Lady of Lyme
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Products I Love
    • Supplements & Meds
    • Makeup & Skincare
    • Food & Diet
    • Apps & Organization
    • Gift Guides
  • Resources
    • Symptoms/Resources
    • Lyme Vocabulary
    • Printables
    • Books & Reading
  • Features
  • Testing
  • Contact
  • Treatment Info
    • DesBio Treatment Facts
    • My Treatments
    • Treatment Blog

What is Brain Fog?

12/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Brain Fog. It's one of those things where when you have it you might say "Sorry, I have a lot of brain fog right now lets talk tomorrow." This of course comes with the follow up question: What is Brain Fog? And in the moment you have to scramble for a way to describe this crazy feeling you have. I usually start stumbling for words and say, "it's when you feel like you can't think or process anything, like there is cotton in your brain and even forming this sentence is exhausting."

By that point people look at you like you are crazy. It's such a hard thing to describe to someone who has never felt it before. It's almost like someone has sucked the ability to articulate and speak right out of you. I find myself in this position a lot. Sometimes I will be in conversations with people and I will be at a complete loss for words. Retrieving what I want to say becomes a difficult task and I end up just kind of sitting there like a mute or using incorrect words. Then 20 minutes later I put together what I want to say and I wish I could call them back and go "Wait, I remember now, here's my answer to that." For me, writing is an outlet because it gives me time to collect my thoughts and organize what I want to say. It's much easier for me when it comes to important topics of conversations, but writing however isn’t an option for one on one situations.

So what is Brain Fog really? I found a few helpful snippets from articles and I wanted to compile them here as a reference. The next time you are in a situation looking to describe it to someone, these might come in handy:


  • Brain fog may be described as feelings of mental confusion or lack of mental clarity. It is called brain fog because it can feel like a cloud that reduces your ability to think clearly. It can cause a person to become forgetful, detached and often discouraged and depressed. It usually is present most of the time, meaning it does not come and go, although it may become better or worse depending on what a person eats, or one’s state of rest and hydration. (DrWilson.com)
  • Brain fog is defined as a feeling of being somewhat disconnected or spaced out, mentally confused and lacking clarity, focus and concentration. Other symptoms may include a decrease in short-term memory, reduced attention span and the onset of forgetfulness. Individuals who suffer from brain fog will describe the feeling of being zoned out, detached, and "stuck inside their head." Some sufferers also report that they feel a tingling on top of their head, a sensation of cotton balls being in their head, and an impairment in their vision. (SheKnows)
  • Brain Fog has been described as a feeling of mental confusion where the individual lacks mental clarity. Its as if there is a loss of focus, and a sensation of “so close and yet so far”. The term “fog” is used because it feels as if a cloud comes over your thought process that reduces your ability to think clearly. This may cause an individual to become excessively forgetful, though long term memory remains intact. Most people know something is wrong but cannot put their finger on it.
    What makes this condition perplexing is that the fogginess can come and go. (Dr.Lam)
Sometimes healthy people will experiences short bursts of Brain Fog if they didn't get enough sleep the night before, or have a stressful day. It can happen to almost anyone in a mild level. However, when you have a chronic illness it's much more severe and persists a much longer time. I find if you have a way to describe it on hand then at least it puts to rest the nagging questions or people looking at you like you are crazy for being quiet or disconnected in social situations.

xoxo,
Christina




0 Comments

Thanksgiving Update

12/2/2013

0 Comments

 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I have so so much to be thankful for this year. Last year I didn't get to have a Thanksgiving because I was so sick, and this year it was a night and day difference. I had a fairly active day, took a shower and got ready and got to spend a few hours downstairs with my family at dinner. AND I was able to eat a lot (no tummy troubles), and just in general have a time where I forgot completely that I was sick. It was honestly amazing. I would have never believed it was possible a year ago. So, it just goes to show that change can happen, and it IS possible. That's really all I had to see, that my body was capable of having energy and functioning somewhat normally from time to time. I actually had quite a few productive days, we painted ornaments and had movie nights and other things. By Sunday I crashed some, but it was more my error (I ate something my body didn't agree with), versus a result of the other activities. So I can't complain. That happens sometimes no matter how diligent I think I'm being with my diet.

All in all I have lots of things to be thankful for, no matter how small they may seem. To people who are healthy it seems like no big deal to shower and go to Thanksgiving dinner. It seems like an every day thing that gets taken for granted. For me, it's gold medal worthy, I want to hug my body and say "thank you thank you for cooperating!" The road to healing is slow, and by God it takes a lot of work to see progress, but it's coming around ever so slowly.

Still no improvement by the way of neurological issues. But I'm hoping by next year I can be saying my thanks for that improvement specifically. :) A girl can dream!

Anyway, I wanted to just do a quick update for those of you following along. And as always I really hope my positive posts can encourage some of you reading this. I get a lot of emails from fellow Lymies who were newly diagnosed and feeling scared and hopeless. I get it, I really really get it. I was in those shoes too. It's a terrifying place to be, but I always found that by seeing others improve it gave me great hope. It showed me that it's possible, despite how impossible it may feel. So just know that it IS possible, you will most certainly get better, but you must have the patience.

xoxo,
Christina

0 Comments

    Subscribe To Updates Below

    * indicates required
    /* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

    Intuit Mailchimp


    Follow @ladyoflyme

    Follow Lady Of Lyme (@ladyoflyme)

    10.2k Followers, 618 Following, 51 Posts - Follow (@ladyoflyme)


    Categories

    All
    Crohn's
    Educational Posts & Info
    Gift Guides
    Giveaways & FREE Resources
    Health/Life Updates
    Interviews & Features
    Lyme Awareness
    Quiz & Polls
    Reflective Thoughts
    Things About Me

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2025
    March 2022
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

© 2011 Lady of Lyme™. All Rights Reserved.

Terms and Conditions  - Privacy Policy
Connect with me:
Facebook
Twitter
Contact   About   Email Me


Lady of Lyme is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.