Suddenly cognitive impaired. So scared!

Hi there. Im a 23 year old male. I really need some answers to what could have happened with my brain. I dont know if this should have been posted in the cognitive forums, but ill give it a shot here.

I've been having some issues with depression and anxiety for about 1,5 years now. It started with a panic attack, followed by depersonalization. The depersonalization went away after a while, but replaced with major depression. For this i was treated with cipralex. I quit my cipralex this summer.

About a month ago i started having thoughts about my relationship with my gf. The thoughts was about that i maybe should break it up with her. I got very anxious from this, and it eventually led to severe depression after some days. This thoughts kept bothering me, and i never really made a decision on what to do about my relationship with her. I also got problems with sleep and appetite.

For about two weeks ago i agreed with my doctor to start up on cipralex again. Ok, now here comes what really concerns me. 10 days ago or so, i started to notice some big changes in my cognitive abilities. My memory is very poor. My thinking is extremely fuzzy. I have no sense of time. I cant watch tv, read or do anything that requires attention and processing beacuse my brain just doesnt seem to work anymore. Everything that used to be a simple task can now be very hard to do. Im so scared of this being permanent, and that my brain is damaged. Im no longer functional! To be honest, it feels like some kind of dementia, holy $#%^ that thought is so scary. Im so young got damnit! I feel like my life is over Ive read about some cognitive issues that can come with depression, and also experienced it before, but this is so much more severe! Tomorrow its christmas day, and im not happy about it at all. Im so embarrased of this whole thing, and that someone will notice that somethings not right with me.

For about two weeks ago i agreed with my doctor to start up on cipralex again. Ok, now here comes what really concerns me. 10 days ago or so, i started to notice some big changes in my cognitive abilities. My memory is very poor. My thinking is extremely fuzzy. I have no sense of time. I cant watch tv, read or do anything that requires attention and processing beacuse my brain just doesnt seem to work anymore.

I had clinical depression as a teen. I could not function, could not read, watch TV or talk. It is temporary mine went with the right meds.
I also felt I was in a black tunnel.
It is scary, it will pass.
I might be a good idea to talk to your doc again A.S.A.P

I'm a 27 year old male, and I also started having severe depression about 2 years ago. It didn't start with my first panic attack, but it was then that it became noticeable and got much worse a few months later.

I have also noticed the cognitive impairment in me, and it's really bothering me as well. Did my fair reading about it and discussed it with doctors, and it doesn't seem like something to worry. Though it can get severe and really hurt areas of your life where cognition is a must, it should improve along with the improvement of depression. Get your depression in check, and cognition will return to normal.

Many people claim to have poor concentration, memory and motivation to study when depressed. It is actually expected for a great number of biological and psychological factors. Though in most cases it's just an acute symptom of depression, stress, depression and lack of sleep can cause real changes to your brain and damage some of it, which can cause lasting effects on cognition.

Serotonin based drugs (Cipralex is one of them. SSRI is the main class of drugs used to treat depression and they target serotonin primarily) seem to be the best at improving long term brain damage from stress and depression. Serotonin helps the brain repair existing neurons and promotes neurogenesis, the creation of new neurons, which can in itself improve depression and greatly improve it's cognitive symptoms.

Lithium has also neuroprotective properties. It regulates the levels of glutamate in the brain, reducing it's toxicity to the brain cells, focus serotonin on the hypocampus, which improves memory and emotional regulation, amongst other things. Good thing is, for depression and maintenance of the brain, you can take a low dose of it, which barely has any side effects.

Now, if you absolutely must improve your cognition right away, I would suggest norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (NRI). Norepinephrine is greatly responsible for motivation, alertness and energy. Depressed people often feel a lot of improvement with drugs that increase norepinephrine.
Norepinephrine also promotes the circulation of dopamine in the brain, the neurotransmitter responsible for attention, focus, desire, pleasure, rewarding, learning, etc.. There are drugs that directly increase dopamine (stimulants such as Adderal, Ritalin and dopamine reuptake inhibitors such as Welbutrin), but for depressed people they can be too stimulating and actually generate more anxiety, insomnia and depression.

Note that serotonin causes a natural downregulation of dopamine in the brain, which in turn can cause even more lack of mental focus, difficulty learning, forgetfulness and apathy. SSRIs are the worst drugs when it comes to that.

Also, are you taking sleeping or anxiety pills? Benzodiazepines can be very hard on attention and specially memory.


Hope this post helps you.

You have to tell your doctor!

Have you told your doctor?

If not, go tell your doctor.

I had this reaction to one of the meds I tried. I don't remember which. In fact I don't remember taking it at all; I wouldn't know I had except that it's in my medical records and says I was taken off it because I was having cognitive problems.

So tell your doctor.

twistednerve
Interesting thanks.