re: a/brain fog

[Guest guest]

Hi a, thanks for you for posting and your validation.

I can't drive, I have no drivers-license either, because I cannot drive So, it's pretty dangerous, for me to drive without a license, you know :-)

I don't walk well, so every step I make is a very conscious step, especially outdoors from my front-door, down the stairs to focus on a disability cab waiting for me downstairs and to where I'm going. Well, if I wouldn't been walking so badly and would had been able to drive, I could well imagine I would forget too.

Like you, I can't combine things anymore. Like put on the kettle and forget the turn the gas on, or think 'pour tea' and then to pour the just made tea in the sink.

I'm new around here, so I,m still learning the names, but I do understand you forget the names after you read an email.

When I want to phone a friend, and I look up the telephone-number but often I need to stop in the middle of it, I might have forgotten the name of the person I had wanted to phone.

She/he can even be my best friend's name. I sit here to wonder: what's her name again?

I do forget the contain of an email, also my owns, when they are long. It's so embarrassing sometimes.

Also I forgot words or can't combine words. I look I a kind of a wrong compartment of my brains for the right word and come up with a related word, yet not the right word.

On Wednesdays I have physiotherapy and occupational therapy to help me with my disabilities. Not for long anymore..

The occupational therapist borrowed me a fork with an angle to try out. She asked me if I was left or right-handed, and I couldn't remember if I hold the fork left or right. Her non-verbal attitude as a response on me when I wondered out loud, made me feel more insecure and I notice the brain-fog gets worse when I feel insecure.

Later I understood why I had this trouble to remember. Often I have much trouble with the left side of my body and when I make dinners, I don't need a knife and use the fork with my right-hand. You see, I forgot that too when she asked me this.

I have so much examples of this. To write an email got more difficult, because of this. The communication with the family-doctor isn't okay. Me having this brain fog, makes communication with her more difficult, especially on long lasting terms, and she hasn't the most

Also the brain fog interfered when I still worked. One of my tasks was to chair meetings. It's difficult to address people when you can't remember the names, or to make a quick decision after heard everyone in the discussion, yet forgot most of the discussion. I could hide much by making notes, yet I put myself under a lot of restrain. I have been burnt out, but it lasted for so long that I coworker asked me, if I was sure it still was the burn-out, also for my disabilities. This made me think. In fact, I have the brain fog for quit some years.

Sometimes it can be dangerous for example when I turn on the gas to cook, but forget to light the gas. Especially in live conversations with people, I try to be as relaxed as I can about it.

Like you, I had a very good memory. Especially with people.

I could said when who said what.

When it brings up frustration, than I start to imagine, how I could misuse the brain-fog, yet ofcourse never will. Than I feel a very good person, I won't. LOL. When I imagine such things than I'm just kidding with myself. Thinking such things I never would allow myself to do, helps to overcome the frustration.

Btw I understand the comparance with Alzheimer. Yet, I heard people with severe Alzheimer may not recognize people. I still do, although I might temporary have forgotten their names.

I hope you still do too! LOL

Thanks for the validation. It helps to know there are more people out here with the same problem. Do you have fibromyalgia too, next to lupus? I'm still finding out if brain fog can relate to lupus too.

micha.

Re: re: Cheryl and Becky/brain fog

Micha, I know just what you mean about the fibro fog. I quit driving because several times I was driving down the road and completely forgot where I was going sometimes and sometimes knew where I was going and forgot what freeway I was on and how it connected to where I was going. I must also confess that often when I am reading my e-mails by the time that I get to the end, I need to look back up to see who sent it. I remember the entire message, I just have to look to see who sent it sometimes a couple of times. It makes me angry and myself. I used to have a great memory and now I feel like I have that alzhiemers (sp) stuff, lola