Memory after Oxy?

A first of many questions, but I'm new to participating and being a patient (no pun intended) individual - I'll start with just one concern. Memory/concentration lapse is common for folks with Lupus & Fibromyalgia....but it seems completely annihilated since the downward spiral of Oxycontin. Are there any folks recovered from Oxy that have found their memory (concentration, droppsies) has come back? It's one of the reasons I'm so desparate to get weaned off so bad.....the memory lapses can be so scary. Is this even a side-effect of oxy? PLEASE HELP/advise. Thanks so much.

[Sis1]

I have a terrible memory, I've done plenty of Oxy's but they are too expensive for me to do all the time. I think it might have something to do with abusing opiates ingeneral. I went to the doctors recently & gave him some symptoms I've been having. Loss of memory was actually one of them. Sometimes I can't even remember what I did yesterday. He preformed some blood tests, all of which came back negative. But I have another appointment this Tuesday & I'm going to stress the memory thing to him. It really get's annoying! I'll let you know what he has to say. How bad is your memory Elleah, you just forget little things or does it cause a serious problem for you? -Sis

[Elleah]

Thank you so much for responding...the memory is so bad sometimes I'll be driving and forget where I'm going (for a minute), but it'll be things like I'm watching a celebrity show and I can't think of ONE person's name (Like Brad Pitt or Barbara streisand, people I knew like my own name) or even people I know. I forget to return important phone calls, put the cereal box in the dish washer without thinking. Quite frankly there are a million things but I CAN't even think of what they are. Perhaps as I think of them, I'll jot them down and then let you know. I would SO VERY MUCH appreciate if you could convey any info after your appointment. You're a gem! Another forgetful thing is "words"......I know what I want to say and I just can't express the words (and English is my major in life as well as communications via customer service and account management). It's been a long time since I've been able to even work at what I worked in life to do. The memory, lack of concentration and pain have robbed me significantly. I know my conditions are memory-conditioned, but nothing like its been with the oxys. Is it illness/or medication? Is my illness worsening? Gosh, you have no idea how great it is to "talk" to someone who understands. I'll be excited to hear back. Thanks so much again......and all the best to you.....E

[Jack O Trades]

When I quit Oxy(codine) originally, I had short term memory problems and stuttering problems.  I was told by the therapist I was seeing at the time that this was normal and would go away.  Eventually, they did.

Hope this helps.

Good luck to you

"Jack"

[peaz]

Hi. I've been hangin' around, learning and reading and found a topic that struck a cord w/ me:MEMORY LOSS/CONFUSION!!!! I have been sober off of hydros and booze for going on nine months now, and I  recently went back to work. (I'm a DJ at a small radio station).  The job is  a multi-tasking nightmare--I feel overwhelmed much of the time. Jesus Christ--one time I cued the mike to talk and my my went totally blank!!  I was a blithering idiot on the air w/ countless listeners!!!  But I find it hard to concentrate  and think of names, too.  I'm perimenopauseal and these are characteristics of that condition, too, so is it the drug use or my age that's affecting me???   I just feel stupid, and I used to be so eloquent (Enflish major, too).  I truly hope this goes away!!   Please say there's hope.....

[Elleah]

Thanks for your input....you've given me hope that when this has run its course out of me, I could actually be me again. Here's where patience could be a virtue. I hope Peaz gets back on as well with the memory.....it could be hormones? I know they've escaped me since the oxy thing, so it could be related to the perimenopause as well. Off of oxy....get the hormones back on track.....sounds like I may have real hope here. Thanks very kindly. Best to you all!

[AlexisInTx]

Hi, Elleah.  Oh, can I relate, but I suffered from short (and long at times) term memory loss when taking Norco's.  I would be talking with my husband and just forget a word (English was my major!), then another and another.  I felt as if I may just be developing Alzheimer's at the age of 35 :), but this never happened before taking the pain meds regularly, so I attribute it to that.

The brain is an amazingly resilient organ, and I think that this short term problem is completley reversible.  I haven't taken any Norco's for about a week now (I had only taken a couple pills early last week after being clean for 3 months) and have noticed that I'm not having problems remembering events/words, etc. anymore.  My husband and I are also taking Deprenyl, which supposedly helps with memory/attention span in addition to a couple of other positive side effects - we both are really impressed with the results thus far and we're hopeful there is  merit to its' claims.

About being perimenopausal, I never thought about memory being affected because of this, but I guess that could also be something to do with it.  Just another wonderful side effect of being a woman!

[Elleah]

Wow you sound right on with where I was going....I was thinking Alzheimer's at 35 too! And your improvement gives me great hope.....by the by, what is Deprenyl? Is it over the counter? Sounds like something that could be useful to me...thanks so much

[AlexisInTx]

Deprenyl is actually one med used to treat Parkinson's disease (but at larger doses than I take -- 10 mg. or higher -- I take about 1-2 mg. daily).  It's a MAO-B inhibitor, and used to increase memory and supposedly protects against DNA damage.  There is quite a bit of information on Deprenyl, but so much of it doesn't cover what it really does in layman's terms (a bunch of scientific explanations I don't quite understand), but it's main purpose is anti-aging and brain boosting/cognitive function.  

I buy mine online, it's not a scheduled or controlled substance, but I haven't found it being sold at GNC yet.  There are quite a few other 'smart drugs' out there too, and have been doing a little research on them.  Here are some articles I pulled up about it:

http://www.selegiline.com/
http://www.lef.org/prod_hp/abstracts/deprenylabs.html
http://www.selegiline.com/abuseliability.html
http://www.selegiline.com/park.html

Deprenyl has no physical effect after taking it (at 1 mg.), it's only effects for me are really subtle, like gradually noticing that your concentration is improving, that you can remember that incident a couple of years ago that you totally forgot about, catching onto a Visual Basic macro function that before I had no clue (like learning another language), etc.  I know it's also touted as a libido enhancer :), but haven't noticed that one yet.  

My husband had been reading about this for years and finally decided to order some and that's when I decided to start taking it with him.  Like I said, it's effects are really subtle, but they are definitely there.  I also am taking the recipe (1000 mg. of tyrosine with B6 in the a.m. and all of the multi-vitamins/minerals) and don't want to be taking too many supplements, I like to be able to be as natural as possible after all of this (being free and clear of opiates physically and mentally) is said and done and don't want to suggest adding something like Deprenyl that is not really well known without a lot of reading involved.  

Take care, and I hope this helps. :)

[Sis1]

Well, Nothing important happened at my doctors appointment. But after reading the replies to your post I saw a lot of people that seem to have the same symptoms I do. I get my words mixed up all the time and I definitely never use to do that. I don't know if the memory and speech problems are directly related to abusing opiates, but maybe there's something on the web, my doctors never give me straight answers on anything, so I'm sorry I couldn't help you more. As for me, I'm on my last Vicodin which is going to result in me being one witchy women until I get more, so I won't be back until I do! Unfortunately the last thing I wanna hear about is drugs when I don't have them! I'll find a way to get something, I'm just now starting to see the effects of withdrawals and I'm NOT ready to deal with them. I wish you luck Elleah, if you find any info about the memory or speech impediments, please let me know?

[Elleah]

Thanks for your responses. Sis, I'm sorry your appt. didn't go well and I'm very sorry you'll be struggling with w/d's. Wish there was a way I could help. Just communicating with me is a help----thanks so much for being here. Alexis, thanks for the info. on the deprenyl and the other smart drugs. I know what you mean about wanting to be natural.....gosh I long for that day...however, anything that can motivate my brain to start working again-even if in subtle ways-is sure worth it...thanks so much, I wish you and SIS the very best.