Brain fog and fibro fog. It’s arguably the most frustrating symptom of Fibromyalgia, chronic illness, and chronic pain. It’s bad enough to lose control over your body, but it’s maddening to lose control over your mind.
What is fibro fog or brain fog?
When you have fibro fog or brain fog, you feel like information is just out of your reach. It’s feels like you’re living in a haze. Many people with fibro fog experience:
- Forgetfulness
- Problems processing new information
- troubles holding a conversation
- confusion
- inability to think and process quickly
- problems feeling alert
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Why does brain fog happen?
This is a tough one, with no perfect answer. If there was a great answer we wouldn’t all be experiencing it so much. Brain fog can happen because of:
- Fatigue– When we’re fatigued it’s hard to be alert and at the top of our game. There are a few things we can do to reduce fatigue, but it is unlikely we can get rid of it completely.
2. Overexertion– If we’ve been pushing ourselves too hard and not doing a great job at pacing it catches up to us. This increases our levels of fatigue and makes it harder to think.
3. Stress– Stress can increase all of our symptoms whether it be pain, fatigue, or brain fog. Keeping on top of a our stress levels can help us reduce brain fog. For example, this week has been a stressful week for me for many reasons. All week I’ve been ignoring social media and focusing keeping myself in a calm state. Whether I’m reading a good book, going for a walk, or getting some sleep, they all keep my stress levels down.
4. Poor sleep– This of course is connected to everything previously mentioned. If we are stressed, we’re going to get less sleep which will lead to more brain fog.
5. Medication– This is a tough one, because there’s usually a real purpose to why we take certain medications. Unfortunately, brain fog can be a side effect of those medications. I know the medication I take to help me sleep can make me really fuzzy, but there isn’t much I can do about that.
6. Overstimulation– I’ve been talking a lot on my blog lately about overstimulation. From a cluttered room to painful clothing, too much stimuli can overload your brain and make it harder to think. If you’re experiencing severe brain fog, it might help to reduce the stimuli you’re exposed to.
7. Pain– The side effects of living with long term pain often get ignored, and brain fog is one of them. When your whole body is focused on denying the fact that you’re in pain, it can make your brain feel really foggy. There isn’t much that can be done about this, unless the pain is actually appropriately treated.
How to cope with brain fog
Besides the previous suggestions, when you have brain fog you have to write everything down. If I don’t write something down, or put it in my calendar, it’s not going to happen. I also have a bunch of alarms set on my phone to make sure I don’t forget where and need to be and when. I pick up my daughter from school at the same time every single day, so I put an alarm on my phone. If I know I need to do a certain task, but it doesn’t need a specific time, I write it on a post it or two so I do not forget.
So many of us have felt like we were losing it or going crazy because of brain fog. What is important to remember is that you are not alone. Click To TweetWhat is it like to experience brain fog or fibro fog?
I asked some of my readers to share their experiences because more people need to understand how frustrating and debilitating brain fog can be. It’s not a symptom that gets lots of attention. Sometimes brain fog can be terrible and scary and sometimes it can be funny.
Sometimes brain fog can be terrible and scary and sometimes it can be funny. Click To TweetWhen brain fog can be frustrating and discouraging
Brain fog is terrible and very scary to me, I can’t concentrate, forget where things are, confusion.It really worried me when o first started having it the first thing that came to mind was I was having early signs of Alzheimer’s. Its so bad sometimes I can’t even have a conversation with my husband and definitely can’t make important decisions. -Charli
I repeat myself constantly, and if I ask a question I tend to ask it 3-4 times before someone says you know you just asked me that question 2 or 3 times.
— Unstoppable (@unstoppable7107) November 7, 2020
I frequently misplace words in sentences or use the wrong ones entirely but there have been a couple of recent occasions where I have taken several wrong turns and not been able to work out where I was for a few moments – once I was on the way to my best friend’s house less than 1.5 miles away. I’ve done once or twice on the on the daily school run too. It’s quite frightening when it happens. – Claire from F-word-Chronic Reality
I trained my dog to guide me using the phrase “let’s go home!” I live in a city that’s a numerical grid. It’s virtually impossible to get lost, and I’ve lived here for 5 years. I get lost every time we walk in the evenings.
— Salty Sicky ♿️ (@SaltySicky) November 7, 2020
Just yesterday I couldn’t for life of me remember my address at the hospital. I felt so stupid when I said I had to text my husband. Nurse was nice and figured my ear infection was making it hard for me to concentrate. The ear infection didn’t help but I truly felt so lost. – Amanda
I was having a conversation (well trying to) and was talking about toes. I couldn’t for the life of me think of what they were called and called them ‘foot fingers’! Other days I give up trying to talk as I know what I want to say, but the words just aren’t there or random crap comes out. So frustrating and I feel like I’m thick. I used to work in data entry, so I know I’m not but sure feel it these days. – Ali
My most recent was losing my phone for several hours. Of course, I had it on silent. Thankfully I found it in the cleaning pantry. It’s a vital helper with alarm reminders on it for throughout my days to help me. – via Attitude is everything on twitter
Oh tonight I asked my mom if she’d “take it out of the pizza for me” ( I meant oven )
— Renée Forrester (@dorsia_for_two) November 7, 2020
I brought a jar of peanut butter to the doctors office instead of my wallet. In my defense I had pregnancy brain and brain fog from chronic pain… – Jessica
I couldn’t remember my youngest daughter birthday. It’s 12 days before mine, and tattooed on my arm.- Amber
Yesterday I searched for my phone for 30 minutes. It was on the charger.
— Charlie J. Meyers (@charliejmeyers) November 7, 2020
I was looking for my car keys to go to work the other day. Hubby says, ‘what are you looking for?’MY BRAIN REPLIES, ‘DRUGS.’I immediately started giggling uncontrollably and surely he thought I had lost my damn mind. It took forever to say ‘keys, not drugs’ with a straight face.Wth- Christina
Not very exciting but on more then one occasion I have taken the wrong child (I have 4) to the wrong dr/hospital/dentist appointment, also to the wrong building, got the times right though ?☺️
— Rural Grey Star (@RugRst) November 6, 2020
You are not alone
When I asked for brain fog stories for this post, I was surprised by how many people responded. So many of us have felt like we were losing it, or going crazy because of brain fog. What is important to remember is that you are not alone. You are not crazy or unintelligent. There are things going on in your body that can have an effect on your mind. You are not alone.
Other resources for brain fog/fibro fog
Sheryl at A Chronic Voice- Today is not a good day to make decisions and that’s okay
Claire at Through the Fibro Fog- 5 simple tips for helping with Fibro fog
Melissa at Melissa Vs Fibromyalgia- How to manage brain fog and Fibromyalgia
Pippa from Life of Pippa on Instagram – Studying and Revision vs Fibro fog\
Jenna from A balanced belly- Brain fog: What is it and how does it link to our digestion
Amanda from The Chronic Illness Therapist- What is brain fog?
Cynthia from the Disabled Diva- Invasion of the Brain Snatcher! Tips for dealing with Fibro Fog
Sue from Live With ME/CFS- Mental Energy and CFS/ME
Laura from Laura’s Pen- Brain fog: My greatest hits
Penny from Hope found in M.E.- Mecfs and my brain. A comedy
You’ve explained it very well, along with some of the potential triggers like overstimulation, & I love the way you’ve included personal accounts to give us real-world examples. Forgetting your daughter’s birthday when it’s close to your own & tattooed on your arm just shows how illogical it can seem. Something that ‘should’ be obvious can fall out of our grasp. I find myself struggling with the names of things that are on the tip of my tongue quite a lot these days, but issues of ‘brain fog’ affect me a lot with concentration too. Fab post! xx
Concentration is a hard one for me too. Sometimes I can barely write a blog post because my brain carry the information.
I get brain fog (or fibro fog) when I am more tired, which of course tends to be often! It’s very frustrating and I find not being able to concentrate properly so hard. Thank you for explaining this so well and for including my post!
An excellent write-up. You’ve explained brain fog so well. I find I get worse if my sleep is bad, but it’s definitely on high alert if I’m overstimulated. The more that is happening around me, the more confused and foggy I get. Everything you’ve listed here is a trigger for me.
Brilliant post. Pain + medication + lack of sleep can be a recipe for disaster. I often can’t find words, can’t explain what I’m trying to say and go on searches for things that are in front of my nose. I need reminders for everything from taking meds to switching the oven on for dinner.
You’ve explained this really well and it’s a brilliant resource for those who don’t really understand what brain fog is. I know I have it when half way through a sentence I forgot what I’m talking about or when I just can’t think of the word to explain something. I think tiredness affects me the most. I often feel so mentally drained and just wobbly.
Fab post!