I did not use any drugs except MDMA few times (maybe 4) and alcohol about one or two 16cl red wine per week and twice a year until I got very drunk which with my tolerance for those days was about one bottle of wine. I have got my IQ tested initially when I turned 21 and I became a member of Mensa which for some of those familiar what it is may tell something about my IQ.
I started doing benzos and opiates when I stopped serving for army at Afghanistan. After starting opiates (oxycodone three times 20mg a day) my IQ went up for a little bit. Especially in areas where you need to decide which symbol fits into series of symbols.
After long term of use of diazepam 20mg per day and 2mg xanax per day my IQ dropped significantly (rougly 20 points). Mostly in all areas but biggest drop was in areas that needed short term memory. Also tests that specifically test for short term memory showed significant drop in my capabilities. I am not sure but for example the amounts of digits average person can remember when they are repeated three times for him/her and then asked to write them up after 60 seconds are something like 7-9 digits. For me it was 4.5 digits as it before has been around 17-19 depending on my level of awareness during the test.
Long term memory in terms not related to things people naturally should remember (by naturally I mean things that revolve around our social life like names of places, peoples names, emotions and memories) like passwords and phonenumbers which are artificial regarding our history of evolution where harmed into a point that I could not remember the long alphadigit passwords I normally used (32 marks long) or even phonenumbers that I used to know. I used to have no contacts in my phonebook for the ones I used frequently but had to end that habit. For the passwords I could used the old ones because they retained in muscular memory (I mean that you can remember the motions to input them automatically without even thinking the marks). But my long term memory was never tested.
I tapered down benzos and quitted them totally and after a week my short term memory improved to a level that I could remember 8.8 digits. After a month It went to a 14.6. Not sure about the current situation. All the tests I am talking here were done by either my psychologist or some Mensa personnel. I am looking forward to have my IQ tested again in june and I will post the results. I love doing tests
But it scares me the hell out that if there is no progress in that drop of 20 IQ points I would consider myself as a retard even though that 20 point drop would still be in a limit that Mensa takes new members. And they dont kick you out even if you after becoming a member detoriate your IQ by naturally aging, in a accident or by alcohol or other drug usage. After what we have discussed in Mensa we have come to conclusion that when I go through schools telling about our club I note them that they should cease all CNS affecting drug use atleast a month before taking our test if they want to show out all of their potential.
So I would really say that benzos are from hell if you want to maintain you cognitive abilities especially the short and long-term memory I would suggest you consider quitting or never starting them. I thought I needed them but actually feel less anxious than when on them as they also prevent you to use coping techniques that can be learned on a proper and real behavioral cognitive therapy. Although the side-effects on cognitive abilities might be less severe with people who have a more normal IQ level.
The opiates/opiods do not seem to impair cognitive abilities at all if used as prescribed for pain and even tend to enhance them because you can focus better with no pain. Of course nodding out when recreationally using is not the best feeling to go out and fill a IQ test but otherwise I suppose they are safe if you take care to not nod enough to have an insufficient oxygen levels at brain.
Love you people and take care of your head and feed it with complicated tasks and good nutrients. And remember that amphetimines or other stimulant do not make you smart, they just help you to perform repetative tasks faster and even cause more errors in them when you are near comedown. That has been tested inside Mensa for decades ago and still been tested.
