I get episodes of brain fog. Some days better than other. I have problems with memory and times and sometimes even focusing on conversations. A coworker pointed it out in front of everyone when I couldn't follow a conversation and asked a question about something someone just said. It made me feel stupid and terrible because I cant help it & am so conscious about it to begin with. I'm afraid everyone will notice when I'm having a fog day or even think it will effect my work at my job. I make lists and have post-it notes with reminders everywhere on my desk to cope with this which really helps but if I don't have that, I forget things. And, even with all of that, I still struggle at times.
Does anyone else have any ways to cope? This really shakes my confidence.
I have a lot of that and it frustrates me very much it helps me to put it on my notes on my cell to remind me and calendars and with iCloud everything merges. Other than that I don’t know was barely diagnosed in March and had kept telling my husband I felt like I was getting dumber and absent minded but he thought I was just tired. But honestly what a jerk your coworker!!!
Girl, I am in the same situation. It makes you feel like life has been taken away from you. It is very hard, very hard. Especially when it comes to home life and my husband can't deal with it. He says I remember other things but not pertinent but people who have not been in our shoes do not understand. I have just taken another job and I had to get help from my doctor. He wanted me to go on Vyvanse medicine. I had tried it because of my son is on it so I had tried his for about a week and I felt like I could remember everything. I did not want to go on this medicine to I started researching and watched a show which showed a trainer that I do for exercise and she recommended this to people and I bought it tried it and I was very pleased. It is suppose to be natural it was called GOBEAN for focus. I am telling you it had made be feel so much better at least for those 5 - 6 hours at work.
I try not to remember things that is not important or get myself involved in things that don't really concern me now. I have to in order for me to manage this brain fog. You cannot be consumed with a lot of things that is not important. Take one day at a time; try not to do so much and I know it might seem harsh but I avoid conversations in the office sometimes. I stay neutral which is not good but it works for me. Its hard and I know it.
I also have brain fog. Sometimes it gets so bad that I can’t remeber the names of my co-workers that I’ve worked with for years. I’ve also forgotten what I’m talking about mid sentence. I’ve been completly open at my job about this disease and I have to say they are absolutely understanding. I couldn’t have better co workers. All I have to tell them is I’m having one of those days and they know I might be needing to borrow their brains for the day!
Don’t be embarrassed about days that you feel foggy. Look at all we deal with everyday. Not only do we wake up with our challenges to bear, responsibility of children, bills, doctor appointments, working, stress, pain, exhaustion, we force ourselves through each and every day just to wake and have to do it all over again.
Take a deep breath and be proud of what ever it is you were able to accomplish as little as it may seem, all the while lugging around with this horrible disease. Stay positive about yourselves.
We truely are superheroes!
I tell my family and close friends that this is one of Lupus' annoying symptoms and ask them to remind me or correct me. They all seem to thoroughly enjoy doing their part.
Get used to it…its all part of the deal. Now I fess up immediately and don’t try to pretend that I understand or fake my way through a conversation the way I did painfully for years.
l have struggled with the F0G for years!!! And it has undermined my confidence because I am not sure if I remember all the facts and doubt myself at every opportunity. l thought I was just giving myself lame excuses. Thanks everyone for alerting me US
Thanks for the support and input, everyone. Nice to know I'm not alone, though also sad to see others have to deal with it to. Will continue to make the best of the foggy days and appreciate the clear days!
I have the same issues. I work full time in accounting so I have to keep things in line. I use my task manager for EVERYTHING.
At home I have 2 teens and a husband and all of them have a million things going on at every time. I have a visual calander on my fridge, I keep my personal calander on my iphone and so my family can help me stay on track should i miss anything we share a Cozi calendar. I love that app. I can make my grocery list and add to it as I remember things. I can put my kids chore list together so i never forget exactly what they need to do (it also gives them a place to check things off as they go so I know they didn't forget anything either). It's time consuming and a pain in the neck to update a million things, but I swear without it I couldn't function on a normal level. I do it because I don't everyone to know how much I struggle with it.
You will find what works for you, it takes a lot of trial and error to find what best fits our needs. And just when you get used to it, your lupus will throw in another curve ball and you will need to adjust again. Hang in there girlie.
I would have arched a brow and thanked her for pointing out my disability to everyone there, then said I still need to know the answer. No apologies, just quiet acceptance. I also battle memory issues. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t always recognize my surroundings even if it’s a place I drive through everyday. I’ve learned to stay calm when this happens and just wait for my brain to kick back in. I always have to allow extra time when going somewhere just in case I forget and miss a turn. I carry a tablet with me everywhere which helps me jog my memory so I remember what I’m supposed to do. It’s a little embarrassing when I lose my train of thought in the middle of talking to someone but the people who know me and love me just laugh. I have a very good sense of humor about it. Usually joking that as a blonde I’m obligated to act like an airhead. I’m sorry your co-worker was so rude, but if you make a joke out of it then it turns the rudeness back on her and makes her look like a mean-spirited person (insert another word). One rhing that helps me to stay focused during a conversation is to repeat what the person said either in my head or phrased as a question. Sorry you are going through this. Gentle hugs, Annemarie
So one morning I went into the bathroom to take a shower. I looked into the mirror and my hair was wet. I stared at my reflection.... Why was my hair wet? Ummmm - I had already taken a shower. **sigh**
That ALONE should approve me for disability - I can't possibly go back to my old career because I had to know everything all the time - and how can I learn a new job when I cant remember that I just TOOK A SHOWER?
Brain fog is very frustrating for me. I've removed artificial sweetners, and my brain fog has really improved, I was amazed. Its worse for me when I'm in a new situation or environment. I get to work early, and get focused. I'm big on lists, and I have to write things down. I keep a date book open on my desk,, and jot things down throughout the day. I keep a family calendar at home, and my husband has started using it as well. I like to use color pens on my notes, and to do lists to stand out and emphasize personal items, I have a different color for family members, I use different colors on my lists at work.
I forget names when I'm not around people all the time, I try to repeat their name in my mind, and picture their face. Practice makes perfect.
Boy don't we hate this one! I do have them and sometimes on those days is even dangerous to drive. To me the best thing to do is to take the stress out of hiding it, Just tell them is part of Lupus and is not all the time it comes and goes. It doesn't affect your job it mostly affects you on conversation, right? At least that is my case.
The worse one was one time when I went have a blood test, I was feeing really confuse, that day I didn't know if I was coming or going. She said, sit here fill out these papers and will take your blood in a little while. When I finished with the papers I asked the nurse when were they going to take the blood. She looked at me speechless and told me "we already did" So now when I have one of those days I just tell them today I don't feel very good, I am feeling fogy but the cloud will move out soon. Or something like that, lough about it. It will help! I hope it goes away fast :)
I’m in the diagnoses stage still but my rheumi says evolving lupus or MS. The sun causes me to flare with joint pain (osteoarthritis) brain fog, skin lesions, hair loss, moth sores and yes the brain stuff is so frustrating. I’m a counselor and teach life skills classes. Sometimes I forget what I’m saying mid sentence, forget what my client just said to me and have trouble stating focused to read. I worry about my career more in this realm than the others. The fig is worse when I’m more tired and if my joints and life sucking fatigue are together me brain dang near checks out on me. I forgot where I was going driving down the highway and went to the wrong house to pick up a client (2 doors down). I know it’s a struggle and I feel for you. I drink a nutritional drink that helps but doesn’t make it go away. Two of my daughters have lupus. One is 13 and the other is 15. I empathize with the youngest mostly with this because she gets it a lot especially right before and during a flare. My rheumi is sending me to a neurologist to make sure lupus isn’t in my brain or that I don’t have MS. Increasing water intake also seems to make a difference though during a flare it’s hard for me to eat or drink. God bless. I hope we can learn more about the cognitive side of this.
Nope not Lymes Disease a large range of symptoms for years but came in contact with Epstein Barr recently, but I’m negative for mono. I now have osteoarthritis and discoid skin lesions, especially on my cheeks and across the bridge of my nose. It’s probable that whatever autoimmune issues I had were put into full effect from the mono. I also got parvo B19 in 2010 which can help set lupus into motion. I get fevers, super life draining fatigue, maylar rash, joint pain and swelling, muscle swelling around joints, my fingernails have ridges which began with the patchy hair loss. The sun will kick all of this into high gear with the thinking problem coming and going. I have 2 daughters with lupus. One is systemic and the other subacute cutaneous. My blood work is changing in that direction as well. I hate it but it’s reality. Just trying to deal.
