top 3 brain fog interventions

[leaves]

Ok i feel demented.. What are your best 3 brain interventions?? I think it would be helpful to use the wisdom of crowds!
Do they improve conentration/ orientation/ word recall/ face recognition / number memory ??

 

[penny]

Funny I was just thinking about this!

I felt like I had a significant clearing of brain fog when I began supplementing some amino acids that I was low in (serine, glycine, lysine). The improvement was fairly dramatic at the time, I felt like I went from around 20% cognitive function to closer to 50%. Specifically I felt like my working memory improved, so I was better able to follow spoken conversations and read. Previously I had trouble because by the time I got to the end of a sentence I would have forgotten the beginning! I still have trouble with this when I've pushed myself too much.

And unfortunately, 50% still ain't that great

One other thing which I find oddly helpful is an audio app I have on my iPhone that is supposed to effect your brainwave (I know it sounds hokey!). I have gone back to work (it was either that or LTD and I wasn't ready for the later) recently, and I have found that listening to this (with my headphones) helps me focus much better. I still feel like my brain is slow and mushy, but I am better able to start and stick with a task. My husband (healthy) also has the program but uses it for power naps, and swears by it.

The app is called "AmbiSci Entrainment Effects" and there are different bundles with different options (sleep, meditation, etc.), the 'entrainment' I use is "Focus". There's also another one called "Brainwave", but I haven't used this one as much and so am not sure how well it works for me. I suspect these, or something similar, are available in other formats if you don't have an iphone (android, use on your computer or downloading as an mp3?).

That's only two, but that's all I've got. Looking forward to other's responses and ideas!

 

[PokerPlayer]

I had really bad brain fog and I found that getting rid of the tca I was on (amitriptyline) as well as the folic acid I was taking (4000mcg per day) helped a lot. Then, I started on rich van K's methylation protocol and eliminated gluten from my diet. I would say that gluten definitely causes brain fog, as well as folic acid.

I may be different though, because I am more a case of addition by subtraction. I don't feel 100% cognitively, more like 80%. I still feel like I don't really process environments very quickly and I always kind of feel spacey, but of course not as bad as when I was on folic acid.

 

[Nielk]

How long do you have to be on a gluten free diet to see any difference? I have been on it for close to a year and don't feel any difference. Time to give up?
My brain fog goes hand in hand with the rest of my symptoms. when I'm weaker, have more headaches, pain etc..I can't even speak a straight sentence without stuttering and skipping words.

 

[PokerPlayer]

Dang Nielk, that reminds me of how I was on high dosage folic acid. But I was never that bad even.

I went gluten free a couple months ago and I have tested my reaction to gluten every once in a while and I get brain fog and depressive symptoms for up to a day before feeling better again. So, seeing if gluten free helps shouldn't take more than a few months. Maybe its placebo for me, but I am pretty positive its not since I keep a daily journal.

 

[Ian]

Removing mercury amalgam dental fillings.

 

[Sallysblooms]

Good supplements like Carniclear! Works great for me. CoQ10, balancing hormones, Liposomal Glutathione, ATP... SO many great ones. I have no fog anymore at all.

I have been on B12 for a long time so that is an important one I did first.

 

[justy]

Hi. i think i have been helped a lot by taking Vit D3 2000 iu a day for quite a few months now. it has made a noticeable improvement to my memeory and word recall.

The anti candida diet (long term) has helped with the spaced out type of brainfog, although this has never completely gone away.

 

[heapsreal]

decapitation??
lol.

 

[leaves]

for me it is acetylcarnitine and r-lipoic acid, but still by no means a cure

 

[justy]

Ive just started Acetyl L Carnitine as my levels were very low on a test. It will be interesting to see how it helps. How much do you take?

 

[leaves]

I take 2 grams of acetylcarnitine and 200mg r-lipoic acid

 

[heapsreal]

does anyone find brain fog to be a low grade headache and have found over the counter pain killers sometimes helpful? I recently took a cough medicine with dihydrocodeine in it for a cough and it helped with my brain fog, thats why im thinking its a low grade type of chronic headache/ inflammation. Pain killers dont always work but sometimes they do.

cheers!!!

 

[justy]

Thanks leaves, thats the dosage i was given, 2g spaced in two doses. Ive started out with just a tiny pinch as i keep having weird reactions to supplements, but im hoping it will be a useful one for me.

 

[Sallysblooms]

The CarniClear (liquid l-Carnitine) is really great. By Designs for Health. This is what my doctor has me on. Try that if the other l-carnitine doesn't work.

I agree about Lipoic Acid also, love the Lipoic Acid I take.

 

[MEG]

Heapsreal.....LOL

I do feel like my head is not attached most of the time.....

 

[heapsreal]

Heapsreal.....LOL

I do feel like my head is not attached most of the time.....

I through that in for a giggle, u know laughter is the best medicine, mm wonder if it comes in a slow release patch?

 

[taniaaust1]

How long do you have to be on a gluten free diet to see any difference? I have been on it for close to a year and don't feel any difference. Time to give up?
My brain fog goes hand in hand with the rest of my symptoms. when I'm weaker, have more headaches, pain etc..I can't even speak a straight sentence without stuttering and skipping words.

Nielk.. I would of given up on the gluten free diet long before that if it wasnt doing anything noticable. Why be depriving yourself of something for no reason when you are already being deprived of so many different things in life due to this illness. Being off of a food for just a few mths and then trying to add it again to see what happens is enough to see if one has a food issue. (food sensitivities may take up to 48 hrs to show up on reintroduction)

I do suggest to pay attention to how you feel when you decide to start back on gluten thou.. to make sure you dont have sensitivity there.
.......

LOL @ heapsreal's joke

 

[taniaaust1]

great thread idea of what helps the brain stuff.

1/ B12 helped my memory some.. without B12 injections I couldnt function memory wise (nowdays I dont seem to need the B12 anymore) *Note blood tests didnt show that I had any B12 issue.

2/ Selenium or MolyZinc (combination of molybdenum and zinc), i dont know which of these things it is as I started these all at same time. After 5-6 days I got noticable improvement in my ability to concentrate and be learning new things (something I hadnt been able to do for years.. My head is actually starting to feel as if Im almost up to doing college studies again).
(I started those supplements as it was found by hair analyses I have severe deficiency of molybdenum and also a issue with high copper).

3/ Juicing I once did a week juice fast (no food just juices) of doing my own juices (organic where possible)... after the 3-5 days I had a very noticable improvement of my brain symptoms. My head felt so much clearer and able to think again... helped greatly with the mind fog.

During this juice fast experiment I know it couldnt have been just an avoidence of an unknown food intollerance which helped as I found that some juice combinations didnt seem to help my brain (eg apple and orange) while another combos did.
sorry I cant now remember what the combo which seemed to help was.. it was something which had I think beetroot, celery and something else (pineapple?? apple??) and a spice of some kind added.

4/ I have to say that finding out I had POTS and hence then doing things which help that eg drinking lots and avoiding things which make POTS worst has had a good effect on the brain stuff of the kind which comes and goes more at times (eg periods of worst brain fog). POTS can give me confusion and brain symptoms. So those with ME/CFS should consider if POTS is making the brain stuff worst at times.

 

[rwac]

I found this stuff to be really good for brain-fog. It helps mitochondrial respiration.

Methylene Blue