confusion and brain fog

[lorraine12]

is brain fog to do with overactive thyroid ?

[Hidden]

Hello Lorraine12,

Welcome to our forum and sorry you are experiencing brain fog.

Brain fog is a classic HYPOthyroidism symptom but we are all different and someone suffering from HYPERthyroidism could equally suffer from this.

Do you suffer from thyroid problems?

If you have thyroid hormone blood test results, post complete with ranges (numbers in brackets ) and members will advise.

I hope you feel better soon,

Flower007

[lorraine12 in reply to Hidden]

at the moment i am waiting to ask doctor for a blood test

im searching for a reason for my brain fog

i have aching muscles and i have sleeping problems

i only sleep for 2 hrs at a time

when i get back blood results i will post

im scared to go out the house as i cant consentrate

i nearly get run over

thank you flower for your reply .

[Cazzie1066]

At its worst I have experienced confusion and memory loss. Where are you in your journey with an overactive thyroid?

[lorraine12 in reply to Cazzie1066]

going to get blood test i hope soon thank you cazzie

does the cognitive side of this get better ?

[lorraine12]

thank you .

[BeansMummy]

I have an underactive thyroid (Hashimoto's) - but suffered badly from brain fog. Mine improved immeasurably when I was given B12 injections. I think the letter to my GP from the neurologist said it all when she wrote "it was nice to have my first coherent conversation".

[lorraine12 in reply to BeansMummy]

what did your brain fog feel like beans mummy ?

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

I just didn’t feel “with it”, if that makes sense. It very slowly crept up on me, and it was only after I felt better that I realised just how bad it was.

I couldn’t remember names of lifelong friends. I’d lie in bed and try to remember what their children were called as an exercise (instead of counting sheep!), but couldn’t manage that. I would look at an ordinary object, like a book, and couldn’t think what the word was – it felt like it was on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn’t get it. I would think about that object for as long as I could put up with it, and then gave up and asked my husband because it was SO frustrating not remembering a basic word. When trying to explain that to people, so many say “oh yes, I do all that all the time”, but it is totally different.

I banned myself from driving for quite a while because I couldn’t trust myself to keep safe. I couldn’t remember which colour on a traffic light meant I had to stop or go. I didn’t trust myself to slow down, turn at junctions or anything.

I took my husband to GP and hospital appointments because I couldn’t get the words out that I was trying to say, couldn’t remember what I wanted to say (even though I usually had a written list). I wasn’t safe driving myself to appointments anyway, I couldn’t even look at the money in my hand and be able to work out the combination of coins to pay for parking! I used to practice counting money at home, and it just didn't "compute" in my brain - I couldn't work out what 5p and 10p added up to.

Even if I was doing OK talking, I would suddenly totally forget what I was saying (another thing that other people say they do but, again, it just isn’t the same).

I wasn’t safe cooking because I would forget that I had left something on the hob cooking. When talking to fellow-foggy people, they’ve said similar things about doing daft stuff. It was actually quite distressing though.

I was sure it was all thyroid-related. It just slowly dawned on me, after I’d had my B12 loading injections and a couple of monthly ones, that it had all changed. The change really has been amazing. I am safely driving again, and don’t need babysitting any more. I feel very "lucky" that mine seems to have been resolved, because doctors just didn't seem to understand what "feeling foggy" actually meant, and was certainly not taken seriously whatsoever.

I was seeing a neurologist, and she had only seen me being a bit of a spaced-out patient – she was pleasantly surprised when I turned up on my own for an appointment, and we had a civilised conversation. I was so pleased that she put in in writing!

[humanbean in reply to BeansMummy]

I think this is one of the best descriptions of brain fog I have ever read, and I can identify with every word. Thank you.

[lorraine12]

omg thank you so much

this is me at the moment

i thought i had dementure . now i know it must be thyroid and will push the gp to find this out

[lorraine12 in reply to lorraine12]

i also forget how i used to do things like today i could not remember how to sign my name , traffic lights oh yes i know that feeling im not safe walking out

spelling and using the computer were things i was good at , now i dont remember how to do them

were you bad at conversations also not understanding what they say or what you just said ?

you are so kind as now i know i must have thyroid trouble

[lorraine12 in reply to lorraine12]

so you just had b12 injections for this is that for thyroid ?

what do i need to get checked ?

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

I had to beg for blood tests to check things.

I was deficient in vitamin D and low (but in range) for vitamin B12. Judging by other posts on this forum, this seems to be pretty common for many of us. I was gobsmacked that my GP offered me B12 injections, that doesn't usually happen unless you are very deficient (and even then they don't seem to like giving them). They seem to have resolved most of the symptoms I was having - numbness, tingling, brain fog and memory problems. You can supplement B12 yourself, which is what I had intended to do.

I get vitamin D prescribed, which has got rid of the deep, deep pain I had in my arms and legs. I do still get pain occasionally, but nothing like it was before.

I still have other health issues (so many!) - but am trying very hard to gradually work through them all. I really have to battle with doctors, and it really really gets me down at times because I still have problems. I don't like to rock the boat too much with my GP because I appreciate much of what he has done for me, and I want him to be on my side.

Do you know what blood tests you are having (or have had) done?

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

I think I understood what people were saying to me, but probably only because my family knew they had to talk to me in very simple terms! I didn't socialise much with friends because I just couldn't cope with it - I occasionally had a friend round for coffee, but that was really pushing it. I certainly didn't go out much because I used to feel very faint and weird, almost as if I wasn't really there - if I went into town, my husband always came with me. Looking back now, I avoided things like talking to shop assistants because I couldn't really get the words out. I didn't like paying with my credit card because I would muddle up my pin numbers. I didn't realise just how bad it was at the time - it was only when I started improving that I realised how awful it was.

I remember offering to collect a prescription for my daughter on one occasion - I was asked for her address and couldn't remember it, and made a daft excuse that it was because I didn't need to ever send anything to her. So I was asked when her birthday was ... and I couldn't actually remember that either. They called the head pharmacist over, he took one look at me and just handed over her prescription! I think I probably scared him!

When you try to explain to a doctor that you have "brain fog", I don't think they have any understanding whatsoever as to what that actually means. My GP and endocrinologist have never seemed to accept it as a symptom

[lorraine12]

can i buy vitamin b12 and how much do i need to take please

do you take thyroid medication too

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

I bought some from Amazon - Jarrow Methylcobalamin B12, 5000mcg, (Vegetarian Lozenges), I think I read the recommendation on this site. I think I was just taking one a day, but it was a while ago and I'm lucky enough to get B12 injections now from my GP.

I'm not sure how much is normally recommended to take - if you search in the green bar on the top right hand side of this page (it says "Search HealthUnlocked), there will be lots of suggestions by other posters who probably know more than me!

Has your GP tested your B12 already?

[lorraine12 in reply to BeansMummy]

no i will ask him on wednesday and let you know

[lorraine12]

did you also take thyroid medicine or am i being silly are you just having b12 ?

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

I'm also taking 100mcg levothyroxine daily, and on prescribed vitamin D too. My vitamin D was very deficient and, if I don't supplement, it drops drastically even though I try to eat well and sit out in the sun.

[lorraine12 in reply to BeansMummy]

can i ask one more question ?

did you forget what you said as soon as you said it ?

thank you

[BeansMummy in reply to lorraine12]

Oh very definitely.

I would forget what I was saying when I was actually saying it. I would forget what I had sometimes said once I had said it and, later on, wouldn't remember that I had even had certain conversations. It didn't happen all the time, but it really wasn't nice.

These are all things that "normal" people say they do all the time, but it really is different.

[Cazzie1066]

How is it going, are you feeling better with treatment now lorraine12? You should feel better once your levels have normalised. You might end up hypo if they're giving you a standard dosage of ATDs and that doesn't feel good either but hopefully you'll be ok in the end!