Fibro Fog-What? Huh?

It was the day before my wedding and we had just arrived in Orlando, Florida. We packed the rental with our four young adult children, younger sister, nephew, niece and the two of us. Before we could check in at the hotel, we needed to make one pitstop to pick up the convertible we would use the next day.  Seemed like an easy and quick task. Although, Fibro Fog had not received an invitation to my wedding, I knew from experience that Fibro Fog loves to crash parties. Therefore, I had prepared a binder in advance with all the information needed including print outs of directions (never know when you might loose wifi signal). 

Jay (my hubby :-) made one wrong turn and we were lost. Everyone in the van quickly became Compasses "we should be going south not north", "you should have turned here", "you need to go around", "if you just turn down this way".  All the while Jay is repeatedly asking me where is this place? "You have the address & you don't know"? I kept trying to make sense of the directions on my phone and the print outs in my binder. Everyone continued giving their opinion ALL at the same time. I became frustrated as it was apparent that I would not be able to figure it out. The only thing that came to mind was "sensory overload". 

At that moment I yelled "I guess no one here reads my Facebook Posts because I wrote about Fibro-Fog & Sensory Overload". All of a sudden I had a van full of very quiet & well behaved vacationers. I am blessed to have a supportive family who understands Fibromyalgia, even though at times I have to sprinkle magic fairy dust (sounds nicer than saying I yelled) to remind them about the new me. However, I can't go to work or through life yelling at people for not reading my FB or blog posts. 

What is Fibro-Fog? 

Fibro Fog is a symptom of Fibromyalgia that affects memory and cognitive skills.  Fibro-Fog is temporary and on average lasts only a few days.  Fibro Fog can be exacerbated when dealing with sensory overload, being rushed, and/or feeling anxious and almost always during a Fibromyalgia Flare.  The difficulties you can experience are being forgetful, confused, difficulty concentrating and inability to speak, inability to retain or learn new information and difficulty transposing letters and numbers.  Fibro fog can be frustrating and embarrassing as it can make its appearance without any warning sign. 

My fibromyalgia family defines Fibro fog as: 

"Fibro fog is like um, um, um, darn I forgot"~Lily C. 

"Fibro fog is like having 3 calendars; pocket, wall and cellphone with an alarm to remind me of my appointments and still forgetting something"~Sarah O. 

"Fibro fog is like living just above the clouds and trying to get back down to the ground to accomplish one thing"~Kathy O. 

"Fibro fog is like when normal people have a word on the tip of their tongue but can't get it out; except for us it's every other word while your brain hurts and feels hazy"~Milly V.

What can I do?

The day before my wedding was a sign to me that I would have to make adjustments to my plans since by the end of that evening it was becoming more difficult for me to get simple words to go from my brain to my mouth. I decided the next morning to stay in my hotel room, spend quality time with my daughter, relax and clear my mind. Thankfully, it helped and I was able to remember two simple words-I DO!

Here are a few options that may help:

-You should always try to remove yourself from the situation before it spirals out of control

-Get some rest & relaxation

-Avoid stressful situations

-Exercise (mighty endorphines to the rescue)

-Play memory games such as scrabble, word with friends, crossword puzzles, etc.

-Make sure to include antioxidants to your diet. Stress causes free radicals which causes inflammation and damages brain cells. We want these free radicals to be removed from our body quickly.

-Gingko Biloba has been used for thousands of years to improve memory and sharpen thinking. Hopefully,  you will
remember to take it.

A few years ago, my sister informed me that she was taking Gingko Biloba.  I immediately asked "Does it work"? Her response was that she kept forgetting to take it.  So I will leave you with this keep a to do list, set reminders on phone and write notes to aid you when fibro-fog decides to make it's appearance. When all else fails, get rest and remind yourself that this too shall pass-It ALWAYS does!

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