

While it may require your loved ones and peers to have a little more patience with you, it’s most important to have a little more patience with yourself. Having brain fog in any capacity can be frustrating, confusing and isolating.

“Your doctor may also prescribe cognitive therapy with a speech-language pathologist to review adaptive strategies to manage your symptoms.” Is there a cure for brain fog? “If your symptoms are affecting your daily function at home, work or school, it may be helpful to see your doctor who can help pinpoint the specific reasons why you’re experiencing brain fog,” says Lam. However, it might be time to go to a doctor if your brain fog significantly impacts your day-to-day life. Lam says that it’s not an indicator that you’ll develop worsening cognitive function over time. But don’t worry - having brain fog isn’t dangerous in and of itself. It can be scary to suddenly experience a bout of forgetfulness, confusion or difficulty concentrating. This can cause these periods of mental fatigue and be the reason why focusing on your usual tasks has become a little more challenging. What’s most important to understand is that your body and your health play a crucial role in how sharp your cognitive function is. Yes, we know - that can be a lot to process, especially if you’re reading this because you’re experiencing brain fog. “This is one of the symptoms of long-COVID.” “SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to cause neuroinflammation in the central nervous system, but there are many different theories still being studied about why brain fog develops in some patients after COVID-19 infection,” says Lam. While some who catch the virus may heal with little to no noticeable lasting effects, others are left with symptoms under the brain fog umbrella. Recently, there has been an increasing link between brain fog and COVID-19. “Autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis can also cause brain fog, as can cancer, chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.” “Health conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, depression, anemia, pregnancy, menopause and hypothyroidism can cause brain fog,” says Lam. Your physical and mental health could also influence how cloudy your head feels. There are a variety of reasons why you might be experiencing brain fog, such as lack of sleep, stress or side effects from medications. People may be easily distracted or overwhelmed by tasks.” What causes brain fog? Ny-Ying Lam, a physiatrist at UW Medicine who focuses on neurorehabilitation, “but often how individuals describe their cognitive symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness and lack of mental clarity. “Brain fog is not a medical term,” says Dr. These moments of forgetfulness are normal, but when they happen throughout the day, you might be experiencing what’s commonly known as brain fog. The next time you walk into a room and forget why you’re there, you can feel comforted knowing that somewhere else, someone is also saying, “What was I doing?”
