When you have a moment of bad brain fog/fibro fog, do you tend to have a strong emotion to go with it? I certainly do, and I hear it all the time from other people with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Some people say they cry, and others talk about getting angry. I tend toward the anger reaction -- the worse my brain, the shorter my temper.
It's normal to be frustrated, embarrassed or angry when your brain misfires, but it seems like a lot of us have a disproportionately strong reaction. A normally strong woman will break down in tears, or a typically even-tempered person will snap at anyone around. When I'm really foggy, I just don't seem to have the same control over my emotions as when I'm clear headed.
This isn't the kind of thing researchers look into. Heck, they may not even know about it, but it's definitely something that effects our lives and our relationships. I can't count how many times I've had to apologize to my husband for an undeserved harsh word. Fortunately, he's come to understand that when my brain goes haywire my emotions follow. I'm lucky that I work from home, and most of my communication is written -- that way, I can't suddenly lash out at someone and regret it a moment later (especially since it takes me so long to write a coherent sentence when I'm fogged in that my common sense kicks in long before I hit "send.")
I know that physically, in the brain, pain and emotion are linked in a complex way that researchers are just beginning to understand. I have a feeling that when they really nail down what's going on with brain fog, it'll involve the same regions of the brain and/or the same chemical processes that cause our pain amplification and mood issues.
This is an especially tough problem to deal with, because it's hard to monitor your actions when you're struggling to find a word, or to remember what a conversation is about, or you've misplaced your car in a large parking lot. At those moments, our brains are generally overwhelmed with confusion, fear, anxiety ... or with an odd "nothingness" that somehow seems to blot out everything else. Then, without warning, the emotions hit full force. It's like the censors that usually keep us from saying or doing the wrong thing are completely shorted out.
I think being aware of the tendency is the first step toward improving it. We can try to help the people around us accept that it's the illness and not us, but that's sure a lot easier said than done. The best thing is to find things that help clear the fog, but again, that's not so easy. We do have a lot of things we can try, though, and with luck we'll find several small things that eventually add up to a big improvement.
You can learn more about brain fog/fibro fog, its symptoms, possible causes, and treatment options, here:
What emotions tend to be connected to your foggy moments? Have you found anything that helps? What are some of the things you've said or done during those times? How has this issue impacted your relationships? Leave your comments below!
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When the fog sets in, I get very irritable and lose my ability to type without misspelling every other word. I can’t make decisions of any kind (what to eat, where my caregiver should put the towels, etc.) or remember if I’ve taken my meds or given my cats theirs.
Being unable to think is horrible and terrifying. I have almost no memory at all of the two years I took Neurontin and then Lyrica. I have a few vague impressions of some events, but I used to have a crystal clear memory of everything I did, read, saw, etc., but from mid-2007 to early 2009 is missing from my head.
The fog also has a huge impact on my ability to speak with people and articulate clear thoughts, to write coherent sentences, and to do any kind of creative work. I’m more prone to frustrated catty remarks than tears, but both happen.
(I was diagnosed as a teenager 20 yrs ago after having had symptoms for most of my childhood. Over the years, the effects have ranged from mild to being 90% bedbound.)
Maybe as a man, or due to chemo which is when I really feel my irritability increased (despite my type of chemo supposedly not being the type to do that), and while I can avoid outbursts at others, I feel in many ways like a soldier with PTSD as far as being in enough pain to need to curse under my breath frequently when I almost never cursed before and with a need to talk to myself to get through frequent pain and needing to overcome exhaustion (and with similar frustrating feelings about how no one understands at all, etc). This disease seems to progressively break me down such that I feel I’m hanging onto a thread as far as being in control. I identify with the character in the Hulk, feeling enormous rage, though knowing enough not to direct it at anyone. If it weren’t for my faith and family, I frankly would not want to stick around here, even if there are some decent moments.
But for me, I don’t think it necessarily correlates with brain fog, though it is made a bit better by enough sleep and human contact.
Brain fog sends me into irritability. I’ve found that working to be conscious of your mood means you can apologize to whoever is around you before anything even happens, and that immediately seems to cool my nerves. Sometimes I apologize and still get snappy, but I apologize again as soon as I can and I’m blessed to have friends who know when I need my space. When I’m on my own I don’t have any emotional issues, just when I feel like I have to perform to people’s expectations and know I just can’t.
So frustration/irritability is the one for me. It reminds me of when toddlers do nothing but throw fits when they’re exhausted.
Thanks for this topic. Occasionally I become impatient, irritable, snappy and spurt a string of unprintable words. It’s often when I can’t seem to do the simplest of tasks. But I haven’t associated it with “brain fog” before. Brian fog makes me unsure of myself. I will watch for other associated symptoms.
Yes, brain fog makes me unsure of myself. It makes me become fearful, quiet and depressed, and perhaps a little irritable at times. I am afraid to say someone’s name in case it is wrong. I am afraid to relay a story in case I don’t have it right anymore. I am always second guessing myself, and double checking everything. I do not, and cannot, rely on my memory. I do not tell jokes! So fear, withdrawal and sadness (no tears) are my reactions.
But I am elated when I realize that I have remembered something correctly. The more this happens the happier I am.
Brain Fog!! THE worst thing in the world, sometimes! I feel like a complete idiot when I am rolling along witha sentence and suddenly..I cannot find a word! Its usually when I’m trying to describe something, and the more I try to think of it, the farther the word seems to slip from my grasp. I get frustrated, anxios, and sometimes irritable to the ones closest to me.
I still work outside the home, and I feel really stupid around my peers when I am instructing them on how to do something, and I forget a step or two!
My poor hubby gets the brunt at home, and I am always saying I’m sorry. Thank God he met me AFTER I knew I had fibro, or he would have surely left me like the last one did!
I totally understand this! When my brain is foggy I get scared or I will cry. Or both. I have been doing a lot of research on fibro and from what I’ve learned chronic pain is often self reported with words that involve emotion while acute pain is usually self reported in words that just describe pain. Researchers are finding out that chronic pain and emotions are linked, which totally goes along with what Adrienne is saying.
One of the things that is so frustrating to me is when someone leaves me a phone number on voice mail and I try to write it down I just can’t. It’s like somewhere between where my brain hears it and it sends the signal to write it the message is totally broken down. Even if I manage to write down a number the numbers are usually all messed up. For some (lucky) reason that hasn’t happened with writing or with copying numbers from a paper, say like my checkbook. So far it only happens when I write down phone numbers.
I also will be talking and then the thought floats away and I’m left in the middle of the sentence going “what the heck?” Someone can even remind me of the last words I said but the thought has already floated away and I can’t finish the idea. I’ve always been highly intelligent so this is incredibly frustrating and embarrassing!
I am chairman of the Living with Prostate Cancer Foundation and as such have to run meetings and support groups. Brain fog was very frustrating and annoying. Having survived prostate cancer for more than 14 years I have learned ways of over coming the bumps in life. I soon realized that it is no disgrace to go through a foggy period and I have to share this problem with others. Now when I experience a foggy moment I say ” Brain Fog”. This often leads to interestings discussions and I no longer have that frustation and embarrassment.
excuse the spelling mistakes, but the fog is rolling in this morning
Brain fog is so very distressing in every way. For me the emotion seems associated with what I am doing. If I am driving, which irritates me anyway, I seem to become a crazy woman, having to fight road rage. I also catch myself having to watch snapping at people and irritated with my pets. But most of the time it is fear and having to fight showing the fear. I never cry, but when the brain fog is really bad I have to fight crying. I believe it is because my greatest fear in life is being dependent on others to care for me (I have trust issues). I have multiple chronic pain issues other than the Fibro which we all know can be debilitating all by itself. So the brain fog makes me feel that being dependent is more imminent and terrifies me.
I have the full range of emotions at different times. If I get frustrated, I have the anger issues & a very short fuse, I’m snappy (like others have said). If I’m having problems finding the correct words, or it comes out wrong & someone makes a smarta** remark about it (like my 26 y.o. son – he thinks it’s funny), I cry. When I know it’s gonna be a bad day, I try to stay away from everyone. I don’t get out of the house at all anymore & friends don’t hang around long if you constantly have to excuse yourself from an invitation. I’m praying for a cure so we all can find our ‘old’ selves again.
Anxiety goes with the brain fog for me, especially if I’m at work and the brain fog is there-I get anxious thinking other people can tell (they can, sometimes). Then, since I’m anxious, the brain fog/thinking skills worsen as energy is drained by the anxiety of how to get work done in that state. Anxiety also plays a part when I realize important things I’ve forgotten or lost in general and then get overworked about how it could happen. Irritability is another component when I’m forcing myself to function & it’s exhausting. Thanks for letting me vent here!
I am SO THERE with what Kathy (#10) said!!! I really MISS my ol’ Witty-Articulate-Bawdy-Always-Knows-the-Right-Word-SELF!! I KNEW I was in Deep Doo-Doo when I had to carry a ______ around in my hand for DAYS, waiting for SOMEone to ask me, “Why are you carrying a FUNNEL around with you?”
I have never been so FRIGHTENED of Losing my MIND, EVER!!
I also cannot get motivated to do ANYthing until it’s absolutely IMPERATIVE that it gets done! I moved into my “new” Home 6 months ago, and have only unpacked the BARE essentials. I HATE this! There are SO MANY things I still want to DO in my Lifetime; but I CAN’T. I literally feel as if I do, INDEED, have One Foot nailed to the floor.
I’m EXHAUSTED from The Waiting
Like everybody else before me, I get irritable and impatient sometimes, whereas other times I just get angry and snap when I am going through an episode of “Brain Fog”. Not only does this make life difficult for me but it also creates havoc in the lives of my family- they know what expect if they so much as ask me a simple question. I am a writer and very often work with tight deadlines. It’s very frustrating when I am working on articles and suddenly I go blank. I’ve tried explaining this to my clients but I have a feeling they think I am just making excuses. It’s trying to explain to others about brain fog that is the worst part for me. I guess unless you’ve been there, it’s almost impossible to understand it.
I get very irritable easily and extremely frustrated which makes the thought processes worse. I get riled at my loving and wonderful husband the most, mostly due to the fact that he tends to cut me off in the middle of telling him something, then I get flustered and can’t remember what I was talking about. He also usually seems to hear only parts of what I’m saying as minutes later, he will ask me a question which if he’d been effectively listening in the first place, he would not have needed to ask later.
I say things and don’t realize I’ve said them ot forget I’ve said them. On one particular Sunday, we had taken our grandchildren on a planned outting. They had spent the night and I awoke that day with one of my “bad” headaches (I get frequent Occipital Neuralgia secondary to Cervical issues) and had already had like 4 Percocet since 4am. We were picknicking and my 7 YO grandson had made a comment about something, and I apparantly called him an “idiot”. I was not aware I had done so and felt ashamed and so small that I had done so. I didn’t find out until 2 days later when my daughter mentioned it and said it hurt his feelings.
I can’t think straight when telling Dr’s things, like remembering meds I’ve been on for 5+ years of the name of a treatment or illness (and I’m a former nurse and know them well). I make print outs with all my meds, suguries and treatments that I keep in my purse, because I can’t remember them. I always had a very sharp and quick mind.
It is so frustrating.
In my brain fog I feel totally dyslexic–practically everything is scrambled and attempts to get back on track are frustrating, to say the least. For years I hid my memory problems from supervisor and coworkers for fear it would be used againt me. Eventually, it was. However, I worked triple time in keeping my work up to par and have to admit I did a darn good job. As the person who proofed others’ work, I couldn’t afford to make mistakes. My young adult children ‘get me’ better than anyone & their father felt it was an excuse to get attention. Needless to say, I had to divorce him to keep the sanity I had left. I get tired of people saying, “Oh, I get that all the time” when in essence they don’t get it at all. My mind moves faster than my body so I’m usually late getting to appointments. I find music soothes the depression somewhat and I try to read, play games, do puzzles, etc. to keep my mind positively active. Stress sometimes seems to create brain fog and I find something, anything, to laugh about. I laugh at myself to deter the onslaught of mixed emotions. I take as little medication as feasible as it only serves to make the fog worse. I’m still not happy at being on disability because it defies my independent nature; occasionally, I’ll just label myself dysfunctional (probably since childhood) and call it a day. Keeping diaries help tremendously. Huggs & Blessings to ALL!
Brain fog causes me embarrasment, when I can’t think of a common word. I also suffer from chronic fatigue and that does interfere with my life.
As far as emotions, I have not experienced that problem of loosing my temper or crying. I am sure that can cause a problem in your life. Something you can’t control along with all the other things Fibro does to our bodies.
I have Fibro, Fibro does not have me. I try to live by that.
I have been noticing more and more my emotions get so bad that I do start crying at the drop of a pin, I get so irritable I can’t stand my self and just get frustrated at everything. I had never really associated it with the brain fog. But now that I think about it, it does seem to happen alot when I am having “one of those days.” Went to the doctor last Monday, and actually broke down, started crying to the doctor, I was so foggy that day, didn’t seem like I could make any sense about what I was going through even to myself.
My life has been so impacted with this disease in just about every way, it almost seems to be too much at times. I can’t work anymore, feel like most of my independance is gone and I find myself just wanting to hide out in my room away from people, everyone has ideas on how to help, but really nothing helps this horrible disease all the way. It is just learning day by day to make the best of the day that I am given. Thank God for my faith, that is the only thing that truly gets me through.
Thank you for this article!
I describe it as the groggy-foggies as I am usually very tired and have a mushy brain. I think of it as trying to move through a bowl of jello without any spoons. There is a strong history of dementia/alzheimers in my family, and I hope it’s just the fibro fog, not the dementia that has me forgetting times, going into a room to do something and not remember why.
Thank goodness for post-it notes and laptop computers. If I don’t write it down, it can be gone in a flash.
Emotionally, I get frustrated when I’m really groggy-foggy which, of course, just adds to the stress. I try and be mindful of my words — written and spoken — when I’m in one of those moods. I would say that part of everyday is groggy and foggy for me.
when my brain fog sets in, it makes it so it is very very hard for me to connect with anyone. i feel very detached from myself, making me feel very uneasy around other people. whenever its very strong, it makes me severly depressed and severly anxious ( social anxiety especially ). why would you ever want to be around people when you dont even feel like your fully with yourself? i have been researching forever trying to find things to help but it just makes me even more confused with all of the different info people post. its also confusing to really know the cause of it. it could be one thing or a huge number of things..it really set in for me after i got mono two years ago, and ever sense then i havent really been the same =/
I do the same thing. I have felt so isolated since this disease. I cannot think straight. I forget everything birthdays, dates set with friends etc. I have lost so many friends since this disease and just have a couple left that understand and care about me. It stinks.