What is "brain fog" to you?

[lljkk]

As in, how would you know if you had it, and how would you know when you didn't have it?

not Being able to recall the words for perfectly ordinary things. I was driving to work this week and couldn’t remember the words for my wing mirrors.

reading something over and over and not being able to take it in, I used to be such a bookworm and now I can’t concentrate long enough to enjoy a book.

Going upstairs for something and the standing blankly in the room with no idea why.

mine Is menopause related and I know when I didn’t have it and when it started.

I used to be able to plan complicated projects at work, have several things running at the same time with barely a few notes. I have lists about lists these days, but even my kids know, if I don’t write it down they might as well not tell me.

Everything is difficult: can't think properly to even make a cup of coffee. Brain feels like it's full of sludge. Trying to think is almost painful. It feels like my brain is inflamed.

I'm getting it a lot lately and it's incredibly debilitating. I'm signed off on long term sick leave and the brain fog is the worst symptom. I think you'd know if you had it.

Staring at the clock and not being able to figure out what time it is.
Scared myself shitless with that one!

I am 63, menopause never really bothered me or so I thought but now I am so foggy and emotional. Not long Covid but could be another reason. I had half my thyroid removed a few years ago but always told my levels are fine. I feel so old and frail; how will I manage when I age more? Luckily I am retired but I ran my own business for years and the deterioration is frightening. Both dc are pregnant and due in September; I need to up my game so I am going to make a gp appointment and just praying they listen and can help. Have noted pp suggestions.

Trying to get my brain to think clearly because I know it can, but it just doesn't

I'm on chemo at the moment and the brain fog is probably one of the side effects that's most annoying

Just reading some of these has been a massive help to know I'm not going mad, so thank you all!

Yes to:
Forgetting the words for things
Having to check sent emails and drafts multiple times a day
Not recalling something told to me recently and multiple times
Swearing I've definitely done something - but haven't
Not being able to follow plots in books and films/tv
Hearing things completely differently to what was actually said

I can remember tons of detail about unimportant things - phone numbers from 30-40 years ago, product codes from jobs left over 20 years ago etc.

I have a telephone appointment re HRT/menopause in about a week and hoping that may help

Meanwhile it's lists, calendars, phone reminders...

I am surprised there aren’t more answers like this

it is literally a physical feeling in my head of cotton wool , fuzziness, thickness, pressure or squeezing….very hard to describe. But it is a physical symptom not a case of being forgetful. It’s not painful like a headache , but it is like a headache in that you feel your brain is not right. It can come on from no where and it dissipates just as quickly. Whilst in perimenopause it was cyclical on monthly basis and very intrusive , now in my early 60s and menopausal it happens once in a while, as do hot flushes - guess hormones are still trying!

it makes thinking and concentrating very hard. Often I’ll get overwhelmed about trying to focus on anything. Sometimes at it’s worse I’d be reduced to tears of frustration that my brain was simply not working. I would, when working, have to literally force myself to push through that fuzziness and treacle to be able to do anything.

I’m retired ( shit menopausal symptoms demand I retired very early) so these days, I have luxury of simply checking out and not trying to concentrate or solve problems etc and have experience to know that it will pass within a day or so, so stuff can just wait till it’s gone.

@picklemewalnuts
His exact words were 'fibro is all in your mind, there is no evidence that its a physical illness'.

I hear you on living life like you used to do as well. I've learnt that particular lesson the very hard way. Last summer I did a 6 mile walk with my dc. Fabulous walk, lovely scenery, dc enjoyed it. I floored myself for the best part of a week afterwards.

When you just can’t get your shit together.

I’m confused by so many people describing what id call hormonal forgetfulness. Yep, that’s a problem too, and certainly increases with sleeplessness ( often a symptom in itself of peri and menopause) and stress/anxiety ( again both symptoms in their own rights)

but brain fog to me and others I talked to, isn’t that - it’s a physical sensation in your brain as I described above. A fuzziness, pressure, of the brain being full- unable to concentrate , thinking becomes literally a forced effort. But forgetting stuff, no.

it probably doesn’t help menopausal treatments and research that we aren’t clear and don’t have consensus on what these terms even mean and don’t have language to describe them accurately- I suspect if men got brain fog a lot there’d be a clear medical definition for it

It feels like I'm a computer that keeps buffering. I'll be going along quite happily and then the next word, answer or action is just gone...then I stand looking confused until I remember or are prompted.

This, plus I could also literally feel it coming on. A one or two minute gap when my brain was being filled up with candyfloss.

During severe episodes I'd need to lie down, but my covid brain fog usually came on in the night.

If I wake up the night usually, I usually go, "right, yes, it's dark, few more hours now, settle down" and sort of ease myself back to sleep.

Impossible to sleep with brain fog. It sounds weird, but it doesn't let you concentrate enough to sleep. Like your brain can't follow the steps it needs to.

You know what, I didn't want to say it, because I only know about my covid brain fog, but yes, I agree. Brain fog is so much more than forgetfulness.

And my long covid symptoms were also cyclical - they peaked around ovulation and period. I contacted Zoe several times to ask if they could add tracking women's cycles on the app, but to no effect.

This. I am constantly giving up on tv shows several episodes in, because I just can’t remember who anyone is. My Netflix ‘continue watching’ section is ridiculous.

For me, it's a very reduced concentration span, forgetfulness, having to re-ask what was just said because of lack of concentration, no energy to start new tasks or complete older ones!

I’m almost 47 and the last year or so I find I will forget something I’ve planned to do within the next few minutes. I can also be talking and the sentence fizzles out because I forget my point. I have to rely on lists much more often whereas years ago I could hold it all in my head and not forget anything. I make my children write down anything I need to remember for them - ingredients for cooking class - for example.

I have more mood issues too, irritability and depression and low self worth which I’ve only struggle with in the last couple years. I used to be a fairly positive person. Now I just claw my way through work days in an attempt to get to the next day off.

My brain actually does feel "foggy" sometimes and lacking in clear thoughts. A couple of times recently I've gone to the shop on my way home to pick up a couple of things. As I'm walking around I actually can't remember what I'm there for. My mind is completely blank. I put this down to perimenopause. My mum had the same.

Sounds like being stoned. At least, what PP describe is why I stopped smoking pot.

Stupid man!

I mean, it's kind of in the brain I suppose! Hyper vigilance and oversensitivity. They've not found any definitive physiological or mechanical causes... yet!
I wonder if PTSD is 'all in the mind', or BiPolar disorder? I wonder when a condition counts, and when it can be dismissed?

Sometimes, also, I have this sensation that the part between my eyebrows is being squeezed. It isn't a headachy feeling but a pressure that makes me feel overwhelmingly tired. It feels like I could drill a hole between my eyebrows, relieve the pressure and I'd feel instantly clear headed and wide awake.
Would this be brain fog? Can anybody relate?

For me it was forgetting words and general bad memory. I used to be super organised and never needed a list or diary.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/long-covid-brain-fog-symptom-executive-function/671393/

"Brain fog isn’t like a hangover or depression. It’s a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard."