Hey everyone, either welcome back or welcome to my channel. And in today’s
video, I want to talk about and describe what it’s like having brain fog when I have migraines.
So, before I get into any more details, time for the intro!
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One of the hardest symptoms that I think I’ve had to deal with, and I mean all of
them are hard but it’s particularly frustrating because you’re used to a certain level of brain
functioning and for me, my brain is usually pretty quick when I’m having good days or
even before I had migraines, I could think really clearly and I could remember things
fairly well on the spot. Throw in brain fog and it’s a completely different thing that
happens and it’s almost like I lose my ability to be who I am in that particular case.
The first one I want to get into is that my memory doesn't work very well at all.
What’ll happen during this brain fog is I won’t remember pretty much very much
if anything. I’m going to give you a scenario here and for those of you who don’t have
migraines, it’s a very similar feeling to as if you were trying to study or learn something
new on two or three hours of sleep so you are exhausted. It’s very difficult to concentrate.
Trying to think and trying to learn during these times are pretty much impossible. And, I think
people are surprised when especially somebody young and they’re like oh, I told you that the other
day and you don’t remember it and you’re like no, I...my brain was just not working properly
because I was at the start of a migraine and I had this brain fog. Now, the brain fog for me
also happens in the last phase of the migraine so that postdrome phase. I do honestly think
though it’s a little bit different of a feeling in the different phases but it is a type of brain
fog. One is an inability to concentrate on anything or it’s like my brain stops functioning
and then the other one is more of a fogginess where you feel so exhausted like you just ran
a brain marathon
like as if you’ve been writing an exam for several hours. It’s a very different type of
thing and it’s very much a fatigue in that last phase.
The next one I want to get into is issues with focus and concentration. One of the
easiest ways that I can actually tell that I might be getting a migraine is if I’m trying
to do a lot of reading and all of a sudden I start having concentration and focus issues.
And it just won’t be that the pages are out of focus because my eyes are being funky. It’s
a specific concentration issue where I almost have to slow down and particularly focus
extremely hard because although I’m reading the words on the particular article or whatever
I might be reading, nothing is not actually sticking. It’s like if you’re reading a book and then your
mind goes to a different place and you were reading those words but those words actually
weren’t computing. It’s just like a… almost like an autopilot. It’s almost like
you wake up three paragraphs later and you don’t remember exactly what you’ve
been reading. It’s kind of like that with the concentration and focus issues that I get when
I’m getting a migraine. Now, when I’m at the start of the focus and concentration issues,
that’s when I usually have to move on and go okay, I will not be able to finish reading this or do this or
focus on this until this has passed. And then once it has passed, I’m okay but
between the focus and concentration issues and then what’s actually happening with my
eyes where sometimes my vision will double. It did that with IIH. I had double vision for
several months without relief. This can happen when I’m honestly even enjoying something that
I really do enjoy. Even if it’s something I am particularly interested in, spend a lot of time
actually when I’m not doing my own stuff, it can be really quite hard because you just
notice that you feel like you’re not completely there in the moment.
My whole point I guess with this is just saying that if you notice someone who has
migraines maybe having trouble focusing and all of that, just give them a little bit of extra
leeway because they’re probably having issues with concentration and focus.
And it’s not that person’s fault. It’s a part of the migraine and this is another one of those
examples of how migraines are just so much more than the actual headache. The focus and
concentration issues can be extremely debilitating and even though it’s not that particular thing is not
particularly painful, it’s important to have, I think, a lot of patience with it because it
can affect that person so much.
Another common thing that often happens when I go through these types of things is I
have trouble keeping up and it can seem like I may be on a delay with my responses,
so I may take longer to respond than normal and I guess my biggest piece of advice with
regards to this is just have patience with your family member or loved one. It’s a lot that
that person is going through when they’re experiencing a migraine and patience is
very important, I think, in this case.
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Bye everyone!