Fibro Fog

Hi Guys, I'm new here, and a little worried. I'm pretty sure I've had fibro going on 25 years now - I remember exactly when the pain started and it hasn't ended yet since. At the time, though, the military didn't believe in such things as fibromyalgia. Anyway, it comes in waves of intensity, but it's hurt for a very long time. But, when I started having recent flareups bringing in other conditions, like TMJ, excessive cases of tendinitis, and memory issues, vision issues, etc, I decided it was time to get treatment. I've been on Cymbalta now for 3 weeks, with no significant improvement to the pain, but I've dealt with the pain for 25 years. I can do that (Though it would be nice to be painfree for at least a month). But it's something else bothering me.

How serious does Fibro Fog get? You know, the memory issues? I've really noticed a severe drop in my memory in the last 3 months or so, and it has me scared. Forgetting names is one thing, but my job is technical support. What makes me good at that is once I troubleshoot an issue, I never forget what fixed it. But lately, not only do I forget troubleshooting, about 3 months ago I did some testing on a modem for all of us. 2 weeks later I couldn't remember the results. I still don't know the results of that test. I worked for weeks to find the answer to a question, and now don't remember the results. I of course, forget names. I've always had that problem, or where a word wont' come, but it's gotten progressively worse recently. Today I had problems remembering Osama Bin Laden's name. It took me more than 5 minutes to drag it out of my head. I couldn't even figure out how to put it in the search engine to bring it up to remind me, because I didn't know what paramaters to put in. You can't just search for "That dude that they finally killed and hallelujah". Being prior military, and living in a military community, that's a BIG name to forget. It's like forgetting your evil twin's name or something.

Does Fibro fog get as bad as Alzheimers? or is this going to level out? Or does anyone even know?

Yes on my next visit to the doctor I'll be asking this question, but that's not till about 3 weeks from now.

Hi Teresa,

Welcome to this wonderful forum!  Oh good old Fibro Fog!  We all get it and it's the worst...  There are some past threads of pretty hysterical things that some of us have done as a result of it.  Like georgiabred said, you absolutely have to laugh about it though.

When my husband (then boyfriend at the time) was first exposed to my fibro fog he told me I nearly drove him crazy.  I would ask the same question 10 times because I would forget I asked it/thought I never got an answer.  If you've seen the movie 50 First Dates I was like the guy who's memory reset every 5 seconds.  I would have no recollection in the moment as to what was going on.  My husband soon realized it was beyond my control and he began to have fun with it.  He would change his answer every time, knowing that I wouldn't remember - he'd sometimes just not answer me.  He knew he had to see the humor in the situation now to help himself get through the foggiest of days.  Now he just stares at me, he likes to see me try to put the pieces together and eventually I just give up.  Of course if it was every anything very important he'll make sure it gets done right, but usually it's not a big deal.

My friends have also gotten used to having conversations with me and me not being able to remember a word mid sentence.  It will bother me to no end and I just talk around it - I have been known to go back a few days later once the fog has cleared and just throw out that one word I was looking for

Unfortunately it comes with the territory and we learn to accept it and laugh at it.  Thankfully our heads even clear for a few days of fog free thinking.

TeresaR said...
Well apparently I did something wrong by asking this question, but not sure how since while there are topics about fibrofog, most are on how to deal with it in a fun way, not specific questions about it. Guess I missed something.,

 

Hmmmm...I'm not sure what you could of done wrong...seemed like a legit question to me...

Mine comes and goes as well. It's sort of scary and I always wonder what I am going to do next. I am learning to keep sticky notes nearby just to remind myself of things and I always write important dates, doc appts etc on the calendar. Doesn't always work but it does help. I wouldn't exactly say it gets worse, just more controlled.

MY ADVICE TO ALL SUFFERES OF FIBROMYALGIA IS TO TAKE CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM DOSING UP TO 1200 OF CALCIUM AND 800 MG OF MAGNESIUM.THEY ACT AS NATURAL MUSCLE RELAXANTS AND WILL HELP YOUR SLEEP ,FOG,AND ENERGY.PLEASE GIVE IT A TRY.
PLEASE CHECK THE HEALTH OF YOU SPINE ALIGNMENT ,THE MISALIGMENT OF THE HEAD AND NECK DO NOT ALLOW GOOD COMUNICATION FROM THE BRAIN TO YOUR MUSCLES HEAD TO TOE AND YOU DIGSTIVE SYSTEMS AS MANY OF YOU MIGHT ALSO HAVE IBS MIGRAINE PATTERN.
HOPE YOU FIND THE COMMENTS USEFUL.
LAVINIA

Unfortunately I have not had any luck with Cymbalta for pain, but I am only on 60mg since 4/11 -- wonder if it takes higher dose to stop the pain?