Severe brain fog, cognitive impairment, spaced out, drunk like feeling, hair loss?!

Posted , 18 users are following.

Hi, 

this is my first post on here, and im hoping to find some sort of answer to my truly debilitating symtoms which have been effecting me for the past 6 months. I'm 23, male and from the UK. When these symtoms came on I was a third year undergraduate student. Apologies if this is't written very well, I really struggle writing stuff nowerdays. 

During January I realised I was not thinking as clearly as I once could, and was not as quick wittet as I was before. completing an assessment started to take considerably longer as I was finding it much harder to write my essays than in previous years. This was not related to the difficulty, rather that my ability to write was diminishing. I struggled through and managed to get it completed. However, the 'brain fog' was getting gradually worse as the weeks went by into feb/mar. I as also experiencing extremely painful muscle pain in my back which had no identifiable cause. During this time admittedly I was incredible anxious about my dissertation and all other pieces of work as I felt my abilties were becoming more and more limited. It was no only my cogntive function that was suffering at the time. I was also suffering from constipation which led to (sorry this is gross) after every movement after wiping there would be a clear mucus like liquid on the paper. I tried to put my health worries to the back of my mind and crack on with my assessments which were due in the following month.

This was until I was sat in the library working and then realised that there was dandruff like flakes all over my arms. This is when I began to worry something really wasn't right, and after a google search i thought I may be suffering from 'candida' so I decided to change my diet. I ate clean and drank plenty of lemon water for a few days. Two days following this 'new diet' I began to feel incredibly unwell, with a pulsating headache which left me in bed all day. The following day when in between being alseep and still awake I had racing thoughts which could not be shifted, I have no idea how long this lasted all I know is that it was a scary experience.

The following day I felt really rough, and at noon I suddenly became 'zoned out' and just not with it. I was struggling as it was before this but this changed everything.  It was at this moment I was thrown into a zombie like state where I feel nothing, but yet cannot function. I was only able to get 3 hours of sleep a night and just felt completely gone. My ears felt full, I became cold even when the heating was on  and I became incredibly worried about completing my course. 

At one point I decided that attempting to complete the 20,000 words needed to pass was futile, so I returned home and tried to accept that I had failed uni. Strangely, the zombie like state lifted that evening, only to return again upon waking up from a sleep. This happened a few times where I would snap out of it for a few hours, go to sleep only to wake up back in the 'funk'.

Of course I couldnt fail my course and waste all that money so I continued to plough on despite my abilities being severely limited. with some help of friends, I managed to get 3/5 of the assessments done before I chucked in the towel and realised that completing the year without getting any sort of extension was impossible. 

By this point I was trying to find any cause for this zoned out brain fogg state and thought it may relate to the ear fullnes. I convinced myself it must be some kind of problem with my ears initially, and began constantly pop my ears by holding my nose. This didnt solve anything, and has given me tinitus. god knows why I did that but I did. 

By this point I had been to the drs and tried as best I could explain what had happened. He thought it was a anxiety related and prescibed some proprodomol, which had no effect. I also had blood tests done including 

a thyroid blood test, a full blood count, and vitamins checked. All frustratingly normal.

I have been in this state for just over 3 months now. I've had to quit my part time work, and drop out from the work I was planning to undertake in the summer. I've lost my girlfriend because of it as despite her being pateint theres only so much you can support and wait around for your bf to be anything near normal. I also dont want to do anything with friends as i wouldnt enjoy it and id just feel embarassed and zoned out. I was a very very sociable guy before all of this. 

I have no clue what this could be, I dont feel I can work as my mind is blank and I am unable to process and remember information. Ive spent the last few months literally sat wondering wtf has happened and how to get out of this state, time completely wasted. I have managed to submit the remaining pieces of work for the course so I should pass my degree but the whole thing is very embarassing. 

has anyone got any idea what this is? if this is just a stress response do people eventually come around? what advice would you give? could it be something physical?

Its in the title but my hair is also much thinner than it used to be and doesnt grow anywhere near as quick?? 

I'm lost, this is ruining my life. Ive tried getting back into the things I used to enjoy like football but when I play I just feel zoned out and drunk. I get zero enjoyment from doing anything or talking to anybody in this state.

Im so confused. If anyone could give some advice it would be greatly appreciately, as my life has quite simply stopped being worth living. I will just add that I was happy with everything I had in my life prior to this coming on so I dont believe it to be depression.  

Sorry for the poor structure of this post. 

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  • Posted

    Brain fog can be described as either temporary or chronic impairment of one's mental capabilities. Often we perceive a sharp drop in our cognitive abilities. A feeling of confusion and lack of mental clarity accompany this. Another symptom usually related to this condition is the inability to concentrate. Also, sensations of fuzziness, forgetfulness, and a feeling of detachment may appear. I struggled with severe brain fog for five years of my life before I finally figured it out.

    I kept looking for a pill I could take to get rid of it or one thing I could eliminate from my diet that would make it go away in a day or two. Brain fog will kill your productivity and your chances of a successful life. So you must take this condition seriously and do everything in your power to repair it. One of the explanations is that there is probably an underlying cause that would be cause for concern.

    So the first thing you can do to start clearing up that brain fog is exercise. Several ways help in brain fog fix. First, exercise will help you better handle stress. Second, it will also improve your brain's executive functioning. It means that you'll have better decision-making ability and greater control over your mental state and emotions.

    Secondly, If you aren't meditating already, make sure to start. Even just ten minutes a day can have profound effects. You might not feel the effects of meditation right away, but they accumulate. Stick with it, and you will start to feel the benefits. The type of meditation I recommend is mindfulness meditation. You can find many guided meditations on YouTube to help you.

  • Posted

    If life seems not worth living, take time out the day to assess what you want out of life. Go for what you want life seems helpless when we do not know which direction to go towards. Everything is achievable, but it takes focus.

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