Confusion and disorganized thinking?

[Xila31]

I seem to go in and out of confusion very easily. My mind seems to freeze up and I can't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't seem to figure out how to make this stop. It gets really hard for me to do simple tasks even such as putting papers in order or even putting things alphabetically. For example at work I start getting all of these papers and even just 2 or 3 papers overwhelms amd and suddenly my desk is covered with papers and I don't know what to do with them and all I start crying. I have had this trouble with numbers my whole life, getting them confused, but it seems to be spreading into other parts of my thinking. I find myself forgetting how to spell simple words, remember dates, or even just to get anything done. It seems to come and go but happens at least everyday. I have trouble concentrating, my mind is always slipping away into random thoughts that sometimes become repetative to the point that I just pace around and around in circles arguing with myself. Also it gets harder for me to dial phone numbers all of the time. Sometimes it takes me 4 to 5 tries to dial a phone number, especially if it has a 3 or a 9 in the number and then even worse if it has both.

Does anyone else have these problems? Do you have any strategies for them? It seems a lot of non-bipolar people have strategies for them for me, but none of them work because I get confused so suddenly and without warning. It is just exhausting. I am hoping to get myself hydrated enough to start taking my lithium again. I have just been so sick with lots of vomiting for months (caused by sickness, not lithium,) so it was advised I not take it until I was better. I'm hoping to get better soon. >.< Either that or get better financially and maybe try another medicine.

[shawn12]

I have this very same thing!  I can't make out what the thoughts are about.

[maureen820]

Oh, dear. I am very scared about this because it is a new symptom and I
don't know who to talk to. I find I have to look at my appointment book over and over again because I can't remember when and where I am supposed to be at a certain time. I even get the days mixed up, even though the events are important. Also, I cannot sort out my home life, leaving a mess everywhere and being unable to put it together. I have papers relating to this and papers relating to that and it seems impossible to put them in order. I think this is caused by stress and being overwhelmed in my case because I take on far too much then can't fulfill the plans I have made. I also have the problem with telephone conversations like one of your contributors. I cannot read a telephone number and transfer the figures to the telephone because I cannot remember them from one place to another. I realize this disorganized thought is part of schizophrenia and I worry a lot that my bipolar diagnosis is wrong. I take Depakote and Lamictal and refuse to let my doctor change my meds because I do not trust her competence. Now I am thinking I may have to let her intervene.  

[NotALICE]

My advice would be to go to the ER if you feel suicidal. I went through extreme confusion during mania. I didn't even know I was manic at the time - I was even worried that maybe I'd had a stroke, even though I was being treated for depression. (41yo female). It turned out to be Bipolar Disorder. I had been misdiagnosed, which is common. I ended up in antidepressant fueled acute mania, and my Dr did want me to go to the ER. I wasn't suicidal, but I was a wreck. I went, and left after 5 hours (waiting to be seen). It worked out for me after med adjustment from my GP, but leaving the ER was not the wisest decision.  

Extreme confusion is scary but I get relief from 1) staying on my meds 2) knowing I'm not the only one who experienced it

[doingthehoo]

i been surfing all over the internet to find more information extreme confusion. thoughts are racing and smashing into eachother and i cant comprehend what the thoughts are about. its what i call 'thought anarchy' because its chaotic in there. its gotten so bad that i have seriously considered killing myself.

[wallyjacks69]

I am 65 and started started these same symptons, 8 years ago-looking back-right after post tramma cituation on job. but still can't get it together, have not had counceling in 3 years, do to insurance cituation-disability. this stinks

[Xila31]

Thank you all for your advice. I understand what you're all saying. I have all of these problems. I also can't seem to get things done the way I used to. Just from last year to this year I am really having trouble. The problem is right now I have no money to go to the doctor. I was really praying that there would be some good news with this health care reform thing, but it seems the reform isn't going to do anything to help people like me. -.-

Anyway, I will go see my doctor, the question is just when I can afford it. Right now I owe so much money for past visits, funny thing is I have insurance and I do't qualify for any assistance. Ha. Rock and a hard place, you know. :( I'm just trying to figure out what to do until then.

[Alex_X_18]

I have these problems to mostly the one where I become very easily distracted or disorganised....sometimes are worse than others. Sometimes I cannot foucus for longer thaneven 2-3 minutes before taking a break.

.......however I don't start becoming confued until I become full blown manic or start to have higher stage mania or paranoia .Things don't always register right away,
like words, phrases, or adrresses, when I read them they just look unfamilar or strange. I feel like I can read (although sometimes I struggling with reading things in this state as well)  but can't absorb the information from what I am reading or deffer meaning from the context. I also sometimes have a hard time reading body language and facial expressions;
or even diffrentating the tone in peoples voices to interpret what they mena literaly.

I have enough energy to do what I need to do, but I can't follwing simple steps or directions, and thats when I start doing these imcomplete tasks or strange things.
Like I guess for an example one time, I was trying to clean my room I kept make piles of stuff thinking I was organising. The thing is I oviously wasn't, and durring my cleaning
raid I managed to loose my dibetic medication and wound up getting real sick.....

as for adive on how to fix this,.....
I would advise going back to your doctor and telling him or her about all this
thats what I always did and its alwasys seemed to work for me.

[hell1971]

This is exactly how I was when I was at my sickest, I was in a mixed state and I seem to have lost the ability to organise anything, I am in finance and I could no longer add up, enter data, all my words became mixed up, it was very frustrating, I am better now and this ability has come back, the only problem I have now is my memory has not recoverred to the pre sickness state. I also during this tome saw things like shadows out of the corner of my eye ect.. I am bpII. It sounds all too familier, I was ultradian rapid cycling in a mixed state at the time. perhaps its time to get to a doctor as soon as possible.

[Xila31]

I am wondering about this because my cousin (2nd cousin on my dad's side,) does have schizophrenia. I am looking forward to seeinga psychiatrist next year to perhaps discuss some of the issues I had in the past. I don't see or hear things at this time, except maybe darting shadows now and then out of the corner of my eye. I used to hear phones, though, that were not real. And my paranoid delusions, also. I don't think I have schizophrenia really, but other things going on that I need help with. My biggest fear is it is affecting my work.

[ILADVOCATE]

I do know when a person is manic their thought process becomes disorganized. It happenned to me before recovery but more because of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia which many of the atypical antipsychotics (Risperdal onwards) helped on. It would be worthwhile to speak to your psychiatrist about. I know Lamictal helped me with rapid cycling and mixed states but every person reacts differently to every medication.