Posted by Rick on September 21, 2002, at 19:15:51
In reply to Re: Paxil - Remeron - Clonazepam Social Anxiety » Rick, posted by k23d on September 21, 2002, at 4:25:19
Hi, KD23,
>I'm curious about the memory loss. How pronounced is it? How does it manifest?
First a little disclaimer...My answer to this question is going to be very rambling and maybe hard to follow. I have a hard enough time getting a firm grasp of this issue in my own mind, so trying to give a lucid description here would be too-consuming -- to the extent that I could even succeed if I tried!...
It varies a lot by day. And I don't know how much is due to the clonazepam, vs. typical age-related memory loss vs. inattention/pre-occupation vs. slight residual anxiety vs. some developing memory disorder (I doubt the last one applies -- sure hope not!). But I'm sure it's at least partly the clonazepam, and manifests mainly in sporadic short-term partial-to-full episodic amnesia.
Examples: I participate actively in a meeting, and then the next day -- or even the next hour -- someone says "remember how we talked about doing such-and-such"...and I either have no recollection of it whatsoever, or have to try very hard to remember or find written clues to help bring it back to me.
And one thought instantly knocks another one from my mind, e.g. I tell myself, "Now don't forget to turn out the dome light before you get out of the car," then I notice a book in the car which makes me think of something else and in 5 seconds I forget to turn out the dome light. These things happen over and over and over. And I keep doing really stupid things, e.g., tell myself "now don't forget to set the alarm clock to AM this time instead of PM"...which I diligently do, but then instead forget to press the set-alarm switch! Or at 10 a.m. I leave my boss at work a voice mail question relating to a project I'm spending the whole day on, and at 5 he stops by and says, "you left me a question." And I say, "I did? What about?" ...And this is on a day where I've only spent ten minutes on the phone the whole day, so it's hardly as if I've had a barrage of communications to keep straight. I also just have more trouble remembering events from within the last year, or I may remember bits and pieces but get them all jumbled, or I often remember some inconsequential detail tangential to an event but can't remember the event itself, i.e., "what did that detail relate to?" I.e., I recall tangentials but can't recall the main point. And of course I do the "why did I walk into this room?" and "put the sugar in the freezer" kinds of stuff more than ever. One of the things that bothers me most is forgetting (or having to think REAL hard to recall) the names of people I've been working with very closely as little as two weeks earlier. I forget the names of the stars of a movie I saw just three weeks ago, even though in the past I've always been able to summons up their names instantly when I hadn't seen them in years.
I've always been absent-minded, it's just gotten much worse. Totally forgetting very recent discussions can be a real handicap in many ways, and even sometimes result in arguments where I claim, "I never said that!", but then later, after trying real hard to recall, realize, "Oops, maybe I DID!".
(TOLD YOU that answer would be a rambler! BTW that reminds me of another e.g.: I'll tell myself over and over, "don't send off this post without putting in something about X," but then either completely forget about it 1 minute later OR recall that I was supposed to write something but rack my brains unsuccessfully trying to remember what it could have been.)
> Also, sexually, what effects has it had if any?Klonopin increased my libido some. I get the impression that's uncommon, although not rare. I *may* also have slightly less "stamina" then before, but generally no problem. And I'm one of those guys who has total sexual wipeout on a small dose of an SSRI or Nardil (although I understand from Chad that the Nardil SD tends to resolve after awhile -- I wasn't on it long enough to find out.)
> In response to one of your comments Rick, I've never thought I was depressed although my dad suffers. I've always been ultra positive about almost everything except anxiety.
That's great! While I've always been generally happy and moderately optimistic, I've long been a "worrier" and can't say I'm "ultra positive." I don't think I've ever been even close to depression except once when a loved one died from a rather shocking illness, although even then I doubt it would have been considered clinical Major Depression.
> My psychologist doesn't think I'm depressed but the new psychiatrist said I had "very mild" depressive symptoms.
Some psychs think that, by definition, someone with social phobia is, at the least, dysthmic.
>If anything it was my frustration at not being able deal with the anxiety even with all of the professionals around me.
That's understandable.
> Thanks for the abstract. I've read the full study as well. Have you got a copy of the "Journal of Pychiatry - Emerging Treatments in Social Phobia 2001" It was a bunch of studies all grouped together and included conclusions drawn across the lot. Really good read. I'll dig out a link if I can find it.I do indeed have that useful document, but if you can find the link without too much searching I'm sure others would find it useful, too.
Rick
poster:Rick
thread:120479
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/120643.html