Brain Fog Article in Law Society Gazette

"When it comes over me, I feel like the only thing inside my skull is polystyrene"

That's a new one to describe brain fog, and yes I had to google polystyrene.

 

It's difficult for me to define, but I agree with the ME experts I've read, brain fog (BF) includes problems with memory, concentration, and comprehension.

The article doesn't seem to convey brain fog as devastating. Which it is for at least some pwME including me. The struggle and fight to try to think through a thick pea soup fog is horrendous. That this can go on for decades with no one, at least no one in authority believing this symptom is terrible.

There probably are different levels of brain fog. Some maybe simple to quell with diet modifications.But in my experience there is no quick fix for BF.

 

I think there are different experiences in what some describe as brain fog. My delayed cognitive impairment feels like an energy deficit. I slur and have difficulty processing information when my brain is over loaded with simple tasks. I don't have memory issues I need to lie down frequently to recover. It's worse during PEM of course.

My sister has Hashimoto, her BF doesn't describe what I experience. She has cut gluten from her diet and it has helped.

 

I took off my mask the other day because I couldn't hear the tv.

Is that BF, an M.E moment or something else?

 

No, because I talk to myself and I would have noticed.

 

Well, removing the mask didn't fix the problem b/c I still couldn't hear the tv.

Either way, I eventually figured it out.

 

Removing the ear plugs instead of the mask solved the problem

 

I turn off the light in our laundry area to start the washer or dryer. They don't start....

I sometimes forget sequences of tasks or get them in the wrong order. Even some of the steps in making tea can be left undone.
If I concentrate I do it right, but if I'm not concentrating it might not get done properly.

I've been told my memory is appalling. I know it is.

@Mij, I don't know if your example was BF or an ME moment, both, or neither.

I do know someone who turns down the car radio when they are looking for a house number. They don't have ME.

ETA: punctuation

 

Maybe input from stimulus gets a little crossed up. I don't know.

There's been studies on how people in general aren't as good at multi-tasking as we think we are.

IME, n=1, multi-tasking is not all that successful.

 

New simple challenges can also take a little bit of getting used to. When the pandemic first began, I found it difficult to wear a mask b/c it took up more of my cognitive energy just remembering not to remove my mask when I entered a store. Instead of removing my winter hat when I entered, I would remove my mask and get yelled at by the store employee to put my mask back on! It was exhausting.

Ear plugs, masks, glasses, carrying an umbrella is multi-tasking for me.

 

I think it's mostly executive processing and that it's not able to rely on existing memories. I get the same, I have to plan the evening before what and how, every single step, I'm going to prepare for lunch the next day. Doesn't matter how many times I have done a specific lunch, every single time I have to plan out every single step in sequence, no matter how simple, one step at a time. I don't have to plan every step, but otherwise I forget and waste a lot of energy, going upstairs if I forgot a single item, etc.

Whenever I'm a bit better it's easier, so it's clearly not just learning or having the memories, it's being able to make use of those memories with executive attention. Massive PITA.

 

Novelty of a task for me can be a bigger limiting factor than complexity. For example I initially needed help setting up and undertaking grocery orders online for delivery, but after a few goes now manage to do that regularly myself (more or less) as long as I avoid ordering on a bad day, however ordering turf online as a one off, which required just selecting a date and entering the total area, resulted in my over ordering by a thousand square metres.

Similarly I can walk without a stick in my own home and garden, but need a stick anywhere else even if the surfaces are more level than in my own garden.

Perhaps recency as well as novelty is an issue, in that I may need help with some thing I do regularly but only very infrequently, such as annually renewing my TV licence, though I can manage by myself some things that are as complex but are done weekly or monthly.

 

I had the same automatic reaction about the masks: I'd go to take off the mask when entering a building.

When I am checking the Guide or Recordings on the TV, I have to mute the sound, otherwise I can't concentrate.

And, same for me, what I define as multi-tasking are situations pwoME may find very easy to do.

 

Comprehending complicated articles with contrasting points and lots of detail is difficult and frustrating. The on the one hand this, but on the other hand that type of writing or points, sometimes leaves me confused. This example is hard to explain.

@Peter Trewhitt, I don't know about you, but I find it a bit demoralizing to need help with finding my way through forms and bureaucracy. However, sometimes I do need help.

What is meant on forms and other written or spoken words can be more difficult for me to understand than pre ME. Pre ME I was good at forms, now I can find myself needing to re- do forms because I've put info in the wrong boxes, or misunderstood what info is requested.

I have found these cognitive glitches can be or are missed by physicians and others. I can pass for normal in all respects when out and about and having brief engagements with others. It's only those who are around me full time who can see the cumulative effect of these cognitive problems.

 

How to fix forgetfulness and woolly thinking

“Forgetting words, woolly thinking and a poor attention span are becoming increasingly common, but what’s behind it?”

There’s a similar article in the DT, appropriating and generalising our term of ‘brain fog’, it’s becoming part of everyday language. I still find it’s useful shorthand when I don’t want to go into an in-depth explanation of my cognitive issues, but it’s interesting how it’s likely the term will become diluted and devalued. Soon it will be like the equivalent of ‘oh yeah, I get tired too’ for this symptom.