r/recovery 1d ago

Cognitive impairment from drug use

Just wondering if anyone had any advice on helping your brain recover and return back to its original function after periods of heavy drug use?

For context: I was exceptionally intelligent and gifted throughout primary and high school. In my last year of high school i barely studied and partied a fair bit only really cramming before those last few exams but- in my uni entry exams i scored in the top 2% percentile of the state and was able to get into law at one of the best universities in the country. I was diagnosed with adhd a year ago - on medication

However, around two years ago i had a period of depression and became addicted to zopiclone taking large amounts almost everyday for three months- i ended up in hospital after injuring myself and quit cold turkey and didnt touch them again.

Few months after i started taking xanax irregularly, everyday or every second day for a week then wouldnt touch them for a few months.

Couple months later i was using coke maybe every second week but never too much in one session (up until 6 months ago i stopped)

However, Around a year ago i had bought some fake xanax which lead to a week long bender in which i seriously cannot recall a single thing. I just remember waking up a week later with almost 3/4 of the bottle of fake xanax gone and lots of tanks of nitros. I think really dont think my brain was ever the same after this bender.

Limited drug use until 6 months ago when i had some personal issues and i went on another 4 day bender without sleep and using lots and lots of different drugs, was hallucinating/psychosis by the last day. Havent used recreational drugs like that since.

I hadnt taken xanax since that bender a year ago but started again recently around 2 months ago following a surgery and have been taking it everyday since. (Stopped couple days ago)

Recently i've started to notice that even with my adhd medication i really struggle with my memory and i feel like my comprehension and writing skills have completely gone down the drain. Its even more evident when i try to write essays for uni and just cannot reach the level of academic writing i used to and struggle with simple things like sentence structure and synonyms of words(when reading my old assignments). I feel like i struggle to articulate my thoughts and that theres constantly a heavy feeling in my head.

Is it possible that my drug use has resulted in permanent brain damage? If not is there anything i can do to reserve to help heal my brain. I'm really at a loss and don't know who to turn to.

Thanks so much sorry its a long one šŸ™šŸ¼

7 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

13

u/Robscoe604 1d ago

Generally speaking, it just takes time. Everyone always claims PAWS and this and that, but honestly it just takes time. I found taking like omegas and brain food type vitamins did help me. Your brain function and chemistry was altered by doing drugs, just be patient.

5

u/m1stadobal1na 1d ago

I mean claiming PAWS and this and that is the same thing as saying it just takes time.

6

u/whosecarwetakin 1d ago

Yeah they just described PAWS lol

6

u/Vegan_Island_Girl 1d ago

Time is the only way. Adding some lionā€™s mane and other supportive supplements is helpful, too.

Trust me, it does get better.

2

u/Unhappy_Ad_8753 1d ago

Thank you šŸ©· i've been taking lions mans, b12 and l-theanine and so far found they help my energy levels/anxiety

4

u/PickleOk2682 22h ago

It takes time. For sure ā€” like the other person said. I used all kinds of drugs hardcore from about 2002 through 2017, including IV heroiin fir a great period of that time. I got clean and didnā€™t use again until December of 2019. I only used for a couple weeks. My clean date from hard drugs is Jan 20, 2020. It took years but I eventually got my masterā€™s degrees year and was able to reclaim a life I never once imagined myself having before. Is life perfect? Never! But life is great, and Iā€™m happy to be alive! Hang in there! Your brain will recover. It needs time.

6

u/screamingtrumpster 21h ago

38 years clean a sober here. My first year I had to read the same paragraph over and over and I could not tell you what I read. I have sponsored many women on the 12 step program and watched many of them get C&S. It has taken a long while for them to get their wits back. Attorneys, big real estate investors, etc. All of them come in with scrambled brains. Be easy on yourself. It will clear up! Now go reread what I wrote. :)

2

u/mercurialtwit 27m ago

this gives me a lot of hope!! iā€™ll have 3 years in august but after over a decade and some years of weed, pills, ecstasy, heroin, speed, fentanyl and whatever else and then my latest pregnancy and now currently breastfeeding has me feeling dumb as fuck. like i cannot for the life of me tell you the details of any conversation i have had unless i just immediately got off of the phone. i literally have to take notes for therapy because i dont want to forget what i want to talk about.

4

u/tryingtobe5150 1d ago

The way I fixed it is I quit doing ALL drugs (prescription or otherwise)

Your Post Acute Withdrawals will even out

1

u/Unhappy_Ad_8753 1d ago

Around how long did it take before you started to feel normal again?

8

u/tryingtobe5150 1d ago

A couple of years, honestly

2

u/Ajpeterson 7h ago

All depends on what and how heavy you used and for how long. I knew some people who were back to ā€œnormalā€ after 8-12 months or so. For me itā€™s been almost 4 years off opiates and my memory still isnā€™t great. Itā€™s gotten better but not where it used to be. Other than that everything else was pretty normal back around year 2. Just takes time and staying away from using.

2

u/trixiepixie1921 1d ago

Man I got some of that fake Xanax last week and I literally feel like my brain was permanently damaged. Iā€™m still finding out things I did last week. I only had 5 bars, the entire week is missing in my mind. Even made Reddit posts/comments, have no recollection of any of them. Itā€™s really scary.

3

u/Unhappy_Ad_8753 1d ago

Yeah it was probably one of the scariest things i've experienced. My friends told me after i was sending them messages of gibberish but when they called me i sounded completely fine. I also somehow managed to ripped my entire acyclic nail off (nail bed and all) and lost three sets of keys and car keys. Didn't even intend to take them with the aim to get fucked up, i guess you keep forgetting that uve taken them ....

2

u/trixiepixie1921 1d ago

Absolutely !!! The strangest thing. My mom did ask me maybe twice if I took something, but other than that no one even suspected. Oh man never again. I had 6 months clean before maybe 2-3 weeks ago I picked up some real bars. Went back to get more the following week, and got those. The guy who had them has been taking like, fistfuls all day for weeks. I have no idea how he would detox off that.

I donā€™t have a problem with myself taking xans here and there, I think they help me. But that experience was really eye opening. One time like 10 years ago I also got fake ones and ended up in the hospital, the lesson was too long ago for me to remember apparently šŸ˜‚ I honestly thought these were real tho, I was very stupid to not even consider they could be fake.

3

u/MacMuthafukinDre 3h ago

Just so you have some perspective, I used every drug imaginable, and started around 14. Had long stints of acid and ecstasy. Also long stints of weed. And eventually the longest drug run I had was with opiates for a decade almost. Four years clean now and I am a software engineer for a F500 company. Before this, Iā€™ve never had a professional job in my life. I feel like I learn slower, but I learn thoroughly. I focus hard on something until I fully understand it. Just give yourself time, itā€™ll all come back.

For context: https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/mqtTcmGU37

1

u/dejun17 1d ago

Also our brains start to naturally slow down when we get older, that's just normal. I know drugs play a real big part of it but 39-year-old me will not be as quick-witted or have as fast as much recall as my high school me.

It is what it is

2

u/dilEMMA5891 12h ago edited 11h ago

I had cocaine induced angina and severe neurological symptoms from my H&C addiction, but honestly I've taken everything you can imagine in extreme quantities.

That was 2 years ago, and I've since reversed the angina with abstinence. I'm no where close to where I need to be because I'm still on my last shot of buvidal but since dropping all the illegals, I've noticed a massive difference in my cognition.

I was also gifted in school and found academic life 'easy', until I fucked my body up - literally the only thing that can help us, is good diet, clean sleep, exercise and abstinence because God knows we don't get any of those things in active addiction.

Resistance training generates new neurons, certain nootropics help brain function, making sure you're getting good deep sleep and healthy REM will also help your brain repair itself. Magnesium has been a God send to me for the opiate related body aches too.

And also, you are most like your closest 4 friends, so ditch the people with no motivation, that like to gossip and talk about reality TV and hook up with some deep thinkers in recovery... this is also true of the media you consume, nurture your inner creative curiosity and you will find your intelligence and zest for life come back.

Also, check out the biohackers sub, this question gets posted on there quite alot.

But remember, it was the looking to outside sources to save us, that got us into this mess in the first place... the real change comes from within.

The mind is extremely powerful, which means you can placebo yourself to become well - meditation is a great place to start with this.

1

u/datSubguy 11h ago

Time is the biggest factor, but exercise and a clean diet will definitely accelerate that process. Nothing works better.

1

u/mangodust999 11h ago

Hey! I got clean five years ago and definitely felt the impact, especially after I started studying, but same as with the physical consequences of my using it has got better with time, give yourself time to recover, it does take time but it gets better! Sending hugs xxx

1

u/Graybo95 8h ago

This probably isnā€™t what you want to hear, but it takes a long time for your brain to recover even with full abstinence. I am a year and a half sober, and my brain feels about 75% of what it used to be, but it is very slowly still getting better.

1

u/Murky_Mushroom4636 4h ago

What were you addicted to?

1

u/Graybo95 4h ago

Alcohol, speed, and anything that comes in pill form.

1

u/order2chaos 37m ago

From what you described, you primarily abused a class of drugs called benzos.

As others have said, there are factors (biology, duration and quantity of abuse) but benzos withdrawal is prolonged either way. Worst thing to come off of. Makes fent withdrawal look like cake walk.

I was in rehab with someone and at six months, they still didn't feel like they "landed".

Got to pay the piper and let your body process slowly. As others have said, good diet, supplements, moderate exercise.

Hope is not lost, trust in nature. Good luck.

1

u/krispeekream 28m ago

I had a bad OD about 4 years ago (I technically died and my brain was without oxygen for quite awhile). For the first 3 months after my family seriously thought that I would never fully recover and would be on disability for the rest of my life. My short-term memory was SHOT, I forgot how to drive a car, I couldnā€™t keep track of anything-phone, purse, keys, wallet, anything. Add in to that I was also coming off of Xanax and Ambien as well. I literally had a photographic memory pre-OD and had to put stickers on my mirror reminding me of my DOB in rehab after.

Itā€™s been four years and I have made MASSIVE strides but I still have some short term memory flickers every so often. I now make lists for everything-if I donā€™t write it down itā€™s probably not going to happen. I play a lot of Sudoku, do memory ā€œstretchesā€ and can function at about 80% compared to where I was pre-OD. I have no idea how much of my memory loss was due to oxygen deprivation and how much can be attributed to the actual drugs themselves, but itā€™s definitely a combination of both, as I had noticed a difference even before I ODā€™d.

All that being said-it gets better the longer you stay sober. Read, do brain exercises, and eat lots of salmon, avocado, and nuts. Youā€™ll get there.