beastwiththeleast Posted September 24, 2020 Report Share Posted September 24, 2020 Hello! I wanted to create a different thread to ask about this, I hope that's okay. I have some really big exams coming up next month, but since developing a lot of really bad cognitive symptoms, I find it hard to retain anything. If I mess up these exams, that's this whole year of struggling out the window; but I just can't remember the content and I'm really worried considering how poorly I've performed on practice exams due to that. What techniques and advice would you folks suggest/have found useful personally in improving your capacity/retention of information? Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted September 24, 2020 Report Share Posted September 24, 2020 Hello @beastwiththeleast - I suffer from ADD and POTS related brain fog. Studying when I was younger was difficult, and I found that rewriting the information into a format that I can understand helped me. - Have you ever had a neuro-psychological exam? I had 2 - and it was very helpful. It consists of a 3 hour exam testing different functions of the brain, like retaining information, concentration, memory, ability to recall colors/words/shapes etc. After the exam the doctor gave me tips and exercises to control the attention deficit. They also can detect depression or anxiety during that exam ( in my case she commented in the report that the symptoms of anxiety I display are physical symptoms caused by POTS ). aybe you can asl your doctor to order one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmep37 Posted September 25, 2020 Report Share Posted September 25, 2020 I really sympathise with you - studying with POTS is no joke. I did a history degree with the Open University when I first got ill and it took me 8 years part-time as I had to defer exams a couple of years when I was in a bad flare. Figure out what the best time to study is - for me I worked best between 11 am and 1pm. The only thing that helped my memory was constant repetition - I would write revision notes and then summarise them and read the summaries multiple times a day. The other thing that might help is asking your doctor to prescribe Modafinil/Provigil which is a narcolepsy drug that stimulates the brain. I know when I was studying for my history degree it really helped improve my concentration, but I can't remember (!) if it specifically helped my memory... Good luck and don't give up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiminOrlando Posted September 25, 2020 Report Share Posted September 25, 2020 This is a terrible symptom and one of the reasons I don't think I could be employed. I have not found a solution. None of my doctors will write any scripts for this. I hope you find a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted September 26, 2020 Report Share Posted September 26, 2020 7 hours ago, cmep37 said: The other thing that might help is asking your doctor to prescribe Modafinil/Provigil which is a narcolepsy drug that stimulates the brain. I take a low dose Ritalin ( methylphenidate ) for the cognitive issues from POTS, especially the brain fog. It has helped immensely with focusing and attention span. Here is a study about it: https://www.heartrhythmalliance.org/files/files/stars/For Clinicians/Methylphenidate POTS.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperax Posted September 26, 2020 Report Share Posted September 26, 2020 Does the memory loss from pots clear up if you treat the underlying disease? I'm worried that I've lost my ability to write entirely cause of some cognitive difficulties with how bad things are lately. Words too, its uh. Its been foggy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tee Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 Just adding a link to the study about methylphenidate, as it is no longer available from previous link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20460983/ Just in case someone else is searching this too 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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