Short Term Memory Loss - A Side Effect
I pretty much fear for my future. Right now I work as a IT supervisor at a Data Center. The pay is good and yes, I do go through some anxieties here at work, but when I do, I usually double up on Klonopin. I don’t recommend doing it – but it does work for me.
However, my department looks like it will be getting outsourced by the end of this year or possibly sometime early next year. There are some reports it could be as long as a year or two, but I am expecting the worse. I am getting trained further into more technology, so I am kind of excited about the future. However, one thing is really haunting me.
Since I take Klonopin every day, one of the side effects is memory problems. I know my current job very well so I am not afraid of forgetting things. Everything is pretty much the same old thing. However, whenever I get a new job after I am out of here (if I do), I am scared to death of learning new things and not retaining them. Also, to make matters worse, I will probably be changing careers (that is why I’m getting trained doing different things). No matter how ready I will feel, I have never been in the new type of environment. I also know that I will probably still be taking Klonopin a few times a day, so me grasping things that my new employer will tell me to do (or how to do certain tasks), for right now, I am very anxious about. To top that off, I have social anxiety, so when people are telling me how to do things, I’m focused on myself. For an example, I will have thoughts going through my mind like, “Why are they looking at me funny?” or “Are they laughing at me?”. These thoughts hinder me and when that happens, I will not understand what people are trying to tell me.
But the worse is as I said before. Forgetting things on a new job because of me taking Klonopin. There are so many cases that show there are short-term memory losses from taking Benzos. I guess I’m just another case (a basket case (LOL)). I do have to take this situation seriously, but the reality is that I am tapering off but there is no way that I can kick the Klonopin habit by next year. Even if I do stop taking them, the mind takes a couple years to straighten itself up for an additional two years (I believe that is maximum). So the question is – what am I to do?
I am going to answer this in a generic way where I am assuming that all Klonopin and Xanax users have the same type of side effect of short-term memory loss. Let’s try some things that can resolve this memory issue:
Self-hypnosis. It seems like everything leads to that. Mind over matter so to speak. I really believe in this. The problem I have is that I can’t stay consistent doing meditation and I will tell you why. I work twelve hour shifts (Wednesday through Friday (every other Saturday)) and it is hard to do meditation when you get home and you have other things to do. However, I need to make this priority one. But with you Klonopin or Xanax users that work a normal schedule, there is no excuse of not doing meditation at least once a day. If you want to overcome this symptom of short term memory loss – then visualize yourself (while doing self-hypnosis) of remembering everything. Also, I’m sure you can get online and google “self-hypnosis + memory + cd”. Yes, there are CDs out there where it can improve your memory.
Another way of defeating this memory symptom is to eat the right kind of foods – or what they call “mind foods”. Here are four of them: Herbs (ginko or ginseng). Teas – especially Green Tea (soothes the mind). Fruits and Veggies (that’s a simple one). Fish (has omega-3 fatty acids – probably the best for the brain). As far as the fish is concerned, yes I do eat it, but you can get omega-3 capsules at your local health food store (or heck – even at wal-mart).
Right now, I am drinking green tea like there is no tomorrow. I am seeing a BIG difference in my memory. However, it really depends on what you get. I started off by getting Nestles Green Tea, but it has so much other crap in it besides the real stuff that it is watered down. I switched to brands named Carrington and Teas’ Tea. The latter really helps but it is unsweetened and tastes like tree bark, but you eventually get used to it. My wife drank some of Teas’ Tea and said that it taste exactly like the tea she had when she was over in China – so it’s got to be the real thing in my book. Plus the ingredients is only purified water and green tea – that’s it. Carrington Green Tea comes in bags, so I use one or two bags in one serving. One more thing, if you do get Teas’ Tea, don’t put it in your fridge, you don’t want to drink it cold. It’s best drinking it warm – it just taste better.
Anyway, these are a couple of ways that you can overcome some or all of your Klonopin withdrawal symptom of short-term memory loss. I am sure there are others, but these are the best that works for me. The only problem I have is being inconsistent in meditation – but that is about to change!