Can psychiatric medications affect reading skills?

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DukeGallison
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10 Sep 2014, 4:03 pm

I currently take Ativan, Prozac, Zyprexa, and Luvox, for reference.

I've been having a very difficult time reading books, and once I've finished them, in my LiveJournal, I can barely piece together a comprehensive review, and when I finish Kindle books, I often have a difficult time writing a detailed review to post to Amazon. Some books have discussion questions at the end that I find myself to be utterly unable to answer. I used to not be this way, since I started becoming a better reader in junior high and largely sustained that through college.

I am able to write comprehensive reviews on videogames, specifially RPGs, and in my blog I wrote a longer-than-average review for a movie. Could my meds be at fault? I will definitely discuss it next time I meet with my psychiatrist.



AspieUtah
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10 Sep 2014, 4:21 pm

I would constantly be unable to remember the first half of a paragraph when I finished reading the second half. The culprit? SSRIs. Now that I am off them, any mind-wandering is probably just a senior moment.


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LokiofSassgard
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10 Sep 2014, 7:14 pm

I'm not quite sure about this. O_o I don't take medications like this, and if I do (if you mean anxiety meds), then I don't think it's what causes my poor reading comprehension. I've always had a hard time remembering and writing down or explaining what I have read for as long as I can remember. I do have a lot of learning delays though too, so I doubt I can consider this a part of my ASD. It might even be part of my ADHD as well too. I have a problem with staying focused on books. I can't seem to get into a good book no matter how hard I try. I get almost half-way through a book, and after that I find it hard to pick it back up again.


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Protogenoi
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11 Sep 2014, 11:19 am

Yes, it could be caused by any one of those meds... But you've got quite a cocktail of meds there, so it could be caused by any combination of those meds being mixed.
Is it being caused by the meds? I don't know. But the meds are a probably reason.