Past medication and memory loss

LegacyUser

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, so feel free to move it if it should be somewhere else.

Basically, for twelve months between the ages of 16 and 17 I was prescribed and took Cipramil, Xanax and Stilnoct (I'm 18 now). Before taking this medication I had no problems with my short-term memory, but in the past few months I've been forgetting about things I've said or done, or was going to do. There have been instances where I've made plans to meet with friends and completely forgotten about them to the extent that I can't actually remember making the plans in the first place, and if you were to ask me on a certain day what I had done a day or two previous, I wouldn't have any recollection.

I was wondering if any other boardsies have experienced the same problems with any of these medications, and if the effects are long-term or not. When this first started happening I was reluctant to see my doctor incase he just put it down to a forgetful personality trait or something, but I've only recently copped that I've only experienced this level of forgetfulness after withdrawl from those particular medications. Of course, it could be totally unrelated to the medication and I could just be a forgetful git after all :rolleyes:

Any help would be appreciated.

Kevster

Hi,

Stilnoct instantly stands-out here because I had a terrible experience taking it: The first night, I ended up not sleeping at all because my heart-beat increased and I had cold sweats. Then, I instantly decided to come off it, and the first night off it I suffered no sleep again, cold sweats, and muscle 'tremors'. As far as I'm asware, Stilnoct is not to be taken longterm at all though. What directions did your doctor give you for it?

Kevin

LegacyUser

Hey,
I didn't experience tremors or cold sweats as such, but at first I was prescribed 10mg, which had no effect at all. I went back to my doctor after a few days and he upped the doseage to 20mg. During the last month or so of me taking it, he recommended dropping the dose back down to 10mg again.

Kevster

Right, but have you actually gone back down to 10mg?; and is there a plan to come off the medication entirely?

locum-motion

Both of you are sailing very close to the wind here as regards asking for and giving medical advice.

cantremember, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about this. Nobody here can offer you any specific advice, and if they do, don't take it because you haven't a clue who they are.

kevster, DO NOT allow any of your posts to slip into offering advice.

I'm going to leave this thread open for discussion in general terms only. Posters may describe their own personal experiences. But asking for and offering specific advice will result in a ban and the closure of this thread.

Thanks,
L-M (Mod)

nesf

From my understanding of it, with mental illness memory problems can become more pronounced in early adulthood after puberty has ended and your mental illness has "matured" so to speak. Can't remember where I read that but it would match my personal experiences anyway with bipolar. My memory did get worse during the 5 years gap between 18 and 23 where I was not on medication. It was strongly correlated with the worsening of my symptoms. It's been stably bad since then really, poor short term memory but it isn't getting any worse and through list making I can remember to do things. Being on a fair chunk of medication these past 5 years hasn't seemed to negatively affect it.