The word I would use are numb. Sometimes I feel, especially at work, that the lights are on but no one is at home. It's one of the main reasons work is so hard for me especially when I have to think on my feet in meetings.

i virtually have no specific memory of what happened before may '07. large chunks of time are missing. sometimes if someone gives me key words i can remember, but most of it is gone. on a daily basis i find that i can't find the words i need to use, my mind just totally blanks out and i become animated and try to describe what i am trying to get across. i used to be really good with the computer, but that is all gone. it is lucky for me to be able to log on, remember my passwords and all the like.

I used to be able to memorise and recall/recite pages and pages of text, etc, had photographic memory and all that jazz. I don't know if it's just that I'm becoming an adult, or it's due to meds, but the ability seems to be leaving me now.
I used to practice my memory a lot because I WANTED to process information and I wanted to store it in case I ever needed it, but now I just can't do it. I find that if I read something I find interesting I have to write it down and look over it quite a lot before I start to remember it with no help.
Really depressing.

my old cocktail of depakote made me think that numb was the closest I would ever get to normal but the new mix of abilify and lamictal seem to be doing wonders

#7, 9 and 11.
After countless med cocktails. I'm TOTALLY off kilter. Topamax ( I mean Dopamax) completely and cruely messed up my cognitive skills, word finding, thought processes etc. but the sad part is it helped :(. Telling I was brilliant prior to the BP would probably make you think ah...grandiosity kicking in this morning, hee hee), but I was so on top of my game. I'm a creative by trade and a management consultant by occupation.

Off of topamax now and on lamitical and I have no idea how to follow a conversation, forgot how to spell. The felling of feeling like an idiot swings me into full blown anxiety in the work place. I loose trains of thought, I ramble, etc. and I can see in peoples eyes like ooookay and your point is? Then I've forgotten the point. Not good being a A sr. level exec. I've accommodated by keeping my conversations to 4-5 words.

When I'm manic, NOTHING I say makes sense.. so I've trained my self to shut up in the work environment, even at home.

Actual before I was on medication, I had a horrible memory, distracted all the time. Once on meds a progression in my cognitive skills progressed. hugs

I feel the same way as you do. Especially since I started taking LithiDUM. I can't remember shit. Maybe that is the secret ingredient in all the meds, being dumb as a horse fly.

Definately feel dumbed down..many mBP meds cause word retreaval problems and short term memory loss..just another example of the "cost" of being on meds...worse part..our Pdoc's consider these as acceptable side effects.
Sane,but dumbed down.

Having been on every anti depressant, anti psychotic and the various other drugs to "stabilize" me, I feel just like #7 said. I used to be a walking dictionary/thesaurus. Now i am lucky if I can even get words out of my mouth. I can see pictures of what I want to say in my head, but can say what is is I want to say cuz I can't produce the right word! UGH!

It's another conspiracy theory. They know we are are smarter than them. They dumb us down so we won't over take the world. Because if we did we would create a world with affordable meds and they couldn't overcharge us for therapy, meds, books, etc.

My memory is shot as well...my daughter will tell me something and i wll ask her again in 20 minites .....as for reading,,,i feel like i am dislesic...bad spelling...lol
I have a terrible time organizing my life in any routine....i havnt worked in 1 1/2 years and im terrified to go back....i dont feel confident in my ability....im also depressed as hell....

#22....i totally agree...LithiDum is right...since ive been on that i cant remember nothing....scary

i know i tend to forget things but that is partly my adhd and meds i know alot of people at my school call me slow cuz it takes me a while to comprehend some things

I'm definitely having short-term memory loss from Lamictal. I don't feel numb or dumbed down, but then I'm only at 50 mg right now.

I like your response #25 :)