[superloopie]

Hi all. I have MCTD and lately have noticed a lot of brain fog. I' ve had moments for years, and the whole family- as we all seem to have a degree of it- joke about our loopy-ness. :lol: (I am the only diagnosed with anything however). I have found myself driving home and have forgot where I am. I am really messed up in the dark! Also, I will sometimes be talking and the wrong word just falls out. I don't realize it until someone corrects me- and that's spooky too. An example: I asked my daughter to put the tea back in the stove. She corrected me and said " fridge, mom. I'm on it." LIke I said, I have done this my whole life, but just recently got this bad. To be honest it really concerns me. Does it mean something -somewhere- is getting worse? I am supposed to be on meds for thyroid, but am unable to resume that as of yet. Any thoughts would be great!

 

[Katharine]

Hello again

Many if not most of us have or have had some degree of brain fog or cognitive issues such as memory loss, difficulty concentrating and so on.

It can improve quite a lot when your disease activity is better controlled. That goes both for the MCTD side as well as the thyroid. A good degree of brain fog can also be due to an excess of tiredness from thyroid or if you are not sleeping well or your sleep is not "restorative" then that can make a huge difference. Sometimes that may be due to pain and helping the pain in some way or trying low doses of anti-depressants can help improve sleep and ultimately brain fog.

As you can see the reasons can be multiple and there isn't "one" answer but more a combination of things that all help a little. Sometimes it's still not enough and we just learn to adapt and write lots of little notes all over the place. My house looks like an advertisement for post-it notes :lol:

Katharine

 

[debatat]

Hi, I have terrible brain fog. I can't find the 'right' word for things. Forget what I am saying mid sentence, speech delay, type wrong letters on keyboard. I carry a notebook and pen with me evrywhere. I have lists all over. I have to write evrything down I have terrible memory loss. I can't remember where I have parked the car, whether I have taken my tabs etc. I have learn't to live with it. I am unable to work now, I find it is worse when I am tired or flaring. You do adapt and it isn't always so bad. I take it as a warning sign I am doing too much.

I would discuss it with your doc to determine cause and any appropiate treatment if necessary.

Deb

 

[Soundy]

unfortunately my brain catches up to my mouth too late ... I will
know about half a second after I say something that it was wrong ...

told my youngest daughter to sharpen my toes instead of tie my shoes... asked the other if she had her cigarettes instead of if she had her cereal...

I have noticed a pattern where cigarettes and cereal start with same
letter and even though out of order toes and tie start alike as do
sharpen and shoes ... it is like my brain can't find the right word and
subs another with same beginning sound ...totally frustrating

I also make list for every thing ...sometimes I lose them so it doesn't help
but make them ...and have lost my big bright red pick up truck more
than I care to admit... and as Deb said ... if I am tired it is worse...but I
have learned to cope with it ...not much else I can do

was already doing this but after brain surgery it has been worse so is
part lupus part brain damage

 

[Scorpio Princess]

Hi, I have terrible brain fog. I can't find the 'right' word for things. Forget what I am saying mid sentence, speech delay, type wrong letters on keyboard. I carry a notebook and pen with me evrywhere. I have lists all over. I have to write evrything down I have terrible memory loss. I can't remember where I have parked the car, whether I have taken my tabs etc. I have learn't to live with it. I am unable to work now, I find it is worse when I am tired or flaring. You do adapt and it isn't always so bad. I take it as a warning sign I am doing too much.

I would discuss it with your doc to determine cause and any appropiate treatment if necessary.

Deb

Oh Deb, I could have written this myself as it describes me perfectly. I just can't seem to organise my words into any sort of coherence, which is not good when I have to speak to customers at work! My brain just struggles to catch up with what my mouth is saying - very frustrating.

 

[Douglas]

Howdy,
Rest assured: you are not alone. My wife says that "Lupus fog" is contagious. I now have a new hobby: watching for Kathryn to goof a word in a normal person's simulacrum of "Lupus fog". Just wait till you catch your daughter!:rotfl:
Douglas+

 

[lin]

yes think we all have it, i call things any name as i cant think sometimes i look at this laptop when im in chat and dont know what to press or think what the heck am i doing ,
think its normal. my hubby just agrees with me now even if i sya things wrong, they catch on qukic bless them.

i think its called welcome to being a lupie :hehe:

 

[KarolH]

Oh by all means your not alone in the dreaded brain fog!!!

My milk has been found in the closet...
The phone in the refridgerator...
My bras in my sons drawers...
My car parked in a area totally oppisite to where I swore I parked it...
Forgetting appointments, getting lost in familiar areas, etc...

Frustrating, YES but par for the course I guess.:lol::lol:

 

[lin]

beat this i threw the washing once stright in the deeep frezze instead of next to it mmmmmmmmmmmm!! lupie i think :hehe:

 

[Jesse88]

Oh yeah, I know that fogginess all too well. It's extremely embarrassing at times. But for the rest of you with this problem, maybe it will help you to know that as bad as it is, it could be worse. You could be half-deaf too, like me. One ear is totally gone, but makes a lot of noise (tinnitus) so it's hard to hear out of the other ear, which is just borderline normal. Add hearing impairment to general brain fog and you have unlimited potential for embarrassment. Yes, my friends, it could be worse.......

 

[1tiredmama]

I've had a lot of brain fog over the last 6 months. I'm a teacher. I found, much to my embarrassment last school year, that I was frequently making huge spelling errors on the board! I was leaving 2 and 3 letters out of words I used everyday! I was so scared that my principal or a parent would catch a mistake before I did. I would also substitute incorrect words when speaking, and draw absolute blanks for kids' and parents' names at times. Talk about stressful! My 2nd graders were very forgiving and found my "antics" rather hilarious! :rotfl:

I'm taking next year off. I need to take some time to care for my family and me. With the slower pace of summer, my writing and speech are better. But, I am suddenly having word recall issues. Sometimes I sound like my MIL who has Alzheimers! I often can't remember my own dog's name in conversation--with him right at my feet! I'll say instead, "the yellow one on the floor" (he's a yellow lab). I give up trying to find the exact word here at home. My FP referred to brain fog as "tip of the tongue," but I think there is a real difference. I've experienced normal "tip of the tongue," but the name/word isn't there at all--not even close to being on my tongue! Wouldn't you agree?

1tiredmama

 

[lup92]

Saw this thread while browsing and logged in to reply -only to forget my password And today is a good day for me :lol:

As per the fog, I've had steadily worsening fog, with no let-up for over two decades now. It got so bad that I haven't been able to work for a while now. For much of that time, I thought it was just me, so the last five years (when I first saw the term on the net) have been a bit of relief.

And the last couple of months, where I am at last heading towards a diagnosis of my condition have been even more of a relief.

But to those of you who have to work through the fog or have other huge responsibilities (young kids, old parents etc) I feel for you. Truly. It is like Alzhemiers, as the poster above said and it is the absolute pits. (PS hope you enjoy your year off)

One saving grace, my BF can be so bad that I can watch my favourite shows and forget I have veer seen them before. So I get a thrill all over again

 

[Scorpio Princess]

Urgh, it appears that my ability to construct proper sentences is diminishing now too I keep missing out definitive articles, conjunctions and keep messing up tenses - what is happening to me?!! I've always been so particular about spelling and grammar (just one of my things) but I find I now have to edit my writing a lot because it's full of mistakes I made a big mistake at work the other day because I wrote a a national insurance nummber down wrong (I work for DWP) although I could have sworn it was righbt because I checked it several times! I know everyone makes mistakes and typos etc, but there's something not right when you don't pick up silly mistakes during the normal checking process. Not good

 

[Melissa&goingnuts]

I have this all the time. I too carry a notebook and a pen everywhere to write down things I think of through out the day. Like if I see something that I will want to buy later on, I write down what store and what town etc. I get lost going places that I have been going my whole life. I forget family members names, I even have a delay when asked my own kids birthdays sometimes. I forget alot of things. I also use the wrong words for things, which is a great show for my 4 year old who gets a kick out of correcting me. My husband swears we have conversations that I cannot remember any part of. Or I can remember having some sort of talk with him but cant remember what it was about or where we were.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that goes through this.

 

[1tiredmama]

I've learned not to write myself paper notes because I forget about them. You will see my reminders on my hand or wrist--the wrist is better for longer lists.

1tiredmama

 

[orangelily]

A Peasouper of a Fog!!!

:wink2: Glad Im not alone, I used to be excellent at spelling and grammar and prided myself on never letting a leter I had typed at work being sent out with any mistake, I started to forget the easiest of words (must admit the swear box on my desk would get filled very quickly).

I have also found myelf thinking that I have had a conversation with my husband and got annoyed with him because he didnt give me a reply.

Must admit we have a laugh about some of the things I say, a lot of items in our house are called the "thingymijig".

I had a "peasouper of a fog" the other day, I went to the shop (took ages to walk there) went in and just stood there :lol: I had forgot what I had gone for (felt like a fool).

Take care everyonex

 

[pamela b]

Hi all
Yes for sure that is me
I cant spell as anyone reading my posts will know ! I used to get prizes at school for grammar and pull my kids up on it.
I used to get very upset about getting things so wrong and my daughter would correct me.
However since my dx and they have read up on things they dont say a word.

Nowadays I laugh when I go to the cooker for the milk or make tea without tea in it and give it to my visitors without even noticing.
I dont work any more as there is no way I am capable of construcing proper accounts or organising large conferences.

At worst I once forgot where I heading for in the car so turned around and came home.
Ah fun it is not but as always on here we are not alone and stand united !
Tried to spell check this one but then who knows ? When I re read this I found I orangised things and didnt notice first time !

Pam
:lol:

 

[WanePoetic]

My husband found the yougurt in the cabinet this morning.

 

[Jesse88]

LOL! Recently I took the frozen blueberries out of the freezer, cut the bag open with scissors I took from the drawer, then promptly put the blueberries in the drawer along with the scissors. That kind of thing doesn't worry me too much. I know many people without lupus who do similar things. I worry when I can't remember the name of people I've known forever, or I can't find a simple word I need to finish a sentence.

 

[Jenkay]

I have this aweful. It is so frustrating and scary at times like when you are driving down a familar road and don't know where you are.

But hey I think you are doing great getting the tea put away, at least you were asking for it to be put somewhere in the kitchen... I start getting concerned when I put the milk away somewhere that is NOT in the kitchen. :rotfl:

Take care, Jen