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Posted 6/19/2010 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
I wondered how many of you nice people here also experience Fibro Fog?? I was diagnosed w- FMS a year ago next month. I've always been just a little "dingy"- Lol. But I've noticed significant changes in my cognitive thinking, that go beyond my usual "blonde moments." - Sorry to any blondes out there.....no offense! :-)  

 

I was the Director of a before & afterschool childcare program for several yrs. and I not only had to memorize the children's first & last names, but also their parents' full names. I oversaw two elementary schools! That's ALOT of names! In the height of my illness, before I was fired for no just cause- other than being sick, I was forgetting names left & right. It was crazy and so out of character for me.

 

If my husband asks me a random question out of the blue, I have such a hard time answering it. Like a couple of days ago........he was "showing off" my ability to name off NBA players to his dad. We are HUGE Celtics fans (Yeah, yeah, don't want to even hear about the Lakers! Bad calls, is all I have to say! Lol) But he's asking me who the forward is for the Magic and who the point guard is for the Nets....and so on.  I'm naming them off, no problem. Then he gets to the Celtics and simply asked me the starting 5- Oh that's easy. I named off 4 and was stumped! What?? He then says "You are forgetting one of the Three Amigos, you know this Shannon!!" (That's Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, & Ray Allen for those of you that don't watch) He's a little embarrassed at this point.  It's just weird stuff like that lately. Or I'll be in the middle of talking and totally forget where I was going w/ the conversation.

 

Help! Anyone else doing this?? It's all new to me!

 

Shann

Posted 6/19/2010 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yes Shann,

Fibro fog. You gotta love it!!!lol... It seems to come out of nowhere and in the most embarrassing situations. I have had my share of it. It is like I am always in a fog. Not just during a flare, but all the time. I have gotten use to it. I don't expect so much out of my memory anymore. I forget the simplest things. Or use the wrong word. Can't come up with a word that is right on the tip of my tongue. lol...

I go into a room and forget what I went in there for. It is never ending. But like I say I try to give myself a break.
The more that you worry about it the worse it gets. So try to relax. Sometimes I think we think too hard. Or try to. lol...

Hugs, Karen
Posted 6/19/2010 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I have had it too. Just a few weeks ago I forgot a gal's name that we know. It was just a blank spot, couldn't recall, the harder it tired the worse I felt. honestly it scared the tar out of me. It come a little later, duh.

Now my dh has no excuse except age, he was talking to co-workers on break and in the middle of the converstation said.......microwave. It had nothing to do with what they were talking about. lol
Posted 6/19/2010 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
Yup, I've gotten lost in the fog many a time! My brain is out to lunch on occassion and
I don't know what I'm doing or misplace things in the strangest places and can forget
a name or place at the drop of a hat...that's fog for you. I'm used to it and my family
and friends are too. Sometimes fog can be good comic relief and laughter can be the best
medicine!

Hugs, Robin
Posted 6/19/2010 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
Join the club, the family get a great laugh at times. You name it I have lost it. The tv remote in the fridge, knives in the freezer. I can be putting on a set of clothes and loose them. Go to do something and forget what I wanted before get there, it is the worse feeling. Shopping for food is a night mare I write out a list then forget I have the list or forget to write it out. You name it the fog has given me a hard time about it
Fibro makes life a challenge, gives us something to laugh at ourselves.
Fibro makes learn something ourselves.
Kathy
Posted 6/19/2010 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
Shann, I think you are doing great!  I call my daughters by the wrong names half the time.  One time I was asked my telephone number and I couldn't remember it.  I had to look on one of my checks!  Of course there is the time I tried to start the car with the key to my freezer. 

 

You have to have a good sense of humor with the fog.  You might as well get a laugh out of it.  Laughter will make you feel better anyway!

 

Sherrine

Posted 6/19/2010 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
Yep, fibro fog - huge reason why I'm trying for diability. I used to practically run an ER (12hr night shift) as a receptionist and all around gopher. The doctor could tell me three different places to call at once, while I was registering someone, as the nurse was asking me a question etc..... Now I would stare blanky and freak out just at the thought of it. My life has totally changed. I just hope the judge on my case listens to me at my hearing.....fibro fog is real.
Posted 6/19/2010 10:49 PM (GMT 0)
I get so embarrassed because I forget people's names. When they are right in front of me. I usually can skate by, hopefully somebody mentions their name. But there are times I am totally lost. And the person thinks you don't care enough to remember their name.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 6/19/2010 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Shann,

So glad to 'know' another Celtics fan. I can't stand the lakers. lol I used to watch basketball all the time. I came home early from a date (guy before I went out w/ DH) had to see the final game on June 4, 1976. They went into triple OT and beat the Suns. What a game. Yrs later I was nursing my younger son thru the '84 finals. That was intense. 

A couple of yrs ago at a flea market, I found a charcoal portrait of Larry Bird. I took out the money for it and the guy asked me if I knew who this was. I said 'Yeah, it's Larry Bird'. He asked me if I was from Boston, 'No, why?' 'Well who else likes the Celtics?' 'ME'. That portrait hangs in my room to this day. My DH understands. 

I was going to tell you something else and got slightly distracted. Anyway, I had a friend yrs ago that was fascinated by my memory. I could tell you all the Presidents in order, all the Oscar winners, movies, actors, music, etc. He used to set up bets w/ other ppl to have me 'stumped'. I didn't know about the bets for awhile. Not happy w/ that. I thought it was just for fun.

I could tell you where I was on what date, who was there, what was said, etc. Now, I have a problem trying to remember simple words, I know what I want to say, just can't remember what that word is. I feel like an idiot sometimes, esp around ppl that don't know me. Around family, they are used to this and they know I know things, just not at that moment.

I also mix up my sons' names, so I tell them - 'You know who you are!' My mother mixes up my name w/ my sisters' names, once she made a new name using all 3 names together. Very funny. Just don't like when she calls me by my brother's name. OUCH

Yes, the Fog can be so much fun. wink

God bless.  Alice.

Posted 6/19/2010 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the Club!

I definetly have fibro fog. My family saw it after I was given a "leave of absence" from my job. I took the dishes out of the dishwasher, walked over to the frig opened it and was stumped for which shelf they belonged on. I looked at my daughter and she at me, that was the moment we knew "it" was real.

I am happy if I go into a room and remember why I went into it. My ability to spell has regressed to early elementary school. I am constantly stopping to think of how to spell a word and correcting my self. Anything I had trouble with when I was 8 I have trouble with at 53. W's, F's, prefixes, endings, possesion, commas,

The neuro psychologist has said my extreme depression is what is making my fibro fog so bad. I was a tax accountant and was put out on leave right as tax season started. My boss saw that I couldn't figure things out anymore. I couldn't even do simple addition. 1 + 2 = 6, err not exactly. I am trying to get my private disability insurance to pay but they say I am fine. If only they spent a day with me, they would realize how fine I am not.

My recommendation is let it go and don't worry. The more upset I get the more problems I have. I have had to destress my life as much as possible. No deadlines, no pressure. That's when I do the best. There are days when I can do just fine and if it's not fine... Oh Well!

Enjoy!
Posted 6/20/2010 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
Shann, one of my grown sons shared with me that some of the things I did and said were so funny when he was a teenager. Then he said it was even funnier because I was blond. Apparently I was a blond joke. Oh well.
Posted 6/20/2010 8:12 AM (GMT 0)
Here's my most recent fibro fog incident: I left the gas station with the gas nozzle still in my car! Talk about looking stupid. Oh well, it's just nice to know I'm not alone in dealing with this. I was at a party tonight and called a few people I knew fairly well by the wrong name...I just tell people I'm getting older and the neurotransmitters aren't connecting like they used to. This is probably true, but not due to getting older (still in my 40;s) but really to annoying fibro and thyroid issues. I guess it's good if you can find some way to see humor in it. :-) And it's always nice to know I'm not entirely alone in dealing with this!
Posted 6/20/2010 12:11 PM (GMT 0)

Let's see...I spent half a day washing windows and mirrors with Spot Shot stain remover instead of Windex just because they are both in a blue spray bottle...still can't get the slime off and that was last fall.  Sprayed the rugs with Windex instead of Febrez...same color bottle.  Left the car running in the garage and headed off for bed.  Filled the bird feeder with grass seed.  Snipped all the wires to the airconditioner unit because they are the same color as the holly branches I was trying to trim.  Lost more gas caps than I can count and racked up $15.00 worth of charges after leaving my ATM card in the machine.  Sat down with a bunch of strangers in a restaurant as I wasn't paying attention to where our table was.  Unloaded a filthy dishwasher and insisted we needed a new one, not realizing I had just not run the stupid thing. Poured paprkia in the hubbys coffee instead of cinnamon.  The list is endless.  Oh and my fave his having a poor sales girl running around the store looking for 'wrap around wine glasses' instead of the 'sunglasses' I meant to say.  Never a dull moment!

Donna

Posted 6/20/2010 12:34 PM (GMT 0)
Lol...too funny. We have to laugh, either that or cry. I have done so many wierd things lately it's hard to just pick a few. My whole day consists of trying to remember words, names, where I put something, what I was looking for etc. etc. The fog has become a part of my life now and all I can do is try and stay as focused as possible and stay away from potentially dangerous situations. Like I have heard on here plenty of times, It is what it is! Take care all.
Posted 6/21/2010 1:22 PM (GMT 0)
It is my own opinion that Fibro fog is more of an side effect of the medications that fibromites take. Many of them make you drowsy and effect the brain function...

I gave up Lyrica and my fog improved greatly....I am now off of Cymbalta and hope that after withdrawal is complete that I will have regained even more of my cognitive brain power.

Posted 6/21/2010 3:41 PM (GMT 0)

I don't take any drugs for fibro except Advil.  I take a valium when my RLS acts up, which might be two or three times a week, and have only been taking that for two years.   I have had The fog for many years and mine is not drug related....I wish I could say it was.

Donna

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