Just wondering if anyone else finds they get 'brain fog' and find it hard to concentrate when asthma is bad. By comparison with some people's on here mine isn't too bad, no hospital trips, pile of meds etc (for which I'm very grateful), but it's at a low point for me and I swear it's making it harder to think/concentrate! People at work keep commenting that I'm staring into space, plus it takes me longer than it should to do simple stuff and when I do it has silly mistakes. I keep forgetting things (like my keys...) which I don't normally do, but have been for the last couple of months or so ever since it got to its worst.
It's not medication, I'm hardly on any while I wait for appt (tiotropium, but no listed similar side effects and besides it was happening before I was on that). Just wondering if anyone else finds this is another hazard of asthma being out of control. I really hope it goes away before I burn the house down/forget my name/whatever!
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hi philomela,I do get brain fog when asthma is bad and get it also for Menieres Desease xxx
I can't altogether blame my asthma on my 'brain fog'. Recently I've been setting off for one room to fetch or do something, realised I've forgotten what I was going there for and had to retrace my steps to remind myself what I'd set off for! Very annoying and wastes time.
I'm so glad you're posting this!! Thought it was only me lol. Well, yes I get it, too, and it's so annoying.
I noticed that if I think and talk ""weird"" stuff than my oxygen levels drop or are low.
But the hayfever combined with the ADHD I'm also suffering from makes it loads worse
I'm so forgetful and feel really silly. It nearly drove me mad last Saturday because I forgot to sort out something really important and I got very angry with myself.
""brain fog"" is a nice name for it, I won't tell you what other names I had in mind for it
love Lydia x
wen asthma really bad, i often get 'brain fog' also wen really tired find difficult to concentrate and lack of energy to do things... struggle to eat, so just drink and make sure fill myself up on favourite junk comfort foods wen unwell till things pick up!
also, wen had a bad attack prior to one itu admission, a friend was wiv me, and she said that wen my oxygen levels were starting to drop, i start talking ga-ga!! even though my sats maybe fine ay firsy, if i start talking ga-ga its a sure sign i am hypoxic, and confused and things not looking good, and sats start drop, hence i ended up losing consciousness little bit and ended up itu on that occasion . . .
Brain fog
Ah good term. So that's why I sat at traffic lights when it was clear for me to turn yesterday. Duh. I also managed to do a timetable for a service I do on a wednesday with nearly every date was on another day of wk.
Just put it down to not being well last wk and lack of sleep and dyslexia. Not really thinking it might be side effect of asthma.
I noticed reading this thread that just about everybody who suffers with 'brain fog' is female, now i wonder if that is the real link.......lol
In fairness though I do suffer from this as well but don't know whether to blame the fact on high medication, asthma or lack of sleep.
Mark
I am so glad I am not alone! I find it very hard to concentrate & have to write everything down or I forget it straight away! It is really worrying but I never thought it could be related to asthma or the meds.
So THAT's what it is - I just thought I was losing the plot!
Maybe we're all losing the plot, Annista! Men included, yorkieiron - obviously the other men were going to post, but they forgot...
I can't be 100% sure it's related, and it's not like I didn't do blonde things before (I am in fact blonde, plus I have terrible sleep habits and I know that doesn't help!), but I've definitely noticed an increase in the number of things I forget and times I can't concentrate since this latest bout, which started in October (also when I started my new job, which has really not helped things since it's pretty boring and full of the kind of stuff you need to be paying attention for or you mess up and have to do it all again, like fiddly spreadsheets).
So glad I'm not the only one though! I think I say weird things with or without asthma but perhaps I can persuade my colleagues that's it...
Edit: Lydia - I can think of other names too but I think the forum rules prevent me using them
I always get migraines when I'm having trouble breathing, and they are more common among asthma sufferers. Migraines give me brain fog big time. Maybe try taking something for headache like ib profen and see if it helps.
Bee
Hmm, I'm glad to say that hasn't been an issue! Fortunately no headache, just fog and a trail of stupid mistakes that I never feel comfortable blaming on the asthma because it sounds like excuses (which it may well be).
I'd blame it on my job being boring (and one bit of it being unnecessarily complicated and involving people who are incapable of communicating or reading emails properly) but I have trouble concentrating on things I actually find interesting too!
My colleagues accuse me of having a senior moment or a blond moment (apologies to all who might qualify for either group) and I feel a bit silly blaming it on the asthma/meds so I now get very indignant and insist that I'm having a craft moment (stands for can't remember a f*****g thing).
Works for me!
Craft moment, ha ha, love that Annista
'Craft moment' = brilliant. I'll have to remember that one. I just blame it on the hair, though if I keep living in this country I won't be able to much longer without resorting to fakery. John Frieda can only do so much.
Philomela,
Migraines have a lot more symptoms than just headache...my major migraine symptom is confusion.
Also I looked up the inhaler you're taking, and here in the US we call it Spiriva...I've taken it twice and it always makes my migraines just awful.
Bee
Bee,
It's Spiriva here as well, tiotropium is the generic name and that's what my GP calls it so got into the habit. I think the fog started before I was on this but perhaps it's not helping!
Am intrigued by the migraines though - do you mean you can have a migraine with no pain, halos, nausea etc, just confusion? I know they're distinct from 'normal' headaches but always thought you'd get at least some headache with a migraine. I can't work out though if my fog is episodic or just there all the time (which is what it feels like, but I do feel more with it at some times than others.)
xx
i get brain fog during attacks, once the paramedic asked me how many bros n sistas i had, n i couldnt even amnswer. freaky!
Do you mean you can have a migraine with no pain, halos, nausea etc, just confusion?""
Yes actually....I know it probably sounds weird, but it's true. Sometimes I find it very confusing myself as to when to take my migraine meds, as sometimes I have no headache at all. It's called something...I think ""migraine equivelent"" or ""ancephalic migriaine"" something like that.
I also get those other symptoms, so with migraine I might have a headache and see spots, and with another I just get the confusion. I know it's a migriane because when I take an NSAID, the confusion gets better in about twenty minutes.
Oh, and I get these anyways, but with the Spiriva, it just makes it more frequent and worse somehow. Actually, when I'm switching around my asthma meds, that makes my migraines worse too.
I got cellvamp supplement because I needed to be extremely focused for 8 hours per day and my mind was getting a bit foggy. This especially in the afternoon, when I usually reached switching off point. Started to use cellvamp and saw positive results after a week. Basing on my own experience I can recommend cellvamp.
hello there. I dont know if it is a brain fog or lightheadedness, wherein evrything I see seems like its not normal, like everything is floating. I think it is also caused by my asthma and sinusitis. My ENT doctor prescribed me with nasal spray. I hope it would work.
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till things pick up!
asthma and the seaside
Asthma and chest pain. 
Severe Asthma (Eosinophilic) & Clinic referral & Fatigue
How would a rational person deal with this? What would be their thought process?
