12 replies to this topic

[Happyface]

Hello,

I've always had an extremely good visual memory, but now, in my 30s, my visual memory has deteriorated toward being nearly absent. It occured gradually until I noticed it one day and became alarmed. Are there any nootropics, or anything really, to help with this strange decline?

Cognitively, my intellect is sludge. I've been out of any kind of schooling for so long and in an environment not suited for stimulation, my brain lost what it had. I'd like to revitalize my brain over a long period of time, as well as take suppliments for their neuroprotective effects. I don't expect to be brilliant, but I'd like to strengthen my brain to the point it can function without all these swiss cheese effects and move forward in life without having to struggle to grasp everything all the time. I never used to have to, or when I did, never to this particular extent.

As I've said, my intellect is an embarassing and frustrating sludge at best, to worrisome and frightening at worst. I can't hold onto an idea very long, and forget abstract thinking and novel concepts.

Visual memory
Working memory
Abstract thinking
Motivation

Are there suppliments and nootropics you'd recommend to aid in these?

[VictorBjoerk]

What about your health otherwise?

[Mind]

As Shonghow mentioned, look at the obvious and easy things first. Clean up your diet (primarily, try to get rid of most sugar and carbs). Make sure to exercise. You don't have to run a marathon, just a good mix of lifting weights and some cardio. Both of these things usually work wonders.

Then move on to stimulating your brain with....brain exercise. Do some logic puzzles. Learn a new language. Mix up your daily routine. Play a musical instrument. Make your brain work and do new things. You will be amazed at how much this sharpens your cognitive skills and increases your creativity.

Without the above two, nootropes are basically useless. You might as well just take a few fifties out of your wallet and burn them. Would be just as good.

[Happyface]

What about your health otherwise?

That's hard to say. I'd rate it as good, but not optimal. I'm sedentary, so that could improve. My diet isn't perfect either--it's probably better than some, at times, but I haven't gone out of my way to stick to any kind of a diet. I'm considering it. I prefer steamed or raw vegetables, fish, and red meat, rice. A moderate amount of fried foods. Too much refined sugar and carbohydrates. I eat quite a bit of processed frozen dinners too.

I have a complicated health history, but, apart from my cognitive decline, I'm more healthy now than I used to be and don't get sick often at all, maybe once or twice a year these days mostly from a cold or an infection. I was born extremely prematurely, which I suspect is the cause of several problems I've been diagnosed with over the years, what's now seeming like a standard list of acronyms, notably and including ADD, and depression (situational), neither of which responded to medication, and possible learning disabilities to name a few things. Cognitively, I was never perfect, but it was -never- this bad.

[brotherx]

Hi Happyface,

I see - those are your first posts - welcome on board!
You are referring to medications in your post below. Do you still take any? If so - what kind of? If not - when do you have stopped them - and what did you stopped taking?

Cheers

Alex

What about your health otherwise?

That's hard to say. I'd rate it as good, but not optimal. I'm sedentary, so that could improve. My diet isn't perfect either--it's probably better than some, at times, but I haven't gone out of my way to stick to any kind of a diet. I'm considering it. I prefer steamed or raw vegetables, fish, and red meat, rice. A moderate amount of fried foods. Too much refined sugar and carbohydrates. I eat quite a bit of processed frozen dinners too.

I have a complicated health history, but, apart from my cognitive decline, I'm more healthy now than I used to be and don't get sick often at all, maybe once or twice a year these days mostly from a cold or an infection. I was born extremely prematurely, which I suspect is the cause of several problems I've been diagnosed with over the years, what's now seeming like a standard list of acronyms, notably and including ADD, and depression (situational), neither of which responded to medication, and possible learning disabilities to name a few things. Cognitively, I was never perfect, but it was -never- this bad.

[Happyface]

As Shonghow mentioned, look at the obvious and easy things first. Clean up your diet (primarily, try to get rid of most sugar and carbs). Make sure to exercise. You don't have to run a marathon, just a good mix of lifting weights and some cardio. Both of these things usually work wonders.

I've been meaning to get more physically active. But intention and doing are two different things. Time to get that membership to the gym.

Then move on to stimulating your brain with....brain exercise. Do some logic puzzles. Learn a new language. Mix up your daily routine. Play a musical instrument. Make your brain work and do new things. You will be amazed at how much this sharpens your cognitive skills and increases your creativity.

I'm intimidated by this. The cognitive sludge my brain now is, feels like an impenetrable, immutable wall of not just fog, of several other aspects of cognition and memory. I'm creeped out, what if it doesn't?

Without the above two, nootropes are basically useless. You might as well just take a few fifties out of your wallet and burn them. Would be just as good.

Heh. I'll come back after I've accomplished the first two.

[luv2increase]

I tell you what. I used to use mybraintrainer.com all the time, and that improves everything you are looking to improve and then some. I have been thinking for the last couple of days to get back into it, and now I am. I have no affiliation with them; I just think it is a great program. It never gets dull and is addicting (that's a good thing in this instance)!

[Rags847]

Here is some additional motivation to put exercise into your life.
These two audio programs go into how good exercise is for your brain (plasticity, NGF, etc). And exercise has always been good for your body, heart, bloodflow, sex life, mood, stress reduction, sleep quality, and on and on.

Listening to these two programs are inspiring me to get off my butt and reap all the multifaceted benefits of exercise.


http://www.kpfa.org/....php?arch=24909

A look at the neuroscience of brain health and what it takes to keep one's brain sharp into old age.






http://www.shrinkrap...-and-the-brain/

#163 - Exercise and The Brain
July 11, 2008


Transcript

John J.Ratey, M.D. is author of the new book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain. Dr. Ratey is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Read More »

Standard Podcast [1:03:27m]

Edited by Rags847, 03 August 2008 - 01:41 AM.

[Rags847]

Welcome Happyface,

What were you prescribed for ADD and depression? Did either of them work at all?

Exactly how does your visual memory frustration manifest itself? When do you notice a deficit?

Piracetam/CDP-Choline does sharpen and sensitize my visual perceptions. And they have neuroprotective qualities.

Edited by Rags847, 03 August 2008 - 01:48 AM.

[Happyface]

I tell you what. I used to use mybraintrainer.com all the time, and that improves everything you are looking to improve and then some. I have been thinking for the last couple of days to get back into it, and now I am. I have no affiliation with them; I just think it is a great program. It never gets dull and is addicting (that's a good thing in this instance)!

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll take a look.

[Happyface]

Hi brotherx,

I'm not currently on any medication. I don't remember the dosages, but I was on all kinds of SSRIs, as well as Ritalin and Strattera, none of which helped.

Paxil, Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, Wellbutrin are what I remember. Maybe even some others that I don't recall. All of them had different effects, but none of them alleviated depression, and a few of them had uncommon, extrapyramidal side effects. I'm not even sure they're supposed to occur with anti-depressents, but they did with me! I've also been on Ritalin and Strattera, neither of which helped. Ativan for anxiety too. It was at least 5 years ago.

Hi Happyface,

I see - those are your first posts - welcome on board!
You are referring to medications in your post below. Do you still take any? If so - what kind of? If not - when do you have stopped them - and what did you stopped taking?

Cheers

Alex

[Happyface]

Welcome Happyface,

What were you prescribed for ADD and depression? Did either of them work at all?

Exactly how does your visual memory frustration manifest itself? When do you notice a deficit?

Piracetam/CDP-Choline does sharpen and sensitize my visual perceptions. And they have neuroprotective qualities.

See my above post for what I was prescribed. Unfortunately, none of it worked.

As for my visual memory related problems, due to intractable depression, I let my brain atrophy in all areas for a long period of time. I used to have a superior visual memory. Strong colors, strong detailing. I can't describe it fully, except that it was strong and contiguous, with a sort of a movie quality or a spatial one to remembering. When trying to remember something whether it's from long ago or even a few moments ago, the memory quality is faded, to the point of barely being there, not at all vivid and barely a picture, unless I concentrate very hard. Then, the visual memory is stronger for a brief time, but nowhere near what it sustainably used to be automatically. I just noticed it one day trying to remember something from a few days back and only remembering it as faded and barely there, then trying to remember older memories and this happened too.

I've been under a lot of stress for years. I wonder if damage from cortisol has also occured.

Piracetam sounds like a good suppliment/drug. It helps visually? I'll research more and look into purchasing some.

Thanks!

[niner]

Hi Happyface, glad you stopped in here. I will first echo what everyone else says about exercise; it's just a great thing for your brain, along with the rest of your body. A lot of games that people do just for fun, like crossword puzzles and sudoku, are quite good brain exercise. A couple things that I would recommend are Fish Oil, Magnesium, Blueberry, and Pomegranate. You should probably add some vitamin D3 while you're at it. I would take a couple grams of Fish oil, 400mg/day of elemental magnesium in any form other than oxide, a pomegranate extract at the recommended dose, and either a handful of blueberries daily or a blueberry extract. I really like Trader Joes Wild Blueberries. They are smaller and more flavorful than the usual ones. Take 1000 IU of D3 in a gelcap form for decent absorption. This supplement program just about has to help your brain, along with other parts of you. Finally, the number one dietary component you should try to get under control is the carbs. The worst is high fructose corn syrup, then other sugars, then high glycemic items like white rice, white potatoes, white flour. Just knock that stuff out and you've done a lot. Get the carbs down and the fats up. Ideally you want healthy oils; Olive, Palm, Coconut, Grass Fed Butter. Use Palm or Coconut for cooking, any of them for eating. I suspect that stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise are the vast majority of your problem. The good news is that there's a lot you can do to improve the situation.