brain fog

Posted by lilyann @lilyann, Apr 28 5:03am

lilyann here, i have been hearing all a long about people having brain fog..............at the time i hadn't given too much thought to it now. but the way my head has been feeling and i just go about the best i can. so i was wondering if someone else could explain to me exactly how their head feels.

i have the Meniere's syndrome to begin with and that dizzyness, vertigo has been with me for years. sometimes it would let up and that felt great. that was before these thyroid surgeries. so now my steady feeling each and everyday is not only the exhaustion, fatigue, but such a "full" head, heavy really, that i had better keep my head straight or i would fall over, can't look down or turn really fast either. along with that is the feeling of being "cross-eyed", some fast and quick spinning. whether i sit, stand or walk, my constant companion is the heavy head. sometimes painful, not exactly a headache per say, but some freezing feeling in the back of my skull and then some pain. truthfully, very hard to explain but it does keep me from doing things out in the yard, which i love to mess with my flowers and all. so i started to remember from all my readings on here and other places of people saying how they have "brain fog". so i thought........hmmm.....let me ask the question openly exactly their symptoms. thank you and god bless.

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Julie H | @jkhagen1 | Apr 28 9:14am

My symptoms are: lack of focus/concentration. Losing chunks of time (e.g. picking up an object to use for a task, then realizing 20 minutes have elapsed and I am still holding the object, though I didn't do the task). Unable to comprehend written or verbal communication at the same level as before chemo. My palliative care doctor prescribed a very low dose of adderall for a few weeks to help get over the hump of chemo brain and fatigue. It has definitely made a difference for me.

Jody aka mojo244 | @mojo244 | Apr 29 8:22am

My symptoms are similar to Julie. Most times during a conversation my mind drifts off and I lose focus on what the conversation was about.
As for dizziness, I too lose balance if I get up to fast etc.
It’s just something I have become accustomed to over the past 8 1/2 years.

MOJO

jw9 | @jw9 | Apr 30 4:41pm

@lilyann I'm sorry you aren't able to enjoy your gardening right now. There is something you name that I relate to: If I turn my head quickly there is what you call "the feeling of being "cross-eyed", some fast and quick spinning." I haven't ever tried to tell another person about it. But I think you have said it very well. I have no idea what causes this but it isn't anything I can prepare for, never know when it will happen. I had my surgery and radiation to Right-side of my face for parotid gland carcinoma. This was when I was 34 and I'm 67! So some of these problems , as @ mojo244 says, "I have become accustomed," Nothing awful happened because of brain fog and eyes/spinning problems.
I was just on a message board for rheumatoid arthritis and a woman asked about brain fog. The kind of brain fog from autoimmune illness seems different than post cancer treatment. I'm wondering if my stiff neck muscles have something to do with the problem with my eyes. Otherwise the brain fog isn't my eyes but difficulty staying organized, unable to multitask. I feel slowed down compared to others. For the past 30 years I try to sleep late afternoon for an hour or so. That recharges my brain more than anything.
I hope you can find what works best for you. I hope you learn about not pushing yourself past your comfort zone.
I always say, I have these illnesses, they inform me. But they do not define me.