BRAIN FOG!
I am dedicating a page to brain fog as it is a symptom of POTS that can be very bad and very frustrating at times. Brain fog is caused by lack of blood moving to the brain, the brain needs blood to function and in a POTS patient their blood circulation is very bad so the brain does not get the blood it needs. This leaves the patient with a huge feeling of being "baffled" and not knowing what is going on or what they are saying or what they have just said.. it is very frustrating and people do not understand the seriousness of this brain fog.
In my experience when I get brain fog I feel very confused and very annoyed with myself because I simply cannot get the right words out or even speak properly but in my head I know exactly what I need to say. I forget the simplest of things like, if the phone rings and they leave a message..I will not remember 2minutes later who was on the phone and anything that was said. I will forget appointments. I forget where I put things..and I mean I am sat down I put my phone down next to me and 2 minutes later I am searching high and low for it!
People can be forgetful and that is normal but for someone who has POTS it is extreme! .. you don't remember things at the best of times. you forget birthdays, appointments, even what you ate for lunch!...I will be talking and half way through a sentence I will go blank and forget everything I have just said! It will usually take me ages to remember and carry on the conversation and I ALWAYS ask my mum and who ever I am talking to "what did I just say" or "what was I saying"
I have to write sticky notes and put them on my walls.. so I remember what I am doing that day.. but 90% of the time I wont remember even reading the notes!
Everything I have said I must stress to people that it is very important for them to understand when talking to some one who has POTS that their brain fog is not just normal "forgetfulness" being forgetful and brain fog are two totally different things all together. forgetfulness is forgetting what your going to do next.. or forgetting to put the bins out..brain fog is forgetting where you are going when you are walking somewhere or totally forgetting anything you have just said or done. forgetting where you are or even how you ended up there! and when I have a very bad brain fog and I try to talk it is impossible!! my words come out like "hi erm did you like that cup early that coffee?" when in fact I am trying to ask.. "did you like your cup of coffee?"
The key to talking to a POTS patient who is suffering with the brain fog is to be PATIENT and understanding and to let them know it's OK! We do forget things and when we do it eats away at us and we kick ourselves for not remembering that birthday card! so if we do please understand it is not our fault. a little encouragement is needed..help us remember little things. encourage us when we are down about forgetting and let us know it's ok :)
In my experience when I get brain fog I feel very confused and very annoyed with myself because I simply cannot get the right words out or even speak properly but in my head I know exactly what I need to say. I forget the simplest of things like, if the phone rings and they leave a message..I will not remember 2minutes later who was on the phone and anything that was said. I will forget appointments. I forget where I put things..and I mean I am sat down I put my phone down next to me and 2 minutes later I am searching high and low for it!
People can be forgetful and that is normal but for someone who has POTS it is extreme! .. you don't remember things at the best of times. you forget birthdays, appointments, even what you ate for lunch!...I will be talking and half way through a sentence I will go blank and forget everything I have just said! It will usually take me ages to remember and carry on the conversation and I ALWAYS ask my mum and who ever I am talking to "what did I just say" or "what was I saying"
I have to write sticky notes and put them on my walls.. so I remember what I am doing that day.. but 90% of the time I wont remember even reading the notes!
Everything I have said I must stress to people that it is very important for them to understand when talking to some one who has POTS that their brain fog is not just normal "forgetfulness" being forgetful and brain fog are two totally different things all together. forgetfulness is forgetting what your going to do next.. or forgetting to put the bins out..brain fog is forgetting where you are going when you are walking somewhere or totally forgetting anything you have just said or done. forgetting where you are or even how you ended up there! and when I have a very bad brain fog and I try to talk it is impossible!! my words come out like "hi erm did you like that cup early that coffee?" when in fact I am trying to ask.. "did you like your cup of coffee?"
The key to talking to a POTS patient who is suffering with the brain fog is to be PATIENT and understanding and to let them know it's OK! We do forget things and when we do it eats away at us and we kick ourselves for not remembering that birthday card! so if we do please understand it is not our fault. a little encouragement is needed..help us remember little things. encourage us when we are down about forgetting and let us know it's ok :)