Better Memory?

[sexyanon2]

I can't seem to remember anything that has recently occured. I don't remember my appointment with my shrink last Tuesday, or what we talked about last Friday, or what my mom was talking about a few minutes ago.

This memory deficit has plagued me for quite some time. It's gotten worse over the course of a few months. I've always had poor memory about things that happen to me, but now it's becoming quite blaring.

I will take my Fish Oils/Omega 3 supplements twice daily, 700mg in the morning and 700mg in the evening. However, is there anything else I can do to improve my memory?

My current medications are: Desipramine 25mg daily, Provigil 200mg daily, and Remeron 7.5mg at night. I've had poor memory before I've been on any of these medications, but it seemed to have gotten worse recently. Last year I was pretty foggy with my memory on what I did, but not as bad as now.

I've also smoked pot for several weeks at a time, ranging from once a day to once every four days. Although I doubt the weed has done anything to my memory.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

Edit: I also eat eggs twice a week. In case anyone mentions lethicin (or lecithin?), I think I have that covered. Although are two servings of eggs enough per week?

 

[tokey]

Piracetam works well for me and its pretty cheap ($20 for 800 grams) and when combined with choline bitartrate or even better alpha-gpc it works really well. I don't know how these interact with your medicines so look that up but these drugs are proven to improve memory when used in combination. Take a multivitamin and make sure you eat enough so you can create those neurotransmitters your brain needs. Pot will fuck your memory but it goes away after a week or two of stopping. Look up nootropics and you will find plenty of drugs for your memory and learning.

 

[star*]

Try the herb brahmi and/or ginko in a combination. Brahmi is great for improving memory, concentration and overall cognitive function.

 

[VelocideX]

I've also smoked pot for several weeks at a time, ranging from once a day to once every four days. Although I doubt the weed has done anything to my memory.

Here's the first problem. Weed DOES impact upon your memory, and quite substantially. I'd say that's probably a significant causative factor.

The desipramine isn't doing you any favours either. It has anticholinergic effects -- it directly impairs memory.

Why are you on it, if I might ask?

It seems odd that you're taking modafinil (provigil) in the day and then remeron at night. Do you have problems with depression? Anxiety?

 

[nanobrain]

provigil will fuck with your memory too, contrary to indications.

 

[dwfan]

Piracetam 2400mg per day divided doses, 13.5mg Hydergine per day divided doses, 4000mg fish oil per day. That should help things a bit.

 

[sexyanon2]

Here's the first problem. Weed DOES impact upon your memory, and quite substantially. I'd say that's probably a significant causative factor.

The last smoke I've had was at least 2 months ago.

Why are you on it, if I might ask?

Depression. My dopamine and serotonin axis don't like the meds that act on them. I'll get nausea or zombified. The neuropinephrine axis might be receptive, though, as I got slightly better with Effexor.

Piracetam and Choline seem to be the candidates. And I'm taking 2000mg fish oil daily, which seems to be the suggested dose (I'll look into it further before upping to 4k).

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Jimmy the Gun]

Cognitive techniques might serve you better than chemical supplementation.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

The last smoke I've had was at least 2 months ago.

It could take a lot longer to repair your brain. I think I read something once that the brain takes 6 months to fully repair? I could be mistaken, but Im sure it could take more than 2.

 

[sexyanon2]

I'm pretty sure it's my meds. My memory's always been a little foggy. But now with desipramine I can barely remember yestarday, let only what my first sentence of this post was.

But wow... 6 months?? Just for occasional smoking? Christ that's terrible. My memory was nearly perfect after the smoking. Like I could recall any facts in class (if I was listening).

I'm sure it's also due to depression. As the depression decreases the hypothalamus (i believe? whatever it is that's in relation to memory), one remembers less. This makes sense because you want to remember less painful memories. So whenever I'd be depressed, or in a muddled emotional state, I'd forget what happened. But I'm usually in that state.

Thanks, though.

 

[fairnymph]

I agree with VelocideX about weed and desipramine.

How's the remeron working out for you? I had a very bad experience with it so I'm always curious to hear success stories.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is helpful for memory and also relieves stress. It has even been shown to help with mathematicl computation!

Psychosom Med. 2004 Jul-Aug;66(4):607-13.
Attenuation of laboratory-induced stress in humans after acute administration of Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm).

Kennedy DO, Little W, Scholey AB.

Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Division of Psychology, University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK. [email protected]

OBJECTIVE: Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) is contemporaneously used as a mild sedative and/or calming agent. Although recent research has demonstrated modulation of mood in keeping with these roles, no studies to date have directly investigated the effects of this herbal medication on laboratory-induced psychological stress. METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, balanced crossover experiment, 18 healthy volunteers received two separate single doses of a standardized M. officinalis extract (300 mg, 600 mg) and a placebo, on separate days separated by a 7-day washout period. Modulation of mood was assessed during predose and 1-hour postdose completions of a 20-minute version of the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS) battery. Cognitive performance on the four concurrent tasks of the battery was also assessed. RESULTS: The results showed that the 600-mg dose of Melissa ameliorated the negative mood effects of the DISS, with significantly increased self-ratings of calmness and reduced self-ratings of alertness. In addition, a significant increase in the speed of mathematical processing, with no reduction in accuracy, was observed after ingestion of the 300-mg dose.CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the potential for M. officinalis to mitigate the effects of stress deserves further investigation.

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2003 Oct;28(10):1871-81. Related Articles, Links

Modulation of mood and cognitive performance following acute administration of single doses of Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) with human CNS nicotinic and muscarinic receptor-binding properties.

Kennedy DO, Wake G, Savelev S, Tildesley NT, Perry EK, Wesnes KA, Scholey AB.

Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Division of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. [email protected]

Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) is a herbal medicine that has traditionally been attributed with memory-enhancing properties, but which is currently more widely used as a mild sedative and sleep aid. In a previous study it was demonstrated that a commercial Melissa extract led to dose-specific increases in calmness, and dose-dependent decrements in timed memory task performance. However, the extract utilized in that study did not exhibit in vitro cholinergic receptor-binding properties. The current study involved an initial screening of samples of M. officinalis for human acetylcholinesterase inhibition and cholinergic receptor-binding properties. The cognitive and mood effects of single doses of the most cholinergically active dried leaf were then assessed in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced crossover study. Following the in vitro analysis, 20 healthy, young participants received single doses of 600, 1000, and 1600 mg of encapsulated dried leaf, or a matching placebo, at 7-day intervals. Cognitive performance and mood were assessed predose and at 1, 3, and 6 h postdose using the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment battery and Bond-Lader visual analog scales, respectively. In vitro analysis of the chosen extract established IC(50) concentrations of 0.18 and 3.47 mg ml(-1), respectively, for the displacement of [(3)H]-(N)-nicotine and [(3)H]-(N)-scopolamine from nicotinic and muscarinic receptors in the human cerebral cortex tissue. However, no cholinesterase inhibitory properties were detected. The most notable cognitive and mood effects were improved memory performance and increased 'calmness' at all postdose time points for the highest (1600 mg) dose. However, while the profile of results was overwhelmingly favorable for the highest dose, decrements in the speed of timed memory task performance and on a rapid visual information-processing task increased with decreasing dose. These results suggest that doses of Melissa officinalis at or above the maximum employed here can improve cognitive performance and mood and may therefore be a valuable adjunct in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The results also suggest that different preparations derived from the same plant species may exhibit different properties depending on the process used for the sample preparation.

 

[neverbefore]

I fear I may be suffering the same sub-par memory. I used to have an excellent memory, especially short-term. I've been on ProVigil for ~6 months. I haven't taken it regularly and in fact, quite sporadically, but I have consumed a lot of it. I think it's altered my memory abilities, too. I plan on using it to survive finals and then throwing it away... I want my memory back.

 

[fizzygirl]

Exercise has been shown to improve memory AND mood, so you could work on the depression & memory problems at one time

 

[neverbefore]

Unfortunately, I exercise regularly, too -- and that hasn't seemed to improve things. I really blame ProVigil, but I'm confident my memory will return after I stop taking it for a few weeks.

It's stopped being beneficial... I get twitchy and anxious on it now, and end up standing still, just picking furiously at my fingers. Ugh. Pretty debilitating for me... I'll go back to using caffeine and sheer willpower to stay awake.

 

[qwe]

It could take a lot longer to repair your brain. I think I read something once that the brain takes 6 months to fully repair? I could be mistaken, but Im sure it could take more than 2.

"repair"?

 

[olive]

What about the contributing fact of Remeron then, I think it's been overlooked? I read it has anti-histaminergic activity, which will impair memory, but how bad?

 

[tadfish]

cannabis does effect memory and those other drugs probably don't help.
try ginkgo and vits B and maybe some smart drugs

 

[sexyanon2]

Remeron has helped me sleep. I usually wake up throughout the nice multiple times and usually can't sleep that long, but remeron has fixed that pretty well.

I'll look into the remeron memory-impairment.

So possibly all the meds I'm taking are disrupting my memory. Fun stuff.

 

[VelocideX]

Of everything that could be affecting your memory, the desipramine is probably the one.

If you have trouble with serotonergic antidepressants (e.g. troublesome side effects, or they don't work) and think that the noradrenaline system works for you then you should switch to reboxetine (edronax), which a highly selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. It lacks the anticholinergic (memory impairing) side effects of desipramine.

 

[tadfish]

Cognitive techniques what do you mean jimmy?
I have found that when i don't take my ginkgo my brains doesn't function very well at all. like i can't remmeber words and things and i muddle up sentences.
has anyone else found this?