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

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  • Posted

    Has anyone checked to see if they have ADD/ADHD? Just about all these symptoms are part of adult ADD/ADHD
    • Posted

      ADHD/ADD is congenital, so it's not relevant since the symptoms weren't present from birth on

    • Posted

      @lindathepinda

      You've been posting on these forums for a while. Have you figured anything new yet?

    • Posted

      Hi Daniel, you must be a psychic; I found out yesterday I've got Lyme's disease:-(. I had two tests done two years ago which had a negative result but I knew these tests are inot reliableble. Since my complaints persisted and where tyical Lyme symptoms I paid out of pocket for a better test (the LTT), on my own initiative, and it clearly showed i've got an active Borrelia infection.

      I'm trying to figure out right now what I should do. In the Netherlands there in't much expertise on Lyme's disease, so I have to find out myself which way to go.

      I feel kind of hopeless right now; I have been walking around with this infection for a few years now, and I fear there is a lot of damage done to my nerve system. Also I know it's very difficult to get rid of Lyme's and even if that works out it probably will take a long time.

      Will be testing for co-infections next week, and see my GP. Hopefully he has got a clue how to approach this.

      How are you doing yourself?

    • Posted

      Hi Daniel, you must be a psychic; I found out yesterday I've got Lyme's disease:-(. I had two tests done two years ago which had a negative result but I knew these tests are inot reliableble. Since my complaints persisted and where tyical Lyme symptoms I paid out of pocket for a better test (the LTT), on my own initiative, and it clearly showed i've got an active Borrelia infection.

      I'm trying to figure out right now what I should do. In the Netherlands there in't much expertise on Lyme's disease, so I have to find out myself which way to go.

      I feel kind of hopeless right now; I have been walking around with this infection for a few years now, and I fear there is a lot of damage done to my nerve system. Also I know it's very difficult to get rid of Lyme's and even if that works out it probably will take a long time.

      Will be testing for co-infections next week, and see my GP. Hopefully he has got a clue how to approach this.

      How are you doing yourself?

    • Posted

      Hey lindathepinda, sorry for the late response.

      I returned to school and completed my second semester there, but I'm currently taking a leave of absence.

      I was hospitalized for having a strong likelihood to commit suicide. At the emergency room, the doctor immediately ruled out traumatic injuries, but no diagnosis was made.

      I was not able to see a neurologist during that time, and at the moment I cannot see a neurologist for lack of medical insurance. 

      My symptoms have remained constant. Mental imagery (including the "voice" in my head that reads text) is extremely taxing on my brain, and I cannot read for very long before I become fatigued.

      I spent about two months on antidepressants to no avail.

      ---

      How did your co-infections tests turn out?

    • Posted

      Hi Daniel, I'm not to quick myself either; Lyme slows you down tremendously:-s.

      I'm still waiting for the permission of my GP for the co-infections test. He even didn't know they exist....

      Was just wondering; did you ever rule out vitamin deficiencies? It might sound odd to you but I know from the field I work in that serious deficiencies can cause symptoms similar to yours, especially B-vitamins. Some people don't absorb them well, and need supplementation.

       

    • Posted

      Is it possible to have lyme disease without the pain?

      I experiance every other symptom but pain but i have had an experience 8 years ago where my knees and Achilles acjed all the time but now i have no pain?

    • Posted

      The pain waxes and wanes, generally in rhythm covering several weeks. The fact that my complaints consistently increase and decrease over a period of 4 weeks was one of the reasons for me to seriously consider Lyme to be the cause.

      Some people have hardly any pain, others, like me unfortunately, have serious muscle and joint pain, mostly in the ankels and elbows and lower back.

  • Posted

    Anxiety and depression can cause all of the symptoms you are describing and I've suffered from them in my time.  They will go but you may need some medical help to manage them.  It makes you feel terrible but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Sleep is good for you when suffering from depression.  It helps the brain heal.  Sleep as much as you need to.  You may be given some anti depressants and they will help.  Don't suffer in silence.  Good Luck

  • Posted

    Hey Taylor, sorry to hear you're going through this but I'm 90% sure I know what's going on and why. Seen these symptoms before and brain fog I'm all to familiar with.

    But before I tell you what it can be, I have a question.

    Not that I care or anything, I'm just simply asking,

    Do you smoke weed, and if so how much a week. Your answer is going to help me a lot.

    • Posted

      Hey Brian,

      Could you provide the insight?. I've been dealing with mine on and off for 15 years. I'm not much of a weed smoker but truth be told....when I did...it sent me into 5x my symptoms and this heightened state of he'll brain fog would last around a week.

      What were you thinking and thanks for your time.

    • Posted

      Really! I tell you something, I have very similar problems for the last 2 years. Before that I had them 5 years ago and before that around 8 years ago. In between I was fine again. I have not smoked weed for over 20 years, didn`t drink alcohol for the last 8 years. Don`t smoke. Now I can say one thing, the more simple carbs I eat and sugar I consume the worse I feel. That is not to suggest that I know what`s wrong with Taylor, who by the way has not responded to any post for a long time.
    • Posted

      Brian you said you are 90% sure you know what is causing it and I've been dealing with these symptoms for the past week and it seems that it is just getting worse each day. I do smoke weed but I've recently stopped because of these horrible symptoms which are making me feel like I'm not myself anymore. Can you please respond because anything will help at this point.

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