Excuse me….I didn’t hear you, what was I saying?

 

question cloudBrain fog.  The words themselves sound almost creepy…like they belong in some poorly made horror film.  Say them to any normal healthy person and you are likely to get looked at like you just recited the entire works of Shakespeare in Pig Latin.  Say it to a fellow Spoonie and you will get a familiar eye roll and nodding of the head in immediately recognition.  It is one of the most frustrating symptoms of autoimmune diseases and to be fair, probably one of the most frustrating symptoms for those around a Spoonie to tolerate.  Brain fog can cause missed appointments, failure to buy what you went to the store to get and the occasional wardrobe malfunction.  Yes, I said wardrobe malfunction.  Oh c’mon, I can’t be the only one out there who has left for work with two different types of shoes on because the plan to ask someone which one looked better with the outfit was forgotten three minutes after it was thought of.  I certainly know I’m not the only one who has had this never ending conversation with your significant other:

“I told you this morning that I would be home late.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes I did.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes I did…see, I even wrote you a note about it before I left.”

“Oh.  Ok, maybe you did.” 

Brain fog is a very frustrating condition which is accompanied by confusion and lower levels of clarity. It affects people of all ages and leads to the afflicted person dependent on Post-It notes to remember to do something or even to remind them what they have said. The effects of brain fog leave the sufferer feeling depressed and discouraged. Today, so many of us wear so many hats and juggle so many things at one time, that I have come to the conclusion that Spoonies would make fantastic circus performers.  We are moms, dads, spouses, working professionals, stay at home parents, and yes, even E-magazine owners and their staff writers.  I laughed at the title that was recently given to me by The Spoon Lady herself.  “Executive Vice President in Charge of Social Media, Press Relations Department Manager, Therapist to the CEO, Staff Writer and General Manager of the store at butyoudontlooksick.com”. I laughed at Christine and told her that at the end of that title, we probably needed to add a disclaimer of some sorts that I will not be held accountable for missed deadlines, rambling articles and lost passwords.  I didn’t even have to say why….she knew…we all know.  Brain fog.

Fatigue is one of the main causes that result in brain fog and let’s be honest….when was the last time that you felt really rested?  I’m guessing if I asked for a show of hands, I’d see one or two of you reaching high.  The rest of us would sit quietly.  The sad truth of the matter is that Spoonies never get enough sleep.  We never get enough sleep because we never stop hurting.  Oh sure, sometimes the pain can be dulled to a low roar, but it never goes away.  Imagine waking up in the middle of the night because you have to use the bathroom.  Most of you would jump up, go in the bathroom and then happily jump back underneath the covers and drift off back to sleep.  Not Spoonies.  Nope, we fight to open our eyes that feel like they had been rubbed on with sandpaper for the last hour, slowly roll off the mattress as if our limbs were frozen and useless.  Eventually, we make it to the bathroom only to return to bed and turn on the tv…knowing full and well that there would be no more sleep to be had for the rest of the night. 

Lack of rest and brain fog can really hurt the ability to concentrate and usually leaves the person struggling with memorizing and finishing the task at hand. A quick nap can be helpful in fighting fatigue but seriously folks…who has time for that these days?  We are a society in perpetual motion…breaks are a luxury that unfortunately some of us just can’t find the time to take.  And in all honesty…if we do take a break, we most likely will forget why we were taking them in the first place.  I’ve often joked that life with an autoimmune disease is like that movie “50 First Dates”….every day I have to be reminded of who you are and why you are living in my house.  Oh alright, so that may be a slight exaggeration but regretfully it isn’t that far off from the truth.  We forget things.  We look spacey.  We may even have a hard time formulating words to express what we want to say.  Well, except for when someone cuts me off in traffic….then I have no problem expressing myself, verbally and non-verbally.  So, in the spirit of sharing, here are “Steph’s Tips To See Through The Fog”.

 

Keep It Simple, Stupid….

That is a widely used phrase in my advertising and marketing world.  Any good ad is straight and to the point with a flare for the dramatic….perfect for a Spoonie.  As a result of the unwelcomed brain fog, I have been forced to dumb down my speech. As a person who uses words for a profession, it’s humiliating to say the least. I can’t tell you how many times I am in the middle of a sentence and somehow “lose my words”.  I feel like crawling under a rock and hibernating for the next decade or so when that happens.  I have found myself simply eliminating those big SAT words from my vocabulary and tearing up my application to be on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader”…because quite frankly…when brain fog hits, I’m lucky to be smarter than Kindergartener.

 

Dude Where’s My Car….

Ok, so this happens to most of the adult population, but for Spoonies it is 100% expected.  How many of you have gone to the mall in one entrance and come back out after shopping, swearing that you most certainly did come in through the rows of Wonder Bras in Macy’s.  Two hours later, you are still wandering the mall with a look on your face like aliens had recently stripped you of all forms of thought or communication with no car to be found.  Here’s how you fix this….most cell phones have a notepad application.  Use it.  Make note of what store you parked in front of, how many rows back, which side and what you see as you walk through the entrance.  See….now you have an “X marks the spot” treasure map to follow back to your car.  The only thing that makes this plan less effective is finding yourself saying, “Now where did I put my cell phone?”

 

I need cake mix….why the hell am I in Sears….

 It’s your child’s birthday.  You saved yourself enough spoons for the day to spend it making him the highly intricate Buzz Lightyear cake he saw on tv.  No problem…piece of cake (ack….lame joke), right?  Wrong.  As I repeated the words to myself…cake mix…cake mix…cake mix, I was confident I would remember them.  After all, it was just one simple item.  I repeated it until people stared at me with sympathetic eyes….I thought they felt bad for me because my memory was shot.  Nope.  They felt bad for me because I was in the middle of the lawnmower section of Sears singing the praises of Betty Crocker.  Folks…I have no tip here other than, run to your car, drive to the grocery store clear across town and never show your face at Sears again.

 

I’ll be right there….eventually…

This is by far my favorite.  It’s happened to me twice recently and while I can laugh about it now, when they both happened I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide….but I couldn’t…know why?  Cause I couldn’t find the stupid rock.  I left my office just yesterday after a call from the Vice President asking me to bring a file to her office.  I’ve been working here 6 months; I know my way around the office like the back of my hand, so I jumped up and started down the hallway.  As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I stared blankly at the four hallways in front of me.  Yep, that’s right….I had no clue where to go.  Same thing happens to me when I’m driving, especially when I’m taking back roads that I know so well I could drive them blindfolded. (which by the way isn’t recommended while operating a motor vehicle, I found out.)  But, I have actually sat at an intersection, bewildered at the rest of the directions.  This is where a GPS comes in handy.  As stupid as you might feel, plug your destination’s address in and let it guide you in case of a swift and sudden case of brain fog.  However, in the office scenario, draw a pocket map…people tend to stare when you are wearing a GPS clipped to your belt.  Trust me.

Article written by guest writer Stephanie Kennedy

About Stephanie:
I live in Fayetteville, NC with my husband and 3 always hyperactive and occassionally adorable children. I was diagnosed with SLE in 2001 at the age of 27 and in the time since, have added Scleroderma, Hashimoto’s and Celiac’s disease to the original Lupus discovery. In my day-to-day life I am a Community Relations Specialist (aka, marketing and creative hodgepodge facilitator) with a local electric cooperative and part-time fitness instructor. For the past two years I have served on the Executive Steering Committee for the LFA’s Fayetteville Walk For Lupus Now event.
©2024butyoudontlooksick.com
  • Neura

    As an Aspie, I get a form of this. I don’t forget where my car is (I use a form of physical memory that works well for me), but I have the perennially lost keys problem and at times I can blank on what I was doing.

    What’s really annoying is several people throughout my life have suggested “why don’t you put your keys in the same place all the time?”. Whilst a nice sentiment, it’s not possible if you have a habit of picking things up and putting them down in random places, or just not being able to remember to put them in the same place everyday. I’ve tried, and it just doesn’t work that way for me.

    Getting up to do something and then blanking on what the hell I was doing, or getting distracted by another task isn’t uncommon. If I’m ill, it gets worse, and if I’m at my computer it usually manifests in my taskbar being full of programs, and me wandering around the house a few times a day without actually doing something.

    GPS is a really rather nifty necessity to me, but for slightly differing reasons. I find lists almost impossible to remember, so a device that tells me an instruction at a time when I need it is fantastic :D.

    Being intelligent, yet forgetful, is a pain in the backside sometimes. A lot of people just plain don’t understand that I can remember how to code (or previously excel at education) everyday, but not the other everyday memories people take for granted :<.

  • Well, I lost a muffin, on my room, 5 minutes after I grabed it from the kitchen… I founded recently and, hard as a fossile… I think I`ll give it to the Smithsonian

  • justaSeeker

    I often get episodes of what you call “brain fog”. I tend to call it CRS (Can’t Remember Schitt) though. Sometimes I’ll call it a ‘brain fart’ if it’s just a minor incident

    I usually play off this dilemma to others as something like this: “Don’t mind me, I suffer from CRS, and sometimes I even enjoy it”. They tend to look at me with a baffled look on their faces.
    Since I don’t explain it any further, they’ll most often walk away.
    I often imagine them thinking ‘what the heck is CRS ?’ It helps me to try and have a sense of humor about it all. I get the irony of it all, even if others don’t.

  • Kelli

    This is my life!! I agree with another poster — “Oh where is my hairbrush” is a personal anthem, if you will… especially the second verse “No hair for my hairbrush” lol I’m epileptic, and wasn’t diagnosed til college (though I’d been having seizures pretty much my whole life. If they’re not grand mal, however, I must be faking it.) It’s really sad when your neurologist is the one who asks, “have you ever thought about ADD” and you respond with “I’ve been meaning to bring that up for TWO YEARS!!” haha I would hear him talking with another patient about attention deficit, say to myself “I’m gonna bring it up today,” only to forget by the time he walked in 2 minutes later. Combine that with the epilepsy, an 11month old, and a pregnancy…which makes it impossible to take adderall… life becomes pretty interesting to say the least! Gosh I love this website

    I started this comment to write something else, but got off on a tangent so now I forget. lol Anyway GREAT article!

  • This line …. I need cake mix….why the hell am I in Sears…. Had me rolling around laugh crying!! Fantastic article, glad you managed to remember what you were writing long enough to write it 🙂

  • Denise

    Great to read this! That “which was do I go?” situation happened to me about 5 yrs ago when I was driving to work. Scary!!!

    My smartphone is literally my lifeline. Still use post-its occasionally. I read a great quote: “The key to happiness is a short memory”. This certainly keeps a positive spin on things. 🙂

  • Russ VanDine

    That is an article just as good as Coffee in the Cereal by Lorna Moorehead, gave me a smile, thank you. I am a 42 man, DX with relapsing remitting, MS, I have been having a lot of those issues, and I can relate. I borrow a phrase from Lorna, (even though I am a man) I suffer from P.M.S, Probably Multiple Sclerosis.

  • Liz

    I work in Out of School Hours Care… The kids now recognise the brain fog and remind me what I was doing.
    I wandered into the kitchen at work this morning and just stood there looking blank for like 10 seconds. All of a sudden there was a voice yelling from the other room “You were on the way to make coffee!”
    I used to feel horrible about having spoonie moments at work, but seriously, kids rule. They’re used to my lists, they accept that some days I can run and play, and other days I can’t even stand to be touched, they can even tell by looking at me when they can trust me to go get their breakfast or if they need to write it down and check back in five minutes to see if I’ve been sidetracked.

    Now if only we could make the cow of a co-worker that said I need to eat better to “fix my funny brain” to behave like a 7 year old, lol.

  • CheshireCat

    Wow, me too. I am not USUALLY too bad, but when I get bad – yikes! I have caught myself making mistakes doing a technique at work that I have been doing for years. I can’t always form sentences easily, and oddly enough, I can be filling out a form and I’ll keep having to correct myself on the date even if I have to write it again on the next page. I feel so crazy at those times. This is all part of the reason that I have a Cheshire Cat tattoo. Sometimes I feel like I’m not all there – but as I’ve said before, like the Cheshire Cat, may the last thing to disappear be my smile.

  • Kelly

    I have Sjogren’s, Fibro & surgery-induced menopause. So my brain fog is really bad. Thank you for making me laugh about it, something I thought I’d never do. Everything you wrote could have been me! Whenever my daughter spends the night at a friend’s and it’s the next morning & I’m on my way to pick her up, I find myself at a different destination instead. It’s happened so many times that I know the next time I will cry. Thanks to your article though, the next time it happens, I will laugh, knowing I am in good company. PS. I write myself a note before heading out the door, telling me where I am *supposed* to go and why. The GPS on my iPhone has been a huge blessing!

  • Diane

    Great article! And timely for me… I’ve had fibromyalgia for about 37 years & chronic migraines for about 35 years, though I wasn’t properly diagnosed until 20 years ago. Wow, I just realized it’s been 20 years. I lose track of time, and I mean LOSE TRACK. I hadn’t talked to my mother in awhile, and last month when she called me I learned I hadn’t talked to her for 4 years! Over the past few years the fog has gotten worse. I’ve started keeping a journal of all my symptoms and how they affect me, and often it takes me up to an hour to write a paragraph because my train of thought has derailed. I lost my last job after only 6 weeks because I couldn’t learn the job fast enough, and that was 2 years ago. I don’t even get called back for interviews anymore, and I have to wonder if its because I live in a small town and word has spread. I had never been out of work for more than 6 weeks before this. Now I don’t think I’m even capable of holding a job anymore. I’m perpetually exhausted and in pain, and it feels like my brain has turned to swiss cheese; full of holes. I was an English major with a near-photographic memory and a large vocabulary. I could remember everything I read, and when I had to learn to operate a new machine or piece of equipment I just read the manual and ended up knowing more about it than anyone else in the office. Friends and family from all over the country would call me to help them spell words (which I realize is a little ridiculous, but its true). Now, every movie I see is brand new because I don’t remember seeing it before, and I haven’t been able to read a book in about 15 years. I used to read a paperback a day for years. My biggest fear is that some day I’ll develop dementia and nobody will notice. My husband is disabled with serious heart problems and its likely I’ll be widowed within 5-10 years, and my youngest child just started his senior year of high school. Last week I was shopping at Walmart with my husband, as we do every week as well as using the pharmacy there, and I know the layout of the store perfectly well. Suddenly I was lost! I didn’t know which way to turn and started to panic. All I could do was follow my husband and try to hide my fear. My husband chalks up the cognitive problems to the medications I take, but this happened to me about 12 years ago, several years before I was on any medications. I started out losing a couple of days, and then couldn’t remember how to get home from my brother’s house (somewhere I went 3-4 days a week). At that time my doctor wanted to take away my driver’s license, but put me on antidepressants instead. The memory and concentration problems are worse to me than the never ending pain and have me scared. I try to laugh it off, but its just not funny anymore.

  • Mrs. Brown

    I don’t have fibro or lupus or any of those things, but chronic pain causes brain fogs for me as well. Last summer I walked around the parking lot of our small town’s grocery store in a panic, thinking my car had been stolen. But it was just on the other side of the parking lot. I still wonder how many people saw me that day.

  • I haven’t managed to read the whole article – but will in installments!!!

    I just wanted to say what a relief it is to me to read other peoples’ stories. I will be eternally grateful to have been introduced to this web-site.

    Thank you everyone. SO SO much :o)

  • I’m a Christian minister – and I always have one of the elders stand beside me as I greet people after church. The elder writes down the stuff people tell me that I need to remember or need to do something about. It’s a running joke in our congregation that my “memory” is a separate person!

  • Zoann Murphy

    Oh I laughed when I read this article! You see last Friday I had to go to the grocery store. Being the brain fog expert that I am, I carefully wrote out a shopping list. I know, amazing isn’t it? I even remembered to put it into my purse before I left for the store, how shocking is that? When I finished shopping I was so pleased with myself that I had followed my list, I congratulated myself & even bragged to the bus driver (who knows me & my brain fog very well) that I had accomplished my mission. I was on cloud nine, until I unpacked the bags and realized that I had not gotten the very first thing on the shopping list: toilet paper. Which was the whole reason I had needed to go to the store in the first place, I was out of toilet paper.

  • momonamission2

    Hahaha….I have always wondered what the heck was going on with me. I have fibro, myasthenia gravis, and idiopathic inflammatory neuropathy and became so frustrated because I have always been the one who juggled a job and a thriving small business, rounded up all the folks for huge social gatherings or planned ski trips, etc., ran my home like a clock with a place for everything and everything in its place (except my husband..haha…who never puts anything back including himself), managed to part time homeschool my autistic son and the many details required to keep the school district in compliance with his IEP. I would get up at 6 am and fly 90 miles an hour like a whirling derbish (sp?) all day, then dance and play all night, get up and do it all over again the next day. (My friend claims I just used up all my extra spoons back then!)
    And NOW….I can’t find my words and stand there looking like a space cadet waiting for whatever I meant to say to come floating back…and some days it doesn’t.. The socks are unmatched in the basket, towels folded on the living room sofa, bills in a mishmash on the dining room table and some days I am totally, impossibly unable to manage one decision. So this is my life now…I know, one spoon at a time!
    Thanks for writing this…I never really understood that all I have is “brain fog”….now I can tell my family I am not a ditz (blonde!) but in fact I do have a “syndrome”…
    Don’t care anymore what others think…just wait until they get their own disorder that causes them to talk to themselves and count spoons all day too!

  • sonja

    Great article, that’s me too.

  • MelPie

    I loved reading this article. I relate to it so much!! I used to feel educated and now my teenage sons end up correcting me so much I feel like I am a toddler and am just learning to talk. I am late to everywhere because of the many trips around the house it takes me to get ready and gather everything up. Driving is something else. There are times when I know I am just not fit to be driving and other times I have to really concentrate hard just on getting somewhere even if I have been there many times before. My sons love gum. I had a pack of gum that was a new flavor that I wanted so I hid it. My oldest son found it so I hid it again. He found it again so I said I would hide it somewhere where he would never find it and by the end of the day, I couldn’t find it either. Still haven’t found it. I guess it will be a sweet surprise one day when I come across it!! At least my husband and kids get it and other than correcting me when I say things wrong or just stop in the middle of sentences, I am very lucky to have such a great support team with the three of them!!! I wish all the best!!!

  • Thank you s much for this article. It helps to know that I am in good company. I am an author and I love to write. It is one thing I can do when I am out of the fog and do in spurts. I thank God for editors because I will think of something to put in the story, and find out through editing, that I put it in several times. For example, one character couldn’t pronounce his Native American friend’s name, so he called him ‘James’. That little diddy showed up three times. I think the editor thought I was nuts.

    Another problem I run into with the fog is that authors are expected to help market their books. Some of the instructions for marketing from the publisher and other online people get all jumbled in my head. If I ge a lead on a radio interview, I panic because, even in conversation with my friends and family, I stop short and forget what I am saying. Usually, I laugh and say that even I am bored with my subjects…or something along that line. It has been a year since I did a live interview. It is very hard to explain to people who don’t understand fibro fog.

    Sales are going well in spite of me. Another thing that has caused me trouble is that when I get direct orders for books, sometimes I send the books twice. I write myself notes on a spreadsheet in my computer. When I forget to write that the book was sent, I end up sending another copy. When my reader contacts me and says that I sent an extra copy, I am so embarrassed that I tell them to keep it and bless someone else with the extra.

    Once in a while crazy things like that happen. I could identify with the parking issue and most of the issues you brought up. Your articles on here help me cope. Thank you again.

  • Brilliant article! I love it. I’ve done my own versions of every one of these things.

    I go down to the bathroom but forget to grab the toilet paper and have to walk back for it. I get up to make coffee, feed the cat and then try to pour coffee from an empty pot.

    Feeding the cat, giving him water and changing his litter pan are the only chores I can count on remembering. My cat’s been reminding me to do these things ever since he was six weeks old. He takes my brain fog for granted and is very good at getting my attention when he needs something.

    Of course this means that anything else can be interrupted by “feed the cat” but what else has any importance in life? Really? I perform my prime duty as cat feeder and life’s good.

    Robert

  • Shawna

    Thanks again,Steph. Right on the head as usual. And I like your new title!

    At work when I go off in one of my dazes everyone just says “Squirrel” (from movie ‘Up’) and gets it.

  • Lorna

    Got home from a cafe with husband, son and, worst of all, visiting friends. Stood behind the van with hands full, thought for a minute, and announced that I had left my purse at the cafe. Immediately both husband and friends very helpfully offer to go right back and get purse, and as I’m reassuring them it’s no biggie, I’ll phone and pick it up later, my son quietly points at my left hand. From which is dangling said purse.

    I think even my husband didn’t know what to say.

    I just shrugged and said chirpily, “well, that saves us a trip!”

    Cheers!

  • Chelle

    So true Steph! …well maybe except for the part about YOU making the cake 😛 Hopefully you’ll forget I said this by tomorrow, I know I will!!

  • I have not only trouble with forgetting things and generally feeling foggy, but I have a great deal of trouble reading. As I am reading something, like this article, I will visually “lose” the line and have to start the paragraph over. Or I’ll completely space out in the middle of a sentence and have this internal dialog going until I “come to” again. It’s really disturbing and scary. Good to know I’m not alone.

  • Patty

    I always joke at Christmas that I am as surprised as the rest of the family as to what is in their packages. I wrap, label and uh oh, forget! So Christmas morning is as much fun for me as for them. And yes, I really do keep a list of what I got each of them, but it never seems to take away the surprise. And of course there are always several gifts that I have “hidden” from my kids…and myself that I discover in about February!

  • Linda

    Loved it! Before I got dx. I was looked like I had four heads and was sent to the psyc. ward. Now I understand and I am trying to get others to understand. thanks for writing. I also got a few good laughs. have a great day. Linda

  • Kristin

    I absolutely loved the article & thanks for making me laugh about something that upsets me no end! I have to share this with my family, so they know ours is not the only house were you have to “play charades” to try to finish Mom’s sentences. Thanks Stephanie!

  • Brenda L

    I recently realized how much brain fog can affect every part of your life. In the past, i thought it was because I wasn’t getting enough sleep and all part of being a student. Having been diagnosed with FMS 6 months ago, finally, I am experiencing the symptoms that began to scare me. The embarrassment and lack of understanding from people who don’t realize I have a disease has the greatest effect on me. lack of awareness. There are so many people that have invisible illnesses that no one can see. They just think that that person is crazy or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I have been asked if I dipped in the vodka before coming to work. Seriously?

  • Anna De

    This happened to me before I was diagnosed. Talk about scary! Now I know so it’s not so bad. But, it is awkward and not everyone gets it.

  • Sherry C

    This is funny…just read through this article thinking all the while about what a great read it is and how totally true it is and how it makes me feel better that I’m not alone in feeling bad and…got to the part about Sears and realized I’ve read it before.

    It’s still a great article! Knowing my brain-fog, the next time I read it for the first time, it will be just as good.

  • Yvonne M

    I have been having episodes of brain fog alot. It is very difficult to handle, because before I felt pretty sharp. Someone at work could ask a question ansd I readily knew the answer. Now I sometimes forget the question itself. I say I am going to take my pills and 5 mins later I can’t remember if I did it or not. My husband now sets out my pills and so I just look in the container to see if its empty to know if I took them. I feel bad for the additional responsibilities I have put on him. Geesh!!! I have even gotten up to go to the bathroom and I am standing half way in the living room trying to remember where I was going. I thank you for letting me vent , and although I am sorry and KNOW what you are going through I am glad to know I am not alone.

  • Love this article. I’ve had a *really* bad past two days when it comes to brain/lupus/fibro fog…whatever you want to call it.
    I’ve been trying to explain it to my boyfriend and he just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see how anything about me should be / is wrong.
    Not that he’s not understanding and sweet and amazing about it is, because he is, but it’s just not part of his capacity of thinking to realize things like what I do, and what’s described in this article, actually happen.
    It’s always nice to come on here and not feel so alone, plus have a few things to print out and hand over for perusal when he has the chance…
    Thanks 🙂

  • ann g

    My husband calls it CRS: Can’t Remember Sh*t.

  • Debbie

    I was trying to tell a friend recently about my confusion and found myself saying that I have “brain frog.” [Ribbit!]

    My theme song seems to be “O Where Is My Hairbrush?” (putting in the name of whatever’s missing at the time instead of hairbrush), from Veggie Tales.

  • MiniMorg, I am the same way. I read your comment screaming, “This is me! This is me!” I’m only 31 years old and do not drive anymore. I have narrowly missed so many accidents only by the grace of God. It’s just not safe for me. I tried to use the GPS on my phone and even that confuses me. The worst things that have happened to me is to forget which side of the road is the right side and what to do at intersections and stop signs.

    Thank you for letting me know that I am not alone. My older friends just don’t get it and tell me “if this is how you are now, I hate to see you at my age.” The only thing I can say is that I will be blessed to live to your age.

  • Pamela

    Arguments with the new boyfriend, over what was said or done, and when… Leaving the stove on… Turning the iron on and deciding to wear something else…and the iron is left on… same with hair irons… New notebooks to write things down, because I lose the old notebooks… Going where? for what? and PLease please please dont interrupt my thought process b/c there is no telling where my brain will go if it’s kicked off it’s path. Car? park it in the Same place, at the store all the time. Habbit habbit habbit…. Shower? shave the same leg twice.. Ok.. enough examples.. but I call it Bad brain. BAD BRAIN!!! And the word What? *Giggle ….has become my new catch phrase.

  • Georgia

    I’m sure this is a great article, but in my brain fog I can only read one section at a time and then I have to start over because I’ve forgotten what I’ve just read.

    Probably by Christmas I’ll be able to finish the whole thing . . . if I can remember to do so!

  • Missy Oakley aka Irish Idiot

    I need to get my husband to read this. He gets so frustrated at me for forgetting stuff.

  • Tiggytigra

    Bloody brilliant that vague look and the what’s the word for syndrome. Wish I could say I don’t relate but I do

  • Terri

    I am a Technical Trainer and on the days this hits I hope for kind students. I have found that detailed notes also help. I have found if I keep my carbs down the fog is less. Not sure why, but it works for me.

  • I call it the groggy-foggies because not only is my brain stuffed with dust bunnies, cotton baton, and cheesecloth, I’m usually only half-awake (or very tired) at the same time. The groggy-foggies seem to be worse in the morning and evening, though the afternoon probably is the same: I just don’t remember. I was somewhat relieved that I could blame it on fibro, rather than dementia which runs in my family! In fact, I try to blame all my quirks, tics, and eccentricities on fibro.

  • MiniMorg

    Went to get my clothes out of the dryer this morning….that I had already got out and was already wearing

  • Megan

    I loved this article. I have been experiencing this so much lately, it is frustrating & embarrassing. I laughed so hard, I’m so glad to know that I’m not alone!

  • DeeDee

    I couldn’t find my keys today. I knew I just had them because I let myself in the house. I looked everywhere I could think of then I walked out the front door turned to look back in and saw my purse hanging on the coat closet door…guess I should have tried remembering that I even had a purse and where I might have put it. Brain fog, always Brain fog!!!!!!

  • Kim

    Oh my. This is my life. Laughed so hard at the Cake Mix thing. Also, my BFF cannot at ALL understand why I seem incapable of EVER knowing where my cell phone is. She says “always put it in the same place.” Excellent plan, good advice.

    One problem…what happens when (NOT if) I forget the place?

  • Julie

    Thank you for letting me know that I am not alone!

  • MiniMorg

    Its so frustrating I just make it to seem as amusing as possible. I even wrote a personal book about my most hilarious mishaps.
    Anyway it can be downright scary. I once went into a shopping centre I knew very well and suddenly realised…I had no idea which way was out or even why I had entered.
    I’ve put driving on the ‘back seat’ of my agenda (bad pun I know) because I will look at traffic lights and suddenly they will mean nothing to me. Nothing at all. I will forget where I am, where I’m going and even how to do the most simplest of operations.
    Scary.

  • Karin

    ThankyouThankyouThankyou! I just read this article to my husband in hopes that he will better understand my condition. Don’t know if it worked, but I know I feel better. I too am a public speaker and was contemplating telling my boss on Monday that I just can’t do it anymore. I used to be quick and witty. Not so much anymore. But I love what I do and your article has motivated me to keep on keepin’ on 🙂
    By the way, today is my one month anniversary of my official diagnosis, although I believe I have been misdiagnosed for years. I just found this website. I look forward to more articles.

  • Jan

    Brain fog also affects my typing ability. Causes letters to be jumbled in words or typing two words that both start with the same letter and forgetting to the s on the second word.

    Brain fog is just for chemo anymore.

  • Kate

    Great article! I call it ‘Brain Fuzz’. For me it seems to come from a combination of illness, fatigue and oodles of medications. I can get half way through a sentence and forget what on earth I’m speaking about. People ask me questions and I just stare at them, completely unable to process what they are saying. I must look like such an idiot – fortunately my friends and family are too nice to say anything!