Weed recovery, it's been 3 months feel retarded

[FalloutGuy]

Hello, about 3 months ago I quit smoking weed after about a year of usage. I smoked weed about every few days or so until about february when I was arrested for possession. I started to smoke heavily (like everyday, and a 2 grams or so a day) from about the start of march until july 6th. During that year I was also taking zoloft about 40 mg.

It has been about a week over 3 months now and I used to be really good in school, but now I can barely remember anything and have like constant lapses in remembering new things. I even have a somewhat more foggy memory of the past. It seems like it's worse, or maybe I notice it more. I am on different medications for depression and anxiety now along with the original 40mg. Risperidone and wellbutrin. I now feel completely depressed and hopeless, having to rely on my parents completely for everything, including remembering things or doing things. I have difficulty driving to some extent.



I know that everyone has different susceptibility to damage when it comes to drugs, and am wondering if there is any chance of memory coming back. I am rather pessimistic. I have trouble finding words at all now, when before I had a good vocabulary. I was in college, now I can barely even read. It's so hard, and I feel so hopeless. I haven't even gotten the chance to get out of my parents home. Now I am completely dependent on my father's income, and he is older, so is my mom. The future feels so bleak, and I want to die. Not because I feel particularly horrible, and I am less depressed on these medications, however my memory and cognitive functions are horrible. I can't even 'read' my own thoughts anymore. I am only 20 years old (started a few months after I turned 19). My whole life feels over and I don't know what to do. Everyone is saying don't give up, but my 3 months have just been constant issues with short term memory. I have virtually no friends anymore, and I feel too stupid to even interact with anyone.

I just wanted to know if there was any hope. What I could do to help myself. If 3 months wasn't that long, I don't feel the same at all. I am not hoping for a complete recovery, it seems I would have at least been somewhat better if I could recover that much at this point, but I was looking for hope. I want to die. We are poor and I don't know what to do anymore. I used to smart, and good in college. I should have stopped way before when my grades were dropping, but I didn't and now I swear I am worse than retarded. What's worse is that I can't seem to grasp new things.

[BFB]

Hi FalloutGuy and welcome,

Many people find that weed can affect their memory and cognitive abilities and some people find this much more of a problem than others, however the brain is plastic and can recover to varying extents but from what I have read again it can vary depending on the individual. So obviously I can’t really make any promises or predictions as to what you personally will experience but it is quite possible you will significantly recover.

However what I would say is that the other thing you have to take into the consideration is the other drugs you are still taking, in particular the risperidone, antipsychotics are well known for seriously impairing a person’s ability to think so this may be something that has also been having an effect too. I appreciate that some people may find taking this particular type of medication necessary but it’s just something else to consider, even if you do need to take an anti psychotic there may be others which may not be as bad for you in terms of these sort of effects, this is assuming that it is contributing, even if what you are taking now are not the main cause they could still be making things significantly worse.

I believe you will probably have a very good chance of making significant improvement given time and the right course of action.

Take care and please keep us posted,

All the best,

[r31]

I feel like I can relate to this to a certain extent. I was taking Zoloft for a short period of time before switching to Effexor (150mg once a day), which I was taking for almost 2 years up until a few weeks ago when I decided to slowly stop taking them and ONLY smoke weed. I thought hard about this before I did it because I know it's never good to stop taking prescribed medication. They hardly worked anyway and I hate taking medication, makes me feel shit in other ways. I don't necessarily hate ALL of the effects of depression (that might sound very retarded). Anyways, I've been smoking 4-7 days a week for almost 12 months. That isn't that long or that often compared to some people. But I know it was a mistake to ever smoke more than once a week. I knew I'd end up getting addicted, I knew my life would be effected, I just didn't know how badly. My memory was fine up until about 2 months ago, that's when things started to change. I was never good at remembering things I just read, even if I read it 10 times over, I'll forget it once I read something else. But my memory of past events was pretty good. But now both my short and long term memory are messed up. I can't even think straight, I just hope I haven't done any permanent damage to my brain. Given that I just turned 18, my brain was probably still developing (well not anymore :P)

I'm only on my 3rd day sober, feels like I have a hangover, definitely have all the symptoms that most people get. But now I don't know what to do. I have no one, because everyone bailed on me when they thought I was a wacked out junkie who was hepped up on goof balls. At that point I was still normal as well and only smoking once a week. That's basically the reason I decided to smoke more often. But I'm not making excuses.

I don't have a job currently, I tell myself I won't be able to hold it because I feel so clueless and retarded, every day I dig myself a deeper hole. All I want is someone to try and talk to me about it, but no one gives a shit. They might say "oh you gotta get off da weed bro, it's so bad for you", then never speak to you again. I really don't know what to do now, I need guidance, which is something I've never had. Are there any other options other than counselling? That will be the very last resort.

[SRP]

For what it's worth, I don't know anyone who has suffered any permanent "brain damage" from smoking marijuana. It might just take you longer to clear your head. Is there anything else going on that could be a distraction?