5 types of brain fog you might experience

Brain fog is a symptom of many different illnesses. It can be caused by ME/CFS, the illness I have, but it also happens with illnesses such as MS, POTS, anemia and fibromyalgia. In the latter, it’s even so common that it’s often also called “fibro fog”. Brain fog is called brain fog because, well, it literally feels like there’s a fog throughout your brain which makes normal cognitive function a lot harder. If you also experience brain fog, you probably know not all brain fog is the same. Sometimes it impacts you differently than other times. So here are 5 types of brain fog I personally experience and that you might recognize.

1.      Not feeling fully awake

This type of brain fog may happen at any time of the day, not just when you’ve just waken up. Things feel like you aren’t fully awake yet, or anymore. Things become just a little harder to understand, you get confused easily and you make silly mistakes. I once almost accidentally washed my hair with body wash because of this type of brain fog.

2.      Can’t remember words

“Can you eh.. give me the thing.. like the thing.. you know the thing, the thingy” is a commonly heard sentence when you’re suffering from this kind of brain fog. Everyone experiences this sometimes, so it’s not really unique to brain fog – but when you’re suffering from brain fog this seems to be much worse than in other people. And it doesn’t have to be just words either: sometimes it’s impossible to even form a logical sentence.

3.      Can’t concentrate

Sometimes brain fog mostly translates into an inability to concentrate. Your mind keeps wandering everywhere, and you’re just unable to finish any task. Like not remembering words, not being able to concentrate isn’t really unique to brain fog, as everyone struggles with this sometimes. But when brain fog is one of your symptoms, it might happen more or be worse than for other people.

4.      Cognitive tasks are harder

And then there’s days where you think you aren’t having any brain fog, and daily tasks are going just fine! Except when you try to do any task that requires a bit more cognitive effort. Reading long texts? Writing anything that’s longer than a tweet? Solving a puzzle or another complex question? Not going to happen today.

5.      Absentmindedness

Everyone is a bit absentminded sometimes, but with this type of brain fog, it’s extra bad. You forget to do tasks, you keep forgetting why you walk into a room, you keep forgetting what you were going to do, you forget where you just put your keys two seconds ago. And when someone starts talking to you, you don’t notice until they ask you if you’ve even been listening.

And if one of those alone doesn’t sound bad enough – try having them all at the same time!

Do you experience any of these types of brain fog? Are there any others you would like to add to the list? Let me know in the comments!

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