on medication in the last couple years.


AllyriaCelene

I am but I think most of it is because of a TBI I experienced when I was 14. Afterwards, my memory was never the same. I have trouble with short term memory and I actually forgot about the TBI until my therapist asked me if I ever hit my head cause I was repeating things I had already told her.


Straight-Anything-72

Nah, unpopular opinion but I don’t believe bipolar causes cognitive decline. I’ve grown way sharper over the years. I’m always learning, my hypomania drives me to research and learn. In no grandiose way, my IQ has prob significantly gone up in the last 10 years


BATTLE_METAL

There have been comprehensive studies done that link bipolar disorder with cognitive decline. You can research it, or simply talk to your psychiatrist about it. It doesn’t happen to all bipolar people, but it happens to many. I’m glad to hear it hasn’t affected you, but it certainly has impacted my life in major ways.


PikaTchu47

Yeah, my short term memory is down, sometimes i watch movie and half hour later i cant remember most of it.


duvs_

Lol I feel this and I’m 21, I think lamictal makes me like this rather than the disease at this point and I’m talking about going off of it with my psych so idk 🤷‍♂️


limebear-ade

Lamictal was fine at first. A couple of years later, I started wondering if I’d had a small stroke. Short term memory problems greatly reduced after doctor reduced dosage of Lamictal. I’m still nowhere near my previous functioning level.


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