r/BrainFog

21M, I am suffocating please help. It has been 5 long years man. I was a very bright student, excellent memory, quick thinking, witty and healthy physically and mentally. In 2021-23 I was preparing for a highly competitive exam, I wasn't pressured for it. It was something that I wanted to do. Those two years were hell, isolating and depressing. I think the deterioration started sometime in that period. Poor memory, sluggish brain etc. Cut to present,I can't even remember the details but now I am in my 3rd year. I will cut to current details of lifestyle I have led. 2021-23 poor sleep , unbalanced diet, got prescription glasses (myopic), I did not know the permanent effects of poor sleep, overweight, no physical exercise. My sleep schedule has been off since then I cannot manage to sleep before 12 and wake up early. I have no passion for my field which ironically I *passionately* chose, short attention span, I have to reread sentences to make sense of them, calculation speed fell off. I genuinely do not remember what I have studied at all in school , factual information type things. I take long time to memorise and my brain constantly feels foggy even after getting more than enough sleep now. I can only describe the fogginess as imagine you used to have good vision but now all you can see is blurry images. Its downright depressing even more since I know for a fact that I can perform so much better than this. My social interactions are not good. Like when people talk to me I really cannot think and answer them, so most of the conversations I have is just acknowledging their points and yes, no and total npc conversation. I really used to be witty and quick to answer. I rarely have dreams when I sleep, long time screen time and even after that I struggle to remember what i have been watching. Even in movies I feel like I lag and it has been frustrating. Only when I drink heavy caffeine do only I get some moments of how I used to be. I have spiraled into habit of masturbating on daily basis(I have tried to cutback but not much, I still lapse within 2-3 days max) I feel tired and sleepy even after I have woken up from sleep (8-10 hrs). I genuinely can't remember details of 1-2 weeks back or even 2-3 days back. My memory works by association now , I have to associate or actively think about the things I want to remember. As a student this really impedes my learning. My peers and friends remember things from 1-2 years back so accurately and I struggle to remember things from yesterday. At some point I really thought that I have some sort of amnesia.

Sadly this has also affected my mental health severely. I cannot cry in funerals because I have forgotten a large chunk of memories with loved ones. Some days I find myself thinking if I would even remember my mom, would i even be able to recreate/ remember her face, what about my other loved ones and cry over this.

I was convinced that it was some sort of permanent damage until I researched it more thoroughly. Though I can't change what has happened but now I have to take the wheel back. Currently my lifestyle looks like this- I sleep at 1-2 am, at best wake up around 10. I try to work/study but only get a fraction of productivity. Instantly forget what I learned a week back unless I start associating which is very slow. I live in hot/humid country, high pollution, veg diet + dairy(no eggs) + high carbs fat diet . I frequently miss breakfast. I exercise moderately. High screen time but that might be because of work. I am going to go for a blood test, what nutrients should I exactly check for and what amends and how can they be achieved. I want my fast brain back, it feels like that I am still sleeping. I do not want to sleep anymore.

Brain Fog is ruining my life but I don't know what to do in order to fix or reduce it.

I have slow processing speed and because of that i have a lot of trouble on just finding what to do or what to say how to behave how to do what and the consequences of that is catastrophic
for starters my social life went out the window, because the brain fog is too much to the point where i can't hold conversations i can't come up with what to say AT ALL leading to my talking skills just being terrible, now you couple that brain fog to anything else, it ruins whatever that is, i can't come up with good solutions i can't come up with anything this that blah blah you get the point

So for more details i don't really think too much during the day, i don't overthink i don't stress about stuff but i can get distracted frequently with thoughts.
I'm not depressed
I only drink coffee occasionally im energetic i don't feel fatigued i dont have much anxiety or social anxiety maybe just slightly above the average person.
I always lose stuff around in the house and i experience doorway effect (entering a room but immediately forgetting why you wanted to go there) almost everyday multiple times but i do have strong long term memory
I daydream and autopilot frequently but only when what im doing gets monotonous like sometimes during work
Even if i give my full attention on something i still think its not enough like i WANT to give that focus but i feel like i can't like its not 100%, even if im focused im just "focused" but i cant think about solutions or anything.
I don't have problems on listening to people i only occasionally get carried away while somebody is talking to me.
I struggle to follow directions and struggle to understand what that person means like during work they tell me to do something and sometimes im like what does it mean exactly?

So what should i be doing in order to overcome this?

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Since the past Monday I started having moments where my mind completely forgets what I've done with myself or the things with me. I'm in the need to admit that I have always been an easily distracted person *but* not at this level. I lost my cell phone the Monday and recently, my coin purse.

I feel frustrated because I'm from an undeveloped country where the mental health and the professionals required for me are too expensive and I am jobless and undergraduated, so that means still don't have the money for the checks with the psychiatrist, she's not the best but something is something. None in my family can help me because if either they're drowning in debts, have other issues.

I'm getting scared of going out because I don't know when the next episode of brain fog and oversights can come. Even the days where I sleep 7-8, this keeps happening to me. I don't want to continue like that.

I wish I would born in a rich upper-class family. Most of my problems were gone If I had more money.

Im a long term brain fog sufferer but I can manage.

It gets worse if I have 1 disrupted sleep event. For example if I sleep at 1am, then wake up at 3am randomly then I might sleep again 30mins later and sleep for another 3 more hours. Once I finally wake up I am foggy asf! like my brain feels scrambled, jammed, fuzzy. Its been 5 hours since I woke up, I cant even think straight or act straight.

Sounds feel muffled and echoey or dream state like. Dissociated feeling. I dont feel safe to do a shower right now even tho i want to (it will literally push my anxiety through the roof in this state). What can i do? ive never heard it affect any of my close ones like this. If I sleep 5hours straight no disruption, my day is fine. But if I sleep 8 hours but with waking throughout then my day is completely ruined. I feel like an alien literally. It sucks so bad idk what to do

I have been struggling with mental dullness consistently, which manifests itself as poor attention, forgetfulness, and an inability to feel completely clear-headed. It is exhausting, but I can function, but everything requires more effort than it should, and it is.

Which of the following finally worked for you, assuming you were able to recover? Have there been multiple significant shifts, or was it a combination of them? Being able to hear about actual experiences would be really helpful.

Hi im a 37 years old male and have been dealing with a few things lately !

So about two years ago i went to bed and woke up the next morning feeling like i got hit by a bus and ever since then i cant shake this feeling off and best way i can describe my other feeling is brain fog heavy head like feeling and just stuck mentally!!

So i recently went to do a sleep study thinking that was going to fix the issue because doc said i had moderate to borderline severe sleep apnea i have been on a cpap for about two months consistently
With air levels at around 8 on the machine ..now before the sleep apnea diagnosis i have had trouble with my sleep for years i get usually 5 hours of sleep with awakenings during the night Id say maybe 3 times a night ill wake up but i fall back asleep within a few minutes

But i still feel the same nothing is helping at this point

what has me on edge now is this daily dizzy/light headed spells that last about 2 seconds at a time and it happens on and off all day along with my brain fog feeling that comes and goes keep in mind im terrible at staying hydrated i drink a lot of diet soda but just started drinking more water lately since i do work out in the sun all day most days

I have had blood work done everything came out good except vitamin d deficiency which i have been taking meds for that

I went to a ent appt yesterday they checked my hearing and ear pressure doc said everything looks great so my question is has anyone experienced this or does anyone have any advice on what it could be ?

Im more worried i might have a dam brain tumor at this point!!

So I've been tracking a bunch of metrics: cycle day, energy level, brain fog level, previous sleep, food, fluid, stress/mood, additional symptoms.

I'm 34F, 5'7, 214lbs.

So far I've noticed that, overall, my fog goes from about 4-5 from waking until 10am, then it piques to 8-10 (genuinely felt stoned yesterday), and then drops to 3-5.

My sleep is consistent at ~8 hours. I'm improving my hydration and diet. Hydration has always factored because of meds but isn't helping like it used to. Reducing caffeine, although it was always, at most, once a day.

I have 2 inflammatory conditions: endometriosis and LAM which both have fatigue, brain fog, amongst other symptoms. (I'm also contemplating a possible ME diagnosis)

Repeat bloods are in the works. The first had all markers within range except iron was on the lower end even with a supplement.

Does anyone have insights on the brain fog pattern? It's interesting that it's typically piquing early to mid afternoon.

I want to bring some potentials with my tracking evidence to my GP because the level of fog is pissing me off to the point of erring on depression. Can't focus for more than 10 minutes, barely drive out of safety reasons, can't reliably work (even on a freelance basis). I feel like I'm a smart cookie and can contribute to the workplace but not with this crap carrying on!

Hello everyone, this is my first time writing here.

My brain has been paralyzed for almost a year. To summarize: I suffered serious losses in nine months, preceded by a year of stress and acute suffering because my father's illness.

Having no relatives other than my mother and younger brother, I had to manage the enormous bureaucracy after the death of family members alone (the bureaucracy in my country is among the most complex and disorderly in the world).

I had to take care of my house and family alone for this whole time.

It was a total hell for nine months. Meanwhile, my social life vanished into thin air after the funerals, 90% of the people I hung out with forgot about me, and my only three real friends emigrated far away for work. I had no moments of relaxation, no moral support, and no friends to hang out with for about a year. Believe me, those were some really tough weeks.

I haven't taken university exams for a year. I'm 30 and started studying late, just before my father's illness.

My brain is constantly foggy. I used to read a lot of books and understood things very quickly. I prepared for exams quickly and successfully. Plus, I worked as a musician, and music was my passion.I feel like I've become profoundly stupid, and the only thing I can do now is gardening, preparing cuttings, pruning plants. That's all, I can't do anything else anymore.

I have this constant feeling of fogginess, as if my brain hasn't started; I wake up tired.

Now everything is flat; I can't read more than two lines, I can't play music, I'm always confused, and I lack the energy for anything.

I spend my "free time" on the phone, staring at nothing.

My sleep is regular, I eat a great diet, but I smoke a lot.

I hope to get some advice from anyone who has been through this experience.

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to this group and although I've dealt with brain fog consistently for about five years now, I've only recently been able to put the name to it when I did more research and realized the description of brain fog was exactly what I've been experiencing.

My question is where have you guys started looking for help/answers? I've seen a cardiologist to get tested for pots, and it was negative. I'm thinking I either need to meet with a neurologist but worried I'll be shelling out thousands for another "I don't know, maybe it's anxiety" so I'm hesitant to go there. I've seen a few of you mention that you have sleep apnea. My mom was just diagnosed and given a CPAP, so maybe I inherited it from her?

I've also wondered if my ferritin levels are low. I need to get my levels retested but last time it was like 40-50, which the doctor said was within range, but I'm seeing some things online that your ferritin should be 100?

I'm also pretty crunchy and will take medicine but I prefer trying supplements first, so if you have any recommendations, I'm all ears!

Any advice is welcome🙏 I'm just overwhelmed with what to try next.

6.5 years, no change in the fog, tested and eliminated:

Significant inflammation (systemic, mucosal, neuro) - Normal CRP/ESR multiple times, no response to diets, antibiotics, LDN, memantine, nasal steroids, 2+ days 20mg prednisone

Major hormonal - Full recent panel normal

Gut / food sensitivity / SIBO - Carnivore 9 days, 3 day water fasting, 8 day low-SIBO diet, normal stool tests, metronidazol

Allergies - Negative panel, no response to nasal treatments

Classic sleep apnea with desats - Stable symptoms, no major sleepiness

Gross structural - Clean MRI, normal sinus CT

Nutrient deficiencies - Corrected B12/D/iron etc. with no change

Pure venous pooling / major positional CSF pressure - Handstand causes different pressure compared to prefrontal pressure from fog

Strong dural mechanical sensitivity - No pain from pressing/tapping prefrontal area

Classic central sensitization with sensory amplification - No light/sound/smell sensitivity, no scalp tenderness

Breathing / CO2 regulation - Hyperventilation / box breathing no change

Simple cold-induced vascular response - Cold face wash no change

Sugar / metabolic swings - Carnivore + no-sugar periods no change

Stress/thinking too much about fog - didn't even know I had fog until 2 years in, took months off to recover no change

PEM/CFS - No crashes after working out, no tiredness

Vasomotor rhinitis - no change based on nasal stuffiness

Other than the fog I have no other significant issue in my life or physically either. Had only one morning it was gone for 2 hours and then it came back, did nothing differently it just dissapeared.

What do I even do next? Keep in mind any lifestyle fix or any type of light test I do has no result, and I have no leads to follow. Literally nothing that sticks out or causes health problems.

The way most people fix the fog is they do something - it works, follow along until you find the source. I have absolutely nothing to follow or that changes the fog EVER.

What solved your everyday headaches and brain fog?

My symptoms:

1. Brain fog (which causes bad memory)
2. Headaches (towards the center of my forehead).
3. Short- and long-term memory difficulties.
4. Trouble thinking of what to say next.
5. Fatigue during eye contact.
6. Rapid visual exhaustion (for example, after 20-30 minutes of gaming I start to notice fast visual fatigue).
7. Very fatigued during middle of the day, more than normal. (Body is fine, but brain is fatigued).
8. Omitting words when reading/writing.
9. Falling asleep while reading.
10. Clumsy.
11. General anxiety.
12. Driving can get tiring after about 30 minutes… however I can still drive.
13. Always struggled a little more than usual in listening and reading comprehension.
14. I personally have nerve damage on the left side of my face since birth. I cannot fully close my left eye and I cannot smile completely (Seventh cranial nerve damage).

My progress:

1. MRI - Good
2. CT - Good
3. Lots of lab tests... - Good
4. Allergy and Sinuses Exam - Good
5. Exercise, diet, sleep - Good
6. Septoplasty surgery - Fixed some breathing issues but didn't resolve any headache issues.
7. Tried fresnels (stick on prisms), first week everything went away but then came back the second week. This made me think it was vision related. Got a change in fresnel prescription and still had symptoms.
8. Tried neurolens and it did not help the same way the fresnels first did.
9. Trying regular prisms right now while doing VT. They have helped by 25%.
10. 24 Weeks of vision therapy. Helped reduce things to being 30% more normal, but hit a ceiling after some time.

Medication Tried:

1. Claritin (Antihistamine) - Did not work.
2. Zyrtec (Antihistamine) - Did not work.
3. Topical Steroid Flonase (Antihistamine) - Did not work.
4. Topamax (Migraine Medication) - Made me feel dumb, fixed the issue by 25%.
5. Prednisone (Corticosteroids) - Resolved everything, but you can't have too much of steroids so was not a permeant solution. Made me feel borderline suicidal as I tapered off because it suppresses your entire immune system. So... did not work.
6. Magensium Pills - Felt good after sleeping but didn't resolve issues
7. L theanine - Didn't feel a difference.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and figured I’d see if anyone here is interested.

I’m a data scientist and I built a statistical way to analyze my own treatment experiments instead of relying on memory or “I think it helped.” I honestly don’t know if it’ll be useful for other people, so I wanted to find out.

I have brain fog and eye floaters, and my daughter has eczema. I’ve spent years trying different lotions, elimination diets, supplements, and prescriptions trying to figure out what works. Finding something something new was never the problem, figuring out whether it actually worked vs. just a good/bad week vs. just me believing it was making a difference was the hard part.

If you’ve:

• been tracking symptoms
• are currently testing or previously tested something
• or are about to start a new treatment

I’d be happy to analyze it and share what I find.

I can’t magically tell you what treatment will work. What I’m hoping to do is help people figure out whether something they’re already trying is actually helping, or whether they’re probably wasting time and money and should move on to something else sooner.

I’m not selling anything. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether this approach is useful outside of my own data.

If you’re interested, send me a DM with what you’re testing.

Also curious to hear from the skeptics who thinks this is a dumb idea or wouldn’t work. 😄

I dont even know how to explain this anymore.

Its like my brain is covered in fog all day. I cant think clearly, cant focus on simple stuff anymore and I forget literally everything.

Names, appointments, why I walked into a room... even what I was about to say.

The worst part is waking up already mentally exhausted. Like my brain is tired before the day even starts.

Doctors keep saying everything looks normal which honestly just makes it more frustrating.

Anyone else dealing with something like this or is it just me?

I’ve been experiencing the following symptoms for a couple of months now:

- brain fog, extreme trouble focusing and a sensation of literal fog in my head
- intense fatigue that won’t go away with rest
- constant pain in my left arm that radiates to my left fingers, shoulder, neck, jaw, and side
- a cracking and “rolling” sound in my neck when I move it, I’m not sure how else to describe it
- tingling fingers on my left side
- migraine-adjacent headaches and intense head pressure that feels like my head is stuffed with cotton balls
- lightheadedness/light sensitivity, especially to artificial warm lighting
- anxiety/depression symptoms
- constant derealization/depersonalization, I feel like I’m in a dream a lot

I’ve been to several different kinds of doctors, had a clean EKG and heart monitor results in March/May, and have had all kinds of bloodwork come back clean.

I just finished a blanket this weekend I’ve been crocheting since April, and I noticed an uptick in symptoms since the final stretch of making it. NSAIDs hardly touch the pain, and I’ve been trying to use ice/heat and do gentle exercises to try to help it.

I’ve got an ortho appointment next week but would appreciate any insight of similar experiences!

Edit to add symptoms I forgot to mention.