ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Cognitive/Emotional Issues => Topic started by: Captain Deb on September 28, 2008, 01:12:16 pm
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I'm not sure if my lack of concentration is from the meds I take for headache and depression (Neurontin, Topamax, Celexa) or they are a result of my mid-fossa surgery 5 years ago. I'm thinking both. It is so bad that it is one of the issues that lead to my qualifying for Disability Benefits and thank God, Medicare. I used to be able to crank out a large landcape painting in 2 weeks and now a medium sized one takes months.
You should see me clean house. I start in the bathroom, and then I go to the kitchen to get something and get sidetracked doing something there and forget about the bathroom, and on and on........... and the house stays a wreck!
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)
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hehe Capt Deb, I do the same...get side tracked and I havent had any treatment as of yet!!!!...I believe its called multi tasking...lol...but then nothing ever gets done... ;)
JO
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Darn, I wondered why I never get my house done! Now I know and I can tell my husband it isn't my fault!!
Brenda
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Captain Deb,
Medications can absolutely cause concentration problems. I was on Carbatrol (an anti-seizure medication) to try to control my hemifacial spasm. It made me forget words in mid-sentence -- not good for a writer. I told my neurologist about it and he insisted it was not caused by the medication. I told my friends about it and they just laughed at me and told me I was getting older. I KNEW it was the medication, and after my surgery when I discontinued the Carbatrol, the problem went away. Turns out I was right after all! Imagine that.
Before the Carbatrol I was on a series of other medications, including both Neurontin and Topamax. Each of them caused me some brain fog, but Carbatrol was definitely the worst.
Sara
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In my opinion, and it is only that, I went off all of my meds for three months, a really dumb move, but I was tired of being tied to the bottled, so to speak. My brain was still foggy and confused and I couldn't remember things that are a little easier with the meds. I take 120 mg Cymbalta, 120 mg Straterra, 200 Topomax, 2.5 Premarin, and a host of other things for lymph edema and of course my Lipitor. I started back on the junk a couple of weeks ago and slowly eased back into it, slowly upping the dosage under the doc's supervision and am doing much better. Brain is still in a fog, but at least it is a semi happy fog!
Brenda
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Before a head ache gets here I lose concentration ... reading a book I can read the words but sometimes
they don't stay in my head to be processed into thoughts...I even tried reading out loud to the kids when
this was happening and they said I read fine and they followed the story ... but I could remember only bits and
peices... if I am rested I can pick up a book and read it fast and get every word... but on bad days they
seem to be written in a foreign language...listening to TV or someone talking to me can be the same way at
times ...I here but don't process... this may be cognitive rather than concentration ...fine lines
aside from the headaches that come on from a sneeze ,bending over startling etc I can gage when I am
going to get headache by watching if I am functioning as far as concentration
I start with my bathroom and may not make it to kitchen because I get distracted by a basket of clotes... put
wash on washer and go look in the dryer for it and it will still be in the washer even though I think I put it in dryer ...
sweep the house and go back to the bathroom which is already clean and the only room that is done and try
to figure out when it got that way
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Soundy, you and I have the same syndrome. I'll be watching the news and my husband will get a phone call for 2 minutes and he'll come back in and ask me "what did I miss," and if I have an inkling of a headache, I'll answer, "I have no idea!" The problem is that when I'm cleaning the house or doing any activity, I always have a low grade headache no matter what, and that always blows my concentration. I got my nerve block on Thursday and it hurt like hell for 2 days and then on Monday I cleaned like a banshee!
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)
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The only time since surgery I have been headache free is the couple days at the beginning of
August when I fell and was doped up with Demerol ...
This will sound strange ...or here maybe not ... I am getting so used to always having a headache that
for most part I work through it ...just slower than I used to be ... but when it gets worse , a part of my brain
shuts down to deal with ignoring or maybe just pushing back head pain and in the process I lose
concentration as my brain is busy keeping my head from completely over taking my day... this is my theory
anyway... I have lots of theories to explain weird life after AN stuff... like surgically induced tourettes that makes
me say S**T and D**N several times a day ... :)
since I was maybe 5 or 6 I have dealt with pain by ohming... concentrating on the pain and imagining a hand
rubbing it away... head and tooth ache pain were two I could never master... don't know where I learned this ..
I think mainly because I was not so much neglected just not paid overly much attention even as a young child
and I learned to comfort myself...I think my brain goes back to this and does shut down to some extent to
cope and in doing so I get foggy... when I used to ohm away belly aches or pain of a bruised knee I got foggy...
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Bloke claims that once I start a topic of discussion with others... then the conversations continue, I will (once in a while) go completely off-topic and start a new conversation when the first one hasn't ended... for those of you I have spoken to on the phone or face to face.... you see that in me too?
Phyl
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Jeez, Phyll, ya think?
Love ya!
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)
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Bloke claims that once I start a topic of discussion with others... then the conversations continue, I will (once in a while) go completely off-topic and start a new conversation when the first one hasn't ended... for those of you I have spoken to on the phone or face to face.... you see that in me too?
Phyl
I do that and it confuses people ...I lose them in conversations ... people I am around alot are kinda used to it
now and fix things I screw up ... my kids tell me ... "Mom you're having a duh moment "
Gets funny when I return to a subject that me and Joe were talking about this morning only now I am talking to Tom and
poor Tom has no idea why we were discussing how many pounds of BBQ we need for Fall Festival Dinner and
suddenly he is told about the Tennessee Bean Bag chair and check that need to be picked up this afternoon
when he thought Joe was in charge of that ... and Joe is headed off across the county to do what George
was gonna do because I had talked to George the night before and then picked up the conversation with Joe today
and he thinks he is now George ... and we ain't seen Harry in months :o
Lets just say I can muddle up things ... :)
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yup-yup!Toady i am signing papers & my sis calls so i talk for about 10 min than i go to look for papers.....Gone.....took me an hour of looking every where.Last week i lose my reading glasses look everywhere....they are on top of entertainment center in the middle of the living room... 3 days looked everywhere but every time i started looking for them i would forget i was looking for them& do something else...hmm
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So glad I'm not alone ;D My sons are ready to commit me some days. Got to laugh ladies and gents, its the nature of the beast I'm afraid ;)
Anne Marie
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UGHHH....THIS IS SOOO ME.
I CANNOT HOLD A THOUGHT....OR REMEMBER WHAT I DID 10 MINUTES AGO...
SOMETIMES MY SPEECH...WELL ITS LIKE I CANT GET THE RIGHT WORD OUT....I DONT KNOW....ITS HAPPENED FOR OVER A YEAR NOW....?
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I just want to say. DonnaLynn has a great website listed below. It was so helpful for me. I do have the concentration issues and many others this article EXPLAINS! I think it is great for family members also to help understand the REASON you are dealing with the many physical and emotional symptoms.
Take care all!
Mary 8)
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Great read, Donnalynn, thank you. My vestibular function has been fine (they didn't cut the nerve, just moved it) and besides, I've always had bad balance. I wonder if even the event of the surgery is enough to cause some damage. I'm looking for a good reason why my concentration isn't what it should be. Or perhaps I'm grasping at straws....
Marci
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Has anyone seen Oprah today or watching it now? A brain scientist lady who had a stroke is on and super good. She wrote a book but don't know title yet. Just saw a quote. I am not stupid, I am wounded. My sister told me to watch this as she hers is on at a different time. Might be some details on oprahs website.
Cheryl R
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The book is My Stroke of Insight by Dr Jill Bolte-Taylor Some of it does sound would be of interest to our health problem even if a bit different in most respects. Some of emotional views do appear to be something we would understand.
Cheryl R
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Donnalynn:
I just read the article you linked that explains how our balance system operates. I concur with Marci and Cheri that it is very well written and explains, in understandable language, what happens when we lose a major portion of our vestibular system and why we often have problems adjusting, as well as why we develop deficits in other areas, such as our cognitive functions. Thank you for posting the link. Nice job. :)
Jim
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Thanks for posting that Donnalynn.
It's very frustrating. This is the 1st time I've seen that explanation of problems with memory and cognition. I had always had Doctor's tell me it was associated with the drugs for headaches (neurontin and topomax). I'm a design engineer. I was always very good at what I did prior to surgery...now it takes me 3 times as long to do what I used to be able to do in my sleep.
I always have a low grade headache that sometimes increases to mind numbing but I have tried to avoid drugs for the most part because I don't want it to effect me negatively. Neurontin made me slow...I couldn't think straight...was always forgetting what I was talking about mid-sentence. I am on a very low dose of topomax (75mg) to help keep the headache where I can ignore it. It's frustrating now to find that my cognition problem now may not be drug related at all but actually be tied to my constant fight for balance.