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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 12:03:22
Is there anything out there that helps with cognitive impairment from anticonvulsants? Memory problems, sluggish, slow, foggy brain.
I think my doc might have mentioned something about aricept.
Provigil?
Regards,
Brian
Posted by Phillipa on November 12, 2008, at 13:09:35
In reply to Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 12:03:22
Aricept was the first alzheimers med I think. So being used off label? Providgil so many love as like they say coffe without the jitters from what I've read. Phillipa
Posted by Maxime on November 12, 2008, at 17:27:34
In reply to Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 12:03:22
Just out of curiousity, which anticonvulsant are you on? I was on 600 mg of Trileptal and I had no cognitive impairment. But on Depakote and Lithium I became very impaired.
Posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 17:30:07
In reply to Re: Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment » qbsbrown, posted by Maxime on November 12, 2008, at 17:27:34
I'm on Trileptal and lithium, little to no cognitive impairment on them. Depakote seems to be the only one that i get the impairment from, although it's so effective at controlling racing thoughts.
Would a combination of the 3 be outrageous? I see my doc on mon, see what he has in mind.
Regards,
brian
Posted by Maxime on November 12, 2008, at 18:08:19
In reply to Re: Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 17:30:07
I found trileptal to be good for racing thoughts. You can go up on a high dosage of trileptal ... although I don't know if cognitive impairment would occur.
I just don't see how something like provigil could help. When I have cognitive impairment from meds it's more than just being tired.
Good luck to you!
Posted by Phillipa on November 12, 2008, at 19:41:25
In reply to Re: Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment » qbsbrown, posted by Maxime on November 12, 2008, at 18:08:19
Think it would also help benzo poopout? Phillipa
Posted by mav27 on November 13, 2008, at 1:15:34
In reply to Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 12:03:22
I take sodium valproate and it hasn't caused any cognitive problems at all, havn't really noticed any side effects on it which is good.
Posted by kenny7 on November 14, 2008, at 16:39:46
In reply to Re: Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by mav27 on November 13, 2008, at 1:15:34
Save the copay. Get coffee isntead of Provigil. Coffees actually stronger!!!
Posted by Michael Bell on November 21, 2008, at 8:58:07
In reply to Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment, posted by qbsbrown on November 12, 2008, at 12:03:22
> Is there anything out there that helps with cognitive impairment from anticonvulsants? Memory problems, sluggish, slow, foggy brain.
>
> I think my doc might have mentioned something about aricept.
>
> Provigil?
>
> Regards,
>
> BrianI have found provigil to be somewhat helpful for the brainfog caused by lyrica
Posted by Vincent_QC on November 26, 2008, at 7:34:26
In reply to Re: Anticonvulsants and Cognitive Impairment » qbsbrown, posted by Maxime on November 12, 2008, at 17:27:34
> Just out of curiousity, which anticonvulsant are you on? I was on 600 mg of Trileptal and I had no cognitive impairment. But on Depakote and Lithium I became very impaired.
Cognitive impairment is a source of extreme anxiety in my everyday life. My first cognitive impairment experience begin back in 2003, when I try Topamax (Topiramate)...I don't remember my daily dosage but it was high. I stop it because of that. Since I begin anxiolytics drugs back in 2005, I notice extreme cognitive impairments...especially with Clonazepam and Xanax. My state never stop deteriorate since then...It getting worse, and more worse with each antidepressants, antipsychotics or anticonvulsives pills I try.
Lyrica, Gabapentin, Neurotin, that's all the same, they give all cognitive impairments, but I suppose it's dose related and different for a person to another. I drop all of this "new" less addictive "Anticonvulsives" drugs because of that BIG cognitive problem.
I also notice that withdrawl an anxiolytic drug like Clonazepam or Xanax worse also the problem. I never recover at 100% after, now i'm maybe at 10 % of my intellectual capacity...
YEs I can drive a car (my dexterity and my reflexes are very slow). I can read a little bit on the web, but I can't do a long work and I can't focus on something for a long time. Just playing cards games is hard and every time me and my friend want to play the same "game" night after night, I always have to ask him how to play because I forget the rules and things like that...
In fact, it's why I mention in the begining of my post that it's an everyday source of stress for me. Since I stop the university and I don't work, I can't stop thinking about my future and about the fact that I don't know if I will be able to regain all my cognitive ability that I lost over the past few years.
I ask my psychologist yesterday about that and she said that I can ask for a medical paper( reference) to see a neuro-psychologist, He will determinate if my cognitive problems will be permanents or not!!!
At the same time, I have a lot of frustration coming from that cognitive problem. Before I was really fast, I never had to study a lot or do a lot of mental efforts to do a good job at school or in my daily work. Now, I begin a discussion, I try to read or to just follow a discussion and I became lost in the middle, sometimes I can't recall what I was talking about 1 minute before... That's so frustrating!!! I feel lost or in the fog. I was so performant before, so intelligent...now I just feel not usefull, and no , that's not just a symptom of a deep depression...it's really the way I feel...
Remember that my problems is not depression at first but social phobia and general anxiety,panic attacks and also boulimia...since all my problems come from my childhood as a fat kid and about the fact that I had a gastric by-pass because I had morbid obesity...and now I can't stop gaining weight because of the pills I take...at the same time I have a lot of problems because I can't find a lover or having affection or sex, because i'm not able to show my body to someone else, I have extra skin all over my body, being at 445 pounds to 170-180 , now at 220...you can imagine that my body don't look very appealing!!! Ho and i'm gay...and it's hard to find a good looking guy and also and interresting one who is not "superficial" in that "gay world"... I had bad experiences from guys who see me nude and told me that they was not able to do something with someone like me...that's so humiliating, that's hard to get a good self-esteem after that.
All I hope is just to recover my cognitive state that I had before. I have to do my last year of university (probably in the fall of 2009 and winter of 2010) and I want to be able to do exams or team works and oral presentations in front of a jury and others students with a good self-confidence and all the abilities I had before (if you don't count the fact that I had a lot of panic attacks when I was doing an oral presentation...) but I mean that the quality of my works, at school or in my everyday life was top-notch before...
I'm also sometimes frustrated about the doctors who prescribed to me all these drugs...But I the same time, I know he did his job. Having so much frustrations and anxiety about my cognitive impairments is very difficult to handle in my life now. I will have to work on that on therapy I think!!!
I hope my comments can give you some encouragement ;-) I don't want to be negative, that's just my experience, and i'm sure one day I will recover from all that problems...so I'm sure you will do the same!!!
Have a good day and take care of you ;-)
This is the end of the thread.
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