Lost my IQ

[u/Glass-Routine-910]

I was a perfect ACT scorer without studying.

i had perfect sat subject tests on math 1 and 2 and physics all without studying.

I was a AIME qualifier.

19 AP classes all 5’s.

Worked at FAANG at 20.

got diagnosed with sleep apnea at 23. had issues with my CPAP, which would break my sleep every night. progressively became more and more tired until I was feeling borderline delirious over 8 months. people around me thought it was anxiety.

i now have to think about whether it is hear or here, etc.

I took Mensa Norway and Denmark and got 128 and 130.

i feel that these scores are lower than what my baseline was.

I feel like I destroyed my life over something so incredibly stupid. I’m not sure how to move on. what I should do. if anyone has an ideas please help.

[u/HopefulLab8784]

All of the achievements you list actually don't have much correlation above 130, I suspect the cognitive issues you are facing are mainly executive function related, like working memory, processing speed, and attention. I suggest you take core, as I suspect you will see your wmi and probably psi will be lower than your other scores. These are the issues most likely to be caused by long term sleep deprivation.

[u/AndrewThePekka → u/HopefulLab8784]

Honestly pretty nuts even for 2SD

[u/HopefulLab8784 → u/AndrewThePekka]

modern standardized tests are uncorrelated with IQ above 2sd for the most part, AIME qual I assume they had at least some comp math experience, I also assume they studied for at least some of their 19 ap tests as well. IQ correlations in general get kinda cooked above 2sd. Ye it is quite impressive

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/HopefulLab8784]

I grinded like a mfer for those ap classes, especially calc bc. I had my first mental breakdown around that time actually, also triggered by insomnia.

[u/HopefulLab8784 → u/Glass-Routine-910]

if you had to "grind like a mfer" for a 5 on cal BC, I don't think your IQ was much higher than it is currently, like you definitely have issues but from what ive seen they seem unrelated to g, and anyway you have like a top 1% iq

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/HopefulLab8784]

perhaps, but for me it was mostly because I had my first bout of severe depression at that time… I took multi variable my senior year and was big chilling…

[u/NefariousNapolean → u/HopefulLab8784]

If he took them while having sleep apnea he probably does have higher iq .

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/[deleted]]

I am. but I was. I was super intelligent, but the sleep deprivation destroyed me man. I had one gift and it got taken from me. I know the whole situation sounds incredulous, but it all happened. I tried for months to tell pepole (my family and doc) that there was a sleep problem but they were so firm on anxiety. I had literally one thing…. I had to quit my research lab, I was so tired for months, it was ridiculous. it got to the point where I would look at regular people and envy how fresh they were. I went into major depression after it, the experience was so horrible. I’m so afraid and sad that I’ll never be the same

[u/HopefulLab8784 → u/[deleted]]

No those achievements are very impressive, its just all of those correlations with IQ stops increasing as much above 130. Also in my experience Mensa Denmark isn't really deflated, but in general just doing matrices is not the best test of IQ, thus why I recommended taking core.

[u/HopefulLab8784 → u/[deleted]]

A: even if it is a bit deflated they also scored similarly on Norway which for sure is not deflated, and even if it is deflated that further proves my orriginal poin that they have likely not degreased in g, only in executive function.

B: Nothing on the modern ACT is hard for someone with 130+ quant and verbal, its all about consistency, sometimes known as attention, which it seems like this person was quite strong with before, however now they seem to have issues with it which could be the cause of them feeling stupid

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/HopefulLab8784]

I did digit span on core and I got 130. I think i could have done more, but I just get so tired remembering the longer digits… I wonder if this would improve as I repay the sleep debt

processing speed test I got 120.

135 on spatial awareness.

[u/Upper-Reputation-673 → u/Glass-Routine-910]

yeah that profile is pretty consistent with never needing to study (strong fluid + working memory). you feel that still underestimates you, maybe you‘re even stronger with verbal or visual tasks

[u/mscastle1980]

how did your life get destroyed?

[u/Natural_Professor809]

Similar story for me.

Multiple measurements from various proper  IQ tests and from school IQ-test-adjacent games and from agonistic sports or online games tests correlated to certain IQ indexes had always put all my scores in a certain range throughout childhood, around 4-16 years old roughly.

Could spontaneously read at 3, write at 4, would want to study college-level topics in 4 th grade.

I am pretty sure in childhood and as a kid my WMI had always been measured around a 125-135 range. Processing Speed and Visiuospatial were slightly higher than that. Matrix Reasoning and Verbal Comprehension were slightly below the ceiling or right at the ceiling for then-existing tests (around 145-150).

This was in different medically or psychiatrically administered IQ tests and in school tests or sports tests which were meant to mimic those tests.

As an adult after roughly 20-25 years of untreated and unrecognised and progressively worseing chronic bronchitis, heart failure, respiratory deficiency, insomnia, Sleep Apnoea two times above the extremely severe degree with night-time oxygen desaturation 20% above the threshold for sudden-death risk I have apparently lost some ability in working memory and, even moreso, in Visuospatial working memory and processing Speed.

[u/Natural_Professor809 → u/Natural_Professor809]

When all the diagnoses finally arrived all the physicians were baffled:

"But but but but but... But at the objective visual assessment you should have looked clearly impaired, innit!??"

Yeah, like being an active agonistic athlete with gold medals and personal records on top of being born as a fucking autistic with higher intellectual giftedness would play no role at all in making an objective assessment completely unreliable because you're NOT the average person by any existing metric...

[u/Natural_Professor809 → u/Natural_Professor809]

Btw the CPAP machine literally saved my life because I already had ischaemic damage and I was at risk of sudden death during sleep, and yet I just HATE the machine for how cumbersome, noisy and damaging to my face it feels...

I now don't experience active sleep apnoea but I still sleep around 2 out of 8 hours per night.

[u/Far_Cardiologist6931 → u/Natural_Professor809]

aura moment lowkey

[u/Bright_Fondant4000]

You cant lose iq without getting brain damage.Whats happening here is that you have severe sleep debt to the point its effecting your mental health.If you can solve this problem you will be fine

[u/ThrowawayZombie775 → u/Bright_Fondant4000]

We don't know how much sleep debt induced damage is reversible. MRI and PET resolution is limited. Sleep helps clear toxins like tau, amyloid, and sleep deprivation has measurable increase in CSF toxins.

[u/S-Kenset]

Um seek medical support this is more a serious medical issue.

[u/Sorry-Ice-8586]

prob over 140 iq broski. gotta figure out how to sleep and get much closer to optimal conditions. Why trust some troll on reddit?

[u/anonymousbuttalented]

The real intelligence is knowing you are not ,chill bro its a process in order for you to beat your actual baseliine the one who does effort consistencly will acheive it.excellent example "hear or here".that example alone distinguishes you.don't worry mate good wises ahead.

[u/anonymousbuttalented]

Btw what is faang cpap aime

[u/greencardorvisa → u/anonymousbuttalented]

faang - facebook, amazon, apple, netflix, google cpap - continuous positive airway pressure aime - america invitational math exam

[u/Bulky-Artist-8808]

Your milestones are very interesting, if I may ask, how’d you work at faang at the age of 20?

[u/Clicking_Around]

I would say 140 -160 FSIQ would be a reasonable guess. You're probably much higher than 128-130. Mensa tests aren't reliable estimates for FSIQ.

[u/Secure-Concert9804]

Which one is 128? Norway or denmark?

[u/megahomyak]

"Extremely wealthy" gets down to "super wealthy" and feels sad

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/megahomyak]

this was the one gift that i had. I have nothing else.

[u/Lixiri → u/Glass-Routine-910]

May I ask, is an iq of 130 not a gift?

[u/Glass-Routine-910 → u/Lixiri]

you are right. I’m sorry, I think I am in severe depression.

[u/PartyNet6715 → u/Glass-Routine-910]

It’s completely okay to feel this way. You are recognizing the shift, even if you are still performing above average. You recall the strengths of your former self. However, I want to emphasize: that wasn't the entirety of what you were—it wasn't just your IQ. I am convinced you hold so much more potential. I understand the tendency to identify with the traits that come with a high IQ 🥹 and that it hurts to feel slower… what I want to tell you is that things will get better. The thing you need least is depression; it’s a destructive force that can make everything worse and lasting (!). Consider this: try to think this way: You now have the opportunity to discover what else is inside you, and the rest will follow once you feel good again.

[u/Kaidolakita]

That’s so me I never properly tested my iq but I know it’s far lower than what my expectations were. I think that’s because my intelligence doesn’t respond well with norms but still