I hear ya, I hear you. Hehe, yea, the length of that post had to really just do with the fact I'm an insomniac and that what you said resonated with my own experience.
Well, I can say I've been there. In the aftermath of my DXM binge I couldn't retain written language AT ALL. And this coming from someone who in better days was able to successfully write an A+ honours grad thesis that was 120 pages long, from rough draft to third draft, in three weeks. I love to read, even if it's just for fun, let alone info that could help me get over my issues, and that not being able to retain the written word really scared the crap-o-la outta me.
All I can say for now though, is, well, just keep truck'n. Keep up the good work and fighting the good fight. Keep at it.
Just keep at it, no matter how hard, frustrating or scary it is. As I mentioned, in my case I really scared myself that I'd done some serious damage. If you do so, keep at it I mean, even if you feel like you've permanently fried your brain at the moment, well, it can and will get better. Thinking you have fried your brain, and not doing anything constructive about it surely won't do you much good. At best it'll serve to make you depressed and nothing more. It seems like by posting here you're trying to work past this, so just keep doing that. That's what I mean when I say keep fighting the good fight. You might have lost the battle, but the war's not lost - IT'S ON AND CRACK'N!!!!
That, and seriously considering trying the piracetam. It could really help, as someone else also mentioned. I know for a fact it helped me, and DXM is neurotoxic at high doses, as is alcohol.
If you think it's as serious as you indicate, and I have neither want to belittle your opinion nor sound like a dick... but if this is case as you have indicated, that you're really scared about the damage you've done, definitely do everything you can to see a doctor. Maybe get a brain scan done or something. Although advice of that nature is above me, I'm sorry to say.
Best of luck my friend! PM me if you need ANYTHING at all. I'll be there to whatever extent I can for you. Like I said, your posts have resonated with me
p.s. and keep posting! the more you read and write, even if you don't understand everything as clearly as you once have, well, think of it as retraining your brain/relearning old skills. It's all about those good habits. That, and positive thinking. The placebo effect is pretty fucking cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfRVCaA5o18
You ask about how long it can take to reach baseline? There is no definitive answer. People in AA have told me it can take like a average of nine months, although it took me much, MUCH less time. It depends. Certainly, imo, more than a month though. You should notice changes in terms of your cognative ability around the 30 sober and healthy mark, even if you're not sober but have cut out the alcohol + particularly damaging drugs (i.e. certain research chemicals, stims, etc. etc.). If things aren't notiably different at the 30 mark, then certainly get professional help.
Sorry, I didn't notice you posted you're taking piracetam. Certainly not a miracle drug, although it kinda was for me. Still, it took high dosing, healthy living, a huge decrease in my drug intake and like 1.5 months before I started noticing a difference. And it's the only nootropic I take, although I did try ALA and choline, but stopped as they were giving me heartburn. The piracetam did enough for me on it's own (as a note, even after the first high ass attack dose I noticed a certain effect, such as colours were sharper (I'm kinda colour blind)... iono)...
