What Are Your Most Amusing (Or Disconcerting) Brain Fog Experiences?

[alex3619]

Hi, Ive told so many of these stories, including losing pens that are behind my ear, acting like I was drunk or stoned and the like, but this just happened. I put the kettle on for a cup of coffee. After it boiled I got up again to get my coffee cup - which was already full with cold coffee. I had forgotten I had made it.

Of course I do the usual of looking for my glasses and not realizing I have them on, but one that really annoys me because I keep doing it is forgetting to turn the dryer on. By the time I recall I was doing washing it is getting smelly.

Bye
Alex

PS Many of these problems are because I cannot tell the difference between thinking about doing something and doing it. Since I have almost no memory of doing anything, the idea of doing sometimes fools me into thinking I have done and it can be a while before I go back and check, if at all.

 

[heapsreal]

Where did I park the car again??

your a funny bugger saveME, your avatar looks like your smashed just before u go out and look for where u parked your car, lol.
i reckon you would be a barrel of laughs to be around, luv your sense of humor, sorry your depressed because u have cfs like me, lol.

Stay whitty
cheers!!!

 

[SaveMe]

best laugh I had in a long time, thanks heapsreal! =)

 

[taniaaust1]

mya, your suppose to put the milk in the fridge and the cereal in the cupboard, just more then once a week though, lol.
Isnt it amazing how bad our memories are and i suppose many other non cfs people can have these episodes but not the amount we seem to have.

cheers!!!

hahaha.. I missed that post mistake too. Heapsreal, your brain seems to be working well today

 

[taniaaust1]

Thank God my brain has improved a lot to what it used to be like. I used to have a lot of scary brain fog things and those I still remember well (Ive forgotten all the funny ones). They should also have temporary long term memory losses listed as a symptom of CFS/ME.

Some of my most dramatic brain fog/memory ones include...

- Forgotting where I had worked for the past years which was at a local place. It took me THREE days to remember and I was too embarrassed to ring my boss what would of sounded like a very stupid question eg "where do i work?", so just didnt show up.

While out driving.. having a foggy moment on what the red round signs are about.. with the letters on them "S T O P" (I could read individual letters but was having brain fog and forgot how to read the word and couldnt remember what the sign meant. I could remember thou it was a very important sign thou so that worried me, I was driving throu them trying to work it out what the very important signs meant.
(A month later I had someone tell me they'd seen me driving throu stop signs).

- Forgot what side of the road I was meant to drive on. My brain didnt register "break" or "stop" when I saw a roadworks person in middle of road trying to stop me so I tried to drive around him and almost run him over (he jumped out the way and then looked like he was going to chasing me and I couldnt work out why or what I'd done wrong).

- Went to make toast, had the bread in my hand and then but then realised I didnt know how to. Was looking for a thing I could remember being called a "toaster" but couldnt remember what "toaster" item looked like or how it worked. (went without breakfast that day due to this .. just couldnt get any form of image what a toaster looked like in my mind).

- Got very confused in a room after not being remember how one leaves rooms. Was stupidly looking at the ceiling for a way out (I forgot one gets parts that open called doors in walls). I ended up completely stuck till another opened the door and I saw walls have openings that have handles on them.

- Forgot how ticket machines work in carparks and tried to put the wrong thing into the ticket machine so it just wasnt working. Unknown to me in the brain haze, I was then trying to press the wrong button for emergency help.
That drama ended with me accidently breaking the boom gates to get my car out as I was truely stuck due to the brain fog and couldnt get out of the car park and was getting sicker by the moment (only had a short time left to get home before a passout) and couldnt find anyone to help me.
(That incident nearly got arrested as security had been watching me on camera so saw me break the boom gate to try to get my car out.. so they showed up.. a friend had to stop them from calling the police and took me home bawling).

- My brother-in-law unexpectively showed up at my door (I know him very well) but I had a brain fog moment and hence didnt know who he was. I knew he was someone I knew very well but just couldnt remember who.. so was making out I knew him hoping he'd say something in conversation that would happen to tell me. (After a few minutes he said something about my sister.. then I did know who he was).

 

[TinyT]

Wow those driving ones sound pretty scary!

Did you ever give up driving?

 

[Dainty]

Yikes, Tania, those are some pretty bad ones.

The last time I was behind the wheel I nearly caused an accident, because I forgot I had put the car in reverse. I was stopped at a light on a busy street and the car in front of me stalled, so everyone was backing up to try to give me enough room to lead the way in getting everyone out of it. I had backed up until the person behind me motioned to stop, and then stepped on the gas to move out....while still in reverse. I saw the guy behind me cringe and slammed on the breaks so hard, and was convinced that I had hit him. I completely froze until some people several cars back took charge of the situation, came up to me and I was nearly hysterical, "DID I HIT HIM?" They checked for me, checked with him, no everything was good, and they directed me out. I drove two minutes back to my friends, gave them my keys, and told them I'm not safe to drive, no matter what I say don't let me have these back. And they held me to it. About half an hour later I felt like I could drive again, and truthfully I probalby could have, as long as there were no unexpected situations, but that's the thing about safe driving is that you need to be able to safely navigate surprises. So I'm thankful my friends kept the keys from me, and I haven't driven since.

PS Many of these problems are because I cannot tell the difference between thinking about doing something and doing it. Since I have almost no memory of doing anything, the idea of doing sometimes fools me into thinking I have done and it can be a while before I go back and check, if at all.

Yes, exactly! On really bad days eating is the most difficult thing. I would keep thinking aobut calling my caretaker to bring me food but then I'd keep thinking I had already done it, or thinking aobut grabbing some nearby food but jsut keep forgetting. I'll go half a day really really hungry because I literlaly can't think well enough to carry out the action of eating or indicating to my caretaker that I need food.

Hip, it's almost like a kind of transient dementia, I think.

One of my most recent ones is that I poured some piping hot water into a glass, intending to add cold water the rest of the way for a pleasantly warm drink, but in those seconds I became thirsty and forgot that the water in my hand was very hot. I put the glass to my lips and took a hue swig of it....thankfully I recognized the situation before swallowing and spewed it all over the room. The whole inside of my mouth was burned.

 

[leaves]

I have never been able to drive. I did take driving lessons and drove the car total loss. I did eventually after many trials get my driving license, but I don't drive. I'd kill someone.

 

[Enid]

Strange thing about these "naming" lapses is the integrity of "selfhood" not lapsing. Very much aware perhaps overaware of the reactions around - kindnesses, avoidance, lesser intelligence though one may appear stupid at their/that level - just not the case.

 

[3CFIDS@ourhouse]

Well, I'm the one who didn't recognize the number 8, so that's probably my "best". The other day I wanted to play the messages that came in on the answering machine during nap time. We have a separate phone and answering machine. I picked up the phone and kept looking for the button to push to play the messages and couldn't figure out why it wasn't there! Because it's on the answering machine, silly! With three of us having CFS, you wouldn't believe the amount of food we've burned because nobody remembers that something was turned on high until we smell it...ummm, have you ever smelled burned kale? My husband was just making up a test for a student- he had questions 1 and 2 written, was working on number 3, and looked back at 1 and 2 and wondered what in the world they were doing on the paper. He knew he didn't write them. Maybe it's not fair to tell someone else's brain fog moments!

 

[Dainty]

Very much aware perhaps overaware of the reactions around - kindnesses, avoidance, lesser intelligence though one may appear stupid at their/that level - just not the case.

Yes. When someone changes their attitude towards me....dumbs down their speech, starts overdoing it on kindness, and the like it really irks me....I know they have only good intentions and I really can't blame them, but at the same time I want it to be known that I am mentally competent, despite my moments of brainfog.

Okay I have more stories....I'd say my "bast" was from a few years ago, I had called my caretaker to bring me a plate of food for dinner, I was very hungry and looking forward to eating it. So I receive the plate of food, my caretaker leaves, and the next thing I know....I can't find it! I was very hungry and certain I didn't eat it, and mostly bedridden so it's not like there were many places it could have gone. After carefully searching everywhere I could think of--twice--I called my caretaker again and was embarassed to ask for another plate of food, I misplaced the first one. SHe came in and searched all over first, she couldn't find it either, so I received my second plate of food and ate dinner.

The next morning I just happened to notice out of the corner of my eye something unusual in the bathtub....yep, I had placed my dinner in the bathtub. Don't ask...I haven't a clue as to what I was thinking.

Another time I needed my caretaker to help me look for the phone. She found it....in the trash.

I've opened my refrigerator to find books placed neatly inside as if on a bookshelf.

Am I the only one who's stepped into the shower clothed?

Oh, another one, breaking a glass and then forgetting about it before it's been cleaned up. Thankfully the danger of bare feet and broken glass is largely a myth or my feet would have been toast long ago.

 

[invisible ME]

Oh, some of these are just too awful to be funny! It is reassuring to know how common these experiences are. I don't think the term "brain fog" really does justice to these moments though. I can't imagine someone who hasn't experienced this reality thinking that something called brain fog could cause one to forget their own name.

Many times I've stepped into the shower with my glasses on or partially clothed. Not to mention how often I cannot remember if I've washed or shampooed, etc. Wait, what is this thing called "shampoo" in my shower?

Recently I was totally impressed with myself for attempting to wash the dishes at the end of a long day, until I realized I was standing in the kitchen with the faucet running on high, pouring all the dish detergent down the sink.

I remember years ago I used to drink barley grass, which I would mix in with some apple juice. (Gross!) Several times I would stir it in, and then take my carefully selected handful (there were a lot of them!) of supplements, empty them into the glass and stir again. And then try to drink. Ugh.

Two things that are very helpful in the day-to-day. (1) I have a stacking washer/dryer that sings every time the load ends. Of course, this only works if I act immediately, otherwise I will still forget about the laundry. (2) This I consider a must-have: A weekly pill sorter. Mine has 4 sections for each day. This is the only way I can know for sure if I've taken them. Taking them on time is still a challenge, and it doesn't help me remember if I take something extra. But it has made life a LOT easier.

 

[Enid]

Forgetting one's own name can be part of brain damage (temporary) of ME - invisibleme - I moved into full blown Myalgic Encephelomyalitis with loss of consciousness twice later. Just trying to keep the humour going which it was not. Brain "fogs" come later I can assure you after being able to move out of bed again.

 

[Mya Symons]

mya, your suppose to put the milk in the fridge and the cereal in the cupboard, just more then once a week though, lol.
Isnt it amazing how bad our memories are and i suppose many other non cfs people can have these episodes but not the amount we seem to have.

cheers!!!

Whoops. Wow! I meant the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard. I actually did it right that time. Hee Hee.

 

[meadowlark]

I got on the wrong plane. I was running--or rather, staggering--late, and when choosing gates, thought "left" but turned right. The airline attendants looked at my ticket and waved me to my seat. I realized I wasn't headed for Canada only when we were out on the tarmac and I heard the pilot say it was a beautiful day to fly to Norfolk, Virginia. I yelled something like "hey, hoo, wha?" The plane had to take me back to the gate. Meanwhile the correct plane had taken off. So I asked for a wheelchair and collapsed.

I'm now apartment- and bed-bound. God's way of saving me from myself.

 

[heapsreal]

my most annoying brain fog moment is when i shower and put soap under my arms and when i get out i have forgotten to wash the soap of from under my pits, especially when you have dried almost every other body part and then u discover the soap and have to jump back in quickly to wash off the pits, especially hate it in winter, lol.

I wonder if the saying, 'u would forget your head if it wasnt screwed on' was used for someone with me/cfs, maybe someone from the royal free hospital outbreak in the 1950s??
Although unscrewing your head would be a nice thing to be able to do sometimes, stick it in a bucket of ice water when u have a migraine, lol.

 

[anne_likes_red]

There was this time I went out 95% of me knowing I didn't own a red coat but 5% of me thinking I must do because I was wearing one.
I was a way down the street before I made the connection...it was a red bathrobe I owned...and yep I'd put it on to go out!

 

[perchance dreamer]

My cat's opinion

My cat thinks this was my worse brain fog moment: One morning I grabbed the wrong bag and accidentally poured litter into her food bowl instead of kibble.

 

[Tulip]

My cat thinks this was my worse brain fog moment: One morning I grabbed the wrong bag and accidentally poured litter into her food bowl instead of kibble.

I bet you got a filthy look for that to! (in true cat style) LOL.

 

[TinyT]

My cat thinks this was my worse brain fog moment: One morning I grabbed the wrong bag and accidentally poured litter into her food bowl instead of kibble.

Oh dear! Hope you realized soon enough