Brainfog and fatigue until the late afternoon or evening

Sem,

i share the same problems with you. While I don't have a solution for you, you might find some clues in what I write.

First of all let me tell you that although exercise and diet might be a contributing factor that worsens your problem, it is not the cause. I have lived a very healthy life with Japanese healthy food, mostly vegetarian and exercise every day.

Excise does boost your mood and gives you a better sleep. But still I would wake up in the morning and feel just like you until afternoon.

Coincidentally, I found out that I have ADHD. Which gives me all kinds of problems. You can look it up and see if you also have it. 75% of adults seem to have it. In my case it would impede my otherwise very fluent speech abilities, and gives me a hard time focusing, or makes me sleepy if i have to listen to something not of my interest. But there is much more it does to me.

When my doctor gave me steroids for my asthma, I noticed that I started to feel like newborn. Full of energy, speech fluency was back.

My doctor said it could be a serotonin-dopamine Imbalance. Steroids do affect serotonin levels.

But it doesn’t do anything for ADHD.

That’s where ADHD medicine comes in which does affect dopamine and another chemical in the brain. All of these chemicals are responsible for our moods and energy. Many years of stress,heartbreaks and all kinds of deep worries can cause imbalance.

And all that gets worse with the wrong lifestyle.

Sleep patterns: One important factor in my lifestyle was irregular sleep patterns. Waking up at the same time even if you couldn’t get your 8 hours that day seems very important.

Bright light: First thing in the morning, go outside and look up to the sun( not directly into the sun) This will raise your serotonin levels.

If you have depression or ADHD you will need treatment.

About depression I want to add that there are two different types, unipolar and bipolar depression. The ladder has moods swings ranging from very high to very low.

Conclusion: if you have irregular sleep patterns but no depression or other symptoms it is probably just the sleep patterns.

In all honesty, I think diet and sport is overrated. In fact athletes seem to live only 1-2 years longer in average than someone who doesn’t exercise. I do think that at least walking or moving is quite important. Office jobs were you sit all day is the worst.

As for diet, I can assure you that as long a you don’t eat unhealthy food regularly it doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you get your basic nutrients which you get if you eat normally. I had my most healthy and vital 6months while backpacking through Japan and I ate mostly bananas during the day and a normal Japanese meal in the evening. I did drink a lot of water and walked basically all day. So don’t waste money in bio products and expensive supplements. They won’t make you healthier.

although our issue is not identical it is very similar. it doesnt matter how many hours of sleep i get, i feel totally horrible in the morning. once i have breakfast and a bath, i start to feel better and i feel totally fine in the afternoon. my doctor has suggested Fibromyalgia but i dont think there is a test to confirm this.

As a result of this i never schedule appointment or outings in the mornings because most mornings i have to force myself just to get thru the morning. i feel like a totally different person in the afternoons.

i have regular medical checkups and tests.

although our issue is not identical it is very similar. it doesnt matter how many hours of sleep i get, i feel totally horrible in the morning. once i have breakfast and a bath, i start to feel better and i feel totally fine in the afternoon. my doctor has suggested Fibromyalgia but i dont think there is a test to confirm this.

As a result of this i never schedule appointment or outings in the mornings because most mornings i have to force myself just to get thru the morning. i feel like a totally different person in the afternoons.

i have regular medical checkups and tests.

although our issue is not identical it is very similar. it doesnt matter how many hours of sleep i get, i feel totally horrible in the morning. once i have breakfast and a bath, i start to feel better and i feel totally fine in the afternoon. my doctor has suggested Fibromyalgia but i dont think there is a test to confirm this.

As a result of this i never schedule appointment or outings in the mornings because most mornings i have to force myself just to get thru the morning. i feel like a totally different person in the afternoons.

i have regular medical checkups and tests.

Hi Sem.

I have the same problem.

I developed brain fog, skin sensitivity, migraine, inability of being in the shops for longer then 30 min. All of these was a result of taking antidepressant for a short period of time in 2011. I developed symptoms straight away after taking Sertraline + Diazepam - I felt very dizzy with a massive brain fog which didn't leave me till the end of that day, and I was never the same after. Few days later they switched me to escitalopram, but brain fog wouldn't leave. I gradually stopped taking antidepressants in 4 months. Shortly after I was diagnosed with dyslexia (which I never had before age 30) and chronic fatigue.

I feel very much the same as you with brain fog during the day - I can not read, analyse, I even struggle to formulate my thoughts. After 20:00 my brain begins to clear out and around midnight it is functioning.

I have no problems with sleep, I don't wake up at night. But if I have to study or write something important - it means for these periods I have to study at night as my brain could only function at night. 😢 It is so annoying and frustrating and I don not know why is this. I travelled a lot, and sometimes stayed in different countries for few weeks. The only thing I found relevant - that my brain is slightly clear in warm countries

Would like to reverse my brain damage from antidepressants

Hi. I am 70 yo and have a lot of your symptoms. I'm working on it. I already have diagnoses. But the thing about feeling better in the evening than morning is what brought me here. Enough about me.

I wanted to say if you are "intolerant" of gluten, have you been tested for celiac disease?? My sister has that and felt terrible for two+ years before she got a diagnosis. By then it had affected her organs and personality. What is annoying to say the least is that lab tests have to hit a certain number (I think it is 11) before they will diagnose you with celiac. Celiac is very common in the UK.

If you think about getting tested, do not stop eating gluten. You will never reach their "number" and you will never know and you will continue to feel poorly.

Anyhow, just passing this on and I hope it helps. Take care.

Hi Sem,

I find it very hard to concentrate in the mornings, no matter how much sleep I have or rest, the time is now about 4pm and I am very productive and focused. In the mornings I flick between tasks and get very easily distracted, by the afternoon, or evenings I find I can easily work until 2am and do some of my best work.

One thing I think may be a cause of my restlessness is my caffeine intake. I have read that some people can become very caffeine sensitive as they get older. I think this might be the case for me as I normally drink 2-3 cups of coffee between 8am-11am, I might have another at about 2pm at the latest. However, I ran out of coffee the other day and we only had decaf in the house and I noticed that in the mornings I was able to concentrate more which I though it was weird as I had thought to myself I won't be able to concentrate at all now I have no coffee, but in fact I found the opposite to be true. I am going to keep drinking decaf during the week to see what happens, but I feel as if my have mistaken my lack of concentration to tiredness and lack of focus, but it may be because I am over-stimulating myself.

Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

Michael

i have same symptoms. I've been diagnosed with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. The problem with that diagnosis is it doesn't explain the headaches, nausea and dizziness. My symptoms occur six or seven days a week and follow a fairly regimented schedule I feel fine for an hour or two in the morning. Then it's like a noxious gas enters my brain and i can't watch TV, read, drive, etc. Then around 7 pm symptoms go away. I am drinking 50% less coffee an d will get down to zero soon. I am bipolar 2, but haven't had symptoms in eight years thanks to medication. This brain fog will last for months or years, and then disappear for months (not years). I am trying Ritalin right now, but I don't think it will help. The symptoms are dramatic. I can't work. The last few weeks I have had one day a week without symptoms. Absolute heaven. I have two excellent doctors working with me/ If anything works I will post here. Thanks everyone. !

Hi Sem,

I have suffered with the same symptoms as you for the last 20 years. My CFS started at around 30 years of age and has made a large impact on my life. My primary symptom is/was the brain fog which would normally start at around 9am in the morning and last till sunset or just after when it typically clears up. This would sometimes go on for periods of 4 or 5 days, effecting my ability to work, connect with people and lead a fulfilled productive life etc

It was also made worse with high levels of anaerobic exercise which often resulted in extreme fatigue for up to 3 days. Over the years I have managed to cope with and improve on the condition, but it never went away.

Bad or overcast weather would always bring it on and I began to dread overcast days.

I know they say that this condition is incurable but I think I have come across something that has changed my life.

For the last 6 months, the brain fog has all but vanished.

Give the following a try and let me know:

Forced Yawning with Diaphragmatic breathing

Upon waking every morning I force myself to yawn 5 times

The yawns need to be substantial.

The bigger the better

I do the following:

1. Lie down on your bed or on a yoga mat, before eating or drinking anything in the morning
2. Take a deep slow diaphragmatic breath - close your eyes, breath in through your nose, feeling your stomach filling up with air and expanding out as much as possible and then continuing so that it feels like the air pushes out into your back against the bed or mat - probably around 10 seconds
3. Then hold your full breath for a slow 20 second count or as long as comfortable or until you feel a yawn coming on
4. I like to tense my abdomen for this 20 second duration
5. If you do not yawn just breath out slowly through pursed lips until all the air is out and your stomach is concave or completely in
6. You want to achieve at least 5 good yawns.
7. I tend to find that it takes me 2 breath holds to achieve 1 good yawn, but other people might be different
8. When the yawn comes on I try to **exaggerate the yawn **as much as possible to get the most out of it

Not sure what the yawning does but it seems to unlock the ATP Energy block on the bodies ability to create or release the required energy.

Yawning is natures way of dealing with tiredness so it makes sense and must have some chemical or physical reaction within the body that resolves this

Its so simple and has definitely worked for me.

Its a miracle after so many years.

Please try it for a week or anybody else experiencing the same problem and let me know if you have the same success

It has changed my life

Hi Sem! I too have brain fog in the same daily pattern you described, only I see you've undergone a battery of tests and I haven't. Have you made any headway since you posted this? Interested in your insights. Thanks!

Hi,

I'm 35 years old and I have almost the same symptoms (nausea without vomiting, brain fog, fatigue, alternating hard stool with diarrhea, problem with memory, getting extremely tired and dizzy while doing cardio or weights, tingling right hand which bothers me at night by waking up sometimes, occasional tinnitus in random ear and choking feeling time to time).

Almost a year ago everything started with tiredness and dizziness. The same time I've been Covid-19 vaccinated the second time (prior to that I've already had Covid-19 without knowing it, but confirmed with antibody blood test). While feeling dizzy, I've almost have been losing conscience, but fortunately never fainted. My blood pressure also increased up to 150/100. I've received the beta blockers to lower down the pressure but nothing improved.

My background is being overweight with fatty liver, working more than 10 years for 10-12 hours, 4-5 hours of sleep, PhD, two small kids...Non smoker, non-drinker.

Then the journey to MDs started several months ago:

1. ECG several times OK (lowet heart rate during sleep 32 BPM)
2. Holter 24h was OK and in episodes of dizziness, nothing happened with the heart or heart pulses
3. US of heart done twice - was OK
4. US of carotid arteries done twice - was OK
5. US of abdomen - fatty liver (but I had this prior to the mentioned condition)
6. MRI of head - was OK
7. MRI of neck - was OK
8. Blood test (taken 15 times) was improving all the time. Despite some increased triglycerides and low level cortisol everything normal
9. Stool test for viruses and bacteria - was normal
10. Urine test - was normal
11. Lyme disease test - normal
12. Gastroscopy - found inflammation and possible Marsh type 1 CD (I've been on GF diet but no improvement and also performed serology test which came back negative which is an indication that I do not have CD)
13. Colonoscopy - they found inflammation, but no special treatments prescribed.
14. ENT - made all of tests and no indication that my symptoms come from ears, nose or throat. They only saw an inflammation of pharynx.
15. Pysch. - said it's anxiety and burnout. I've been on ADs for several weeks, no improvement because I'm not depressive at all. They only cause me a extreme diarrhea.

Bottom-line, doctors did not find anything, just said it is a burnout. I'm losing my mind because it is life-limit condition what I have, but I do not exactly know what is wrong with me...Does anybody have any idea?

SAM did you find any solution for yourself?