Seroquel and Memory Loss?

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone had any memory loss as a result of taking seroquel? especially short-term memory?

I didn't think much of it before but have been on seroquel for about 3 years now - 700mg at the moment and have started noticing my memory is getting more and more shocking - especially for short-term things like, someone will say ' what was the name of the movie you watched last night?" and i will have no idea.

This is especially distressing as i am trying to do university at the moment.

I have read that Seroquel can cause memory loss.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this?

Cheers guys

Wow this is rather disheartening . I have been taking seroquel for nearly 1 year , but i have yet to have any memory problems. I would hope memory problems do not happen to me. Has this been gradual? or has it been a sudden change?

Hi Bipolar Musician,

I'm sorry if i freaked you out. I don't know that it happens to everyone.

I thought it was a sudden change but when i look back i think my memory has been gradually getting worse the longer im on it. Also depends on the dosage i think like other side effects such as loss of brain tissue. That one worries me too.

Sorry if i wasn't much help.

Cheers

I have been on Seroquel for about 4 years at various doses. I have noticeable loss of short term memory, I suspect, as a result of it. It may be that the combination of meds I am taking is making it worse. I have no doubt however that Seroquel has affected my memory. I recently had ECT which gave me a double wammy, memory wise

I’ve been on Seroquel since Sept ’12 and have definitely experienced some noticeable deterioration in my memory in that time. For me, I feel that this ties in with the way it dulls me and makes me a lot less ‘sharper’ cognitively.

At one point I was on 500mg but have been slowly tapering down and I’m now on 50mg. I can’t say I’ve felt much improvement in my memory throughout this gradual reduction though. Lists and reminders are my friends, lol!

It’s something to bring up with your psychiatrist and see what their advice is, as I can imagine how upsetting this is if you’re trying to study at the same time.

I have taken Seroquel XR before, and I would wake up in the morning, and If someone talked to me, I would mentally be focusing on waking up or thinking about going back to sleep. I would not even remember what people would tell me at these times. I would sit on my bed, and try to remember what people were telling me, such as important appointments, and what not.
It is totally frustrating, and it sounds like this may be a common side effect of Seroquel.
Sorry guys, maybe another drug wouldn't do this?
Talk to your psychiatrist about maybe trying or finding another drug to treat your bipolar disorder.

*mod edit*

Honestly, my memory has largely improved since i have been on serroquel. I have heard of similar effects people had when they had switched to other medications, different people have different reactions to medication. I have no memory problems at the moment, my memory is actually the best it has been for quite a while.

lol i am going to exercise my memory extra hard now

bipolarmusician wrote:Honestly, my memory has largely improved since i have been on serroquel.

WANT

My memory has been shot to pieces by moclobemide. I tend to recall things happened somewhere in the past, but not when or in what order

the only issue I have with seroquel is weight gain. My pdoc is switching me to ablify and back on to ambien for sleep.

Hi guy,

I've been on seroquel on and off since 2006. However it was only in the last 4 years that I've been on it a lot.

The highest dose I've taken is 200mg for the last 3 months but generally been on a 100 - 150mg dose for the last four years with one six month break where I took olanzapine.

There is not doubt at all in my mind that seroquel causes deterioration in memory, however I think a lot is dependent upon a) how good your memory was and b) what type of memory you have.

I have suffered from awful sleeping problems for the last 10 years and in some ways seroquel can make it worse but I also think that taking seroquel when sleep deprived might pose a greater risk to your memory than if you weren't

The reason I say this is because of the way that I get to sleep naturally. Generally speaking I get to sleep by activating the visual part of my mind (elaborate counting sheep perhaps) and this is absent with seroquel, seroquel literally just knocks you out. Sleep and memory are hugely related to each other and I feel that given the effect seroquel has in sleep it seems logical that it would affect memory, as it must disrupt the pattern of sleep.

Personally I was always very lucky to have an eidetic memory which at times would be unbelievably precise. For example, I could leave it a few weeks without using my credit card, and when I needed to use it I could read the digits off in my mind as the 'fabric of it' a picture of whatever was in my head.

Seroquel has ruined my eidetic memory which has really upset me. What's more, once in a sleep deprived state, I can find it very hard to get a full nights sleep if I take seroquel. It almost locks me into a sleep deprived state for weeks, it's really horrible but its the only medication which I've found has brought me any real relief from my other symptoms.

I reckon the reason my eidetic memory has been so damaged lies in how I drift off to sleep on it. When you're really sleep deprived and don't take seroquel, your body will literally kick forward in a vicious way when you manage to tap into that visual field. Seroquel just seems to bypass it whichI don't think is healthy at all.

I don't mean to freak anyone out here. If seroquel works for you then don't worry about this stuff, especially if you don't have a photographic memory.

If you're getting quite old though you may want to take a different med as it can make people with dementia worse and I suspect the dementia itself if all my memory ramblings are to be believed.