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SSRI and cognitive decline

Pionart

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
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I wish doctors had a way to prescribe sugar pills without telling me. I read studies sometimes and think, "they got 3.4% better from just thinking they were given something? I'd take that."

It's called positive thinking. You don't need a sugar pill; just understand that expecting a good outcome makes a good outcome more likely to occur.
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2014
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sp/so
It's called positive thinking. You don't need a sugar pill; just understand that expecting a good outcome makes a good outcome more likely to occur.

When I'm not imagining ways I might accidentally kill myself, I'm more optimistic than most people. If there was a world ranking system of peoples' optimism, I'd probably be in the top 10%. But maybe that's just me being optimistic....or not optimistic enough? Hmm...

Anyways, even with that, I still get to the end of my rope, and I need help me to conjure hope within myself. And sometimes it is a huge relief when someone helps to carry your burden.
 

Mind Maverick

ENTP 8w7 845 Sp/Sx
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
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4,785
Before I begin, just wanted to say this is in no way an attack on people who have to take these in order to function. This is just my experience.

Last year in August, I was going through a very difficult time in my life. I visited my abusive family for the first time in almost 10 years for closure, and my long time cat passed away suddenly with cancer. Many people I knew, had passed away. I was starting to have a difficult time functioning without being on the verge of a panic attack, and or suicidal thoughts. So I went and seen a doctor for my depression and they put me on Zoloft. I took this for about 4-5 months. During the time span, I noticed significant changes to my thought processes. It turned off my "anxiety", but my brain didn't know how to function without it. My memory especially, was affected. I was confusing reality, with something I dreamed more than once. I would forget simple tasks, or forget what I came to the store for. My recall, suffered heavily. But hey, it helped with my depression right?

No, not really. It just killed my emotions. I stopped feeling positive, or negative. It was endless apathy, without anxiety. Therefor nothing felt exciting as well. This, combined with my cognitive decline in sharpness, began to bother me more than anything else. I began to miss some of the aspects of my condition, because they helped me function in certain ways better than without it. As the whole 3 days grace song says "Id rather feel pain, than nothing at all", resonates with me. Because without pain, I do not even feel alive. So I tried switching what I was on, to Lexepro, and it turned out to be much better for me. But still, it does the same thing as Zoloft where it fucks with my memory. While it isn't as bad, it does allows for some of my condition to seep through to give me something emotional to work with. I got diagnosed with cPTSD, and probably have PMDD. I will soon be off these SSRI, and hopefully, my memory will come back.

Has anyone else experienced something similar on these drugs?
Wellbutrin butchered my memory (and caused hallucinations I think) but it's been coming back since being off of it. None of the other antidepressants I've tried have had this effect, but granted, there are some I didn't stay on for long because they worsened my condition so quickly that I may not have had time to notice the memory issues. I've been on Effexor for a while now but I have had nothing like this. I had some shaking in the past but that's gone now. The only other side effects were being unable to get off and loss of appetite. The first one is only an issue sometimes now...it's moreso just delayed rather than impossible. Sorry if TMI. Eating is often still a chore and I don't do it enough. I was kind of already like that before though. Never has any medication ever made me lose my emotions.
 

Saturnal Snowqueen

Solastalgia 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
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I wonder if I need to cut back on the SSRIs. I've been taking Lexapro and Busiprone/BusPar for a bit, and they do their job. However, my brain feels all clogged up. It's been hard for me to talk online cause everything that comes out feels scrambled. All the thoughts I have, feel stuck together like a gumball full of lint. And oddly, I talk just fine mostly irl, it's just nothing's streamline. I wonder if I have low sodium? I've also been getting nauseous, and not to the point where I puke, but yeah. I also take overactive bladder meds, which probably isn't helping. But yeah, also my memory, it isn't horrible but like I keep forgetting things I said right after I said them, what I was going to do, that sort of thing. But yeah. I'll see what the psych thinks.
 
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