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

[Antares in NYC]

So many examples, so little time, so little memory left too.

Some of my worse brainfog moments were sad and tragic, some other funny and frustrating. Here's a few I can remember, although I'm sure there are hundreds more that I can't recall. I'll mix the sad and funny ones to make it less dramatic:

• Forgetting my mother's maiden name (this was very sad to me, and probably was the point I realized my cognitive issues were in a free fall).
• Unable to remember how to write the number four (4) while writing a check at the bank. The people in line behind me were not amused. The weird thing was that I truly couldn't remember what the number 4 looked like, and what kind of movements you needed to do with the pen to draw it. Very bizarre. It all came back a few minutes later, but that lapse felt like an eternity.
  
• Spending one hour looking for my house keys, making it late for an appointment as a consequence, when I had the keys in my hand (IN MY HAND!!!!) the whole time.
• Purchasing the same items several times, unaware that I already had them (it happened with a jacket, a couple of books and records, other things)
• Forgetting the names of most of my childhood teachers, friends, and classmates. Most of my childhood and youth are blurs surrounded by thick fog. I only remember some random, foggy memories here and there.
• Constantly calling my relatives by the wrong name (particularly my brothers and my nephews and nieces)
• Having a conversation with former college friends about a fun spring break trip, and unable to remember anything they were mentioning. I stood there nodding and smiling, but it felt like they were talking about someone else. Apparently we had some fun at that spring break. I can recall nothing about that trip, except kissing a girl. Hey, at least I have that!
  
• Locking myself out of the apartment more than once. Ok, more than twice...
• Taking the wrong subway without even noticing, realizing way too late into the trip.
• Unable to ever remember new people's names. I'm good with faces, but can't remember names at all.

So many more like those, almost daily.

PS: I just realized how much of myself is gone already. So many memories already lost forever. All that it used to be "me" is barely a blur of what it was. This is so disconcerting.

 

[Invisible Woman]

In a supermarket with the other half. He left me in the veg aisle while he nipped off to get something. I was supposed to be choosing veg but I just literally couldn't think. I was frozen like a rabbit in headlights. It was too loud, too bright & everyone was moving too fast. I just told myself "you're fine, just stand here and he'll come back to find you sooner or later" except my legs & back were killing me and standing hurts so much more than walking sometimes.

I stayed calm and looked around for a 6 foot bloke with short, very dark hair. Couldn't remember what he was wearing. Finally spotted him, went up and put my arm around him for balance. Relief very slowly turned to shock when it dawned on me that I was hugging a very surprised Chinese gentleman (my chap is Irish) who looked rather horrified. Stuttered apologies.

Heard sniggering behind me - & there he was: my husband doubled up laughing having witnessed the whole thing.

Still annoyed that the bloke looked so horrified though. My husband thought it was extra funny 'cause it took at least a couple of minutes for me to realize that the guy was staring at me in shock.

 

[Firefly_]

I have a few from the trivial to the tragic (to me at least!).

Was at Walgreens to pick up my meds a few days ago and they always ask for my address as a means of verifying my identity--I couldn't remember it and after a few moments the pharmacist just said "well, it happens", yeah. They gave them to me anyways. I've lived at this address for 5 years.

At the beginning of my illness when I was still trying to work, I went to the post office and picked up my businesses mail from the box. Walked out of the post office, opened the car door and started climbing into the drivers seat (was an suv) and damn near sat on some poor lady's lap! She started laughing, I was laughing, all the while apologizing profusely blushing to my toes. Wrong car.

Now the tragic, a few days before Christmas I was on the phone with my younger daughter who lives out of state where she attends college. She said "can you believe I'm 20 now? (Her birthday is at the beginning of December) and I said holy shit Adrianna, did I call you? She said no, I said oh my god, I didn't even send you a card! She was so cool and understanding about it (I'm blessed to be surrounded by loved ones that are understanding and empathetic and supportive ). When our conversation and my profoundest apologies were done I hung up the phone and cried.

 

[jadam914]

My memory is so shot I can't remember recent events well since this major onset. However, I remember a few years ago I was on my computer and the screen said "press any key" I looked for a couple minutes perplexed and I just could not find the "any" key:thumbdown:. Went to the kitchen for a drink, came back and it dawned on me, I just need to hit ANY key.

I have also been reading and came to words I can't read or recognize as if in a foreign language.

 

[jadam914]

One symptom I get a lot is anomia = problems recalling words or names. I have trouble with this, even for very well known people or things.

In mid-conversation I often have to ask real basic stuff that I just cannot remember there and then, like: "what's that president's name, you know, the one that was shot in a theater....?". The reply to my question comes with a quizzical look and slightly raised eyebrow: "Lincoln". And then with this name reminder, I can carry on: "Yes, Lincoln. Well, blah, blah, blah,...", and I am able to continue with what I wanted to say.

I've done that with family and health care professionals. I start describing it "you know, that thing .............used to ..........change channels"

 

[Mrs Sowester]

My worst was standing in front of the gas oven turning all the knobs trying to work out which was on and which was off and trying to work out how to stop the gas hissing out...
I do word finding like you jadam914, I've added mime to my descriptive technique, it's hilarious at the doctors

 

[JuliaMaple]

So interesting to read all these stories/examples.

One thing I constantly have, again and again, is troubles with making coffee in the morning. I fill the water-tank so that the machine can make the coffee, and then walk to the trash bin for some reason and throw the water in the bin.. .. then I press the button of the machine so that it can make coffee. Which does not work because I have the empty water-tank in my hands.
I stand there puzzled and confused.

For some reason my brain seems to think the trash bin is the coffee maker.
Its really annoying because I will have to take out the bag of trash then because otherwise the water will leak out etc. And then I have to fill the coffee machine with water again.
I often get angry with myself for being such a .. well .. retard. But I cannot help it, my brain just does not get it anymore. It makes other people laugh though which I can really understand.
To the kids I try to explain it by saying that my brain is only 3% awake in the early morning, and that this is why it tries to make coffee. Which makes them laugh. But in reality its really unsettling and scary really.
Coffee is a life saver for me in this regard, it does make the brain-fog less for a while. I know its not good with POTS to drink coffee but without it I am lost.

A little while ago I had a whole day in which I could not remember my age. I did know my birth date for some reason but the brain-fog was so bad that I could not calculate the age. I also could not remember my pin-code and my own home phone number.

Another thing that is really difficult when I have brain-fog is remembering the 5 minute routes that lead to places where I often go, like the supermarket. Sometimes I cannot remember how to get there, even when I do it daily or weekly.
I step on my bike then, ride, and then realize I have no idea of how to get there. When it is at its worst I go back home and use google maps to see how I can get there.
When I do arrive there the whole 'finding everything you need' is a whole new chapter lol.
Frustrating and scary.

When I have moments without brain-fog, all these issues change back to normal completely.
Brain-fog has changed my life completely.

 

[panckage]

At my worst I almost got hit by a car since I gained the Darwinian habit of crossing streets on the red light side. I would look at the crossing signal but somehiw my brain would think it is the walking man as opposed to the red hand

 

[Kinesis]

Oh wow, these are great. And horrible.

Mine hasn't been super bad yet, but twice now I've found myself growing really impatient with the stove not heating my food. It took fifteen or twenty minutes to realize I forgot to turn the stove on.

Forgetting the topic of conversation completely all of a sudden and having to really struggle even when someone repeats it.

Having brain fog makes me feel like my brain is a rubik's cube and someone suddenly decided to scramble it and try to solve it. Just when you finally start to get somewhere they turn a face on the cube and send you into a whole new confusion.

Normally my thoughts are crystal and lucid, but as soon as i'm in the fog I can feel an invisible labyrinth between me and comprehension. Like I can feel the concepts hit dead ends and bounce around somewhere else.

It's actually kind of fascinating, isn't it?

 

[kt_]

I have so many little things. I really hate the brain fog, but it's kind of reassuring that so many people here just get it.

I was out at the hospital for an appointment with my mother, and we decided to go to the cafe there for a drink. The waitress left the bill on our table - it just had the prices of each item listed, so mum started searching for change in her bag and I thought I'd add it up while she looked to help her out. It was ridiculous. There were 3 items on the bill and I just couldn't add them up. I'd come up with a number (and I honestly don't know where I pulled that number from), and then look again and realise it was wildly inaccurate. I'd try again, but I was just getting more and more confused and frustrated because the numbers wouldn't go together. I didn't even think to use the calculator on my phone. Eventually, mum just took over and did it for me in a matter of seconds.

Apparently, I drove through a stop sign one day with my partner in the car. I have no memory of this at all, which terrifies me. I honestly don't think I even processed that there was a sign. That was probably the most worrying incident of brain fog I've had (at least that I remember). Sometimes, it's as though my brain just can't handle multiple stimuli so it...almost blocks certain stuff out. I no longer really trust myself to drive.

I'd been bedbound for a while, but had started making improvements and decided to shower myself on a shower chair one day. I was so proud of myself for managing it, and it wasn't until I got back into bed and felt my hair that I realised I hadn't washed the shampoo out of it and that it was all soapy still. I was too exhausted to actually find it that big of a deal, so just decided to lie there in this half-conscious stupor. I came to a few hours later and had completely forgotten about it (again). I wondered why my hair felt so strange and slimy, and it took me a while to remember the shampoo was still in it haha.

 

[Sososleepy]

Walking off with other people's baskets in grocery stores and not being able to remember where my house is when driving

 

[taniaaust1]

Lately it seems that every time I loose something, I end up finding it sitting on my lap. My elderly friend had to tell me the other day when I said I had no idea where I'd put something that it was actually sitting on me.

I also was walking around the house looking for my phone when I actually had it in my hand.

 

[taniaaust1]

Apparently, I drove through a stop sign one day with my partner in the car. I have no memory of this at all, which terrifies me. I honestly don't think I even processed that there was a sign.

take care, that was the very reason why I ended up giving up driving.. you may need to consider doing so.

I lived in country town and I'd been seen by people about the town driving through stop signs not even being aware of them more then once. (I'd also did the same thing at a roadworks so didnt slow down and then almost ran over one of the road workers who actually had to jog out of the way to avoid being hit).

 

[Little Bluestem]

I make my tea in a pan and pour it into my tea mug. This morning I looked and looked for the mug. I finally found it in the microwave with my bedtime tea from the night before still in it. (I sometimes wait so long to pour it up that it gets cold, so I have to microwave it.)

 

[Chieftain]

Forgot my lock code!

 

[Judee]

This past year I've started dreaming about my fatigue...where I can really feel it in the dream.

Because my recent testing shows arrythmias, I've been trying to substitute more decaf coffee for the caffeine kind. It's a balancing act though because last night I dreamed about my confusion and actually woke up feeling so so confused. My brain needs the caffeine but my heart does not. Yikes.

 

[Zebra]

Hi, @Judee

Thank you for resurrecting this thread!

I didn't even know it existed. I could have made some hilarious (or scary) contributions over the years.

I don't have anything to offer up now, but responding to "bump up" the thread and see if more folks will contribute and keep the thread active. It's a good one!

 

[Springbok1988]

One morning I got up around 8 am and laid down on the couch to watch some TV. At 8:50 am I looked at the time and thought it was pm so I got ready for bed. Only when I went to brush my teeth and noticed the brush was already wet did it dawn on me that it was still morning.

Another one… I like checking the Flightradar24 app to see where airplanes are coming from and going to. The other day I heard a car driving by and opened the app to see where they were going.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Could simply supplement the thread with a subtitle: how many times did I nearly burn down the kitchen?

Or a tag line: how many pans have we destroyed this year?

Its also called: when I just have to take down the smoke alarms...because they get triggered so often, and they cause hearing damage.

thought it was pm so I got ready for bed

This might be candidate for first place or three extra gold stars on forehead.....it's likely not something I would do, as I can solidly tell the difference between 8 am and 8 pm.

 

[Judee]

This one too.

Seems that brain fog often involves the confusion and miscategorisation of similar things.

So a door bell is in a similar category to a telephone, namely: the category of things that make a sound that you need to respond to.

And a bathrobe is in a similar category to a coat.

Seems that brain fog involves doing or selecting things that are wrong, but are in the same category as the right thing.

Some of the odd but oddly similar word substitutions I have made:

Conditioner instead of fabric softener
Jewelry instead of silverware
Un-drivers instead of passengers
Graham Crackers for Grilled Cheese – I seem to do that —my mind grabs word combinations that start with the same letter when I can’t find the right ones.
Saint Francis for State Farm (an insurance company in the US).
Blend it with the weedwacker instead of stick blender
Sleeping bag, then pillow cloth...instead of pillow case (to which my Mom responded cutely, "It's the pillow’s sleeping bag.")