Feeling detached, disconnected, incredibly poor memory. Worried.

[LiveAboveIt]

I have a neurology appointment tomorrow and I'm a little bit terrified.. I've had severe GAD my whole life and a little bit of HA. But more recently after several traumatic bouts with severe anxiety and adverse reactions to medication, I'm stuck feeling very detached and disconnected.

I sort of explained this in another post on the GAD forum, but..

I feel like I'm living in a constant mental fog.. I can't feel anything around me and when I'm outside it feels like I can't take anything in or process anything. I can't FEEL anything outside of myself and I literally feel like I'm CONSTANTLY trapped inside my own head, like my thoughts are no longer an ally. My memory has decayed and I feel like I'm living moment to moment. I worry that I have to constantly write everything I feel down or I will totally forget it and not be able to work it through it later because I won't remember. Thats how poor my memory has become, alongside not being able to remember names or find the right words. I used to be so articulate and analytical before all of the anxiety set in like it has. Now I just feel stupid and confused all the time.

Has anyone else felt like this, to this degree? Is there hope out there? I'm still searching for a therapist, but I've been through 4-5 now and I can't find any that are worth seeing and it seems to take FOREVER to get appointments scheduled.

The main concern I have that runs through my head is that I have lost the ability to think.. It feels like besides the anxious thought, my head is completely empty and I have a difficult time recalling anything else. Is this normal for anxiety, has anyone else had these issues?

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think someone may pick up on this but do you realise you have typed quite a few long and complicated posts on here? If you truly were struggling severely with cognitive ability, I don't think that would be the case.

I've said the rest on the other threads so I'll leave it there and let the HA guys/girls talk.

[BrokenAge]

These are actually all the symptoms of "Derealization" it's completely harmless and is a symptom of anxiety. There's actually a sub post for this symptom. It can be extremely debilitating and trust me, I know. I've felt with it for 2 years. My best advice I, and other members here can give you is to go on with your day like normal. It'll slowly fade away and I promise it'll go away.

[LiveAboveIt]

I think someone may pick up on this but do you realise you have typed quite a few long and complicated posts on here? If you truly were struggling severely with cognitive ability, I don't think that would be the case.

I've said the rest on the other threads so I'll leave it there and let the HA guys/girls talk.

You have a good point there. I guess a better way to rephrase it would be that I have a difficult time slowing my racing thoughts down enough to articulate and reason through something unless I sit down and start to write it all out.

This also manifests into dealing with an issue or symptom to become not afraid of it and then forgetting why I'm not afraid of it later, and thus the cycle repeats.

---------- Post added at 11:37 ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 ----------

These are actually all the symptoms of "Derealization" it's completely harmless and is a symptom of anxiety. There's actually a sub post for this symptom. It can be extremely debilitating and trust me, I know. I've felt with it for 2 years. My best advice I, and other members here can give you is to go on with your day like normal. It'll slowly fade away and I promise it'll go away.

I never considered that it might still be symptoms of DP/DR. I had this for awhile. Maybe I just got used to feeling this way and no longer connected it to being a symptom of that and instead just clumped it together with anxiety.

At any rate, I moved this topic to the DP/DR subforum.

[Mike_NY]

These are actually all the symptoms of "Derealization" it's completely harmless and is a symptom of anxiety. There's actually a sub post for this symptom. It can be extremely debilitating and trust me, I know. I've felt with it for 2 years. My best advice I, and other members here can give you is to go on with your day like normal. It'll slowly fade away and I promise it'll go away.

I agree. Sounds like what I've been dealing with the past year

[LiveAboveIt]

Thanks everyone. I do feel a bit better now that I know whats going on. It seems like the Sertraline was worsening this issue, as well.

[Shain321]

I have felt the exact same way as you do. Foggy, disconnected, forgetful, and stupid. One person above commented on your post and that it's complex so your cognition is still fine. Totally not the case. I love typing or texting because you can edit your thoughts, go back and add things. In real life when you're trying to have a conversation and all you feel is stupid and can't respond because you're too focused on feeling fuzzy or wierd... I get it. My therapist and I are doing EMDR, I think it's helping. I'm also taking 300mg of Wellbutrin, 5mg of Lexapro, and an herb called Rhodiola (suggested by my doctor). I think I may be on the path to wellness. Our symptoms seem so similar maybe one or all of these remedies could help you!