EXTREME memory loss and headaches

Does anyone else have extreme memory loss while tapering or stopping their benzo? I seriously feel like I'm having a stroke!!! I get shooting head pains that turn into tension headaches and neck and back aches. It causes me to have EXTREMELY bad memory loss, like, I will forget where I am what I'm doing and what I'm saying.....I feel so lost and out of it :'( My speech will become slurry or I wont be able to say anything and my eyes will get fuzzy and I will get dizzy spells and I go into immediate panic mode. Will this EVER go away?!!! I just want to be normal again and pain and panic free. I need to know if anyone else feels this way or if it may be something more serious to look into. HELPPPPP!

This was one of my main symptoms when I was in acute withdrawal.  I was still working, miraculously...but I would forget to do my daily tasks.  It's like your starring in a movie that you're not directing and there's a bunch of deleted scenes...infuriating.

Iv also got short term memory loss, its bad for me to. Been trying to find people who had this problem nd was resolved once they were healed bt haven't found any here on BB yet.

Yes, I have poor short term memory.  I've had it while on K as well.  I also get bad headaches, but they go away after a while. 

Hi,

 

I know it's really hard to be experiencing all this, but please be reassured that what you are experiencing is all normal in benzo withdrawal.  Completely normal.  The "brain fog" or "benzo fog" is something almost everyone has--I do, and at 9-1/2 months off benzos it's  much better but I still get it sometimes.

 

What can you do?

 

Let time pass.  Time is the real healer here.  No one can tell you how much time, but as time passes you will get better.

 

If you are tapering too quickly, you might slow your taper down.  See the"Taper Plans" boards for more information.

 

DISTRACT YOURSELF from your negative/obsessive thoughts with anything that works for you.  Repeat.  Eventually self-distraction will become automatic, and it really does help.  It's been the most valuable "technique" for me.

 

Realize that you are not going to feel like yourself for a while, but this is only temporary and this will pass.  In the meantime, you will experience some symptoms.  It's normal in the circumstances, and it will eventually pass.

 

I has memory loss too. I still get it. I put a banana peel in the cupboard once. I also get confusion really bad. I sometimes forget names or places look unfamiliar or even where I am sometimes. Someone told me that it was signs of depersonalization. It's a tough road.  I do know that I usually have one symptom at a time though. It's weird. I have been in a dream like state for three weeks now and while this is going on I have not been misplacing anything. My short term memory is ok while I go through something else. Weird. The dp is the hardest though. I wish it on nobody.

Thank you everyone for all of the helpful answers. As only being 24 years old I feel like I just shouldn't be going through all of these things, but I know once I get off of this medicine I will feel so much better. The tension headaches are the worst!!! I work a full time job and I keep telling myself that I can do this and that I will be okay, and I try to hide that I'm feeling so bad all of the time from my family, friends, and co-workers but it seems to make my anxiety worse. There's nothing in this world worse then not knowing things or being certain of yourself. I went to give a woman her change at work today and I starred at her with a blank face because I forgot what I was doing and where I was......so scary. I wouldn't wish these symptoms on my worse enemy

Proudmom,  I meant to also add that my headaches felt like strokes as well.  Behind my eye, my temple.  They would bring me down and all I could do was lay down. 

 

Maymay,  do you get a strange sensation in your sight with the DP?  Sometimes it gets blurry for me. 

Its a bad feeling!!! I feel like I'm dying when I have these episodes and I try to fight it off and I make it worse by going into panic mode. I get tense pains in my neck and back of my head. Not to mention I feel like I'm in my own world, like I can't comprehend what going on around me. Sound, touch, taste, smell, and sight is not the same I'm super sensitive to light, it makes my eyes feel weak and painful. Sound is intensified and it seems like certain noises drown out everything like I'm going deaf. The floor shifts beneath my feet and I lose my balance and feel like I'm swaying. The only plus at all is that I'm losing weight, which I've been struggling with for 2 years because my medicine made me have agoraphobia and I felt like I needed to eat all the time to feel better.

As a matter of fact. I was just walking in and thought my eyesight is awful blurry. I do have this bright spot on my left eye when it gets real bad. I went to the eye dr (felt like it was a dream) but they said everything was ok. It calmed down until the dreamlike state got intense again. Like now. I have it the worse today. It's scary. Real scary. I will say that sometimes it eases up but on three weeks its never fully went away. I hope it does soon.

Do you also get tinnitus with it?  Your dreamlike description is spot on accurate. Surreal.  Especially if I'm sitting talking to someone and it takes over.

I don't get it often but I had a bout of it today so maybe it is when my dp is worse. Never thought about it. I just know its hard to live.

Tablasco-

 

Crazy- my headaches r in the EXACT same spot. I couldn't has explained it any better. And yes I also have terrible short term memory loss.  It's been almost 7 months and I can't tell u any thing I e done the day before. I put a lot of that blame on the DR tho.  I've heard a lot of people who say this subsides eventually so I'm just trying to wait it out

 

Clark

Maymay, I know exactly how you feel!!! My withdrawls wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have the head pressure and the foggy brain It makes me feel like I have alzheimer's. I also get the jerks in my head when I get headaches....that's also pretty scary too. I wonder when all of these withdrawls will go away....I've been reading other people's posts and they say it gets better when you're completely off of all of the meds.....I wish I would have known then what I know now bc I would have never allowed myself to take them.....but I had a lot of postpartum depression and anxiety that was uncontrollable after I had my son 2 years ago

I had head tics too. Mine are gone now. Actually almost all my physical is gone. The mental is so much worse. It's unbearable. I'm scared too. I keep writing looking for answers and help. I honestly don't know what to do. I hope we get better soon. Pm me if you want to.

Clark, I've never put the memory and DP together, but that makes a lot of sense now.  For me it's been through my titrating and withdrawal, so about a year so far.  How long have you heard it will last? 

 

The mental is definitely the bad part.  I never thought of it, but the physical is almost gone for me too. 

Clark, I've never put the memory and DP together, but that makes a lot of sense now.  For me it's been through my titrating and withdrawal, so about a year so far.  How long have you heard it will last? 

 

The mental is definitely the bad part.  I never thought of it, but the physical is almost gone for me too.

 

I believe that I have some added cog fog and memory issues on top of it, but I absolutely hold the DR responsible for the bulk of the memory loss/absentmindedness.  In theory, it's really like a state of altered conciousness so it makes sense that the little things are sifted out as less important therefore we don't remember them.

 

I read a success story on here a while back- I wish I remembered who- and she said that her short term memory came back completely to the day that her DR went away. She specifically said that she remembered everything that her kids wore to school that entire week.  So keep your head up and stay positive, you have that to look forward to.

 

As to how long it can last I don't know because everyone is different- but it's one I those symptoms where 100% of ppl say it goes away. I'm 7 months into it now but that's really only because its my worst symptom, he. I've learned to live with it the best I can.  You will too, and just think of how sweet it will be that day u wake up and realize everything is clear again 

I had head tics too. Mine are gone now. Actually almost all my physical is gone. The mental is so much worse. It's unbearable. I'm scared too. I keep writing looking for answers and help. I honestly don't know what to do. I hope we get better soon. Pm me if you want to.

 

Maymay-

 

Most of my withdrawal is and has been mental. Some physical sx's have arisen as time has passed but the mental ones are far worse. When it's physical u can still "be strong" and tell urself u are going to be ok- but when it's so mental your very ability to reassure yourself gets taken away so it feels like you are weak, beaten down and have no where to turn. 

 

Just know that it's going to pass. Really make yourself believe it. Even if its pure doom 24/7 then never stop tellin yourself that it's only the pill playing tricks on your brain and its not really your thoughts. Trust me I've been there- fear, terror, and of nothing.

 

Just believe in the fact that you'll get better and it will go away, because it will- so try your best to take some consolation in that.

 

Clark

And ProudMomofOne-

 

I used to make phone calls, put the phone in my pocket and forget that I was on a call- while still on it.  Your not alone I promise you, and mine has gotten so much better and continues to improve. Yours will too

Well elaborated clark. That's the same logic I have of these memory issues. Considering that we're at an altered or toxified state it becomes extremely difficult to distinguish the importance of certain things due to our inability to rationalise at times and quite difficult to record data with all these disturbing symptoms( particularly dp/dr) Causing distraction on the brain therefore making it also hard for the brain to thoroughly store information.

It sounds like to me that you are getting MIGRAINE WITH AURAS also called OCULAR MIGRAINE look it up on google. I suffered with these early months after I jumped off benzos. They can be scary, distorted vision, blurryness, feel out of it and confused, slurred speech and then the pounding headaches that follow, they actually feel like a minor stroke or seizure. They went away after about 7 months and I dont suffer with them anymore now at 12 months out. Read about them on the net and see if its similar to what u experience.

All the best

TukTuk

Thanks Clark.  I've had waves that have been bad and some good windows, so hopefully it is going away. 

 

Dave, your logic makes sense to me.  If its not important, it's not going to be stored and will be kicked out as soon as an obsession comes in, which is just about every moment. 

 

Tuk,  I've thought about that before, I used to get migraines with aura all the time.  It could be true.  The aura does feel a little different though. 

 

Hope everyone is doing well today. 

Don't know if this helps anyone but I like to think of a migraine as a process "when the neurotransmitters are being adjusted"... I used to have them quite often in the first 2 months and luckily now its much better.

 

Here's a page from a "Encyclopedia of Natural Cures" book I found, regarding the migraines:

 

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Migraines are intense, severe, pounding headaches that affect about three million Canadians and are more common in women than men. They can be overwhelming and debilitating, affecting one's quality of life.

 

For some people, migraines are preceded or accompanied by a sensory warning sign, called an aura, such as flashes of light, wavy lines, blind spots, or tingling in your arm or leg. A migraine attack may last for just a few minutes or continue for up to several days. Episodes can vary in frequency from several times in one week to once every few years. Typically, the intensity and frequency of migraines diminishes with age.

 

It is thought that migraines may be caused by changes in the nervous system (affecting the trigeminal nerve pathway) and by imbalances in neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) such as serotonin, which plays a regulatory role for pain messages going through this pathway. During a migraine, serotonin levels drop. Researchers believe this causes the trigeminal nerve to release substances called neuropeptides, which travel to your brain's outer covering (meninges) and cause blood vessels to become dilated and inflamed. The result is headache pain.

There have been many advances in the treatment of migraines. There are drugs that can abort a headache, and various natural products that can reduce the severity and frequency of headaches. Lifestyle changes, as discussed below, can also be very helpful.

 

Migraines usually begin on one side of the head. (The name "migraine" comes from the Greek word hemikrania, meaning "half the skull"). Migraines can also affect the entire head, including the sinus area.

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Hope this helps.

 

C.

Thanks to everyone for the support system. It's nice to know someone else feels the way I do....for me the ticks and tremors....basically the physical effects are more scary to me because they make me panic and then I get the tension headache that brings on the brain fog.....If I didn't have the physical withdrawls I think I'd be okay hopefully they will go away soon. I know I just need to be patient and taper but I want it to be gone now. Not to mention I;m cutting my dose again tonight since it's been 16 days since my last cut. Does anyone think that it's a bad idea to cut my dose so soon.....we I cut it the last time it made me feel better....then a few days later the anxiety and withdrawls became more intense. 

That's very common that you feel better the first few days after a cut, then increased anxiety later.  I had it every time I cut.  I'm not sure about the cutting too soon, I'll let someone else answer that.