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Post COVID Brain Fog: The Consistent Mystery
In the early days of the pandemic, patients with Post COVID Syndrome (PCS) reported troubles with their thinking. This came to be known as brain fog, and since then the term has become of permanent part of the PCS discussion. Yet, if you look up the word brain fog in a medical dictionary, you won’t find any information. That’s because brain fog is not a medical term and it does not have a set definition. However, if we go past the term brain fog and ask patients with PCS what specific thinking problems they have, patients describe amazingly similar troubles.
The most common complaint is trouble finding words during speech. Patients often describe feeling the word they want to say is on the tip of their tongue, but they just can’t proceed. This makes communicating very difficult, which is quite frustrating, especially when suffering a medical condition.
The next frequent problem involves short term memory. The classic story we hear from patients is that they will go into a room to find something, and not remember what they were looking for when they get there. Or they will listen to new information, such as driving directions, and not be able to retain the details.
Finally, patients have problems with multitasking. Doing even simple things at the same time are much harder with PCS. A common example is having troubles grocery shopping while having a conversation.
This pattern of thinking difficulty PCS is surprisingly consistent. It is also not rare. In fact, 45% of our patients in the COVID Activity Rehabilitation Program (CARP) report suffering from brain fog. And unfortunately, of all the symptoms we get to help patients with, thinking troubles are often one of the most stressful symptoms, because it causes problems with work and relationships.
Fortunately, we are now starting to unravel the mystery around brain fog. For example, there are now studies showing that after COVID, there can be brain structure changes, explaining the dysfunction we see. We are also making progress in how brain fog is objectively described. For example, a research study at Mayo Clinic is currently trialing a new virtual test for brain fog. This 25-minute test allows our team to identify specific areas of troubled thinking in patients with PCS. This is important because once we know the problems, we can help patients develop specific strategies to overcome their troubles. And with each test, we are contributing to a growing database that helps describe brain fog in PCS more accurately.
What should you do if you feel you have troubles with thinking after a COVID infection? First, take care of yourself. Eat well, hydrate, and get good sleep. If that doesn’t help, reach out to your treatment provider. We have found that patients that are able to get help sooner, get better faster and more completely.
Together, we can help clear out the brain fog of PCS, and shed more light on the path to better health.
Read more about managing symptoms through early care. Learn tips on talking with your health care provider about post COVID syndrome, and connect with other people in the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 support group.
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Agree!
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1 ReactionMy brain function has been affected along with weakness, dizziness, vision, balance following Pfizer jab.
Pfizer should be libel, since it was an untested drug and definitely not a vaccine.
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1 ReactionYou made the comment that people can get better faster and more completely. Really? Is there a treatment for this. I'd like to ge5t in line for this. What kind of treatment is this and where do we go to find it. I'm not kidding.
Thank you if you can guide me in the right direction.
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1 ReactionThere's NO mystery here people. Take vitamin B-3, niacinamide, non-flushing form. TADA. Your brain fog will decrease and eventually disappear. This is because B-3 is the pre-cursor to NAD in the body, and NAD is needed for **absolutely all biological and cellular functions**. Your doctors will not know this. They never studied nutrition, nor are they trained to treat __THE ROOT CAUSE__ of a problem. They only know to look at each symptom one by one and prescribe things to treat symptoms. But this will work.
Along with the B-3 you MUST eat an anti-inflammatory, LOW HISTAMINE diet very strictly. Anti-inflammatory means NO sugar, NO dairy, some/little meat, lots of veggies etc. You can look up LOW histamine foods online. Taking an OTC histamine blocker also helps. None of this is rocket science and IT DOES WORK. Once you reduce inflammation and histamine levels in the body, it actually gives your body a chance to REST and RECOVER. Keep taking the B-3 (yes, 2000mg per day). IT WORKS.
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2 ReactionsI'm giving your recipe a serious try. We already eat a super healthy diet. We grow and kill everything we eat. I make a fruit and veggie juice every day for lunch. The only thing I lack is the B3, niacin, and the drink mix. Ordered it all yesterday.
I'm hopeful. Thank you for taking the time to share this.
You're welcome!! One key point though is to eat low histamine foods as well. I had no idea this was something that needed to be considered, and I had no idea I was eating things that made me worse. You may eat "super healthy" veggies and produce but things like avocado, tomato, anything fermented, citrus etc. all have HIGH histamine levels. It's very important to avoid these items strictly, just for a short time, so your body can cope and have some time to recover.
It's anti-inflammatory foods (no sugar, no dairy, less meat etc) PLUS low histamine. Wish you all the best. 🙂 And yes, the B-3 is absolutely crucial. There are other amino acids that help too but I think it's really key to follow the diet strictly for a week or two, so you can see the effect.
I tried but my body won’t tolerate b3 I am lacking through a dna test as with digestive enzymes.. I’m dizzy with vertigo and trying! Just b1 and b3 I can’t …
There’s evidence that covid cells have been found in dead people .. so it appears that they may stay in some of us internally still causing issues! We need to look more at dna of long covid sufferers to connect the dots!
I had all Moderna vaccines and boosters, and I have the same thing
Most forms of brain damage take time to heal. Need to make sure you have cleared the virus completely before the healing process can begin.