Brain Fog
 

Hi all,
I've noticed when I'm particularly stressed or when having tried various supplements or blood pressure pills, that a 'fog' descends on my brain, I slur my speech and have difficulty in choice of words, I transpose numbers etc

With only a few months experience as a PWP, I'm unsure if it's

a) A mental reaction to my situation and the resultant stresses

b) My brain reacting to the unusual supplements it is now being fed

c)A degree of over-introspection

d)Part and parcel of the ongoing changes to my brain

For those taking medications, is this what I should expect ?

Do your medications lead to a woolly frame of mind, in which you find that you cannot function as normal or to a clarity of mind?
(I have seen some references on here to people's minds clearing as their meds kick in.)
At the minute I choose to take no medications on the basis of it's better the devil you know :D ( and an innate distrust of people in white coats )

I realise everyone is different, but I assume there is some commonality of reaction ?
Thanks Peter

my selegiline reduces my brain fog
my sinemet almost eliminates it most of the time..

l-dopa is A NATURALLY OCCURING AMINO ACID. It gets converted to NATURALLY OCCURING DOPAMINE in the brain. everything has side affects.

........so the PD induced imbalances of dopamine creates your brain fog, and the meds help to clear it ?

sorry to sound dense, I'm trying to understand if I can expect my brain to go woolly if I stay off the meds, or if the brain fog is a result of the chemical surges produced by the meds.
Getting myself confused here, but on a higher level :)

haha i love your comment
 

getting confused but on a higher level is a perfect description of how we all feel, thank you still chuckling.

If you aren't taking meds, how are you sleeping? are you getting enough? PD affects the entire CNS and probably causes brain fog itself. After we begin meds, the lines become very blurred. i agree with soccertese that once the med kicks in you are more sharp, but at thesame time those on agonists have frequently described brain fog. Hate to fall back to the everyone is different line but if you are unmedicated i'd be inclined to say that when cells are shutting down and the mitchondria don't produce enough energy we could get brain fog from the illness itself.

Hi Paula - Well I fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow (after initial bouts of night terrors) but I suspect that is more due to fatigue after a day in the office and an excess of alcohol :D It may well be my occasional fogginess is merely a good old fashioned hangover ; )
About the only useful thing my neuro said was that nicotine, alcohol and coffee were 'possibly beneficial' from a strictly 'PD' viewpoint !

think about it. does anyone want to take meds? noone is forcing me to. i've tried every supplement, chelation, IV glutathione and got possibly minor relief of my symptoms. i held out as long as i could before taking sinemet and put up with a much lower quality of life. it's just goes with dealing with a chronic illness, it sucks but noone promises you a rose garden and you don't live forever. i'll do anything that isn't life threatening to reduce the brain fog since it severely limits what i can do, even speaking.

the meds i take alleviate the brain fog.

you can likely get a 30 day supply of sinemet. i felt the difference after the first pill.

thanks soccertese, everyone discusses symptoms such as depression, tremors and gait, but I guess clarity of thought or the losing of it is harder to pinpoint.
that helps with my chicken and egg question : )

"Confusion on a higher level" pretty much sums it up - very clever.
After 20 years of PD and taking meds whenever I think I might need it (sinemet 25/100) no more than 3 tablets a day and often less, I have little brain fog. I attribute this to vigorous exercise for an hour daily and having a wicked sense of humor.

Paula wrote "how are you sleeping? are you getting enough?" tickled me to no end.

TG

Definitely a wicked SOH :wink:

........so for you less meds and more exercise equals less brain fog ? so you sometimes take nothing at all ? is that when you get brain fog ? Aaaarghh - a 1001 questions !

better not say fumbling in the dark here !

exercise for an hour ! - I'm already late for work every day :D
Peter

huh SOH?
 

No, I need meds to do exercise otherwise I don't move fast enough and have difficulty getting my heart rate up. But once i get my exercise in, I feel clear headed and up for the day full of activity, mentally more acute, physically healthier and require less meds thru out the rest of the day. My main issue is gait problems. I rarely fall, can chase after my husband and kids (kids are faster than me). I'll go thru a period in the late morning and early afternoon of having some shuffling but I am training myself to think BIG like big steps and then by about 5 PM I am moving normally even without a 2nd dose of meds ( I only take some meds if I am going out for the evening - don't want to look like I have PD) Try to go to bed b/w 930-10 pm and wake up to alarm next morning. I get up at 5 am and take med and start exercising at 6-7am. Never late for housework but do fumble in the dark:Dancing-Chilli:

TG