Vocabulary symptoms and conditions

I have been taking lexapro, lamictal, and wellbutrin for about 2 1/2 years for a lifetime of depression and anxiety/panic disorder. I had tried medication at age 15 and experienced all side effects and no benefits. But then at about age 21, I was so desperate that I gave it another shot...figuring there might be a difference in the past 6 years.

I started off with lexapro...and the first week I was soaring! I was jogging at 1AM and going out and enjoying life! I remember going to the movies with friends and laughing FOR REAL and having REAL fun!

At some point of course you level out and that was fine...but then it wasn't enough anymore so the lamictal and wellbutrin got added on.

Recently, my psych raised my (generic) wellbutrin to 300 XL from 200 SR.

I definitely noticed the difference between the XL and SR.

The real function of wellbutrin for me was getting me up out of bed in the morning. It gives me nervous energy, but that has been better than none at all.

But now I've recently realized some other fun side effects!

Memory loss and motor function impairment.

It's kind of funny because I think it has been going on for a good while, but I just didn't REMEMBER enough of it to piece it together. AHA good one right?

I am a hairdresser. A damn good one I'd say. Or...used to be?
I trained for and alongside of the best educators in the industry. I wrote the haircutting curriculum for one of the top education academies.

Now I feel like a f***ing idiot.

I've cut my fingers more in the past week than in the past 6 years. I find myself getting completely lost while doing someone's hair...like I've never been in that situation before.

Sometimes I have tremors that keep me for being able to hold my comb straight and still. My fingers seem to move more slowly and with less grace or control.
I type sooo much slower now.

I've also gone from having excellent spelling, grammar, and range of vocabulary...to forgetting common words...not being able to finish my sentences...and I find myself trying to sound out a word to figure out how to spell it. This doesn't work out too well.

I feel just plain dumb in general. I can't do relatively simple math in my head without getting confused. I can't process or answer a question under pressure.

Now I'm telling my DR. to stuff it, and try to wean myself off of this madness.

I really hope that these side effects aren't permanent. Then I'm just screwed.

I stopped a few times during this post at a loss for words.

Yeah so it stinks that I have lost my substitute for motivation.

Thanks for sharing everyone...you've made me feel like less of a failure.

OH YEAH!

The original story I was going to post was that today I went to the deli to get lunch and I got everything I was going to get for my coworkers...and forgot to get my sandwich. The check out lady is mean to me so I didn't go back. :\

I've been on Topamax (100 mg 2x per day) for 5 years as mono therapy for epilepsy. I switched over from Depakote which was a *nightmare* and it has been great, no seizures. I've had the pins and needles, diminished vocabulary and memory, and intermittent eye twitching but this week my right eye (why is it always the right eye?) has started twitching almost constantly. It is frightening and embarrassing and I am not sure what I should do.. I guess it's back to the neurological drawing for me because I am not sure why it's happening now. Has anyone else had the eye twitching occur after long term use?

50 y.o. female suffering from severe depression (or so I thought) since mid-teens. Finally sought professional help 8 mos. ago - diagnosed w/ bipolar disorder/depression/anxiety. Lamictal (now up to 300mg/day) has literally been a life-saver for me. I feel calm, rarely depressed, a bit more patient w/ myself and others, and the suicidal thoughts I've had for 30+ years are gone. I feel happy. The side effects, however, are disturbing. W/ the higher dose, I feel emotionally well but the memory problems are scaring me. When I write, I know which words I should use, but now I frequently omit or misspell words - not a problem before. I've always been a fast, accurate typist but I feel clumsy when typing and frequently hit the wrong keys. I misplace things and since I'm a bit OCD about losing paperwork, etc., it's happening. My job requires me to handle important financial docs. for people and I'm worried that I'll miss or lose something. Some days I can be very articulate w/ great use of vocabulary and other days I feel lucky to put a string of words together that will make sense. I'll lose a thought in mid-sentence. My doctor recommended that I take 1 mg of folic acid per day; it seems to help the memory issues and I may increase that amount. I grind my teeth at night so badly that I'm wearing a night guard to avoid ruining my molars. I find myself frequently rubbing parts of my hands together - especially when my hands aren't otherwise occupied. My dreams are vivid and I recall most of them, which is a pleasant side effect because I went many years without remembering my dreams (maybe due to alcohol abuse?). Another unpleasant side effect is clumsiness. I'll reach for something and miss it or jam my hand into a solid object, I drop things, I hurt myself more often - stubbing toes, smashing fingers, and cutting my hands more often in the kitchen. My doctor has put me on two different anxiety meds but the side effects were not acceptable so I stopped them. I'm considering lowering the Lamictal dosage to see if the memory issues improve; I can deal o.k. w/ the other side effects. I can't imagine not taking this drug, so I'll most likely endure the side effects for as long as possible.

Topamax saved my life. Comes down to everyone reacts differently to each drug. I started slowly, on 50 mg, and worked myself up to 300 mg a day to prevent seizures. It worked the miracle, stopping the seizures and giving me a life back. I lost 45 lbs, I'm at a healthy weight now and sustaining it. Side effects: math skills are laughable, tingles in hand, vocabulary comes and goes. These diminished somewhat as I adjusted to dosage. Side effects are a small price to pay for the desirable primary effects. (I bought a calculator and a thesaurus.) Life is good. Topamax is damn expensive and worth every penny.

I have been very concerned about my memory loss. It is so humiliating. I am a teacher. Today at work I said to my co-worker, "OMG, I forgot to mark Makayla absent!" She gave me that look. "We don''t have a Makayla this year." I feel like such an idiot and am afraid someone is going to tell my principal that I'm losing it. I am also unable to spell. This was never a problem before. And my vocabulary? I don't have words to describe it. LOL. I'm 44 and thought for sure that I had early onset Alzheimers and also severe arthritis because my hips hurt. So glad it's drugs, not me.

Has anyone noticed any vitamins, foods, etc. that helps? I will be devastated if I have to ditch my nightly glass of wine! Anyone relate?

I have been taking topamax for five months now. My friends and family have been so worried about me that they have accused me of doing hard drugs. I thought that some of the side effects I was experiencing were from stress in my life. I am a 26 year old girl who has battled migraines since puberty. Now I have about half my hair left, acne like you have never seen before, ( I have never ever had acne in my life!), depression, high levels of anxiety, and my vocabulary has shortened to that of a 6th graders. I have always been a thin girl, usually around 125 and I am 5'8. At this point, you can count every bone in my body, see every vein. it's pretty discussing. I am going to wean of 25 milligrams a week, and deal with my migraines in a different way, so that I can become the person I once was.

Be very wary of this drug! My son was on it for a year and a half ...the last six months were a veritable nightmare for him. Severe anxiety issues (had to be hospitalized at one point ) and depression. Doctors kept saying it was not the medication but when I googled the drug side effects and stumbled on a blog about singulair problems , I told my son and off the medication he went. Within a month he was back to his normal self .
Thank goodness he was old enough to tell me how he was feeling ( 17 years old at the time) but what about very young children on this drug...how can they voice their problems when they don't have the vocabulary or knowledge of what is "normal"?

I am so glad I found this site! I had thought that all of the sodas I was buying were coming from the vendors flat, but now I realize it was the Topamax. I started taking this medication on September 15th, only 25mg at night and just moved up to 50mg a night after seven days. I've suffered migraines for five years and asked my doctor for a preventative rather than having to take something after the onset that knocked me out for two days. I can't work like that. I haven't experienced any of the tingling sensations, but I have definitely noticed the loss of appetite and severe nausea after taking the medication if I don't fall immediately asleep. No problems with depression, but I do feel like I am floating all the time. Neck feels heavy sometimes. Words seem to disappear out of my vocabulary on a daily basis, and it takes me three days to think of something, which is very frustrating. Haven't actually stepped on a scale yet but I can tell I've lost weight (which is okay) because my clothes are hanging on me. One side affect I haven't read about is anemia - I have noticed that I seem to be bruising very easily; my chihuahua sat in my lap and left little bruises where his feet were. Does anyone know if this is normal?

My daughter just turned 3 yrs old, and was put on Singulair about a month ago. In this time I have noticed she has been stuttering. She is 3 yr old that has a huge vocabulary & is very smart (if I do say so myself). It is very odd to me that she is stuttering. In asking the DR, he did not feel it was medication related. But may I also add that she is fully potty trained & in the last few weeks has been wetting the bed every night.

Is anyone else's child stuttering?

I'm just finnishing up my second week of Yasmin. SEX! That word isn't in my vocabulary anymore. Feeling panic at night when I'm trying sleep (lucky if I get a good nights sleep). Dark brown spotting since I started Yasmin. Leg and foot pain. Painful pimples. 2 more months of Yasmin to go...hopefully I can make.