memory, or lack of it ...

[beena]

SWIM has been addicted to crack-cocaine for 9 years and obviously it has had its repercussions but they are negligible compared effects that SWIM has had noticed from opiate addiction. This is despite SWIM only using opiates for about 2 or 3 years tops and heroin for barely a year.
And one of the main things is memory. Of course when SWIM was on crack alone because of the pattern of drug use SWIMs memory suffered. Days seemed to merge into weeks and weeks into months. Its one of the reasons that 9 years have passed with little change in SWIMs life. It certainly doesn't feel like 9 years have been spent doing little else but smoke crack. SWIM was 21 when she got addicted, now she's pushing 30 but still feels like a 21 year old.
It is not surprising if you're smoking crack 7 days a week that one day is gonna feel like the next and so when someone asks you what you were doing last weekend you might struggle to remember the exact events of the day. Fair enough.
But with heroin her short-term and longer term memory seem to be shot to pieces. She forgets whole conversations with people. And it's not just when you're actually using that this is a problem. SWIM was in Jersey last Christmas and was off crack and heroin but was using morphine tablets and tramadol. She was in contact with her old friends at this time - people she grew up with. She saw quite a bit of them. But it seems she forgot everything that was said to them. SWIM has reached this conclusion cos she returned to Jersey in September to try and get clean and saw the same friends again. This memory loss became apparent and was most noticeable when SWIM went to see her best friend who she grew up with and went to school with. She would ask her friend a question only to be told that they'd had the same conversation at Christmas. Then when SWIM would start to tell her friend something she would again be told that they'd already had that conversation at Christmas. It became most apparent though when SWIM asked her friend if her friends little brother was back in the island only to be told that he'd been back 6 years and SWIM had actually had a drink with him the Christmas before!
SWIM squirmed! She was so embarrassed. Since then SWIM has been paranoid about repeating herself and has been more aware of this memory loss problem. She has started to notice just how bad it is. She remembers having conversations with people but frequently forgets what was said during them. If someone tells her a date that something is taking place she'll instantly forget being told it too, unless she writes it down. SWIM used to have a really good memory so she is quite upset that she's destroyed it through her own device.
Does anyone else suffer with similar problems as a result of drug-use?
Is it heroin more than crack that causes this problem?
Is there any way of recovering or repairing the memory?
Do things improve when drug-use is stopped or has the damage been done now?

[Junkhead23]

SWIM thinks it is more likely the crack that has effected SWIY memory as SWIM is pretty sure that opiates are not neuro-toxic and therefore should not cause lasting damage to your memory.

SWIMs memory is shot to pieces but SWIM puts this down to heavy ecstasy (long term memory loss) and Marijuana use (short term memory loss).

[ScorpioSunshine]

Swim doesn't have any experience with crack, but she can say that she did experience short-term memory loss with heroin. This did come back to her once she quit, and she regained her excellent memory.

Swim's friend was a very heavy meth user, and his memory was shot to hell like ne wouldn't believe. He was a chronic user for years and got so bad that swim feared he'd never be the same person again (memory and intellect). Swim is happy to report that her friend cleaned up and over time regained everything he had lost. So yes, swim thinks there is hope.

The worst memory loss swim has endured has been from her therapeutic doses of clonazepam. Since swim has been taking it for many years now, it's become less pronounced, but it's definitely there (swim was proud of her excellent memory). Clonazepam truly fucks with swim's short-term memory, as she can have a conversation with someone and not remember it a few minutes later, ask a question and then ask it again a few minutes later, etc.

It doesn't happen as often as it used to, but it's still bothersome at times and is much worse than anything swim experienced on any other substance, including heroin!

[fiveleggedrat]

Swim's been eating large amounts of morphine lately with no memory issues. Things can get a little fuzzy sometimes from being super opiated, but Swim definately gets memory issues from anything that's a stim. Times flies. Hours are like minutes.