Posted by JGalt on November 2, 2001, at 14:12:26
In reply to cognitive decline, posted by jn on November 2, 2001, at 0:07:01
I don't know that I have much advice for you, but I can certainly relate to your experience. I used to get this same feeling after milder drug use than you described. It became as though very few connections/associations existed between people/places/things and thus I didn't really feel able to follow thought processes or conversations. I felt that my mind was constantly deteriorating as well. However, I no longer believe that is/was true. It just took a little while drug free to regain this. While in your case this may take a while longer due to the extent of your drug abuse, I still think it is probably the case that you will recover most of your original function. I tried numerous nutritional and drug approaches to solve the problem, some seemed to help, some didn't.
The one thing that seemed to help the most was a combination of "smart drugs" known as "huperzine-A " (that u may be a y, I'm not sure) and "vinpocetine" in the amounts of 10microgram and 10milligrams, respecitvely. It is far from a cureall but it is the only thing besides time that seemed to help all that much. Of course, stimulants such as adderal and ritalin help too, but they seem to burnout for their positive memory effects rather quickly (maybe not for long if JohnX2's research is correct). Many other drugs which are supposed to increase memory exist but those are the only two that worked significantly for me. Experiment as you would like if you so choose with the others.
Another thing to try is learning a new skill or doing one that you used to do. Math, science, whatever, type of problems...these usually serve to build confidence once you learn/relearn them, which is another thing that drug abuse lowers and contributes to the memory less effect (part of the reason depressed people usually score a lot lower on memory tests yet improve significantly once the depression is lifted or they get a good dose of adderal).
Hope this helps,
JGalt
poster:JGalt
thread:82942
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011025/msgs/82993.html