Debilitating symptoms. Brain fog...extreme memory loss...spacey 24/7!
Posted , 640 users are following.
The last year of my life has been a brutal one. At the age of 22, I am in the lowest of lows and I desperately need some help!
Here’s my tale:
About a year ago, a couple months after an extremely strenuous relationship, I began noticing that I was tired all the time…and all around, I wasn’t really satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed my friends, and activities…but life just wasn’t as bright and vibrant anymore after a month of noticing this ever-present fatigue, it got a bit stronger. I would wake up each morning completely zombie-mode…and that feeling would remain throughout the entirety of my day, until my head hit my pillow that evening.
Initially, I suspected some form of sleeping disorder. I set up a sleep study, got my thyroid checked, ferritin levels, all the basics. Sleep study revealed I sleep just fine and all my other blood tests came back negative.
The fatigue and the weight of the world slowly got worse over the next handful of months, UNTIL I woke up one morning and everything escalated greatly. I felt completely stoned. I couldn’t think right. I couldn’t concentrate. I felt inebriated. I felt totally disconnected and spacey. I felt as though I had no control over myself. I lost drive and motivation. I lost a lot of confidence. I always had an incredibly sharp memory. It was actually something well known about me to those in my family and friend circles. Yet, on this morning, almost all new information could not be retained. Things that happened earlier in the day, by evening, I felt they happened a day or two before. I could no longer recount the activities I took part in. This is possibly the worst of all the symptoms. The extreme short term memory. I have no context for time and I sort of feel like I’m just floating through life suffering.
For months I visited doctors getting tested by specialists. I visited a neurologist, infectious disease, I had an MRI, & I had about 20 different blood tests. NOTHING. My doctor literally said “I have no idea what this could be. I am beside myself” TOTES reassuring! I tried altering my diet entirely to organic and all natural. I continued my workouts and ran 15 miles a week. I tried sleeping even earlier. I tried all I could think of .
I have scoured the message boards and found a few people suffering from the same, but without answers.
I’m not sure if depression is the culprit, but depression sure has found its nasty venom-coated fangs into my veins. Tired, depressed, failed memory, no drive, scared…it’s no way to live. I want my life back.
PLEASE OFFER INSIGHT! I will be so grateful J
Sincerely,
Taylorsaurus Rex
54 likes, 1428 replies
Lolren TaylorMason
Posted
Hi everyone. I have the same symptoms, and medicine found no answers so far. For me , sleep helps the most. If i get a good night rest, I'm better the next day, until I do some intensive brain activity and get the brain fog back. I think we should all go to a discord channel and talk more about it, to help each other with advices. I will create one tomorrow if someone want to join. regards
Shanny1997 TaylorMason
Posted
I'm having the same symptoms and it's definitely terrifying for me. I just woke up from a vivid dream that felt so real and the scary part was I didn't even know I passed out last night so easily until I woke up like very early in the morning while being so confused on what happened. I'm so afraid to go back to sleep now after what just happened and I feel so dead inside. I can't even concentrate right now and my whole body is sore right now. I don't feel like myself but I do know what I'm experiencing is "derealization". I don't feel like I'm in my own body anymore while also feeling half tired as well. I would like some help on someone who has experienced this symptoms or can relate and help me to overcome my anxiety/ depression, I would really appreciate it.
lu98 TaylorMason
Edited
hey guys i have just found this forum.. i am currently 22 and since about 3/4 months ago i have been experiencing heavy brain fog or cloudiness, it's quite strong, constantly there and enough to have a heavy impact on my daily life.. the brain fog is definitely my most debilitating symptom as it's the only one that is there 24/7 and causing me the most heartache.. i also struggle with increased fatigue (i have always been quite lazy but recently before this thing happened i would be very active lifting weights going on walks almost everyday.. the average energy a normal 22 year old would have) and i have trouble with sleep and other weird symptoms like breathlessness and occasional ringing in the ears and just a general feeling of malaise i've never experienced before.. finding this thread has been a gift for me (only found this an hour ago) i am seriously beginning to feel like i'm crazy as no one else has any idea how i'm feeling, i too have been told by my gp and psychiatrist that this is all most likely anxiety.. i certainly hope so as with meds usually there's rays of hope.. but i doubt it i have had anxiety before and it felt nothing like this... please can someone reply to this so i know this thread is still active? i really need someone to talk to that is feeling the same way i'm feeling... i'm sorry we're going through this
Brokey22 lu98
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hey how are you doing? are you still experiencing these symptoms ?have you find any relief
Violetfemme95 TaylorMason
Edited
Hi Taylor,
Admittedly, I haven't read many comments because my own brain fog makes it difficult to focus, but has anyone on here mentioned anything about SCT (sluggish cognitive tempo?) Or have any medical professionals told you about it during any of your testing? I was diagnosed at 17 with ADD and SCT. Reading your post sounds like my entire life. I feel like a drugged zombie nearly 24/7 no matter how much sleep I get, water I drink, kale I eat, yada yada. I'm 24 now, and it seems like it's gotten worse over time, however I think life just gets harder as we get older and it can worsen preexisting neurological conditions. This year has been especially rough for those of us with said conditions, and it has seriously reduced my capacity to function on the most basic level.
Anyways, as for advice..try your best to keep making healthy choices but don't put too much pressure on yourself. I will say that I feel slightly more clear-headed when I eat a lower carb & a low sugar diet. Also, sinuses and allergies can make brain fog 10x worse so if you're able to afford it, I would suggest getting allergy testing done or making some changes at home. Using a neti pot helps clear my sinuses which in turn lessens that nagging pressure you described. Pseudophedrine also seems to help quite a bit with both my sinuses AND brain fog, but since it can be abused easily I try not to take it too regularly. Avoid doomscrolling and wasting excessive amounts of time on social media, since too much screen time can cause eye strain and headaches.
Brain fog can impact every aspect of one's life, which makes it even more frustrating how there hasn't been much research done on it. I'm still trying to figure out how to live with it, but I've also become more vocal about it to those I spend the most amount of time with. Brain fog can make you appear careless, lazy and forgetful, even if it couldn't be farther from the truth. I've brought it to my bosses attention and explained how I might need to have things repeated occasionally and if I seem spacey its not because I don't care. I've told my loved ones that if I forget things they've told me its not because I'm not listening (or trying to listen, anyways). I've gotten on a reddit board for brain fog and found comfort in talking to other people about it. It's cliche but having good support systems and communication is important.
I hope you're able to find what works best for you and that you start feeling better soon. ❤
Lolren TaylorMason
Edited
hi guys again. Sorry, i didn't get around to make a discord channel to discuss more, but hopefully I will do it soon. like I've said before, I have all the symptoms above. sleeping helps, and mostly I wake up better in the morning but at work where I need to focus it gets worse. some days, I feel really normal and it's great, but the rest of the days it's terrible. mentally, this gets me affected as well, and this scares me. CBD oil maybe helps a bit, but I'm not sure. vegan menu helps a bit. Also, all my tests were negative but, a test showed that my sinuses had some inflammation, and Olynth, a nasal spray helped a bit. nature and calm help, but it doesn't last too much. ( sorry for my spelling mistakes, but my brain fog doesn't help too much here)
katarzyna75505 TaylorMason
Edited
I have same symptoms for 1 year now. Constant brain fog, tinnitus, clogged brain, feeling pressure on a head, like my brain is wrapped with something. Also, anxiety, lack of energy, feeling down, mixing up words, difficulty in making up sentences, and focusing on what people say. I also many times feel like I have a fever, but without high temperature ( but feeling like I have one!). So hard to live this way, I feel I gave up with my life after few months of carrying symptoms...
I am going to GP to get a full blood test on Monday for full blood test for fatigue markers including iron, ferritin, B12 and Vitamin D as well as inflammation markers such as CRP.
What I can tell is that very low carb diet (like keto) helped me get rid of almost all symptoms, apart from tinnitus. One meal with carbs (porridge, buckwheat) and brain fog pressure, lack of energy are back again. Its inseparable connection between symptoms I have and food I eat. I highly encorage to try it. First 2-7 days you might experience keto flu, but then it gets so much better for me, like I have got a new brain 😭... being on keto diet honestly gave me hope I do not have to live this way. Cutting off friends, family meetings, too tired, too messed up, I called myself mentally ill...
Maybe something to do with glucose, and sugar level in blood? Hyperglycaemia? Or food allergy?
I now know its not candida overgrowth and food intolerance - had been tested few weeks ago.
lu98 katarzyna75505
Edited
i literally feel the same way, especially when you mention the head wrapped feeling and the feeling of having a fever without a temperature... it literally drives me crazy i have only been experiencing this stuff for a brief time (5 months) compared to some people but it's been enough to make an impact on my life. i don't know if anyone else has this but i'm also experiencing difficulty with sleep, i can only stay asleep if i am exhausted if am simply tired and try and have a nap i will either get jerks upon almost falling asleep that wake me or feel "brain shakes" it feels like a literal earthquake but i know it stems from my brain... luckily it only lasts for a few seconds so it's one of the minor symptoms but still enough to cause havoc on my sleeping schedule.. luckily for me the brain shakes don't happen that often but i find it incredible that we all experience very similar symptoms, there must be a connection...
katarzyna75505 lu98
Posted
I used to have a lot of difficulties falling to sleep for more than a year now. Like you I had to be exhausted, otherwise could be week where I barely slept, slept half of night or woke up more that 10 times. I wake up very tired, morning is when I feel worst. What helps me is some rain, ocean or just a fan sound I play for all night. It helps my thoughts to hear something else than tinnitus. I sometimes feel my head is vibrating, a lot is going in there. I do have very strong positive reaction when I give up on carbs, but I don't think its healthy to cut fruits and grains in long term, so my pains are back. Well probably letting my brain feel that way is not healthy too... But at this moment I limit carbs, so make it more bearable.
Found out fasting helps a lot, if I do not eat any meal until around 13:00, I feel this wrapping my brain thing is flacking off, pressure in head disappears and I feel my head is so much clearer. Heaven!
I do not feel it's that bad when you think about how I feel in a single day, it is a fact that I feel this way almost everyday, it drains me.
How it feels physically: constant tinnitus that feels also like vibrations inside my head, difficult to think, concentrate, I do not remember a lot of things (I am don't remember if I said it or other person as example, jeez simple things...), feeling like something is constantly wrapping my head, pressure on head in area where brain is. Waking up exhausted, feeling better as day goes by, feeling best at night in terms of energy level.
How my brain feels when symptoms hit me: like a room with closed windows where air is not fresh, is dense, its foggy, its dark (dark grey) and there is a lot of sounds, music and people conversation, very laud. I am sitting in the corner struggling. I feel like my own space has been invaded.
How my brain feels after fasting or eating very low carbs: like being in a sunny room with open windows and fresh air. No noises, just me sitting in a room by myself enjoying a peace in my mind.
To me its related to food 100%, I only (I repeat, only) feel good when I fast or eat very low carbs (yes, relaxing, resting, easy day at work, not intellectually demanding conversations help, its more like my brain wants to leave it alone, so its good to have happy companion that does not scream at me) but even with this info seems to be hard for doctors to know what's wrong with me, lol though its going to be easy but I was so wrong!
Maybe only partially symptoms come from carbs. Maybe rest goes down to bad quality of sleep. I do not how accurate sleep tracker on Samsung watch is, but every night I get around 20-40 mins of deep sleep (healthy average adult gets 1 to 2 hours) and 24min - 3 hours of REM (average for healthy adult is 90 minutes during 7-8 hours of sleep).
Btw I was checking on sugar level 2 hours after meal, bough a meter myself, but all good. So something else!
My results from GP came and all are good. I had full blood test for fatigue markers including iron, ferritin, B12 and Vitamin D as well as inflammation markers such as CRP.
Next thing I am going to do: relax more, easy mode at work, and low GI food.
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Had informal conversation on Teams yesterday with Engineering Director in R&D company (possibly future employer). Really wanted to skip it and say I am ill. My brain was clogged so pretty difficult 1 hour... but I made it.
Really annoyed with my brain at the moment, I feel I want to chop my head off! Its 03:21am, and I sit on a sofa with mug of tea writing this message, because I cannot sleep. My head is very loud, vibrates. I prey we all feel good and know where our bodies struggle, so we can help them. And I wish we all would meet on different forum, like dedicated to plants, board games or other amazing stuff! 😀
Lolren TaylorMason
Edited
hi guys. i don't know if the same thing happens with you, but for me, if I have other problem( hurt back, teeth) my symptoms described by everyone are not so pronounced. my brain fog clears a bit and i feel better. does anyone else experiencing this?
tiffany53991 TaylorMason
Edited
HONESTLY SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE LUPUS OR SOME OTHER SORT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISORDER.
many autoimmune disorders cause inflammation to the brain which triggers these same exact neurological symptoms. So go get your ANA checked to see if it comes back that you have an autoimmune disorder.
k08610 tiffany53991
Edited
What is ANA test, been like this for 8 months. No help at all. Woke up in fog but felt it coming for weeks.My daughters was sick all of January with what we think was covid. Not too long after my world fell apart everything Taylor describes and then some. Couldn't think, had massive head pain and pressure, was stumbling when walking, heart raced every time I walked a small distance My fatigue for the most part is gone because I eat super healthy, but brain fog and memory is horrific, I'm so super depressed now..I got worse from mess, Lexapro one month, set anxiety to the roof...Lithium made me robotic, and Lamotrigine put me in a black hole. Some days I improve at night for such a small period of time and I had one good brain day a few months ago, everything was clear memory was good that day, but next day nothing fog city.. They tell me so many blood markers are off but they are doing crap to help. I've been taken advantage of by holistic doctors, buying supplements that didn't work etc... Its so sad what people do for money.. Tried so many things, I'm so tired so sad and now forced to take Ativan 1.5mg a day just to function otherwise I'm to depressed to move, eat, talk, walk. Anyone out there get any better?? I did see a story of a 22 year boy who lost his memory really bad, he went to chiropractor, they aligned his neck, put him on diet and he said he was 95% better. dbwc1 on youtube. Praying for someone to save us all....
amaree55794 TaylorMason
Posted
This lasted a whole year!? Ive been stuck with the same feeling for like a week straight now, this happened before to me sometime in October but I snapped out of it within a week or two.
Gradually it goes away more when you dont fix about it, but its hard not to. Just like you I need answers too hoping I can find a solution for this.
Please offer advice
Sincerely,
Amaree
k08610 TaylorMason
Edited
It's over 6 years now, how are you?
Any improvement since your last post? It's stinks coming into this with less people to connect with. I hope and pray you are better. It's month 8 for me, worst time of my life......
jerry23123 TaylorMason
Edited
look in to hyper permeable intestine or cervical instability.