Not Enough Blood/oxygen?

[carinara]

Hi everybody,

I have a stupid question that comes into my mind every now and again.

Well, i try to keep the story short. It already happened twice that some friends and people asked me whats wrong with me and why i get dizzy so quick and what my brain fog and the "disorientated" feeling is all about. When i tried to explain to them, that these symptoms occur due to some blood loss and oxygen loss in the brain due to upright posture or heat and so on, they looked at me and said:- so what if you have not enough blood in your brain and you start doing silly or dangerous things because you are so confused???? Then they came up with things like:

The possibility to grap a bottle of cleaner instead of a bottle of limonade and drink it, or to put some dog food in the pan or to do something stupid like leaving the house naked...,

Well to be honest, their stories did scare me a little bit even though i feel i know that this is not possible.

But then i read in one resent post that somebody wrote that

If I am feeling that way, I may "mean to pick up a pen", but I "pick up a knife"... (maybe this is just an english saying, i do sometimes drap into the language barrier!!!)., thats when i remembered the situation i mentioned above. I do remember that years before i got diagnosed my daughter was only a baby, i felt so sick and dizzy all the time that i did develop some fears of being afraid of doing something i didnt want to do due to brain fogg and dizziness, like i double checked on the food i prepared for her and so on. Since my diagnosis in 2007 i feel so much better because i know what iam dealing with now. But today i found being a little worried again due to what i read, hope you dont mind that i got this of my chest now, but it does cause me some insecurity. Any ideas? And sorry again for this silly question.

[futurehope]

I was the one who said I am aware when my brain isn't working and when that happens, I could pick up the incorrect object by mistake.

Interestingly enough, I have no fear whatsoever because of this "brain problem", except I know I should not be driving during it, or if I am driving, I make sure I have no passengers.

I do not have a fear of doing anything so stupid that it is life threatening, no fear at all. I usually am aware of when my brain isn't working, and though I may do something stupid or goofy, I usually find out before any harm is done.

I did not mean to put fear in you. You probably are aware when you are really not "with it" (a bit goofy). I have never done something so obviously harmful that I could kill myself or anybody, except when driving, like I said before.

Please, don't be afraid of doing something crazy.... crazy and goofy are two different things to me.

Now, that being said, I would not have a job where I had to do something potentially dangerous. As a matter of fact, I prefer not to have a job at all, as I am unreliable and unable to commit to anything including "being there" because of this condition.

[flop]

I find that I might do something silly like pick up a knife instead of a pen, but then I will look at it and laugh because I know it isn't what I wanted, then put it away and get out a pen.

Yes you might accidentally pick up cleaner but you would look at it and know that is is not what you wanted, I don't think that brain fog would make you drink the cleaner. As you said you already double check things. We are probably less likely to make mistakes than others because we know we get brain fogged so we are extra careful.

Don't worry about making major mistakes. Other than driving a car where a mistake such as turning the wrong way could cause a crash and injure yourself, other drivers and pedestrians. I have a strict rule with myself - if I have brain fog I don't drive. If I have to go somewhere urgently whe I have brain fog I either get a lift or call a taxi.

Flop

[iheartcats]

I think overly tired people without health issues get these types of things too, at least from people I know!

I had a friend dump orange juice on her cereal and she's perfectly healthy.

I've known people who've doubled up a medicine on accident (like an allergy medicine).

People who were cooking and used 2 tablespoons instead of teaspoons of salt (you think you'd notice that was too much!).

Friends who have sworn they put keys somewhere, and voila!, they are lost.

So we do get brain fog, but so do others for other reasons or are overly tired, have a flu/cold, mind wandering, etc.

Try not to beat yourself up over it. Eating dog food wouldn't be the worst right? Just stay away from under the sink (I keep all my 'bad' stuff there...I don't mix cleaners with edibles just to be safe, which I think is a good idea for everyone!).

[pat57]

I always stop doing anything when I'm dazed- except walk funny and more or less in circles. I have no idea what I was doing/ what I wanted to do/ or what I should be doing!

[ajw4790]

For me the lack of cerebral blood flow is what can cause me the most problems. It can make me say the stupidest things, do silly and embarassing things, and sometimes act/look like I am having a stroke.

I really freaked out some of my professors before (who are PT's- so they are used to stroke like symptoms) because I was so out of it and had extreme difficulty carrying on a conversation with them. This is what lead to my be forced out of school. They said they were very worried and they had thought I was having a stroke. I recently asked a dr. about all of this, and if these types of spells are not more or less equal to a TIA in their presentation. He agreed that you can pretty much act/go through a period like someone having a TIA would, without actually having a TIA. The cause of the symptoms is different, but both can cause lack of blood and O2 to the brain causing a TIA like reaction.

So fun...

[janiedelite]

I haven't had anything overtly dangerous happen because of brain fog... just many frustrating things! My most common issue is I'll be resting, lying down, and I think to myself that I need to get a certain item from another room. So I get up and get to the room and forgot why I was there! I know this isn't very uncommon even for healthy people, but often it happens multiple times in a row. I also am not allowed to transfer funds online anymore to and from our banking accounts. I've several times gotten the math wrong, added or left out a zero, and I used to work as a nurse calculating IV drip rates!

[ramakentesh]

For me its weird = it can be wired and tired so while my brain if fogging from lack of blood, i fidget constantly and cannot sit still because i worry i will faint. fun times...

[firewatcher]

I actually did have something dangerous happen through "brain fog:" I sent my 18 month old into anaphylaxis. He is horribly allergic to milk and I was cooking dinner (on my feet too long) and set the wrong plate of food in front of him. The projectile vomiting and sneezing caught my attention, and I noticed his face was swelling. We spent the night in the ER. I came home and threw out everything that had dairy in it, out of fear of doing it again. The next one was reaching into the hot stove and grabbing a hot dish without oven mitts. Maybe I shouldn't cook...

I hate it when that happens, I can't think of what I was saying, do dumb things, forget everything...