Posted by lrc on August 1, 2001, at 22:26:01
In reply to Re: How long does it take for the withdrawl lrc, posted by mila on August 1, 2001, at 21:10:23
> Hi lrc
> >
> > I was wondering how long you were on paxil.
>
> 5 months out of 8 total on SSRIs. It wiped my memories for names to the point that i couldn't recall my grandma's name and my brother's name sounded strange to me, I wasn't really sure if I was right when I would use it in a conversation. Less damaged was memory for the 'general' words, and spelling was also badly affected.
>
> > It really scares me about my memory loss.
>
> oh, it's not that bad, really. annoying and frustrating, yes, but not really scary once you know you can get it all back and then some more, more powerful ability to recall than before.
>
> > I was hoping it would go away.
>
> I have no idea if it will go away on its own, since I haven't tried a 'wait and see what happens' approach. I am a university student and for me ability to recall is everythig now in a sense that it feeds my pride and satisfaction, plus it will have a strong impact on my future.
>
> > Do you seem like it's improved a lot? Do you feel like it's something that you will have forever? I think this is what scares me the most about this drug. I'm almost off of it but I've been weaning very slowly, 3 months so far. I hope you say something to help me feel better about this.
>
> Look, my memory is better than it has ever been both for words and for life events, but it wasn't that way when I stopped Paxil. Paxil wiped off emotional component of the memories and emotion is The retrieval cue number one. What I did is the following: I got determined to get my memory back and started working on it every day. Since I naturally have a lot of new material to download into my memory from school when i read I stop frequently and imagine vivid humorous images for the concepts, processes, and new words (both spelling and meaning). I do whatever it takes to make me laugh or shudder, or feel disgust, whatever strong emotion happens to be associated with the material, I blow it totally out of proportion. Next, I bring something from my past and link it to the new memory. These frequent trips to the past memories storage room made a big difference. Now I recall events from the past easier than ever.
> Memory is really like a muscle, plus the brain is very redundant in the way it stores memories, if one door doesnt work, you can always use several others. Paxil does impact the usual route to recall, but it can be restored and while you are working on it, you can use other ways to get to the memory.
> please, be very careful with what you believe about your memory. avoid autosuggestions of the hopeless kind. Take it easy and with a healthy dose of humour, especially when a very important memory slips away when you most need it. It will resurface on its own a bit later, or you can pull it out of your head if you stay calm and use a trick that you know will work for you. I will share those with you if you'll need it later.
>
> best
> milaThank you. It really bothers me when I can't figure out how to spell a word or mess up while I'm typing. I don't have a big problem with remembering names. It is good to know that it can improve. I forget to return phone calls and get side tracked way to easy. Not just one of those things where you go to the kitchen to get something and forget what you were looking for (that happens also) but I feel like I'm so forgetful with everything all of the time. Thanks again. lrc
poster:lrc
thread:72876
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010731/msgs/73007.html