brain fog please help me !

[gossamer4448]

Does anyone else have really bad brain fog like REALLY bad ? My hugest complaint with all of this is the cognitive issues i suffer . I already have PTSD and depersonalization which creates brain fog between all of it I feel like I have dementia ! I dont even recognize my own house ive lived in for 15 years .Obviously I know I live here but it dosent seem like I do if that makes sense . I am a day after my period and the FOG is just awful my mind is totally blank gone . I only slept 4 hours thanks to lovely symptoms keeping me awake and im at the end of my rope . Please what has helped your mental clarity ?!  I was thinking about taking iron to maybe help with my period . Does that help anyone .Sorry for being all over the place in this post  I am out of it so bad right now.

[yogini]

What is your blood pressure?  Did you take extra water and salt to compensate for the blood loss during your period?  I always get brain fog when I have low BP.  Birth control is also helpful to manage symptoms.

[JimL]

I get brain farts, like why did I go to the kitchen when I get there. It comes to me, but it's a little disconcerting. 

[gossamer4448]

My bp doesnt seem to low i have checked it when feeling bad symptoms and there doesnt seem to be a cause. maybe low blood volume from losing  more blood  during period? I heard low blood volume can mess with your head . I cant take BC it started my problems due to bleeding non stop for months .That would be really bad for that to happen now . Idk why i had that reaction but im not willing to risk it . 

[DizzyDame]

I have extremely bad brain fog, especially around my period. My doctor indicated that she believes it's an influx of hormones that makes everything go so off balance. This is usually when my fatigue is at it's worst as well. She wants me to see a hormone specialist. I imagine controlling it with birth control would also help, but that isnt an option for me at the moment. 

In the interim, the census was to go on a stimulant to assist with 'pushing' through the brain fog. It had to be a low dose, since we didn't want it to affect my heart rate, but just enough where most days I could manage the symptoms. Things improved once I had the perscription, but there will still be bad days. The process of getting there was also time consuming. I had to see my dysautonomia Doctor, and Neurologist, and then a Psychiatrist to finally get to the point where I could start taking it. 

Sleep is also a major factor. If you're having sleeping issues, definitely bring that up with your doctor. 

[gossamer4448]

Theres nothing I can do i too cant take BC and my sleep issues are hormonal.  everytime after my period  I get hardly any sleep I. dont know what to do . Im afraid of a mental breakdown and having to stay in a psych ward because im losing my mind, my self . my period makes me so depressed because i cant do anything about it every month . What medicine is the one that  helps your brian fog? 

[DizzyDame]

Do you see a psychiatrist or psychologist? Talking to someone can really help. There are other ways to stop your periods besides birth control - you'll have to discuss these options with your doctor. Do the symptoms lessen when you're not having your period? 

[Guest KiminOrlando]

See if you can find a reproductive endocrinologist. They can help with the hormones/adrenals during that time. Many only want to do fertility issues, so you will have to make some phone calls and talk to some office managers. There are options, but you may have to try another kind of birth control. They will work closely with you. I ended up on bio-similar hormones instead of estrogen... derived from African yams. I never thought it would work, but so far, so good. Things are better than they were, but still not great. I don't think we ever get 'normal' again.

[Derek1987]

No expert on this period talk but can't you take birth control pills to help reduce the symptoms?

Anyways don't feel bad. I'm 31 and get scared that I'm getting dementia. I forget stuff everyday. I say ok after I wash my hands I'm gonna go get some more toilet paper to stock up in the bathroom. Then I forget. I do that type of stuff all the time or basically everyday. My memory is awful. I forget things that are told to me. I forget stuff that happened. I even downloaded a phone recorder app to help me remember important stuff. I re ask questions over and over to people.

 

I'm telling you my wife has been mad at me our whole marriage because she thought I wasn't listening to her. Now we know why I can't remember a lot of stuff. She's backed off about 95 percent lol. The other 5 percent is she's still a woman and sometimes still uses emotion over logic. No offense ladies lol.

[Pistol]

@gossamer4448  this is a symptom of POTS that is common and - in my case - is one of the worst symptoms, other than fatigue. I used to not be able to remember things from one minute to the other. I would be cooking something on the stove, the phone rings, I answer it and then think that I was folding clothes prior to the call. So off I go to do that - meanwhile the pot is happily burning on the stove. I would start making coffee at 5 pm because I thought it was 5 am. So on and so on … what helped me was stop working, getting my heart symptoms under control with medication, living within my limitations and starting Ritalin. This is a MAJOR help to me, for both brain fog as well as fatigue.  

[Peter Charlton]

On 4/14/2019 at 9:07 PM, DizzyDame said:

I have extremely bad brain fog, especially around my period. My doctor indicated that she believes it's an influx of hormones that makes everything go so off balance. This is usually when my fatigue is at it's worst as well. She wants me to see a hormone specialist. I imagine controlling it with birth control would also help, but that isnt an option for me at the moment. 

In the interim, the census was to go on a stimulant to assist with 'pushing' through the brain fog. It had to be a low dose, since we didn't want it to affect my heart rate, but just enough where most days I could manage the symptoms. Things improved once I had the perscription, but there will still be bad days. The process of getting there was also time consuming. I had to see my dysautonomia Doctor, and Neurologist, and then a Psychiatrist to finally get to the point where I could start taking it. 

 

This is interesting. All my problems occurred from a soon as I took beta blockers for a few weeks over two years ago. Right away I felt like a drunk zombie, thing is, I seem to have stuck feeling like a drunk zombie even though the beta blockers have long gone.

I have wondered before if taking something like Amphetamines might swing me back into the normal zone, but I too have to be careful with my heart.

What stimulants did they give you?

[Derek1987]

It's funny because after I made my post last night I took 2 things out of the refrigerator and left them on the counter. If it weren't for me going back for water, I would have forgotten them. I do this number all the time.

[gatherer]

19 hours ago, Derek1987 said:

The other 5 percent is she's still a woman and sometimes still uses emotion over logic. No offense ladies lol.

That's offensive to women and it's not funny. There are no conclusive differences between male and female brains. Every single human being on the planet makes decisions and behaves based on their emotions and I know this because I've read the literature. I've also found anecdotally that people who claim to be logical are so unaware of their own emotions that they act on them without realizing it, making them even more highly volatile to be around. I don't want to berate you and I hope you don't take this personally, but I am a female and I visit these forums for support with my diagnosis and I do not want to see this kind of attitude towards women. It's hurtful and untrue and is primarily the reason why it took me 25 years to be diagnosed. 

[gatherer]

I'm sorry your brain fog is so bad, OP! Diet is the key to managing my own symptoms with this. I lay off processed foods, simple carbohydrates and especially sugar. During times when it gets really bad, I go on a ketogenic (<50g net carbs a day) diet. I have MCAS so this might have something to do with why it works for me, I'm not sure.  But if you don't want to resort to such drastic measures, just reducing carbs and eating plenty of high quality protein and vegetables seems to help me and might be worth trying.

[Derek1987]

26 minutes ago, gatherer said:

That's offensive to women and it's not funny. There are no conclusive differences between male and female brains. Every single human being on the planet makes decisions and behaves based on their emotions and I know this because I've read the literature. I've also found anecdotally that people who claim to be logical are so unaware of their own emotions that they act on them without realizing it, making them even more highly volatile to be around. I don't want to berate you and I hope you don't take this personally, but I am a female and I visit these forums for support with my diagnosis and I do not want to see this kind of attitude towards women. It's hurtful and untrue and is primarily the reason why it took me 25 years to be diagnosed. 

It is not to be taken offensively. We both have brains but different hormones. And that's why women are better at things than men and the other way around. There is a difference between men and women. Men, we struggle with pride. So yes, that could be why it took so long. And that's the same reason I didn't get taken seriously for a long time. And sometimes people are working in the wrong field. Men and women aren't the same gender. There's differences and that's okay. It wasn't mean to be offensive so I apologize for offending you.

[gossamer4448]

2 hours ago, gatherer said:

I'm sorry your brain fog is so bad, OP! Diet is the key to managing my own symptoms with this. I lay off processed foods, simple carbohydrates and especially sugar. During times when it gets really bad, I go on a ketogenic (<50g net carbs a day) diet. I have MCAS so this might have something to do with why it works for me, I'm not sure.  But if you don't want to resort to such drastic measures, just reducing carbs and eating plenty of high quality protein and vegetables seems to help me and might be worth trying.

I follow low carb does not help

 

[Pistol]

@Derek1987 - I get what you are saying and I am not at all offended, but I thank you for apologizing to anyone who feels differently. My husband is a totally logic person ( engineer ) and I am a completely emotional person ( nurse ). We truly look very differently at most things but that is actually a good thing. He is good at what I struggle with nd vice-versa. And yes - often he does not listen to me but here is one cause of this: most men can focus on one thing at a time, so if he is doing something and I tell him about something it would take him great effort to shift gears. I could see that POTS would make this worse!!!  I used to be the multi-tasker of the family, handling everything from job, household, shopping etc. Since POTS this has all changed - I am no longer working, barely keep up with the housework and cannot shop or transport my daughter or attend school functions. He does all of that. In your case your wife is also disabled and you must feel strongly about having these limits yourself. My husband is the backbone of our family now and I am so thankful that he is logical and what many call "a typical male" - so I can contribute in ways that are easier for me ( I am the mother/ nurse/ scheduler/ chef/ domestic specialist and general overseer ). He pretty much does everything else. Yes - if he had my brain fog it would be really, really bad!!!!!

[yogini]

On 4/14/2019 at 4:12 PM, gossamer4448 said:

Theres nothing I can do i too cant take BC and my sleep issues are hormonal.  everytime after my period  I get hardly any sleep I. dont know what to do . Im afraid of a mental breakdown and having to stay in a psych ward because im losing my mind, my self . my period makes me so depressed because i cant do anything about it every month . What medicine is the one that  helps your brian fog? 

You should probably see a doctor to address this. I am not recommending that you take birth control, but there are multiple treatments available for issues with your period, hormones and sleep. You. Isn’t have to try a bunch of them to determine what works. Your problem might not be Dysautonomia related.  But drinking extra salt and water could help with blood loss during yout period. 

[misseb]

I get it.  I don't recognise my street. I'm constantly getting locked out of my bank accounts. I've left the front door open and gone to work. I say the wrong words. Can never remember the names of things. Start a sentence and then am throwing in extras words to give myself time to remember what I was going to say. When really bad my speech is slurred too. My POTS specialist puts it down to my depression. But I know it's not. It's too surreal to be depression. And it goes when the POTS symptoms lessen. 

Not eating after 4pm has really helped for me. They still don't know what is happening to me while I sleep. But if I eat too late then I have terrible autonomic symptoms the next day. And the brain fog is appalling. I have cried on waking as I know what the day is going to be like.

[Guest KiminOrlando]

I can't remember anybody's name. I can meet them 10 times and not know it. It is so embarrassing. I can't cook unattended because I almost caused a fire. I forget to pay bills. I forget to take my meds. I forget everything. 

[Derek1987]

13 hours ago, Pistol said:

@Derek1987 - I get what you are saying and I am not at all offended, but I thank you for apologizing to anyone who feels differently. My husband is a totally logic person ( engineer ) and I am a completely emotional person ( nurse ). We truly look very differently at most things but that is actually a good thing. He is good at what I struggle with nd vice-versa. And yes - often he does not listen to me but here is one cause of this: most men can focus on one thing at a time, so if he is doing something and I tell him about something it would take him great effort to shift gears. I could see that POTS would make this worse!!!  I used to be the multi-tasker of the family, handling everything from job, household, shopping etc. Since POTS this has all changed - I am no longer working, barely keep up with the housework and cannot shop or transport my daughter or attend school functions. He does all of that. In your case your wife is also disabled and you must feel strongly about having these limits yourself. My husband is the backbone of our family now and I am so thankful that he is logical and what many call "a typical male" - so I can contribute in ways that are easier for me ( I am the mother/ nurse/ scheduler/ chef/ domestic specialist and general overseer ). He pretty much does everything else. Yes - if he had my brain fog it would be really, really bad!!!!!

Thanks for supporting my thoughts. Totally didn't mean to offend anyone. Trust me I know I'm screwed up in the head. I can't talk about anyone lol.

[StayAtHomeMom]

I use caffeine to help my brain fog. I have to be careful of the amount. Because too much causes chest pressure. But it is a symptom and will cycle. Overheating can also make it worse. Be patient and try not to worry too much. If you feel like it is worse than what it should be talk to your doctor. Or a shrink. And make sure you are not having something else going wrong. 

I have always had poor memory. Walking into a room and forgetting why I went in there. Also putting something down and forgetting where I put it. Now my brain fog causes a disconnect between my brain and my mouth on top of those things. It is like words and memories can't be found. It can be frustrating and funny. A while back my hubby asked what I was making for dinner. I was trying to tell him corn dogs and tator tots. But couldn't find the word "tator tots". I spent 10 minutes describing them and the bag. Finally I got so mad I just went and got them and showed him. My husband and kids died laughing. And of course so did I. They still make references to it and it has been almost 2 years.