Author: TeeJay

Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 10:56 pm

Apps for your iPhone that exercise your memory.

Yeah man unfortunately all psychotropic drugs cause memory loss to some degree. Sub, methadone, all opioids, as well as many psych medications. There’s this misconception that opioids are a relatively "clean" drug, compared to cocaine / amphetamines in terms of the damage they can cause in the brain. This isn’t true. When high on opioids, people’s breathing can stop at times for minutes. That’s true for the clean pharma opioids as well as heroin. Taking 2 breaths every minute takes its toll on the brain unfortunately.

It can be hard to accept that some of the damage is done by our own decisions, and our own choices to get involved with drugs. Personally I think it’s important to own / take responsibility for at least some of the damage.

Some of my issues? I’ve got a tremor from lithium. Even when I stop taking it for months, the tremor still comes out when my anxiety rises. Anti-psychotics like Seroquel / Zyprexa can cause movement disorders of the mouth / tongue / face. Fortunately I don’t experience this noticeably, though in older people / people who have been on them for a long time, you can see it happening. The docs call it Tardive Dyskinesia. Buprenorphine can cause myoclonic jerks if taken too long, though fortunately it can be controlled with a reduced dose, and largely goes away when you stop taking it. It can also wreak havoc with a persons endocrine functioning – ie hormone production / testosterone, lack of libido etc etc.

I talked to my doctor some time ago about my perception of medication and drugs of abuse. I told him I believed that all psychotropic drugs come at a cost. Any benefit you receive from a medication is offset by the presence of side-effects or lasting damage / changes. He said he didn’t believe that at all, and there are good drugs (ie medication) and bad drugs (drugs of abuse), and only the bad drugs come at a price.