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539549 tn?1315981662

does anyone else with bp have this problem

I get distracted easily or sometimes even confused or disorented and I loose things or forget stuff....
Is this a symtom of bipolar??? It happens to me more frequently than your avrage person but sometimes when I'm manic or really busy it starts happening a lot
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585414 tn?1288941302
Yes before my current recovery frequently. That is common for bipolar because when people having racing thoughts and loss of judgment its hard to concentrate on anything. One of the few standard medications I take is Clonidine which is used (as well as on my physical disability) as a mood stabilizer. The strange part is yesterday I went on a walk that extended several miles, bought a lot of food (a bagel, then Chinese food) and stopped in a store and bought several cd's which is not good because I am on a budget. I honestly had no idea what was going on. I hadn't experienced rapid cycling in years. However, as it turned out the Clonidine patch had come loose (highly dangerous, will speak to my psychiatrist about how to keep in place). But when I was on more common mood stabilizers and known antipsychotics in the past I had that all the time. As well as other people I know with bipolar. What medication can't treat coping skills to help keep things organized can. And for some people cognitive behavioral therapy is good for learning coping skills.
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539549 tn?1315981662
It happens to mew more regularly
even without the racing thoughts going on much....
possibly its just my meds bringing me down a bit
when I do have racing thought its much worse tho
maybe I have ADD or something
what you experience with spending all that money
stuff like that has happened to me before too
Helpful - 0
675923 tn?1296238011
I too have racing thoughts more often than I'd like to. I will walk into a room and forget while I was in there. People have told me this comes with age and I agree. But why was I doing this 20 years ago? I have been told by a professional that this is a common trait with bipolar. One doctor put me on medication for ADD and it actually made my symptoms worse. I didn't even get the benefit of losing weight! Sticky notes have become a good friend of mine. Yes, even if I'm going to another room to pick something up. I have made this a habit of mine. Yet, when I am in the depressive cycle I forget to use my notes. May I suggest you talk to your doctor about this? I take mood stabilizers but I will not take anymore medication for this issue. For me, since I don't want to take any more meds, I have learned to accomodate some of bipolar symptoms in other ways.

~El
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Avatar universal
i haven't been formally diagnosed cause everytime i make an apt to see a psych i chicken out, but im the same way. i forget everything, and loose everything. my husband doesn't understand how i can always be so unorganized and forgetful, but i can't help it! i also have found making notes (for everything!) helps.
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Avatar universal
I have the same problems with racing thoughts, losing things and impulse buying at times. I have found over the years if I get into the habit ( it takes time and a lot of force of will) to put my keys in my purse every time I don't use them, write complete notes about things I need to do - I sometimes don't write complete notes and go back and cannot understand what in the heck I wrote! And make myself return impulse buys that I don't need. I put my purse in the same place in the house when I come in, stick receipts in my pocket so that I write them in the register when I empty my pocket, etc. I have developed these habits over the past 40yrs so keep up hope for yourselves. I think we are all kindred spirits. BP *****!
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Avatar universal
I forget things all the time. I get up to get something and forget what I got up for. I have spent a bunch of money when I don't have it to spend. I lose things all the time and then try and blame it on my husband! It's crazy I know, but I think it's all a part of bipolar mania. I have racing thoughts a lot. I'm at the beginning of my diagnosis, so I'm just starting to be medicated, but I've experienced it a lot. I even write my psychiatrist appointments on the calendar and then still miss them because I forget to look at the calendar that morning!
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539549 tn?1315981662
thanks so much for all the replies.....
its really great to know that I'm not alone in this
I try really hard to hide it from other people
(kindof an embaressing secret really
I forget stuff pretty often but I wasn't sure if it was bipolar or not
I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid and had some pretty common signs for it
so it just got me woundering why am I so forgetful?
I think it was taking its toll on my last relationship as well
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Avatar universal
I'm fortunate to have a husband that remembers everything.  I'll call out to him - where did I put my purse and he'll tell me exactly where it is.   Unfortunately, he doesn't come to work with me - I could really use him there!  

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871545 tn?1240724429
I've always been very forgetful and "scatterbrained".  I forget what I'm doing, forget what i'm saying, forget that I'm holding something that I go to look for, I've even forgotten my own birthday.

Mom always told me it was because I'm thinking too fast and too much ;)

Post its and to-do lists have saved me!  And I still don't have a good hold of things all of the time, haha.
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Avatar universal
i too get very frustrated with confusion and forgetfulness....heck ive already threw my wedding rings in the trash without realizing i did it....thank god the trash didn't go yet lol and i found them....my husband tells me i have to focus and he is right i have to be more careful about my actions and stop and think i literally have to talk to myself as i am doing it to reassure myself...this is absoutely normal when you are bipolar
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Very common events in my Daughters life. It makes things Majorly difficult especially where school and such is concerned. When she is stable it is not quite as bad but some of it has to do with medications too....
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574118 tn?1305135284
what you describe is typical bipolarity. I am afraid you can symptomatize BP by the fact of distractability, confusion, forgetfulness, etc... But no harm done so long as you know instead of panicking.

What i do in this situation is that i say Ah! it's my BP now because at some other times you find yourself Ok

don't worry and don't refer everything to BP otherwise if you lose money you will say it's my BP if you don't pray regularly you will say it's my BP and so on... the important thing don't panick. I know people not BP and yet forget things very easily, are often distractable as well, etc... so bipolarity is not the end of the world there are much worse things. If you remember this you will get cured. Usually when i see someone in a worse situation than myself I say to myself: thanks GOD that you created me in a much better situation than this fellow. This will make you good
and hope you the best of luck
N.B: I forget to tell you that females are more disoriented than males this is true. For instance if someone tells a female while we sit in a room where is the coffee shop say usually a woman and this I found so many times, she will point to a wrong direction. Also they drive worse than men for instance (i am not against women pls, i am only stating a fact i witnessed often).
ezz
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Avatar universal
The reason why women are more disoriented is because they have more going on on their minds.  While you're giving a woman directions to the washroom she's probably thinking about 10 other things while listening.   Most women work-full, do most of the domestic chores and child-rearing, are more involved in the finances, goal setting etc.  Men generally have less going on and don't multi-task the way women do.  
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Avatar universal
i have the same problem.  I sometimes get so distracted I forget to go to the bathroom!  Seriously!  :)  The distraction and the racing thoughts really get me down.  I have had 2 incidents of manic in the last 5 months.  All of that really drives me beyond crazy.
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599945 tn?1240382354
i too have the 'forgetting words for things', impulse buying, i try to limit myself to one item when i go to town but it doesn't always work and i end up with things i def don't need. this only started (apart from the impulse buying!) when i went on different regime of meds so i blame it on them. my ability to read has also been effected, i used to read 6/7 books/week and now it could take a week or two to read one book, very frustrating! maybe talk to your pdoc about it and he/she might be able to help.

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Avatar universal
Bipolar disorder can get so bad and confusing that you don't know whether you actually did something or just thought about it.  I still have a habit of checking things I did two or three times to see if I really did it or not.
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Avatar universal
I also thought I'd mention it can get so bad that you have several mood swings per day.
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887011 tn?1240940776
I too have problems forgetting things and loosing things.  I also have some other problems like adding and subtracting and multiplying numbers.  I think that bp meds hve a lot to do with memory problems  I have also had ECT (shock treatments) which stopped my bipolar symptoms cold but created additional memory problems.  When you get your meds regulated where they are working correctly you should have some relief from the problem
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592278 tn?1235661287
Yes, and if it's not it's very close. You need to let go of somethings don't think so hard...lol, I know, easier said than done, right? but, it'll only get worse if you don't succeed. Mines come from anticipating failure.
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599945 tn?1240382354
my pdoc is always trying to talk me out of anticipatory anxiety as panic sets in as soon as i have to face new situations or even have to leave the house for a job etc.
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539549 tn?1315981662
for me I have noticed I just zone out a lot even if I am not manic....
although mainia does worsen the condition,...I guess making lists and setting reminders on my claendar and phone would help greatly as well as getting the proper amount of sleep
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887011 tn?1240940776
Zoning out - I can relate to that.  I am a Christian and I (try to) pray every day.  The trouble is I forget that I am praying and my mind wanders all over the place. : - (
I don't know how to make it stop.  I guess I'm always just a little bit manic, which is where I prefer to be.  A little bit manic makes me more productive overall, but sometimes I find myself going in circles, not always staying on task.
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574118 tn?1305135284
the problem is that distractability is not only a symptom of bipolarity but OCD. You can't really draw the line between the two. Sometimes I pray twice forgetting that I already prayed, or going out my house and use a turnkey and forgot whether i closed it correctly or not so i open it to close it once more and this can happen many times. Or i would write a word file and try to be so accurate so i read it and reread it, etc... all these are perfectionism a sign of OCD and distractability a sign of BP so where to draw the lines is not trivial simply because both can happen in sequence or trigger one another.
don't be afraid from experiencing this. It happens to a lot of people more than you can imagine. Nothing to panick for. It's only when you have mania or depression that is alarming. All my crew of pdocs tell me OCD can morph into BP or that both gateways so they keep changing a speciality of this illness
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887011 tn?1240940776
Did you ever want to write/type a word and you couldn't remember what letter it starts with?  That has happened to me several times.  Also one time I looked at the clock (the moving hands type)  and I could not tell what time it was.  Sort of a scary moments.  
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