Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 1103607

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Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by Radish on March 15, 2019, at 19:18:45

Too long didnt read version: has anyone found improvement of cognitive impairments after treating mental illness with medication, or from treating the cognitive impairment itself?
Slow processing, lack of verbal fluency, confusion, or other symptoms of cognitive impairment?

My cognition has been so bad. I am slow, mentally foggy, and cant hold up a train of thought when speaking or thinking. I cant follow what people are saying unless its simple, and I cant articulate ideas beyond a few words. Trying to explain anything, even something as simple as what happened to me earlier, makes me very overwhelmed so I give up. Typing my thoughts is easier because its slower and I can take time to choose my words and plan my thoughts. My long term and short term memory is bad and they always have been. My verbal fluency and verbal recall is sluggish especially when talking to someone. I cant think of anything to say to people, so I just tend to agree with people all the time or repeat what they say. I feel confused listening to people and forget what they said right after they say it.

All of this is worst when I interact with people I am not very close with, but its even bad with my long-term partner who I feel little to no anxiety around. All of this makes me feel slow and stupid and incompetent at jobs and when socializing. I cant connect with anyone or make friends or relationships. Combined with mental illness, this all affects every department of my life and greatly diminishes my quality of life. Im employed and have lately been attempting to become fiends with my coworkers. These problems persist despite knowing these coworkers for ten months now. My heart races and I sweat so much around them, so I know part of the issue is fear/anxiety, however when I take Ativan the anxiety is reduced yet the cognitive impairment does not improve at all, which means the social trouble persists! Ativan makes me not care as much and brightens my mood a little bit which allows me to peer out from my hole of depression and try talking to people. And again, when I talk with my partner who I am not anxious with, I still cant form complex thoughts and connect ideas and make associations and turn it all into words and string everything together into fluent speech. But I watch the person next to me do it like its like breathing and blinking, totally natural and instantaneous like the associations and ideas flow freely from an endless tap. And these are people with self-professed anxiety disorders. (But lately it seems everyone claims they have anxiety or are depressed.)

So again I dont know if these issues stem directly from my depression and social anxiety, or if my social anxiety stems from social incompetence that stems from my cognitive impairment. Its all complicated... too many moving parts involved to know anything about my mind. In order to have the will to live on, I have to believe this issue is one that can be alleviated with the right treatment. I see people who are quick-witted and funny and smooth in social situations and I wonder how their brains differ from mine. I hope my brain is just frying under the magnifying glass of depression and anxiety and avoidant personality disorder.

In grade school my report cards often remarked that I didnt complete work in a timely manner, as if it was a behavioural choice and not something beyond my control that I felt shame and frustration over. My mother is a slow processor, and its frustrating to talk to her because she is such a poor and lacking communicator. My father doesnt talk much, and when he does its utilitarian (like absent a personality) and he has virtually no emotional intelligence. I dont want to be like either of them. All of my siblings have pathological emotional and/or social problems.

Not really sure where I am going with this post so Ill end it now before it turns into my memoirs.

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by Christ_empowered on March 15, 2019, at 19:59:53

In reply to Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Radish on March 15, 2019, at 19:18:45

the psych drugs can slow down thoughts. i take abilify, which...as antipsychotics go, is OK for cognitive processes, but...i notice a difference. I don't know much about antidepressant effects, but it stands to reason that the sedating ones could cause problems, and the ssri drugs can flatten emotions, making social interaction more mechanical, less meaningful.

sorry about this. i will say that wellbutrin brightens my mood a bit and kinda affects me like low dose ritalin did, back in the day...a little more pep in my step, better ability to engage in small talk, etc. other than that....

maybe something like mirapex? people on mind slowing cocktails were (and are) sometimes given stimulants. not exactly the best idea, long term, but...it did (and can, now) help, some people, even long term.

again, sorry. i think there's also something to be said for accepting where one is at any given point, in life. easy for me to say, as some individual on the internet, but its helped me deal with my life's journey.

:-)

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds? » Radish

Posted by beckett2 on March 16, 2019, at 19:08:08

In reply to Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Radish on March 15, 2019, at 19:18:45

Wellbutrin, Trintellix (helped me), stimulants?

Are you taking an maoi? I don't know how parnate works, but segiline or emsam could help.

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by rjlockhart37 on March 19, 2019, at 15:58:25

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds? » Radish, posted by beckett2 on March 16, 2019, at 19:08:08

something like namenda would improve cognitive function. Also provigil and armodafinil, then the stimulants also but they have more side effects

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by Radish on March 19, 2019, at 16:21:07

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by rjlockhart37 on March 19, 2019, at 15:58:25

> something like namenda would improve cognitive function. Also provigil and armodafinil, then the stimulants also but they have more side effects


Have you used any of them?

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by baseball55 on March 19, 2019, at 19:18:24

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Radish on March 19, 2019, at 16:21:07

I know this is the meds list, and maybe the issue is some cognitive slowing from meds I have never had this problem. But the fact that your parents/sibling have similar issues - poor social skills, lack of ability to carry on productive conversation - as well as the fact that you already feel you have social anxiety, makes me feel like you should at least try therapy, if you are not doing so already. Clearly, you didn't learn social skills as child.so maybe this is part of the problem?

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by rjlockhart37 on March 19, 2019, at 20:21:39

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Radish on March 19, 2019, at 16:21:07

yes nuvigil....i take 250mg in morning, it helps with waking up and doing things, cognitive, being able to have a clear head and get out of the haze state.....

i've been on provigil a while back long time ago, back in 2007, provigil lasts only 6 hours, nuvigil lasts 8 hours.....provigil make you want to talk, and do things, nuvigil just makes you awake, it is a mild dopamine re-uptake inhibitor but not as strong as main stimualnts. Armodafnil makes you focus more, provigil makes you want to talk and do things, your more hyper

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by Christ_empowered on March 19, 2019, at 22:43:52

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by rjlockhart37 on March 19, 2019, at 20:21:39

ive been prescribed wellbutrin, ritalin, adderall, and bontril (i had to lose weight).

id recommend wellbutrin 1st, unless there's a serious concern about seizures (can happen at higher doses, more often than many other antidepressants). its...helpful, for lethargic depression, mild stimulation, etc. my former shrink told me they use it 2nd line for add/adhd.

then..ritalin, focalin and friends. schedule II drug, so be prepared to stop by an MD's office every.single.month--that'd kind of a hassle.

last choice would be an amphetamine. euphoria, agitation, mood swings...all possible. oh, and psychosis. that, too. but...for hardcore lethargy and brain fog, bad depression...adderall, i could see being helpful.

bontril was oddly tolerable, like ritalin, but mood elevating, like adderall. it was...strange, now that i think about it...mine was the SR, 1x daily capsule...i dind't -feel it- like adderall, but it lifted my mood and helped concentration. the come down was easy, too. my doctor gave me a refil, so I guess its schedule III or IV? had to pay out of pocket.

ok. hope this helps. oh, and...never taken mirapex, but its 'the thing,' off label...depression, negative symptoms, etc. of course: consult your prescriber! I'm just running off things that I've tried, work with the MD/DO to figure out what's best for you, your situation.

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by porkpiehat on March 20, 2019, at 11:45:01

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Christ_empowered on March 19, 2019, at 22:43:52

Some people, my self included, find a benefit from taking a tiny dose of clonazepam for "fog." I'm not sure if it's only working when the fog is coming from other meds lol.

I read somewhere fibro clients find it is effective for cognition.

I'm talking .125mgs

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by bleauberry on March 30, 2019, at 11:03:25

In reply to Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by Radish on March 15, 2019, at 19:18:45

Sluggish cognition can be improved with stimulants such as Ritalin or Amphetatimine. Anything else on the market will probably make it worse or not be helpful.

The best thing to do is to engage in an supplement protocol which is anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-toxictiy, and pro-immune. Basically this is the same strategy employed in natural books to fight Lyme disease and other mystery diseases, where BRAIN FOG is a major symptom. In my world, if you have a treatment resistant psychiatric disorder, you actually have lyme or some similar form of brain inflammation happening. The cytosine overload is what causes the brain fog, or cognitive clouding. Those strategies fix that. Meds don't.

It might sound weird, but if you study and follow natural treatments of Lyme disease books and blogs, your brain fog will improve. In the meantime, the stimulants can help. They won't fix the underlying problem but they will help.

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 15, 2019, at 23:32:44

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by rjlockhart37 on March 19, 2019, at 20:21:39

i have to take ginseng or caffeine with armodafinil, i can work online but just need to be back on dexedrine spansules, then be able to function fully and go out in the world.

 

Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?

Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 16, 2019, at 0:31:49

In reply to Re: Anyone here improved sluggish cognition with meds?, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 15, 2019, at 23:32:44

i don't take caffeine and ginseng all the time, no no.... but sometimes i think that i could at least just help people and give them ideas for new things or advice on subjects

but actually ginseng is good for low cognition, american ginseng is a good for sluggish cognition


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