When I get strong bain fog -- like I can't think what to do next, it's a little bit like being paralysed in the brain, sort of. Or I just 'fade out' and am not sure where my brain goes for a while (that's the best I can explain it)-- well what exactly is causing this?

I always thought it was lack of enough blood flow, thus oxygen, to the brain that eventually corrects itself and my thoughts come clearer again. I figured that the worse the brain fog the less oxygen is getting to my brain.

I don't know why I assumed this, or even if I assumed it (I may have read it somewhere) but I'd love it if someone could tell me if I'm right or wrong.

I've spent most of the past 12 days lying down. I know I should be making myself get up and do things (and I have made myself go out on 3 different days) but mostly I'm reclining on the lounge. When I get up to do things it's physically hard but also my brain fog increases.

I feel like I've slipped back to where I was 18 months ago -- pre-diagnois of pots.

Many thanks

hi blue skies - i can't answer your question too medically, i'm still trying to figure all this out myself. but i think i know how you feel.

i know for me, the more tired i get, the worse my brain fog gets. which makes sense it would be a lack of oxygen to the brain.

its like a roller coaster - good days, bad days, good weeks, bad weeks. and we never know what is coming next.

i know when i'm having a worse period, rest is what helps me too. and lots of water - i live and breath by drinking water it feels like since this started.

its great you are making yourself get up to do things because sometimes pushing a bit past the desire to do nothing helps. i get very proud when i do things i didn't think i could.

are you feeling more overwhelmed than normal? i remember a previous post where you had said you were in a depression on your own. how are you feeling now? that could be adding to the exhaustion and brain fog? (not causing, adding or exacerbating it)

keep us posted on how you are feeling.

Hi Wantmeback,

Thanks for your response.

I drink lots of water too. And at the moment, am eating like a horse and have gained a lot of weight. This is a sign of depression for me. I'm struggling with it. It's been something I've struggled with a long time on and off and I guess things are getting on top of me a bit at the moment.

In one of his articles Grubb wrote how pots not only affects us physically, he also wrote about how it can effect us emotionally, how having this can junk can effect our relationships with those we love, friends, work, home-life, finances and so on. That it can effect every facet of our life. I'll get on top of these feelings of depression again (I always do) but sometimes life just feels empty of everything but struggle. Even when I know it's not. I'll realize the fullness of my life again. I always do.

Hey gal, when I woke up at 5am, there was a bird just singing its little heart out, just outside the window. Its the same bird that was also raising Cain(sounds the same to me) when it was pouring rain day before yesterday. I think that is when she found she built it under the broken gutter spout so she will get drowned if she doesn't move, or raise water chicks. My point is it can all be perspective. I'm a moose, weigh 55# more than my sweetie, am dreading the summer season for the clothes. The ones I have are either the stretched out ones from 3 years ago, or the few things I bought big last year. I am even thinking of buying them online as gas is so high, its probably cheaper, I won't have to sweat all over myself in those little hot changing rooms.
But I do know looking nice helps me feel better. It's kind of like my hair. I can't see it most of the time, just like my big bum, so if I CAN'T SEE IT, I CAN ALWAYS PRETEND ITS JUST PERFECT.

As for brain fog, look back at some of the older entries by some of the wise oldtimers. Yes, oxygen depletion can be part of it, lack of some chemicals can be it, deformities, car wrecks, emotional and physical trauma. The most technical explanation that I have read is that most of these illnesses are under an umbrella of chemical circuity problems in the brain. Either our nerve endings don't fire sufficiently in the right place and the signal/answer either go to the wrong place, or it just doesn't go at all.It is suspected that a lot of us have damaged nerve endings and things like thyroid and some of the new cancer drugs can help there as the ends can regenerate. Its a hope anyway. Notebooks, Notebooks, Notebooks and Sticky nonepads. It may not cure it all, but it sure cuts down on some of my problems for me. I get rid of the notepads after use unless it was something like md visits, tests----something I HAVE to do, and want to receck on.
The ups and downs will always be here I guess, at least for me. Any more tranquilizers and I would be out of it, so this is where I have to make do. I'm just trying to ride with the serf and , and get used to it. What else is there to do?

I'm pretty sure that, for me, the brain fog is caused by the blood flow problem/lack of oxygen. I've noticed it's a lot worse when I'm standing. If someone asks me a question after I've been standing a little while, processing what they've said & what I need to say back is definitely delayed. I will also often forget mid-sentence what I was going to say and stuff like that. It really bothers me because I'm afraid that the person I'm talking to might question my intelligence due to my "fog moments". I get the brain fog while I'm eating a meal as well sometimes.

When I woke up this morning, it seemed like my eyes were not connected; it seemed like they were seeing the sdame thing from 2 perspectives, (at least that's what it seemed likek) My husband got very concerned, but it seemed to me that as the day wore on, and we did the tings we had to do, my eyes "got together" again. Who knows? I couldn't answer any questions, the brain fog really took care of that. Mine seemed worst befpre I ate anything. After lunch, everything seemed to come back into focus. Anyone else ever had this? Is brain fog the reason for it?

Brain fog is a strange thing, and try to explain it to someone who has never experienced it....often I have it and not sure why but it certainly gets worse when I am tired and the more tired the worse it is. It can get really bad when I go out to places where there are a lot of people, lights, noise such as a shopping mall or grocery store but not always but very often. I would guess the blood flow/lack of oxygen explains it best but that is just an uneducated guess!

Whenever my heart rate gets up high I have more problems thinking and speaking. I wonder if epinephrine and norepinephrine could play a part in that? It would only make sense that it could affect some of the more complex brain functions.

Thanks for your responses everyone, as I'm feeling reassured.

And Susie aka Dragonflower, thank god for your sense of homour and your sense of self. Both very important. You made me laugh woman. And thank you for that too. It's elasticisized pants for me this winter, by the look of it. I decided today I wasn't going to try and fight this weight gain but I was going to get serious about my swimming (and put some muscle on my body where the fat is).

Serendipitously, you spoke of the surf. I have just gotten off the phone to a young woman who is going to teach me how to swim properly in the ocean (surf water). I'm used to swimming in the harbour and although I do swim in the surf at times I'm a bit frightened of it. But the harbour has been so dirty this season that it's been one more reason not to swim as much as I should be.

Anyway, I'm starting surf swimming lessons next week. But she told me I have to go swim in the harbour as many days as I can until then so I can get my strength and confidence up a bit. Damn, it's a cool day in Sydney Australia today and I'd rather lay around eating chocolate, drinking coffee and watching DVDs. LOL. Looks like I've got to go swimming. Why am I so scared of it lately? I keep telling myself, to choose "Life over Fear" and I feel much better when i do that. But sometimes it's hard to be brave.

Hey foggy friends,

So many theories about brain fog. We all seem to have it, but sometimes different things trigger it. It is worse for me when I am tired or when I am in detox mode (I am actively trying to detox a backload of celluar and environmental gunk cause my methylation cycle is impaired and that leads to the detox cycle being impaired). I also think the load of toxins many of us cart around dims our brain light.

What has helped for me are meds that stimulate the reticular activating area of the brain. That's one of the places likely to suffer from the lack of blood and hence oxygen. These are the same drugs given for ADD as they are working with the reticular activating system too.

The best one for me is a relatively low dose of adderall. I don't feel "speeded" up a bit--just sort of, well, normal! They also constrict the veins--yeah! I felt like I got a big part of my brain back when I started taking it. Tried ritalin as well, but didn't like it as well. It tended to suddenly dump me. So there is a possibility that works for some of us. Not that I don't go into a room to get something 10 times a day and not be able to remember what I was going to get, but other parts of the brain work better.