Definition of FOG ???

[Pollyannna]

Hi I am new to your group and in my quest for answers I have somehow fallen upon your forum, and although I feel a great connection with diagnosis, I am wondering about what many discribe as 'FOG '. would this be the same or similar as what I discribe as 'missing times' ... I can't actually remember moments of my life, this ranges from ... Minutes 10 _ 20 mins which I shrug off with ease .. to days , which I am now starting to think that maybe this isn't normal .. is it medication i.E pain relief ? .. or is this what many of you call 'fog'

[Robbie138]

Fog is forgetting things, losing your train of thought when you are talking (so embarrassing). Welcome Pollyannna sorry you have Fibro but you have came to the right place. Advice, help and a laugh are all here so please don't be lonely.

Take care xx

[Pollyannna in reply to Robbie138]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it, I am not sure whether I have fibromyalgia or not, the only thing I do know is that 2 years ago I had an accident that that resulted in me having 5 broken vertebra, and now being told that oh bones are healed .. eventually... But somehow I still suffer lots of pain from my back.. top to bottom and arms legs hips stomach and chest including breathing..How can it hurt to breath .. I also suffer terrible hot knitting needles through various parts of my body and neralgia in my hands arms and face and hand cramps ... Which I know may be wishful thinking, has eventually stopped (right meds ..Champion)

Anyway x sorry for going on but I was just wondering as I sit in my 'special' chair is it normal when you have fibromyalgia to feel normal !! I.e in only a little bit of pain ?

Very kind regards and I hope you aren't suffering too much x

[Robbie138 in reply to Pollyannna]

Hi Pollyannna i see you have had many replies. When I read some of the posts sometimes I think do I really have Fibro as I don't suffer the way some of my friends do on here, I was diagnosed years ago from my GP but like you I have normal days but it doesn't mean we are free from it. I hope to see you around.

Take care xx

[Hidden]

Hi Pollyanna, mental fog is just like the physical variety. On a clear day you can see well but when it's foggy you can't. Foggy mentally, you search your brain (dodge the fog) to find either a word or thought, but it's hit or miss whether you'll find it. Your brain is both empty of thoughts but full of fog at the same time.

Yes time is a challenge forgetting the day or even the year. As it's insidious you often don't realise it's there, hence losing days.

One of the worst aspects of FM.

[angiesmith50]

Hi Pollyannna welcome to our friendly group. Fibro fog is when we suffer periods of blankness, cannot understand what someone is saying, cannot put a sentence together, forgetfulness, cannot remember the simplest things and just generally feeling as if your just not with it. This is what happens to me. Hope that helps. Take care xx

[Pollyannna in reply to angiesmith50]

I usually put this down to being normal.. but now it happens for day I have realised that maybe it isn't??? How can I get help😆

[Janet28]

Hi Pollyannna welcome to our wonderful forum ☺ I'm sure you will come to find the forum invaluable in chatting to others who are going through the same experience as you, talking to others at different stages of their lives with Fibro and learning from their experiences.

It does help with the whole process and I wish I had found the site years ago. I have had Fibro for nearly 30 yrs and I'm still learning about it, like we all are.

In answer to your question, it's hard to answer really because everyone is so diffrrent but I will tell you what it's like for me. I can't remember things like appointments, sometimes forget what I'm saying, in mid sentence, forget where I've put things, forget names and names of things, I could very easily forget to take my tablets, even if took an hour ago. I feel like I can't string a sentence together sometimes. I find it quite difficult trying to explain something, I almost feel like my cordination slows down, if that makes sense. Im never losing 10 or 20 mins though..

But what you are describing sounds more like an absence, what used to be called Petit Mal Seizures. I'm not a doctor but I have worked for many years with ppl,that suffer epilepsy and that is how ppl.describe it. I would definitely get this checked by GP as soon as you can. It can be caused by many things, Let us know how it goes.

Please do go look at the mother site where you will find all the information you need and lots of useful links on Fibro and I look forward to chatting to you on the forum. fmauk.org

Peace, luv n light

Jan x

[TheAuthor]

Hi Pollyannna

I sincerely hope that you are feeling as well as you possibly can be today? Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to make your acquaintance. My Fibro fog is about my memory. I am constantly forgetting things or not remembering where I am and what I am doing! Very unpleasant.

Yours appears to be a little more indepth and exuberant? It may be best to talk to your doctor about it simply to rule other medical conditions out of the equation. I want to sincerely wish you all the best of luck, and please take care of yourself my friend.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[Leonwp]

I cant answer your question but a very warm welcome to the group, their are warm, kind, caring individuals here who understand and listen. I hope you find the answer you need.

[Olivia1]

Hi Pollyanna, welcome and I'm sorry you have fibromyalgia for you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy...well maybe a day taster for healthcare professionals, politicians etc 😂

Fog is a bit like having dementia but (and this is the only time o be thankful for fibromyalgia) we don't deteriorate to persistent and complex memory loss. Stoping half way through a sentence as you just have no idea what you were talking about or your brain telling you one word when it has no connection or context to your sentence. Simply not recognising where you are, or why you are there, or where you are going.

This is a wonderful site and wonderful support from genuine people with no judgements. Remain blessed x

[rosewine]

Welcome to the forum. Mostof us suffer from what we call foggy moments like the others have described.

None of us are medical people but I would urge you to go and talk to your GP. I am just concerned as this sounds more like a form of Epilepsy if your absences are for such long periods and are lengthening it is best to be safe just in case. I don't know whether you drive but something like that could be really dangerous. I only say that as this is what my husband and I noticed before he was diagnosed he had sort of zaps like electrical impulses in his head and he seemed not there. His was Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and is now completely controlled with drugs, he hasn't even had to see a specialist in 5 years and now drives and everything and once the tablets were correct apart from some extra tiredness from them has been fine.

Do let us know how you get on and I look forward to your future posts.x

[Pollyannna in reply to rosewine]

Thank you for your reply and concern, I am sure that it will be fine, I am under the pain clinic to hopefully get my pain under control, I can only tackle one thing at once with the GP, the problem is, and the last time I went didn't help because my doctor was off sick and I had to see someone else who looked at my meds and started suggesting that i shouldn't be taking that med with that med so I started to get anxious again because if it works why change, it was almost like saying that my doctors rubbish, which to me flagged up warning signs. So now I am scared to go back.

I'm sure that sitting and resting is just turning my brain off too. Hope your feeling well

[rosewine in reply to Pollyannna]

Oh I hate that. I had the same GP for about 35 years when he retired a young GP took over and he had just been on a drug awareness course. He decided that the old doctor should not have all his patients on heavy duty painkillers and that they were no good for fibro and were unproven, totally disregarding I also had very painful osteo arthritis as well! I think he thought we were all drug addicts. It was only when I went to him with terrible hip pain which he said couldn't possibly be osteo as he could manipulate my hip too easily(I had asked for no additional meds but something g like physio to help). Well the physio wouldn't accept me without Xrays and of course I had osteo in both hips, he suddenly started to believe what I was telling him.

That I was also willing to switched drugs and try and alternative astounded him and his whole attitude changed. It is terrible when we have to jump through all this hoops. I am sure you have had "well that pain is down to fibro so it is a case of just managing your condition on a daily basis" and you feel if you hear it one more time you will start screaming the place down, grhh.

[furgus]

Hi, this sounds like it could be dissociation. Some people feel a bit detached from what is going on, as if they're observing what they're doing rather than being in control of it, other people have a complete blank. It was explained to me as being on a continuum that a lot of people experience to some extent. Think of day dreaming where you are kind of aware that it's happening but a lot of time can pass. Another example is when you're driving a route that you regularly drive you might have very little or no memory of the journey because you go into a kind of autopilot. I get this regularly, several times most days. I've asked people what I'm like during these missing times and usually I'm just a bit quiet, nothing obviously different. I think of it as if my memory is working/recording most of the time as it should and then it stops for a period of time. I've no idea what causes it for me, I'm not particularly stressed when it happens and I don't get any warning, I only realise afterwards.

[Cctexan3 in reply to furgus]

Yes. I had a foggy moment there, dissociative disorder, is what I have also, due to trauma from domestic violence and sexual assault. And ptsd thrown in to boot

So that's why we say get to your Dr and have them start the uncovering

Down here in Texas it was a process. Long long process of 18 years to get it right. But I didn't know better. And there weren't many people who talk openly about this stuff

[Pollyannna in reply to Cctexan3]

I know what you mean. I am too scared to go and bring anything about my mental health up yet, I am not in a position to deal with it yet. I have thought that when my physical health problems are under control, that I may then have the strength to tackle my inner monster. At the mo it is under tight lock and key.

[Pollyannna in reply to furgus]

Hi yes i understand, and I think that what you have described is how I feel too ... From. Time to time .. I end up start at something, a book, TV, out the window and my computer pad thing, or the same word will go round and round in my thoughts for no reason at all, silly really, x

[crazy-diamond]

YES!losing time

[Cctexan3]

Pollyanna. I've had head trauma as well as years over medication due to a drs trying to help me before getting diagnosed with lupus ( thought I was loopy) when I wasn't. It was real pain and such

I had days go missing, thus I see a neurologist bc it is something organic in my brain

I don't recommend trying self diagnose off the net, lol you will have the mumps, leprosy and enlarged prostate all at once even if you are a woman 😂

Seriously, if you are missing days it could be psych or Neuro or something else but we can't tell

Fibro does have tender points and when my Dr touched a couple of mine, I almost throat punched her( I thought this was a test for lupus) my Rheumy told me I had fibro....

yet my Chiro doesn't believe in them but my masseuse who works there does. She does tender point massages. Hurts at first, but I bite the towel and then it's great. The fog actually lifts for me bc toxins store up in those knots on my muscles.

[Pollyannna in reply to Cctexan3]

Thank you for your reply, I am sure that I will sorted eventually, I think that I am just forgetting, maybe if I try doing something exciting I will be able to benchmark it 😀

I'm not really self diagnosing, I think I am just being impatient, I am under investigation with the pain clinic, so am hoping that this will shed some light x