Brainfog and fatigue until the late afternoon or evening

One thing you didn’t mention is exercise. Do you ? If so, do you notice any change in your symptoms after? 

Sem--Based on your post, it's hard to say what's going on. The red flag for ME/CFS is post-exertional malaise (PEM)--that is, when you do an activity, you get fatigued far beyond what is normal. Sleep problems (which you don't have) are also very common with this illness. The best way to get a diagnosis of ME/CFS is to first get bloodwork tests, which you've already done. If the tests come back normal, and you suspect this illness, you should go to a specialist (like a rheumatologist or Infectious Disease Specialist). Most primary care doctors don't have the knowledge to diagnose ME/CFS. Also, go to the "solve ME/CFS Initiative website and see if the symptoms sound familiar to you. It's a bit complicated, because fatigue can be a symptoms of many illnesses. But ME/CFS is a very specific illness. In the meantime, in case you do have this illness, don't push beyond your energy envelope, as that can make you worse. By the way, your English is excellent.

I get this too, it's like my brain is over sensored and can't concentrate. I get very fatigued from it with the head pressure but mine starts in the afternoon. It's like mental exhaustion mixed with physical exhaustion.

I am also stumped, still going to specialists to find an answer. Please let me know if you find the cause to this.

Someone told me it could be iron/copper dysregulation. When they are unbound and not bioavailable to the body it gets stored in the liver, brain and organs and act as a heavy metal. Something to look into.

Hi Sem,

Kinda have the same fatigue/malaise going on for +3 yrs. 

Have you gotten any closer to the root cause and/or symtomatic relief in the last couple of months?

Hi Sem,, you said your vego ,have you had your iron tested ?? ,,and also im allergic to Salicylates,, its in all veges and herbs and nuts etc ,, i can only eat i vege and no fruit,, i am amine intolerant too ,,all the best <3 Guava

I have almost identical issues as yourself sem. After lifting heavy weights for months in the evening, my condition deteriorated. I got new symptoms such as breathlessness/exhaustion doing very minor things. Everything I had previously was amplified. After this, I got diagnosed with CFS/ME. I think you have the same condition but it's not as severe as it could be.

You've had far more tests conducted than myself. I wish us luck. I will bookmark this page and check back in months, or years. Please keep us updated.

Hi Semi,

 I'm new to this blog, but realized my symtoms are similar to yours.  I get up  in the morning  then start having intermittent brainfog and fatigue and in the evening time about 6 PM I'm back to my normal self until the next day when  the cycle begins again.  I was wondering if you had any recent  updates.

Hello,

I realise this is an older post, but I wondered if you had any update on this please? I am having similar symptoms. This first started five years ago and lasted for a few months, since then I have had a few similar bouts, lasting a few weeks at a time, and am currently going through a month long bout of this. Like you I wake up feeling fine, and then by early afternoon start to feel pretty off. I have difficulty concentrating and reading, and can tell that I am mentally very sluggish. I then have an hour or so of feeling very foggy and experience speech difficulties, including finding the correct word to use and remembering what something is called. I can also feel quite dizzy and clumsy during this. After a while this resolves and I feel fine by the early evening, and generally feel really good then. Again I spend the evening feeling fine, and wake up feeling fine the following morning, only to have the same pattern the following day. I have found that in addition to the foggy feeling it feels like the lining of my nose is very swollen (but I am not congested/sneezing/having allergies) and I can experience some tingling and numbness in my left cheek.

This was initially diagnosed as migraine. I had experienced migraines previously, but these were quite different in that I would get lots of visual issues (tunnel vision, stars etc.), followed by an incredibly painful headache lasting a few hours, which would generally resolve after vomiting. These were few and far between, and certainly not happening every day. I saw a neurologist who thought it may be being caused by muscle spasms (due to the left cheek issues). Brain MRI was normal. All bloods are also normal. I also suspected adrenal fatigue, but my saliva cortisol is high throughout the day, and never low. This could possibly indicate stress as a cause, and I feel it may be a contributing factor, but not the sole trigger, as I can be under times of great stress and not have these symptoms.

The fact that the symptoms are only present for part of the day and follow such a regular pattern makes me wonder if it is caused by some sort of hormonal rhythm/cycle. I had thought perhaps female cycle issues (my problems first started after coming off birth control pill), but given that you are male experiencing a similar thing, this seems to discount that.

I would appreciate any thoughts or updates that anyone has on this please. Thank you for reading.