Another Brain Fog Thread

[Guest adamssa]

Hello!

I know there have been brain fog threads in the past, but they aren't active at anymore, and I just always have more questions...it is so damn frustrating...

I have been having pretty constant fog issues for the last two months. Sometimes it is so bad all I want to do is lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. i just feel like there is a wall in my head and no way to get behind it. then, sometimes i'll feel like it's getting better, like there's been an entirely clear day, and then it will get worse again. and i am so careful about gluten that it's unlikely it could be it. and i know that grains can aggravate it for some people, myself inlcuded, but sometimes eating rice doesn't seem to make it worse at all. i started addressing my vitamin deficiencies and that seemed to really help, then suddenly it didn't. now, it seems better than last week, like it's improving, but who knows if that will continue. feel half conscious.

sorry, maybe this is just a vent, though i guess i was wondering what more a person can do? no grains, vitamins, take care of the yeast, never ever get within 10 feet of a bagel. take fish oils, take zinc, B12....and how do you distinguish between low blood sugar fog and other types of fog? i know that i often wait until later in the day to eat because food so often aggravates/creates confusion. and i hate to think that this damages relationships, but i know it does, especially this one specific guy...

sorry to ramble so much. it's just that when i don't have it i feel so good! my other problems seem so much more insignificant. i am a writer and write so much more and better when clear headed and enjoy it so much.

and isn't it weird how you just know that you're mentally off, that that thought, if nothing else, is incredibly clear?

Sara

[Nancym]

My main contributers to brain fog were: gluten, dairy products, too many carbohydrates, low thyroid. Now that I stick to a pretty good diet without grains and dairy and have my thyroid levels adjusted, I'm doing fine.

[aikiducky]

My other big culprit was also dairy...

Pauliina

[All-about-March]

Sara,

Sorry you are feeling icky. I'm with you on the brain fog....so very frustrating!

I want to address the part of your post where you say that you usually wait until later in the day to eat. I used to do this because I also felt that eating made me feel more tired and confused. My days start at 4am and I would wait until getting home from work at 3pm to eat anything, which would be something light, and then I would have dinner around 6pm and that would be it - that is all I would consume in a day. I knew that this was incredibly bad to do to my body, but I was just wanting to avoid how I felt after eating. I felt like I had more energy and mental clarity when I avoided eating while needing to be active. I think this is a cycle that I needed to break.

After the recommendation from my doc to eat frequently I decided to give it a go. Basically eat something small every two hours and if this is difficult, at least slip in a glass of juice. This sounds really hard to do, not to mention a pain in the butt, but it works! My energy levels are so much better when I eat this way and the brain fog seems to have lifted. I was actually amazed at how much better I do feel!

Example :

0430 - gluten free cereal with 1/2 banana and cup of tea (breakfast)

0630 - carton of Ensure or Boost

0830 - piece of fruit with some yogurt

1030 - rice cake with peanut butter and piece of fruit

1230 - tuna in a rice wrap with a salad/cut veggies, piece of fruit, two gluten free cookies (lunch)

1430 - handful of almonds and raisins and a glass of juice

1630 - rice crackers, cheese and glass of juice

1830 - gluten free pasta with meat sauce, a salad and applesauce (supper)

2030 - some corn chips and salsa

2230 - bowl of ceral and cup of tea

Of course each day, variations at each interval is needed, but that was just to give you an idea. Give it a go if you can. Makes the world of difference for me I when can and do stick to this schedule. I figure that even though it may not be totally nutritionally complete, it is much better than the way I was eating before!

Hope you find something that works for you and that you feel better soon and can enjoy your writing !

[lorka150]

The second I consume casein, I get brain fog. I had it constantly for about six months when I was lactose free, and then after the switch, it just disappeared (unless I accidently get some).

[Nancym]

I want to address the part of your post where you say that you usually wait until later in the day to eat. I used to do this because I also felt that eating made me feel more tired and confused. My days start at 4am and I would wait until getting home from work at 3pm to eat anything, which would be something light, and then I would have dinner around 6pm and that would be it - that is all I would consume in a day. I knew that this was incredibly bad to do to my body, but I was just wanting to avoid how I felt after eating. I felt like I had more energy and mental clarity when I avoided eating while needing to be active. I think this is a cycle that I needed to break.

Actually, it might be very healthy. I've been reading about Intermittent Fasting and it sounds like there might be a lot of positive health effects from eating like this. I do a variation of it myself, where every other day I fast 24 hours (skip breakfast and lunch).

[Guest adamssa]

I want to address the part of your post where you say that you usually wait until later in the day to eat. I used to do this because I also felt that eating made me feel more tired and confused. My days start at 4am and I would wait until getting home from work at 3pm to eat anything, which would be something light, and then I would have dinner around 6pm and that would be it - that is all I would consume in a day. I knew that this was incredibly bad to do to my body, but I was just wanting to avoid how I felt after eating. I felt like I had more energy and mental clarity when I avoided eating while needing to be active. I think this is a cycle that I needed to break.

Hope you find something that works for you and that you feel better soon and can enjoy your writing !

[DrMom]

Celiac disease-dementia links outlined

11 October 2006

Arch Neurol 2006; 63: 1440-1446

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have documented the possible link between celiac disease and cognitive decline.

"There has been very little known about this connection between celiac disease and cognitive decline until now," said Keith Josephs, lead investigator from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

"This is the largest case series to date of patients demonstrating cognitive decline within 2 years of the onset of celiac disease symptom onset or worsening," he added.

For their study, the team identified 13 adults who developed cognitive impairment within 2 years of onset of celiac disease symptoms or severe exacerbation, as confirmed by small bowel biopsy. The cohort contained five women and eight men, with a median age at celiac disease onset of 64 years.

Any patients for whom an alternative cause of cognitive decline could be identified were excluded from the analysis.

Examinations showed that the patients scored an average of 28 out of a possible 38 points on the Short Test of Mental Status, indicating moderate cognitive impairment.

Ten individuals experienced loss of coordination and four suffered from symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, the investigators report in the Archives of Neurology.

In addition, four patients had folate deficiency, vitamin B12, vitamin E, or a combination of these deficiencies, although nutritional supplementation did not appear to reduce the degree of neurological impairment, Josephs et al note.

Brain autopsies or biopsies were completed in five patients and revealed no evidence of Alzheimer's disease or any other commonly known cause of dementia.

Commenting on these findings, Josephs said: "It is possible it is a chance connection, but given the temporal link between the celiac symptoms starting or worsening and the cognitive decline within a 2-year time span, especially the simultaneous occurrence in five patients, this is unlikely a chance connection."

The team suggests: "A reevaluation of the role of celiac disease in causing cognitive impairment has the potential of expanding the narrow spectrum of treatable dementia,"

[Nancym]

Here's an article about Intermittent Fasting that some of you might find interesting: Open Original Shared Link

There's a group of us on another message forum experimenting with it. Many of the diabetics have reported much, much better glucose control and quite a few of us also feel "sharper" on our fasting days.

[Guest adamssa]

Hey Beth!

The eating something small every two hours seems to really be helping. I have noticed that I become very dizzy and confused almost exactly two hours after eating, and the dizziness and confusion is really alleviated by food! Thanks so much for your post. Before , I thought if I feel crappy, it would be dumb to eat. I am so lucky you posted this because I have been struggling with this the last two months. I didn't think it could be low blood sugar because I had eaten--does this mean that we have tricky blood sugar or something?

So sometimes now I am feeling clear and maybe even normal(though a little dizzy, yet), though other times still rather off. Hopefully if I keep at it things will continue to get better.

I think the article about cognitive decline and celiac wasn't surprising---but. I think if you have brain fog and you have celiac it is being caused by an underlying issue caused by your celiac, unless you are eating gluten.

Thanks again,

Sara

[CarlaB]

Sara, what you're saying about avoiding food till late in the day, and now feeling better eating every two hours tells me your adrenals may be involved. Adrenals affect blood sugar. Google adrenal fatigue and adrenal burnout ... brain fog is also a symptom, as is not wanting to eat until later in the day, and blood sugar issues.

[All-about-March]

Hey Beth!

The eating something small every two hours seems to really be helping. I have noticed that I become very dizzy and confused almost exactly two hours after eating, and the dizziness and confusion is really alleviated by food! Thanks so much for your post. Before , I thought if I feel crappy, it would be dumb to eat. I am so lucky you posted this because I have been struggling with this the last two months. I didn't think it could be low blood sugar because I had eaten--does this mean that we have tricky blood sugar or something?

Sara,

I'm glad you are feeling better. It is definitely all about finding out what works for each of us for making ourselves feel better. Have you had your sugars tested? The whole reason I started eating like this is because I had some glucose tolerance tests done (5 hour and 8 hour ones) and it appears that my body is in a constant state of hypoglycemia. My doctor recommended the eating something small every two hours. Of course he also recommended to stay away from foods high in sugars while doing so. I still find this difficult to do because it does seem like I have to force myself to eat at times, but I know that if I put even just a little something into my body, it will feel better. I have also found that my weight has stabilized while eating like this (I had been losing weight pretty quickly for awhile).

I have been following Carlas suggestion and reading up on adrenal issues. I did try to speak to my doc about this, but he dismissed the idea - apparently not very recognized in medical community. So, I am just continuing to read and absorb info and try different things. But like I said, it is up to each of us to figure out what makes us feel better ie: the many here who have all negative test results for celiac, but that have had positive dietary responses to gluten-free....feel so much better eliminating gluten, so the obvious answer seems to be to keep up with what you know makes you feel healthier. Stick with what works for you.

I wish you luck in your continued search for well being.....definitely an ongoing process for me. I will soon be attempting an elimination diet from dairy to see what that does for me. Trial and error.

Stay well !

[Guest adamssa]

I don't think I have adrenal burnout, just because I am fortunate enough not to be fatigued. (Anymore), it used to be a problem for me. Is it good to eat (quality) carbrohydrates to stabilize your blood sugar levels? I had cut them out because they had seemed to be making things worse, but that was before I tried eating in small amounts throughout the day. Maybe I should try again though. I realize that when I felt very good two weeks ago it was when I decided that I was going to eat during the day anyways, because I had recently hit up a groccery store with a fantastic gluten free section and was just hungry. I still felt dizzy and everything, but when I wasn't I felt good. !!!

[Sophiekins]

Hi Sara

I get where you're coming from - and from my experience, the brain fog is usually caused by the not eating. The tricky part is motivating yourself to eat (and prepare something to eat) when you feel like crap and eating is the last thing you want to do. Remember that when you were an undiagnosed celiac, you were essentially starving, so your body probably doesn't know whether it is hungry or not - it was always hungry, so it never learned to identify the source of the symptom - so relying on hunger signals to time your meals won't work because you won't get hunger signals (or if you do, they'll go away when you ignore them). I've had success in training my body with a particular pattern of foods when I feel like crap - foods I know are safe. . .genuine 'comfort' food in the true sense of the word. I have a variety of them, depending on where I am, what I'm doing, and specifically how I'm feeling like crap. Dilute apple juice works well when you are barely functioning - about one part juice to three or four parts water - the sugar will support your bodily functions, but the flavour is minimal, so you can almost trick your body into accepting it. If I'm at home I'll go for a small bowl of gluten-free pasta or cooked brown rice (add a little sugar to the rice for a little extra oomph). Other options, depending on the level of crappiness, include a gluten-free cookie or piece of cake, a handful of raisins and a spoon of peanut butter, a small piece of fruit, or a bowl of plain dry gluten-free cereal. Simple is best - less work to prepare, fewer flavours to upset your body.Basically, you need to give your body a quick little spike of sugar (to alleviate the brain fog) plus a small helping of a more complex sugar (carbohydrate) so that you don't crash afterwards. It may take some experimentation, but this is something you need to do for the sake of your health - I ignored this for a couple of years, doing much as you are, and it seemed to work, before, of course, it caused further health problems. As a result of what I did, I am now punished with STONKING migraines (imagine the cast of Riverdance performing on your head, plus being completely exhausted but unable to sleep, unable to read, in pain lying down, in pain sitting up, AND in severe gastro distress. . .this is NOT something you want to experience!) when I skip meals.

[Guest adamssa]

hi,

all this has been very helpful. i guess the key is finding which carbrohdrates and sugar are the most helpful. any thoughts on why are bodies have thrown themselves into this kind of state? is it because they're nutrient deprived from time spent undiagnosed? am also wondering what else this says about our bodies in order to address any other problems this may cause before they manifest in some fun new way.

[Guest adamssa]

A great link for those with low blood sugar and adrenal exhaustation:

Open Original Shared Link

this one mentions that a lot of it is rooted in something called the celiac/solar plexus!

he also said the two conditions are often related.

[Judyin Philly]

Hi Everyone.

Hope some of you who know Vincent, VydorScope, can contact him with some of your expert advice

--He's really sick right now and posted this on daily strength and we discussed me puting a link to him through this forum. Here is a link you can use to contact him.

Open Original Shared Link

Hope some of you can help him now as he has helped so many of us in the past.

Judy in Philly

VydorScope's Journal VydorScope's Page

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Okay okay! I see ppl trying to piece things together, so let me just fill you all in and give you a glimpse of my world…

To see the path that lead me here you need to go back to March of 2004. That was when we brought our son to the church for a baby dedication (similar to a baptism, but more focused on the parents promising to raise the child right). At that time our son’s health was bad, but we had no clue how bad. As most of you know his story already, and how he almost died at 20 months old from Celiac Disease I will not go in to that here for sake of brevity. Something else happened that day; someone took a picture of me holding my son up in front of the church. See normally I run the camera’s so I almost never in a picture. In that picture I saw how overweight I had gotten. I decided that day (the day I saw the picture) I would not be that way, I needed to be healthy so that I could be the father my son needed. So I immediately followed the traditional low fat/ low cal/ no taste diet that everyone seems to praise as God’s gift to the fat man. I also bought a treadmill and intended to use it every day. Well over time on this diet my health completely fell apart. Instead of running on the treadmill daily I was take naps that were several hours long. Eventually I realized that the low cal/etc theory was crap and after some research I switched to a modified version of the Aktins diet. With that I regained a lot of my energy and lost 45-50 pounds, which I kept most of that off, even today. I actually decided I lost too much, and gained a little back on purpose following that same diet. Well around the time I started the Atkins diet my doc said she wanted to run some routine labs on me, so they drew some blood. I did not tell her anything about my health, I really do not tell her enough. She is a great doc, I am a horrible patient. *grin* Well those labs showed why I was so tired; I had NO Iron stores at all. Multiple retests confirmed it. This led me a long road of a lot of test to find out why that would be.

In the process we discovered I have a heart condition known as a Left Bundle Branch Block, with a corresponding Low Ejection Faction (around 44%). This is considered serious enough that I can not get life insurance. There is no treatment for it at this stage, but later in life I will likely need a pacemaker.

Also discovered I have some bone loss in my hip, no good reason for it, but I take 6 zillion units of calcium and vitamin d twice a day for it.

I took multiple blood tests, 2 endoscopes, a colonoscopy, two barium series and three gluten challenges all of which ruled out Celiac Disease (though I am still mostly gluten free because it is easier to keep my son gluten-free if I am too.) and anything else related to that part of the body. As much as I wanted this to be the reason for all the above issues, it is not.

At this point my anemia is completely gone. Looking back, my Doc and I agree it was likely the product of my poor diet (the low cal/etc one) combined with the fact that I was giving blood every single time I could. I simply was giving it away faster then I could make it with my limited diet.

The heart condition no one knows a cause for it is just one of those things they see sometimes and do not know why. The bone loss is likely form all the running I did in my younger days (120 miles a week + biking+ competitions). The bone loss is not over the line yet, its just right on the line of concern.

But all this did not solve my major over all poor health, even after I stopped all dieting. In fact it seemed to get worse with time. Thinking back I would guess it really started a year or two sooner then that picture, but no way to know for sure. I had all kinds of odd symptoms, for example I would get the shakes, and get them bad. Such that I could not hold anything. This would be followed by a ravenous hunger for raisins. I would not be in control and would come out of it finding I ate HALF a can of raisins… and not remember eating a single one. But that did cure the shakes everytime. I would have periods of extreme anger that could not be controlled, and so on. No I did not tell my poor doc any of this. Told you I was a horrid patient. *grin*

Well to shorten this up, I bought a blood glucose meter, and an AD1 (think that what it was called) test kit. The AD1 thingy came back normal, which ruled out diabetes (in addition to the fasting blood glucose level test). So after studying about REACTIVE HYPOGLYCEMIA I did the test at home for it. I won’t bore you with the details, but it is fairly simple, and considered diagnostic. Most sites will advise you not o do it, and to get a doc’s help, but that is all CYA stuff. I can write up the procedure if anyone wants it. Welp it came back convincingly positive. No borderline stuff here at all. This was the first time any test showed anything for me. I did go over these results with my Doc and she agrees. Since then I have monitored my symptoms against the movement of my blood sugar and I know now that my symptoms are directly related to my blood sugar. When my sugar spikes up (never into diabetic range, not higher then 160 so far) I get one set of symptoms, as it falls I get a different set. Long before it gets too low I am already feeling it. By 70-75 I am nauseas, generally feeling very bad, and normal functioning is getting tough. Once it drops below 45 or so the shakes, hunger, migraines, etc come on. Not sure when the black outs happen, cause I am usually not awake to test for them. LOL I would guess below 40 though. Mostly it appears to be the SWINGS in the blood sugar levels and not the levels themselves that dictate things, until it gets below 60 or so at least.

So what does that mean for me today? Well to keep my blood sugar stable I need to eat mixture of carbs (kicks Blood Sugar up) and Protein (helps control the fall off). I have not seen any benefit or detriment from fat, though some people find that fat helps them to control it too. This is where it starts to get so tricky. Most of my fan club here has Celiac Disease and has to avoid gluten (or other food product). To equate this to what you might be able to relate to, think about it this way…. Pretend that in order to control your celiac disease you have to eat a specific amount of gluten, per day, and it has to be spread out in a specific pattern. If you eat too little, too much, too fast, or too slow you get sick. Now take out the word gluten in that example and put the word carbs in there. Then multiply the complexity because not only does it have to be the right amount, time, etc it also has to be the right mix of the dif kinds of carbs, supported by a sufficient amount of protein.

Now add to it this… if you get it wrong, you black out. You could be on the freeway at 70MPH with you child in the backseat, and black out. Raises the stakes a bit on things don’t it?

Tossing in weight control is a big issue to… remember I have a heart condition. Getting over weight puts me at a much greater risk for a heart attack. So I can not just ignore the weight issue, I need to attack that at the same time. I have managed to stabilize my weight at around 10-12 pounds over my target weight, but my blood sugar is not yet stable, and I would like to loose that weight so that I have a bit more of a cushion.

Perhaps this will help, remember the story about the spoons? I start the day with NO SPOONS. None, I have to make them as I go. My ability to make them is directly related to my access to the right kinds of foods in the right quantities at the right time.

This is the most complete write up I have ever done about this, if any of you still chat with ppl that like me on the other site, please link them to this. If I post a link to this they will delete it, but other ppl can link to this and it wont.

Now you have the full story….

Vincent

[Nancym]

He should get to a good endocryologist that deals with metabolic issues. There could be a number of things causing his blood sugar issues. From someone else's post about a similar condition:

Were I you, I would seek out a competent endocrinologist for a thorough evaluation. In reading your history a number of problems come to mind–cyclical Cushing’s, pituitary adenoma, a glucagon-secreting tumor (usually benign), multiple endocrine adenopathy (MEA), just to name a few–all of which can be tracked down and treated by someone who knows what he or she is doing.

[Kody]

Hello!

I know there have been brain fog threads in the past, but they aren't active at anymore, and I just always have more questions...it is so damn frustrating...

I have been having pretty constant fog issues for the last two months. Sometimes it is so bad all I want to do is lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. i just feel like there is a wall in my head and no way to get behind it. then, sometimes i'll feel like it's getting better, like there's been an entirely clear day, and then it will get worse again. and i am so careful about gluten that it's unlikely it could be it. and i know that grains can aggravate it for some people, myself inlcuded, but sometimes eating rice doesn't seem to make it worse at all. i started addressing my vitamin deficiencies and that seemed to really help, then suddenly it didn't. now, it seems better than last week, like it's improving, but who knows if that will continue. feel half conscious.

sorry, maybe this is just a vent, though i guess i was wondering what more a person can do? no grains, vitamins, take care of the yeast, never ever get within 10 feet of a bagel. take fish oils, take zinc, B12....and how do you distinguish between low blood sugar fog and other types of fog? i know that i often wait until later in the day to eat because food so often aggravates/creates confusion. and i hate to think that this damages relationships, but i know it does, especially this one specific guy...

sorry to ramble so much. it's just that when i don't have it i feel so good! my other problems seem so much more insignificant. i am a writer and write so much more and better when clear headed and enjoy it so much.

and isn't it weird how you just know that you're mentally off, that that thought, if nothing else, is incredibly clear?

Sara

Hey now! My autobiography is copyrighted, ya know...

wait, my bad... you're not stealing my life story... =p

You just described how I feel everyday of my life. It sucks. I know.

[Guest adamssa]

hey Cody,

sorry to hear we have such similar life stories ! though i feel slightly more sane knowing that it's not just me.

are you making sure that you haven't got any underlying issues that are keeping you sick? that was one of the mistakes i made, not looking or other problems all that time undiagnosed could have caused.

Sara

[Kody]

hey Cody,

sorry to hear we have such similar life stories ! though i feel slightly more sane knowing that it's not just me.

are you making sure that you haven't got any underlying issues that are keeping you sick? that was one of the mistakes i made, not looking or other problems all that time undiagnosed could have caused.

Sara

hm... not sure what you mean, but yeah, I've been looking at other possibilities. I'm pretty sure that I'm allergic to dairy as well.

[Guest adamssa]

i just mean that brain fog can be caused by a lot of things in addition to gluten, so just make sure that you're ruling those out too if it's one of your major problems. i've found that functional hypoglycemia seems to be what's screwing me up. when i follow a hypglycemiac diet (gluten-free of course) i feel as if i am begining to have thoughts again! what an amazing feeling. but when i dont' follow the diet i again enter the twilight zone and am just always wondering what the **** is going on. you should see me in geology then... besides hypoglycemia and gluten fog can be caused by yeast (candida) and your liver. though it could just be the gluten too, of course. thinking of something in addition to the gluten is depressing at first, but empowering actually, when you realize you can possibly take matters into your own hands.

good luck!