Brain Fog

Brain fog is real and it can be absolutely debilitating! Typically brain fog is described as a women’s issue or “mom brain” but the reality is that so many of us (men & women) are walking around on auto pilot because our brain function isn’t at it’s best.

I have personal experience. To be honest until it happened to me I was a naysayer, refusing to acknowledge that brain fog was a real thing (isn’t that terrible?!). But once my symptoms developed and increasingly got worse I was indeed a believer.

In 2014 I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism which explained my fatigue and other nagging symptoms. I started with thyroid replacement medication and went on my way. While I did start feeling better, I never felt 100% but continued on with a high stress job, a husband and soon to be four kids! 

Let me back up a bit and define brain fog. According to Medical News Today brain fog can make a person feel as if the processes of thinking, understanding, and remembering are not working as they should. It can affect their:

• memory, including the ability to store and recall information
• use and understanding of language
• ability to process and understand information
• visual and spatial skills for drawing, recognizing shapes, and navigating spaces
• ability to calculate and work things out
• executive functioning abilities for organizing, solving problems, and planning

If one or more of these functions does not work effectively, it can be difficult to understand, focus, and remember things. It can lead to stress and mental fatigue. So you can see how this can cause some serious problems in our fast paced, over scheduled society! 

Back to my story….in late 2015 my symptoms of fatigue and brain fog returned. As the months went on the brain fog was causing me some serious issues at work. I would sit in front of my computer getting ready to do a task that I had done weekly for over ten years and I couldn’t seem to figure out what to do. I knew the information was there but I just couldn’t recall it. I fell asleep driving. I would use the wrong words or simply couldn’t find the word I needed to say. I often felt confused. It was terrifying. Later that month I called my doctor to go over the blood work I had a month prior. About a week later she was so confused by my appointment. She asked me if I remembered that we had already discussed the results a few weeks before! At that moment I broke down and she finally realized how serious my symptoms were. Brain MRI’s and more blood work and the results were the same. I was fine. 

Finally someone thought to test me for Hashimotos. That was the answer. When you have Hashimotos, your immune system attacks your thyroid and causes inflammation in the body. And inflammation leads to brain fog (among other things). Inflammation is part of the body’s immune response and is beneficial when you have an injury or wound. Chronic inflammation can eventually cause several diseases and conditions, including some cancers. A quick google search will yield a myriad of conditions that cause inflammation and brain fog! 

So why tell my brain fog story? I am sure many of you can relate and might even be suffering from some sort of brain fog. I am now almost 100% because of dietary changes and chiropractic care! We simply have to listen to our bodies and we have to do the work on the journey to wellness. There is no easy fix but luckily we can walk the wellness journey with others who understand and have compassion and empathy because many of us have been there too. If you suffer from chronic inflammation and/or brain fog, let us help. If we never get to the root of the problem, we never see relief. 

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