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Brainfog

mm&j

By mm&j
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted

This may sound stupid, so I probably have it...but could someone explain or elaborate on brainfog.

Thanks,

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
This may sound stupid, so I probably have it...but could someone explain or elaborate on brainfog.

Thanks,

Driving down the road and forgetting where you are going.

Starting a sentence and totally loosing your train of thought.

Not being able to verbalize the correct word of a discription.

Not being able to count money back, which you have done all you life and get a blank.

Lack of concentration.

Reading and not remembering what you have just read.

A feeling like you are in a cloud.

....just of few of my brain fog happenings or lack of.

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author
Driving down the road and forgetting where you are going.

Starting a sentence and totally loosing your train of thought.

Not being able to verbalize the correct word of a discription.

Not being able to count money back, which you have done all you life and get a blank.

Lack of concentration.

Reading and not remembering what you have just read.

A feeling like you are in a cloud.

....just of few of my brain fog happenings or lack of.

Thanks, I have all of those but I just figured in my case it was because I am 50 years old with 6 and 8 year old talkative girls who have the tendency to never let me have a complete thought without asking for or telling me something. Maybe I'd better stop blaming them and realize it is a part of celiac...just diagnosed 2 weeks ago.

Thanks again

Nancym Enthusiast
Nancym
Posted

For me it felt like I was losing IQ. :P

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author
For me it felt like I was losing IQ. :P

I've felt that way since I had my kids, of course that could be when the Celiac started.

Thanks.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
For me it felt like I was losing IQ. :P

Oh yes, I agree with Nancy and that is a very scary place to be in. But let me add, lack of short-term memory. I am not the same person that I was before I became Celiac, but after almost two year I am pleased to reclaim some of what was lost. I may not ever be 100%, but still working on the rest. That is why is is SO VERY important to be diligent on your diet. Loosing brain cell, kinda sucks.

It is a common joke in our household, when I get glutened, my husband will ask me if I am dumber today than I was yesterday. I always answer yes. It's a light moment for us to understand each other.

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author
Oh yes, I agree with Nancy and that is a very scary place to be in. But let me add, lack of short-term memory. I am not the same person that I was before I became Celiac, but after almost two year I am pleased to reclaim some of what was lost. I may not ever be 100%, but still working on the rest. That is why is is SO VERY important to be diligent on your diet. Loosing brain cell, kinda sucks.

It is a common joke in our household, when I get glutened, my husband will ask me if I am dumber today than I was yesterday. I always answer yes. It's a light moment for us to understand each other.

It is kind-of nice to know that there is a real reason for all the madness!

Thanks for answering.

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ianm Apprentice
ianm
Posted

It is like an out of body experience. I can see and hear everything that is going on around me but I am completely unable to connect with reality. The scariest times were when I was driving. It is a miracle I didn't kill somebody. It has been 2 1/2 years since I experienced brain fog and wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

I can attest that at times,Ithought to my self that I should not have been driving. We live in a very small community of 6,000, but the county is 14,000. Stop lights are few and traffic is slow. Good for me.

But, on the upside...it has improved with a good diet. Read, study, do mind games, exercise that head organ. Through malabsorption, it took a toll for me just like the other body issues, it will take some time to get back on track.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have see it. I have experienced it.

cyberprof Enthusiast
cyberprof
Posted

I am in a very technical profession and finished my Masters in Finance in May 2005. Right after that I kept having problems understanding things at my job. It was one of the reasons my job went sour and I had to find a new job (which turned out to be a good thing). In my pre-diagnosis days, I'd look at a spreadsheet and tell myself "You have a Masters, you are not dumb, you will be able to figure this out", but I couldn't.

Pre-diagnosis, I ascribed my lack of brainpower to a combination of getting older, stress, lack of sleep and menopause. Of course, now I am still older, not getting enough sleep, still stressed and going through menopause, but I can think.

I can do percentages in my head and remember strings of numbers, like I could five years ago. I can calculate percentages on the spot, faster than my coworkers can on their calculators. I'll say "it's 82%" on a seven-figure number and the calculator will say it's 83%. I'm pleased that I am getting better, slowly.

~Laura

This may sound stupid, so I probably have it...but could someone explain or elaborate on brainfog.

Thanks,

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

I had a really scary brainfog driving experience probably a month before I found out celiac even existed. Leaving my neighborhood, it took me a minute to remember what color on the streetlight was the green one. Yep. Turned around and went home.

Nancy

alamaz Collaborator
alamaz
Posted

lack of short term memory. i had to call my husband and ask him what year we were married in - 2003 or 2004 (yes, we haven't been married very long). Atleast I could remember the date!

deesmith Apprentice
deesmith
Posted
lack of short term memory. i had to call my husband and ask him what year we were married in - 2003 or 2004 (yes, we haven't been married very long). Atleast I could remember the date!

Oh thank God I'm not alone! I felt so stupid the day I saw Dr. Green at the Celiac Center. He asked how old I was and I said "I don't remember, 43 or 44, one of those! haha-- so glad we can all laugh at ourselves here!

surrender Newbie
surrender
Posted

For years I have been SOOO frustrated with my husband cuz he can't remember something we talked about 3 or 5 or 15 minutes ago. It's nice to realize there is a reason for it and that it may go away. Repeating myself over and over again drives me nuts!

jmd3 Contributor
jmd3
Posted
I had a really scary brainfog driving experience probably a month before I found out celiac even existed. Leaving my neighborhood, it took me a minute to remember what color on the streetlight was the green one. Yep. Turned around and went home.

Nancy

I had run a red light after I was done working one evening - didn't even realize I had to stop for anything - couldn't remember what the lights were for, the other time I ran a stop sign. Stopped driving for a while until I could think and talk better. There were days when I wanted to say something...and I couldn't remember how to get the words out...I would just end up crying. Bad thing was my work consisited of driving to give presentations - about 18 days a month - There were days that it even effected my eye sight, seeing double, and blurry. (that is all gone, and my eyes are the same before I got sick - according to the eye doc!)

Now, I am doing so much better at least my husband says I am getting better - got to believe him. I am now back to giving my presentations about 2 times a month. I rest the whole day before I go, and them do nothing the entire next day. It's slow going, but everyone on the board is giving me hope right now!

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author

Hi, I haven't been on since yesterday (gardening all day here in PA, just gorgeous today after some snow and cold in late April) and I appreciate everyone who responded. It's really exciting for me :rolleyes: to get answers. I'm new to any kind of message boards and I am getting hooked. I feel better about brainfog. I can relate to it ALL.

Thanks again,

mm&j (Susie)

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
Hi, I haven't been on since yesterday (gardening all day here in PA, just gorgeous today after some snow and cold in late April) and I appreciate everyone who responded. It's really exciting for me :rolleyes: to get answers. I'm new to any kind of message boards and I am getting hooked. I feel better about brainfog. I can relate to it ALL.

Thanks again,

mm&j (Susie)

Susie:

You will soon find, if not already, that whatever you need to know about celiac can be found here, with wonderful support from really great, knowledgeable, giving people.

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author
Susie:

You will soon find, if not already, that whatever you need to know about celiac can be found here, with wonderful support from really great, knowledgeable, giving people.

From what I've seen so far that has been true, and you seem to be at the top of the list, always answering and helping people out (especially the new ones)

Thanks...and your goslings are gorgeous!

Susie

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
From what I've seen so far that has been true, and you seem to be at the top of the list, always answering and helping people out (especially the new ones)

Thanks...and your goslings are gorgeous!

Susie

You are very kind and thank you. :)

There are so, so many that have a much greater knowledge than I. It is always interesting to read and learn. I am glad that you feel at home here, as I hope others do as well.

ginap73 Apprentice
ginap73
Posted

Going gluten free helped my art. my sculptures went from ok, to great overnight :P . on days i eat gluten accidentally, i can't think well enough to do much of anything. :(

I think it's deffinitly related to gluten.

num1habsfan Rising Star
num1habsfan
Posted
Driving down the road and forgetting where you are going.

Starting a sentence and totally loosing your train of thought.

Not being able to verbalize the correct word of a discription.

Not being able to count money back, which you have done all you life and get a blank.

Lack of concentration.

Reading and not remembering what you have just read.

A feeling like you are in a cloud.

....just of few of my brain fog happenings or lack of.

Couldnt have said it better!! Thats exactly the troubles I have (even the one dealing with money since you know...thats almost my career)..I can also add putting something down and then within a couple of minutes forgetting where you placed it even tho you put it in a place you know you'd remember...'

My biggest challenge with brainfog os try explaining something like this to teachers or fellow classmates :blink: They all think its just a poor excuse not to do my food and a poor excuse for doing bad on exams or whatever!!

~ Lisa ~

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author

It has been 2 1/2 weeks for me of gluten-free eating. I still feel quite "fogged' (now that I understand what brainfog is)...what do you think the time aspect shoud be? I just have no idea as to when I will have my "old" mind back. Maybe never! Maybe I'm still getting some gluten somewhere, or maybe still detoxing, I don't know. I'm still very fatigued and does anyone have extreme back pain? Haven't heard that mentioned much and maybe it is unrelated.

Thanks,

mm&j (Susie)

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Susie:

I would recommend getting some B-12 Sublingual tablets. You put them under your tongue and it goes directly into your blood stream. Or you can request some B-12 shots from your doctor. That helped me tremendously. I had shots weekly for about a month, then once a month. Now I take the tablets daily. I am sure that you will see a great improvement in your fatigue and brain fog. I have been gluten free for almost two year and I am about 95% back to normal. It takes time.

You may need to look into being anemic as well.

Regarding your backache...It was chronic for me for many years, but after being gluten free, I have had no pain (other than gardener's pain <_< )

It will take some time to heal and to get your body back. But everyday gluten free is one day closer to better health in all aspects.

mm&j Apprentice
mm&j
Posted
  • Author
Susie:

I would recommend getting some B-12 Sublingual tablets. You put them under your tongue and it goes directly into your blood stream. Or you can request some B-12 shots from your doctor. That helped me tremendously. I had shots weekly for about a month, then once a month. Now I take the tablets daily. I am sure that you will see a great improvement in your fatigue and brain fog. I have been gluten free for almost two year and I am about 95% back to normal. It takes time.

You may need to look into being anemic as well.

Regarding your backache...It was chronic for me for many years, but after being gluten free, I have had no pain (other than gardener's pain <_< )

It will take some time to heal and to get your body back. But everyday gluten free is one day closer to better health in all aspects.

You are such a help! Thanks again.

I did order some of those B12 tablets so they probably need a little more time to work, (and I have been gardening a lot lately, also).

I will keep with everything and realize that it does take TIME.

Susie

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted

I have a good one. I have always worn glasses, since second grade. My vision is so poor that without my glasses, I literally can't walk around unfamiliar places without assistance. One day I went to go look for my glasses, spent about five minutes frantically searching, AND THEY WERE ON MY FACE. Yeah. I know what you mean about the brain fog.....

I also had some back pain issues, Susie, but I actually found that it went away the more exercise I got, so it's probably different than your 'normal' back pain. I had it in the upper back too, which is unusual. I also feel more energetic when I eat lots of eggs. If you tolerate them, organic or cage free eggs are a very good source of energy and vitamins, as long as you eat the yolk. MY favorite is scrambled eggs with cheese and diced tomato and avocado. It works if you take out any of the ingredients too, like no cheese or no avocado. It's a really nice easy dinner. I eat eggs five days a week usually and I've never felt better.

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