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Treatment options for chronic brain fog and inflamed throats everyday?

Messages
91
March 2015 I had glandular fever and in April 2015 I had shingles, then one day in July 2015 I developed extreme brain fog/mushy brain/ head pressure at the back of my head everyday. It never goes away, at best I feel slightly light headed but at worse (most of the time) I struggle to read. Haven't driven, or drank alcohol ever since the day it hit.

Six months ago I developed a really badly inflamed throat and tinnitus constantly which hasn't gone away ever since (and on and off swollen glands). Tested negative for any bacterial infections and Lyme disease.

I wondered if someone could help me and suggest any treatment options? Are anti-virals a possibility for me? I am willing to try anything / pay any amount to shift this brain fog. I can't live like this forever :( i am soon to be 21 and all I want is for someone to make me better.

I already eat healthy / sleep okish. Nothing shifts the brain fog/fatigue.

Thanks in advance.

I live in a remote part of the U.K.but am willing to travel if need be...
 
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Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Have you been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)? In people that have glandular fever (mononucleosis), ME/CFS will follow in 9% of cases. Ref: 1

You might like to read the CDC definition of ME/CFS (which is similar to the NHS definition of ME/CFS), and check whether your symptoms match those ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.


Brain fog is one of the symptoms of ME/CFS, and is difficult to treat. I personally find that the supplement piracetam 800 mg daily helps a lot in reducing my brain fog, but this supplement does not work for everyone.

A chronic sore throat is also a classic symptom of ME/CFS.



Dr Jay Goldstein used the H2 antihistamine cimetidine (Tagamet) 300 mg three times daily as an off-label treatment for mononucleosis.1 2 The H2 antihistamine ranitidine (Zantac), which is available over the counter without prescription, can be used in place of cimetidine.

Cimetidine 200 mg three times daily daily plus 400 mg just before bed can be an effective off-label treatment for varicella zoster virus.1 2
 

MikeJackmin

Senior Member
Messages
132
The number one treatment of most CFS symptoms - including brain fog and sore throat - is rest. This means a significant reduction in both physical activity and mental effort.

If you can try it for for a few days and you start to feel better, then you'll know.
 
Messages
91
Thanks so much for your replies.

I have been diagnosed with post viral fatigue syndrome but that was a year and a half ago and I'm still at exactly the same level of health (if slightly worse) sadly. GP has now suggested I have CFS, especially as everything else has been ruled out.

Going to start trying some supplements from reading things on this forum.
 

MikeJackmin

Senior Member
Messages
132
CFS is usually (or always, depending on the definition used) associated with a peculiar symptom called Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM). PEM usually makes itself known by making you feel lousy a day or two after excessive activity.

Many people who develop this have no idea what's going on; they just feel awful all the time, no matter what they do. It can take years before the clues add up and they put it all together.

The only easy way to tell if this is a problem for you is to make a marked change, over a period of at least a few days. Then you might notice the symptoms magically lifting, and it can be very easy to believe that you're getting better and the problem is gone. Overexertion follows, follow again by another crash, and we have the famous "boom-bust cycle", AKA the rollercoaster.

The rollercoaster is no fun, and what's worse is that it probably makes the disease worse too, lowering your baseline energy budget even further. The longer you ride it, the longer you stay sick, and the worse you get.

The only correct response to this is to stay within the energy budget you have. For me, it means being housebound. For others, it means leaving school or work, and it can impose very difficult changes on a person's life. You are in a better position, you're young, you've not been sick for terribly long and and you're too far along yet. If you get good control of it quickly, your prognosis will be better than most.

Denying yourself rest is like walking around on a broken leg. No supplements or medications or anything else will allow us to get past that. Rest comes first.

Good luck; this whole approach is usually summarized by the word 'pacing' and you can find lots to read about it here and elsewhere.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Chronic sore throat is something I wish I had answers to. I drink a lot of soda water, and ginger tea. I recently found cool/dairy whip can help, presumably by coating the throat. I don't use honey but that might work, as might butter which I also don't use this way. Some of us use throat lozenges.

The cause of the chronic sore throat is not known, and its probably not due to infection. It might be inflammation.
 
Messages
91
Chronic sore throat is something I wish I had answers to. I drink a lot of soda water, and ginger tea. I recently found cool/dairy whip can help, presumably by coating the throat. I don't use honey but that might work, as might butter which I also don't use this way. Some of us use throat lozenges.

The cause of the chronic sore throat is not known, and its probably not due to infection. It might be inflammation.

Thanks for your replies. I'm using lozenges and hot lemon and honey for some mild relief.

I don't seem to improve with rest, in fact I just stay the same... is that normal for CFS/ME? I do get worse when I have a bad night sleep though or if I drink alcohol (which I've only tried once since being sick) and never again.
 

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
Messages
2,396
Location
USA
Along the same lines of lemon and honey, try gargling with warm salt water several times a day. You'll need to look up the right amount of salt to put in the water since I can't remember the recipe.

Slippery elm is also supposed to be good for a sore throat (I've never used it.) Like you, I relied on lozenges for a long time; I liked Ricola cough drops a lot. There are probably less expensive knock-offs with the same ingredients sold somewhere.
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
@TiredSam

I understand how pacing should work for all of us, but it's never ever worked for me. If I have energy and choose to save it for later, by the time "later" comes, the energy has vanished. If I don't use it when it's there, it goes away anyway. True, this means that I inevitablly overdo it, trying to catch up on all the things I should have done but haven't been able to, because PEM kicks in on top of having pushed it, but pacing just doesn't work for me, and I haven't yet found out WHY!!! Even in the CFS world, I'm a weirdo! :-/
 

TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
The main benefit of pacing for me is being symptom free, rather than doing more, so with good pacing I can lie on my sofa doing very little and feel fairly normal, as opposed to lying on my sofa doing very little and feeling crap. This is a huge improvement in my quality of life. As for doing the things I should have done, some stuff just doesn't get done these days. That took me a while to adjust to, because I used to get everything done, but I've dropped that expectation of myself now.

I have a sign next to my computer in the office saying "the evening shift is cancelled" - which means be out by 18:00 and don't go back (I used to enjoy all-nighters getting things done). If I have any energy left in the evening I don't save it to get more stuff done at a later date, I just lie on the sofa anyway and "use that energy for healing" (not the kind of language I usually like, I must have picked it up from somewhere).
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
Pacing doesn't make me symptom free :(

I spend most days in bed, feeling crap, and anything but normal. I've been like this since 2007, and I thought I'd adjusted to not getting things done, but even if I have, the world, the mortgage, the bills, etc, certainly haven't. I hate it.

Days on the sofa happen when I've had to drag myself to a physio/ endo/ rheumy/ GP appointment, and when I get back, I'm too knackered to make it upstairs.

I envy those who can use pacing to good effect. It doesn't seem an option for me.
 
Messages
3
Location
N wisconsin
Hey @Lucy1996 , I suffer from Lyme and Cfs. I had pretty severe brain fog. I would describe it as feeling like the back half of my brain was disconnected. I was so foggy I couldn't experience joy. It was a bad time. 8 months ago I stopped eating processed sugar. The results were astounding. For me it was the kind of feedback I need. Strong and quick. It's an easy thing to try. Good luck.
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
We got a robot vacuum, to do at least one thing that I can't do, and the fiance doesn't want to do :D It's pretty easy to take care of, once power cords laying around the house are dealt with.
I got one of those in 2008. Would be fabulous if I had floors clear of stuff!

Must look it out and see if the battery still charges up.......