anyone know if you can recover from severe memory impairment from benzos and eff

[[Ru...]]

I seem to have severe cog and memory impairments right now as well as severe brain fog and it seems to be getting worse and I don't know what to do. Does anyone know if effexor xr or benzos can cause such horrible and permenant impairments. I never had memory impairments while on effexor xr but after a year of being off it am really worried that somehow being off it has caused this as if my brain can't function now without it. Does anyone know if this is possible with effexor xr? Has anyone else taken it long term and then gotten off and been ok. Also can benzo wd cause such horrid brain fog , confusion and memory impairment , is this normal for wd and will memory or cognition ever return to normal once off?

[[Ru...]]

Ok so I am wondering too that if I have had windows where all these impairments go away or almost go even for up to 3 weeks at a time does this mean it is not permenant otherwise I would never have windows where it lifted?  Alos I quit taking effexor in april 2011 and was not nearly this impaired. Until I starrted tapering ativan in june. I was always impaired on ativan but not this bad why is it this bad now feel like I don't even know what I am doing has anyone else been this bad and gotten better. Even last weekend I had a window and didn't feel nearly this impaired. Its horrible

[[of...]]

Hi Ruby,  yes benzo withdrawal can very much be the cause of memory impairment,  it's very comman.

 

If you are tapering ativan I am not surprised at all that you are dealing with it.  It's also comman for this syptom to come and go as you move along in your taper.

 

I hope this helps.  zoe

[[iz...]]

I am dealing with the same issue right now at 6 MONTHS out.  It really messes with your head at times. 

[[Ru...]]

I am just so scared though cause I feel so incredibly confused that I don't even know what I am doing and my brain is so messed I can't even read or write or figure out what others are saying to me or barly talk. I look at an object like a pen but my brain thinks up a diff word for it I can't remember from second to second I constantly loose my train of thought and feel like I am constantly so confused that I don't even know what I am doing this is insane and so scarry I feel my brain is so fried there must be something horribly wrong with it. I can't even explain in words how confused I feel it is almost to the point of delerium. Has anyone else ever felt this horribly confused and impaired. Will this ever go away or am I screwed for life.

[[Ru...]]

Please has anyone else ever felt this impaired from wd or is there probably something else wrong with me . Could this be permenant. I am also having severe anxiety too can severe anxiety make you feel really confused?

[[Ru...]]

What I also don't understand is that after I cut these sx seem to lift a bit for about a week and then get worse as I hold longer. I still wonder though if I am just cuTting to big to fast and am suffering severly while my brain is trying to catch up. Have others had such severe sx? And could cuTting again but a much smaller amount help? I feel I am totally loosing it

[[Ru...]]

Is there no one else who has felt this confused and impaired and out of their head with anxiety. Please help I am wondering if I need to go to the hospital and I need some reassurance that this is normal in wd?can panic make you feel this confused and out of it?

[[Ru...]]

Anyone felt this way?

[[ba...]]

I to feel this  way  this  way< yesterday  was  a good  day  today  is  awlful  cog  fog  all the  symptoms  are  bad, it  is nothing  more  than  w/d  this  to will pass  it is what it  is< and  will end  when it ends. you  be  fine

[[Ru...]]

Hey Brando how much does it impair you do you feel so confused and out of it that you walk from room to room confused about what you are even doing, have trouble reading and writing and speaking and literally like any task is confusing even going from room to room is confusing even just walking and putting one foot in front of the other is confusing we are talking extreme confusion and dp almost like delirium are you ever this bad? Do you have extreme panic with it?

[[of...]]

I am just so scared though cause I feel so incredibly confused that I don't even know what I am doing and my brain is so messed I can't even read or write or figure out what others are saying to me or barly talk. I look at an object like a pen but my brain thinks up a diff word for it I can't remember from second to second I constantly loose my train of thought and feel like I am constantly so confused that I don't even know what I am doing this is insane and so scarry I feel my brain is so fried there must be something horribly wrong with it. I can't even explain in words how confused I feel it is almost to the point of delerium. Has anyone else ever felt this horribly confused and impaired. Will this ever go away or am I screwed for life.

 

Hi Ruby,  you are doing very well explaning how confused you feel.  Believe me,  I felt the same way.  It will go away,  once you are off and the healing is happening.  You are not screwed for life. 

 

If you feel you are cutting too fast, then slow it down,  take a couple of weeks off from cutting, it may help. 

 

All of us feel this way,  it feels like our brains will never recover, but they do.  It's going to be alright. 

 

zoe xo

[[ba...]]

ruby 12  you hit  my  symptoms right on  got  all the  symptoms  you  just  mentined  it  sucks  but this  to  will pass  bando 

[[Ru...]]

You really felt this totally confused to Zoe? Literally like the whole world was one big confusing black hole of chaos and nothing made any sence your brain was firing so improper ally ? We're you terrified ? This is like mind blowing confusion. If I have had times before where it wasn't this bad is that a sign that it is not permenant?

[[Ru...]]

Hey Brando thanks for the reply that does help , does it scare the crap out of you feeling this way since it is so incredibly strange, do you also feel like you can't remember anything work crap. I forget what someone told me even like 5 mins ago

[[ch...]]

I don't have the same medical history as you but I have taken ativan for some time, a short amount of time even, and noticed that my memory is fairly poor as well. Even now as I try to recollect what I've done in the past week, it is extremely difficult. Or perhaps in the last 12 hours -- I can't seem to place activities with time. It would take me a few minutes to piece together this information. I can say that I know I went somewhere, like to my cousin's house, but I wouldnt remember which day it was. Yesterday is completely fuzzy to me, but I can pick up on some things like the fact that I was watching a few shows on tv etc. Sometimes when I try to recollect memories I misplace the order, and that can be a little frustrating.

 

I know you must be incredibly panicked right now and I am really sorry. You say that you're having trouble reading or writing but you ARE making sense in what you write-you must be feeling extremely scared but realize that you ARE reading, you ARE writing. you ARE understanding these words. Realize this and take comfort in that. It may take a little longer than normal but always realize that you are taking drugs that mess with neurotransmitters, and that it is the DRUG, and not you. You are not screwed for life.

 

When the healing begins and progresses, your cognitive functioning will get better. The cog fog and confusion will subside, even if it happens slowly. Hold on and be strong, you can do this!

 

*hugs*

 

Chantillie

 

[[ch...]]

Also some further elaboration..

 

If you were to ask me what someone was talking to me about earlier today, I could remember a few things. But ask me about yesterday..and...total blank. It's like I'm living a new slate everyday, in a sense. I remember early in my CT, I forgot how to turn on a blowdryer. I stood infront of a mirror looking for the button and simply wasn't sure what I was doing, for five minutes. The first time this happened to me, I was terrified and had severe anxiety about it. Sometimes I walked into rooms forgetting what I was intending to do there and end up doing things that I didn't even think about doing in the first place.

 

Sometimes when I talk to others, I forget the right words to use to express myself. I was all about communication in the past..now, not so much (but it is getting better). I forgot the word "dilating" yesterday and had to look it up on google (atleast i remember this!). Then theres the derealization and depersonalization that makes memory impairment all the more harder. Not only do you forget things, you start feeling like you're not even yourself, or you don't even belong in the world. It's a very isolating feeling, I know..but again. All of it is the drug. As unbelievable as that sounds. And okay, it also has to do with the increased stress + anxiety and probably sleeplessness that is occurring..but again, all because of the drug.

 

Please dont feel alone in this. I promise you that although I know I don't have a huge history with benzos and other medication, I do have an inkling of understanding of what you must feel like. And there are countless others who have posted about this too that are probably more likely to be directly "in your shoes", but this will end. it WILL definitely pass.

 

Chantillie

[[Pa...]]

Ruby you're not alone. I'm a year off paxil (rapid taper) and a month off Xanax (rapid taper). I was on both drugs for 2-3 years so I was not a short term user. My memory and cognition is HORRIBLE. I can hardly recall the previous day, and actually for a period of time during my taper I couldn't even do that. My long term and short term memory is shot. I feel as though I have partial amnesia. The combination of memory loss and dp/dr has completely destroyed my sense of self. Even looking in the mirror I feel lost, like I can't remember what I'm suppose to look like, it's very disturbing. I still have the feeling of being in a walking coma, though maybe less intense than it was a month ago. In my experience with SSRI wd, the paxil didn't leave me feeling like a stroke victim. However the Xanax has. I thought wd couldn't get any worse than paxil and perhaps if I had not gone off both drugs so close together maybe the Xanax wouldnt have been so bad. Regardless I just wanted to reassure you that I know how you feel.

[[Ru...]]

Hi guys thanks so much for all your kind words of encouragement it does sound like you understand how I am feeling and yes I think it is a combo of the dp and dr and cog fog which makes memory impairment so much worse and it is terrifying. Chantillie I have done the same thing all day just stared at objects not even knowing what to do with them. And I can totally relate to everything you said panic it is so scary feeling this way. The scarriest part is that I can go for weeks at a time feeling this way and do feel sometimes like I also have amnesia and yes the walking coma too it is like being so drugged you are practically tripping out its insane. Do you also get really confused panic? And yes I also have no sence of self at the moment feel like I had a brain transplant. I don't recognize myself either thanks guys oh and panic do you feel this way all the time?

[[Ga...]]

I am dealing with the same issue right now at 6 MONTHS out.  It really messes with your head at times.

 

Me, too!

I hope my memory comes back and I can remember what words I meant to say. Its so frustrating in the meantime, I take alot of notes!

[[Pa...]]

Yes I feel this way all the time. I haven't experienced a window since I jumped over a month ago. Some symptoms have lessened in severity but no windows. I had several solid windows during my ten week taper.

[[Ru...]]

Hey guys it also scares me that I have been slow tapering under 10% every 2 weeks and I still feel this bad I was on 7 mgs back in June 2011now down to 1.25 so I don't know if that is fast enough to have caused such severe sx I was also feeling less impaired a while back when my cuts were at around 5 to 7 percent just wondering if this severity of sx is normal for slow taper. I guess it is normal to feel this out of it and confused and anxious? Seems to have subsided a tiny bit for now. Also took rameron 3 times this week and wondering if that is making it worse. Also have constant obsessive thoughts. I hate this and feel like my brain is so full of lie I can't even figure out the truth anymore. So messed in the head from all the obsessive thoughts

 

[[Ru...]]

Hey panic how long did you taper for and from what dose.

[[Ru...]]

Hey grad thanks for the reply as well

[[Pa...]]

I did a ten week direct taper by dry cutting Xanax. I tapered from .5mg. I took Xanax everynight for three years. My first cut was by half (I was not benzowise at the time). I wasn't aware that a 50% cut was so drastic given I was only what was considered a "small dose" by my doctor.