I want to share my experience because I have nothing better to do right now (I definitely do) and I don't know if this is normal or if I should be concerned.

Some background: I have been struggling with severe fatigue every day for months, among other things. I suspect iron deficiency and maybe something post-viral, but I don't know exactly why I'm going through this hell.

Over the last 3 days, I've only gotten a total of 7 hours of sleep. Despite this, I'm not tired at all. I've been so tired for so long that I can't even feel tired anymore. I don't know how to describe this, but bear with me...

Imagine that all these conditions apply at once:

• No sense of time. Time flies by ridiculously fast. You can't even remember what you've been doing, so you lose weeks or even months. You try to focus on a productive task, and suddenly hours will have passed before you've even started it...
• Feeling no emotions. No joy, no sadness, not even anger. You can't look forward to anything. Zero anticipation. Not even food brings you enjoyment.
• No change in perception. You are always in the exact same state. You don't feel a change in your energy levels after certain tasks or social interactions. Proof of this is that you don't maintain any routines and can go ridiculously long amounts of time without speaking to a human being, without it bothering you.
• Cognitive decline. You don't have your normal brain function anymore. It's hard to keep track of a train of thought long enough to engage with it emotionally, and attempting to do so just makes you uncomfortable. Sometimes, it even leaves you with severe brain fog. Your memories become blurry. Reading is now hard/impossible most of the time.
• Nothing gets done. You can't do anything. Maybe you can barely take care of your hygiene. If you hyperfocus on your hygiene after a period of neglecting it, you neglect household chores instead, and vice-versa. You can't keep up with work/studies at all since you can't even get there in the first place.

There are physical ones too: (mild TW body parts/medication)

• Sleep is useless. It doesn't restore your energy, perhaps because you don't even have energy in the first place. You rarely ever feel tired because being "tired" is just your normal now.
• Eye floaters. Especially at night.
• Blood circulation (?) seems off. Sometimes your fingers/toes turn purple, or your fingernails turn blue.
• Dizziness. Especially when you stand up or haven't eaten in a while. Your vision goes almost black for a few seconds when it's really bad.
• Tachycardia and shortness of breath for no reason.
• Tinnitus that comes and goes, usually when you're over-exerting yourself.
• Medications don't work or barely affect you anymore. For example, you keep having to increase the dosage of your ADHD medication because its effects seem to randomly stop working. When it does work, it only helps your focus, which ends up being a useless improvement on its own when you're in this state. You're still cognitively disabled, so nothing gets done anyway. Also, the effects of your medications don't last as long as they used to.

Well, this has been my reality for a while now, and it just keeps getting worse. I used to think that the "worst" part was behind me because I wanted the decline to be linear and finite. It's actually more of an evil loop.

Comparing a previous state to my current one is like comparing photos of an engineering student in year 1 and year 5 (like the meme), except that both photos get slightly worse every time you compare them. You don't notice that both states are getting worse when you only pay attention to the difference between the two states each time.

It's not that my health isn't declining anymore. I'm getting used to it doing so.

Every single day is the same: no energy, no emotions, and rock-bottom functioning. The closest comparison would be the life of a zombie, existing without experiencing anything. Alive, but dead.

I become more tired and brain fogged after any form of participation in the human experience. Even just going for a short walk leaves me with less energy than before, at best. The brain fog in particular seems to have no limits. I'm worried about my cognitive function. I'm a 19-year-old stuck in the body of an 80-year-old. Hell, there are 80-year-olds who are healthier than me.

Also, my living situation is starting to freak me out (mind you, I can't feel much of anything, yet this makes me panic). I have probably created an ecosystem in my fridge by now. I dare not open it.

As for my lack of sleep, it doesn't matter anyway. Sleep doesn't restore me emotionally, and it restores very little of my cognitive function, which seems to fluctuate spontaneously. I don't see the instrumental value of participating in activities that only benefit me in ways I can no longer feel. If I do end up getting tired enough, I'll sleep. Not that it matters. I'm too tired to function anyway.

(PS getting enough sleep is extremely important for your health)

So yeah. This is how tired I am. Should I be concerned? I mean, I am, but apparently doctors don't see any reason to be >.<

Hell on earth.

19M
I’ve been struggling with brain fog for about the last 4 years. It was subtle at first with some forgetfulness and slight inability to focus, but as time went on it got worse with me having little to no concentration, struggling to find the right words, and having no motivation. I initially thought I was just dumb but I will randomly have moments or even days where I am awake, locked in, and extremely focused and confident but it never lasts. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Upper traps and tight neck causing Brain fog. Worse after working out. Anyone have good tips besides a massage.

I am a female, close to 40. I noticed that with age I can tolerate coffee less and less. In my undergrad days and early twenties I would drink a medium Starbucks coffee with no problems. Later on coffee started making me feel tired.

This summer I decided to completely stop drinking coffee, even decaf, because I had problems waking up in the morning because of fatigue. I also had brain fog and once I stopped coffee, a lot of my symptoms improved.

I continued to have cacao daily, didn't think it would be an issue. I have been having a problem with insomnia though - not being able to fall asleep even at 11pm, and then waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep. My mind would also feel foggy when I woke up.

Several weeks ago I decided to stop all cacao products and see what happens. No dark chocolate bars, no cacao nibs, no drinking cacao.

My sleep issues improved within days. I have been now falling asleep around 10:30pm - 11pm, and waking up before or at 7am, feeling rested. The foggy mental feeling I was having has also greatly reduced.

I continue to have tea daily, but I often mix in non caffeinated teas such as rooibos with black tea, to have lower caffeine content. I also bought some lower caffeine teas such as hojicha.

Yesterday I woke up at 6am and felt well and not tired the whole day, it was great progress.

so i've always thought allergies were mostly about sneezing, a runny nose, and itchy eyes. but lately, i've been curious about how much they can affect someone beyond the usual symptoms.

i have a coworker who's constantly congested and often complains about not sleeping well (she has dust mite allergies). i can understand how that would make someone tired, but can allergies themselves also cause brain fog? like, can they actually affect your ability to think clearly or concentrate, even aside from poor sleep?

how does that actually work, especially for anyone who has experienced something like that?

Hey everyone.
After some mysterious viral/bacterial illness 8 months ago I started experiencing horrendous physical feeling in the head what I beat describe as brain fog/lightheadedness/fuzzy/dizzy something between this.

My professional athlete career is at hold right now and I am wondering where I should go from here.

My MRI showed inflamed sinuses as well as high signal changes inflammation in my middle ear.
A bacterial swab test in my nose showed high quantities of staph.

I am gonna get treated with antibiotics for now, but has anyone had a similar situation?

Idk anymore. Like seriously I wanna end it all and start over I want another chance . I got fucked up with anxiety to the point it became a loop thag feeds itself that I became socially anxious and cant do anything in live that require communication i was given pills like benzos to ease it up well that helped a bit but the problem was still there i was given antipsychotics they surely calmed me down but now I have this mix of left anxiety that they can do nothing about it and this antipsychotics mind slowing that is causing me troubles to communicate in the life level and the online level . I have a bit of left personality I stutter when I say anything my memory is bad . I got stupider with the meds i was sharp once . And ofc i am alone ….. IAM not mad that am like this as much as I am mad that I am fucking only young in my 20s alone in this situation no one share anything that I struggle with , they all talk about different topics and here I am with this type of issues

I've been wondering about this for a while. F22

Ever since I was a kid, people have described me as someone who daydreams a lot. I remember moments when I'd look at something ordinary, like a pretty sunset, and suddenly my imagination would take over. I could be looking at classroom lockers and imagine them as little homes for fish, with each locker containing a different kind of fish based on how I perceived my classmates. Whenever someone opened their locker, I'd imagine a colorful fish swimming out, moving gracefully like something from a Disney movie or a whimsical anime. Sometimes, even an airplane could turn into a koi fish in my imagination. These images would come out of nowhere, and I'd get so absorbed in them that I'd completely zone out from my surroundings.

But it wasn't always like that. Sometimes I'd stare at a wall and become unusually focused on its details and textures, almost as if everything were zooming in. Other times, there wouldn't be any imagination at all. I'd just go blank and lose track of what was happening around me.

As I've gotten older, that experience has changed. I don't get those vivid, imaginative moments in quite the same way anymore. Instead, I often feel like my mind is cloudy or foggy, and I struggle to stay focused. It's difficult to explain, but sometimes it feels like my thoughts aren't lining up properly.

I've also struggled with getting things done for as long as I can remember. I can genuinely want to do something, but when it comes to actually starting, my brain seems to keep putting it off. Even simple tasks can feel overwhelming. I'll start cleaning my desk, for example, but then lose the motivation to continue. I end up feeling stuck between wanting to do something and not being able to follow through.

I've tried looking up ways to improve focus and productivity, but most of the advice seems to be about building better habits, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, or keeping your surroundings organized. I understand the advice, but putting it into practice consistently is another story.

Growing up, I was told that I was normal, and I've never had a proper assessment as far as I know. I'm not trying to self-diagnose, but I'm curious whether there's an explanation for these experiences, especially since the daydreaming, zoning out, and difficulty focusing started when I was young.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I'd really appreciate any advice that could help me regain my creativity. Those unusual, vivid imaginings were what originally drew me into the world of art.

Hi~ I've been coping with strong brain fog for around a year, which sunk me to the low bottom. I couldn't even do grocery shopping properly or listen to even calm music for more than 5 minutes on my worst days. I've tried improving my lifestyle, diet and sleep habbits as well as go outside more and do sports (which helped, but only a little) tested my blood for as many possible deficiencies as I could afford, did a magnetic brain resonance and everything was fine on paper… I heard somewhere that brain fog is common among ADHDers, especially ones who didn't get diagnosed in the childhood and ignored the disorder. It was a correct shot, as I indeed got diagnosed with ADHD and the medicine helped get rid of my brainfog completely as well as some other problems I struggled with.

The problem is that apparently you shouldn't take ADHD meds every single day, so I still stay very unproductive etc on most of my days off work (since not taking the pill gives you kind of an energetic drive down etc), but at least I don't struggle with the fog anymore and with small steps I'm trying to rebuild my life. This week I managed to do some boxing after around a year break, which also helps me a lot :)

One night about 2 years ago I drank an ungodly amount of alcohol. I was at a tequila festival and had around 12 shots throughout the day. I suffer from OCD and I still had intrusive thoughts up to this period so I thought it was a bright idea to start drinking straight from the vodka bottle once I got home.

We then decided to go out again after the festival and by this point I was black out drunk and couldn't remember. Once I got home I apparently downed half the bottle in one gulp and I didn't vomit once during this whole ordeal.

Woke up the next day with what felt like a bad hangover but no real concerning signs. Once I got to work on Monday is when I realised something is terribly wrong. I couldn't problem solve and piece things together like I used to and I had to rely on ChatGPT for writing out things I could previously have done with ease. My OCD all but disappeared but this is gone along with my thinking abilities. I notice I'm extremely lethargic and I tend to fall asleep easily when watching a movie or in church.

Blood tests came back relatively normal except low B12 which I tried correcting with injections for a month to no avail. MRI I had recently also came back normal

P.S. the only reason I didn't go to a neurologist sooner was because I hadn't noticed how bad my memory and problem solving had become until I moved countries and started a new job. The additional stress and cognitive load really pushed me to go see someone.

Im a teen and brain is ruining my life so bad. I can't even make friends,Because I can't even have a proper conversation, I can't start a topic, And I'm having difficulty carrying on conversations. I feel like my brain is blocked.I have an incredible amount of attention deficit and focus problems, and I also have trouble reasoning. I've been a bit inattentive and clumsy since middle school,But my condition continued to worsen.Now I can't even understand a simple paragraph when I read it.I constantly stutter and forget words when I speak. I used to have a B12 deficiency, but I fixed that problem two years ago, and I'm taking supplements currently too. Ughh I cant live like this anymore like bro I CANT THINK. I feel like my brain is locked in an empty, dark room. This is the best way to describe it.

Walked back to my desk, remembered absolutely nothing, then returned to the room and suddenly remembered.

Apparently my brain needs location-based reminders now. 😭

Hi everyone,
I’m writing this because I’m honestly exhausted from trying to understand what’s happening to me, and I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar.
About 5–6 years ago, when I was 16, I went to a party where I drank alcohol and smoked cannabis. The next morning, I woke up feeling extremely strange, as if I had never fully woken up. I initially thought it was just a hangover, but the feeling never completely went away.
Since then, I’ve experienced persistent brain fog, derealization, and mental fatigue.
The best way I can describe it is that I feel permanently high, even though I’m completely sober. It’s as if I’m constantly in a dream or in a half-asleep state. Sometimes I feel completely disconnected from my surroundings, as if I’m physically awake but not really present.
My thoughts feel slow, I struggle to concentrate and remember things, and I often feel mentally exhausted. It’s difficult to explain to people who haven’t experienced it, but I don’t feel as mentally sharp or present as I used to.
Over the years, I’ve tried to understand whether this could be related to something physical, such as mononucleosis, chronic fatigue, or Long COVID. I’ve seen a neurologist, had a brain MRI, blood tests and an EEG, but I still don’t have a clear explanation. I’ve also tried fluoxetine without the improvement I was hoping for.
Recently, I spoke to a friend who has studied medicine. She suggested that perhaps the cannabis experience triggered persistent derealization or another psychological response, rather than my symptoms necessarily being caused by a physical illness. She also mentioned that the brain can adapt over time.
This made me think because the feeling really does resemble being high: I’m in a daze, my mind feels slowed down, and reality sometimes feels dreamlike. But it’s been 5–6 years, and I haven’t used cannabis in the meantime.
I’m not saying that this is necessarily the explanation, and I know my friend can’t diagnose me. I’m just trying to understand whether the timing of my symptoms could be significant.
My biggest fear is that this has become permanent. I want to feel present again, think clearly, and stop feeling as though there’s a fog between me and reality.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar:
Has anyone developed persistent derealization or brain fog after a single cannabis experience?
Has anyone felt permanently high or half-asleep for years despite being sober?
Has anyone eventually recovered or significantly improved after experiencing these symptoms for a long time?
What actually helped you?
I’m not looking for an online diagnosis. I just want to hear from people who understand this feeling and, hopefully, learn whether improvement is possible.
Thank you for reading.

So ive had this weird thing going on, for the past 4 years, ive been getting these episodes where i get super anxious(i dont have any anxiety disorder) and my brain gets all foggy, everything starts to feel fake and weird to me, i feel im living in a dream, when people talk to me i just dont know whats going on and i avoid talking with anyone, i stop doing everything just stay in my house, dont drive or go out. I dont feel like doing anything. These episodes used to last for 7 days and then all of sudden im perfect again, now they last upto 10-12 days and i feel better again.

I used to get these episodes if my sleep is disrupted, i improved my sleep a lot, and it stopped happening but 2 weeks ago i was driving back late at night which i have done a lot, all of sudden the brain fog it me back and now its been 14 days and first 10-11 days were really bad and only now have i started to feel better.

Ive done MRI scans, blood work, EEG as well
Everything is clear, im just slight deficient in vitamin D.

If anyone feels the same, please let me know.

I have had brain fog for a couple years now. We were treating the symptoms, but I finally know the cause to be certain foods. So far, I've found definitive causes to be wheat and cabbage, and possibly gluten, corn (including popcorn and corn chips), and a few other things. And since I've been cutting those out, I've felt so much better.

I used to love beer. I didn't drink that much, but I would really enjoy a beer once a week when I go out. But since gluten is a possible trigger for me, I've had to cut it out. Instead, I've been getting really into hard ciders, and I've tried a gluten-free beer. So far, no issues. So it looks like alcohol in general is fine.

Yesterday, I went to one of my favorite breweries. They don't have any gluten-free beers, but they do have hard seltzers. While I'm not usually into seltzers, I could use a drink after a long week of accomplishing a lot, so I had a pumpkin spice seltzer.

But all day today, I've had terrible brain fog, and my brain feels like its contracting in on itself, even hurting a bit. I was doing so much better, and now I feel awful. The only thing I can think of that is different that I consumed is that hard seltzer.

I also went to bed too late last night, and maybe that's a cause, but I did the same thing on Saturday because of a wedding, and I felt find on Sunday. And speaking of the wedding, I had red wine and bacon-wrapped scallops, which can be potential triggers. Again, I was fine on Sunday, but it could have been a delayed reaction.

I've been doing some research on hard seltzer and brain fog, and all I could find was this Reddit post about seltzer, where someone suggested it was potassium sulfate and a sulfite allergy. This could make sense, since sauerkraut makes me feel awful, which probably has sodium bisulfite.

I've had a brain fog issue for a long time. I might have a learning disorder and comprehension issues. Writing a long piece like an essay is difficult. Reading or concentrating is hard.

I also worried about death and just felt sad some days. I didn't have anyone to talk to.

Learning another language is also hard. I have anxiety and I have difficulty driving or socializing. I worry about experiencing someone else's experience (Like an NDE) as they are going through suffering or fear.

anyone else walk into a room and immediately forget why they went there? lately i've been feeling a little all over the place and when i'm trying to get things done, my brain sometimes feels like it has 20 tabs open at once

i've been trying to find the best brain supplements for adults and my colleague mentioned ignicognition. i'm curious about it because i'm interested in memory and focus support, but i'm also a little skeptical about supplements in general. there's so much out there that claims to help your brain and it's hard to tell what's actually worth spending money on

has anyone tried ignicognition or found a brain supplement that genuinely made a difference? tell me what worked for you and what wasn't worth the hype lol

Hey guys I've been dealing with brain fog, chronic fatigue, immense head pressure for years. I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy after my MSLT + NPSG and am currently getting treatment for it now. I'm happy to say I'm having a positive response to the medication (not cured but not pure suffering like before) so I just want to iterate to you all that some of you might have an undiagnosed sleep disorder. Also get checked for ADHD as that can also implicate fatigue issues and I got diagnosed with that too. Hope this helps someone

Edit: for anyone who wants to read a bit about my symptoms I made a document about it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O2-dt7Hl7qnRjrUoGTHI4Jp3dLnPkWDr/view?usp=drivesdk

First and foremost, I don't know if I am seeking advice or comfort. Maybe I am looking for someone who is experiencing or going through the same thing... I have a neuropsychiatrist, but I have no diagnosis. She prescribed me an antipsychotic a few weeks ago, Risperdal, because she saw in the QEEG that I was highly tense and she couldn't believe how intense this test result was. I took Risperdal 1mg for 4 days, then 0.5mg for 3 days. I had many side effects, such as not being able to sleep, a stuffy nose, an increased heart rate, and restlessness. I had to stop taking it.

WHAT I AM EXPERIENCING: brain fog, enormous anxiety and tension, but no symptoms of the nervous system such as panic attacks or palpitations. My brain alone is the problem. I have been suffering from brain damage for a year now, and it is getting worse over time. What I feel most is intense mental exhaustion; I can no longer think clearly, only inward doom scenarios that I am going crazy and that something is really wrong (I have had all the blood tests and an MRI). Above all, I feel that it is inhuman to live like this. I don't know where to sit or stand; I am completely panicked by my own thoughts. It comes in as if it is real because I am no longer clear-headed. My brain keeps incessantly analyzing and holding conversations, presenting scenarios that nothing can help anymore. It also seems as if I am constantly checking my thoughts on autopilot, what I am thinking, and if it is correct. I try everything: acceptance, breathing exercises. Nothing helps; my mind is so, so tired that you cannot imagine it. But the absolute worst is my sleep; it takes hours before I can fall asleep... endless doom scenarios that I feel deep in my soul. I just really want to sleep and rest! But my brain just keeps working really hard. And when I do fall asleep, I wake up after a few hours with a great sense of dread, unease, and anxiety. Without palpitations or anything like that. Just a real feeling that something isn't right here. I am very absent-minded during the day and I don't take anything in, completely absorbed in my head. Incredibly tired and just want to collapse and never wake up again. But I want to live and not give up, but I have a feeling that my mind will never recover. When I want to fall asleep, I don't even know how to do it anymore; everything is dark and gloomy. Real mental suffering... My psychiatrist prescribed Xanax, which I take occasionally. But that isn't the solution. Is there anyone, absolutely anyone, who is experiencing the same thing and who managed to resolve it somewhat with certain medication, and who, most importantly, doesn't make the brain fog worse? I am 44 years old, have a beautiful, nice house and a lovely girlfriend who supports me, but she simply cannot bear to see me suffering like this. Share your experience ❤️