Symptoms

Feeling Dumb in a Brain Fog

The past two weeks have been filled with major brain fog. I try to write and the words just won’t come together. It’s not that I can only turn out mediocre drafts. It’s more like I’m looking at a puzzle and can’t even determine which pieces might fit together, never mind trying to figure out where they fit in the larger picture. I write words, move them around, delete and rewrite, but nothing makes sense.

That’s when I’m trying to write something from my own mind. Even more difficult is synthesizing information from other sources. I read the words and think I understand them, but can form no cohesive thoughts on them. I start sentences and am at a complete loss on how to finish them.

The pain of a severe migraine is horrible, the nausea can be gut-wrenching, the fatigue is a drag… those are all physical symptoms that, while miserable, are separate from my sense of self. My intelligence and ability to write, however, are critical elements of my personality. When I’m shrouded in a dense brain fog, I don’t feel ill, I feel dumb. And that’s something I don’t think I’ll ever learn to cope with.

5 thoughts on “Feeling Dumb in a Brain Fog”

  1. Ah yes…. this is that part of migraines where I can literally be watching people talk and not process a single thing they say.
    I also have those moments both in one on one conversation and in meetings, where I literally have to throw my hands up and say “I’m sorry, I guess I can’t talk”. It works to make it enough of a joke for those that don’t know me and those that do, know that’s a sure sign of where I’m at.

  2. completely understand. For me a lot of the time it is like it sucks me down into slo motion to and I won’t even really notice that I am in brain fog but I am. I am currently unemployed and the first “verbal warning” that I received was when I was suffering massive brain fog due to side effects due to new migraine meds. I’ve had times when a task as simple as brushing my teeth has to be broken down into steps due to brain fog. Hang in there!

  3. You are not alone. I suffer severe migraines/ headaches 24 hours a day. I forget things, names, places. My short term memory loss bothers me terribly and I get so frustrated. I like to write like you but take it slowly. The good news is that I read more now to help me with my memory issues. Be patient is all I can say. One step at a time. God bless you – Doris shinn-

  4. So I’m not the only one! Thank God, my husband wants me to join a bible study with him and I don’t know how to tell him that even when I’m well enough sometimes I just can’t think! Sometimes when I read I have to read the page several times and it still doesn’t sink in. Sometimes when I find an article on facebook or somewhere that I really want to sink my teeth into I have to save it in my favorites for later if I’m foggy from migraine. This sucks!

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