What is Brain Fog? | Discover the Causes & Learn to Eliminate It

There are many causes of brain fog, from overworking, overstressing, lack of sleep, too much computer time and more, your brain can become overworked. Most people have experienced mental fog or brain fog at some point in their lives. Forgetfulness is common among older adults, but age is not the only factor. It can happen to anyone, at any age, for any number of reasons. So, what is brain fog, why does it happen and what can you do about it?

Do you have autoimmunity, or are you at risk for developing it?

What is Brain Fog?

So, what is brain fog? Those who suffer with brain fog often complain of confusion, mental fatigue, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus and mental clarity. Brain fog itself is not a medical condition but instead a symptom of other medical conditions. You may be experiencing brain fog if you suffer from:

  • Confusion. This is characterized by slurred speech, loss of train of thought, pausing for long periods of time when speaking
  • Difficulty focusing
  • Memory issues
  • Lack of mental clarity

    what is brain fog

What Causes Brain Fog?

This is a big question to answer, since brain fog can be caused by a multitude of things from overworking to speeding too much time on your computer. We’ll go over some of the biggest causes of brain fog now.

Stress

Chronic stress, or high levels of it can increase blood pressure, weaken our immune system, and even cause depression. It can also cause mental fatigue. Even anxiously worrying about stressful topics can cause difficulty focusing on work tasks or home life activities.

Poor Sleep

A lack of sleep wreaks havoc on our minds and can leave us with the same feeling as brain fog. A lack of good quality sleep can disrupt your ability for your brain cells to communicate with each other, which can affect memory and visual perception.

Hormonal Changes

Levels of the hormones progesterone and estrogen increase during pregnancy and estrogen decreases during menopause, and these changes can affect memory and cause short-term cognitive impairment. For men, a lower testosterone level can also explain mental fatigue.

Medical Conditions

Medical conditions that are associated with inflammation, fatigue, or changes in blood glucose level could cause you to experience brain fog. There are several types of medical conditions that may have brain fog as a symptom.

  • Anemia
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Viral infections (such as COVID-19)
  • Dehydration
  • Fibromyalgia

Do you have autoimmunity, or are you at risk for developing it?

How to Treat Brain Fog

Depending on the cause of your brain fog, treatments can vary. If your brain fog is not caused by a medical condition, there are a few options to try at home.

  • Getting a sufficient amount of quality sleep. It is recommended that adults get 7-9 hours.
  • Managing your stress levels. You can employ meditation, journaling, or light exercise to help ease life stressors.
  • Exercise your mind. Brain puzzles and memory games are a good way to exercise your mind.

Autoimmunity and Brain Fog

Those with autoimmunity have an immune system that is attacking their own cells. Now, you may or may not know you have autoimmunity, but one of the ways that you can see or feel autoimmunity is with the symptom of brain fog. If you have difficulty focusing, concentrating, remembering things, and overall poor cognitive behavior, it could be due to autoimmunity.

Other ways that autoimmunity can affect brain fog is due to chemical exposure, such as putting things on your skin like sunscreen, lotion or makeup. Those kinds of things can provoke a reaction in your body. It could even be due to reactions to certain foods or exercise.

Now, if that infection becomes chronic and long term, then you can experience those difficulties with learning or focusing on doing your job. If a lot of these symptoms sound like you, whether your brain fog is caused by your food, chemicals, poor sleep or exercise, you might have autoimmunity.

Tried these Tips and Still Tired After Sleeping?

If you recognize these symptoms as your own for what is brain fog, then I recommend trying these tips to see if they help. If brain fog doesn’t get better after utilizing these tips, it could be the cause of an overactive immune system. If that’s the case, then the immune system being out of balance can lead to it consuming a lot of the body’s energy to try to resolve whatever it sees as an issue, which will cause you to feel mentally fatigued. 

When your immune system is attacking your own cells on a chronic basis gradually, over time this can lead to destruction of your own tissues. If the symptoms discussed here sound like you, then I encourage you to sign up for my upcoming webinar, Autoimmunity Finding Solutions That Last. Sign up to attend my free webinar today, it just might change your life.

At Whole Body Health, we do not treat symptoms or suppress body functions. We are different from mainstream medicine. Medications compete with the body’s innate ability to control itself. Our approach focuses on being the detective to find what your body is missing, provide that and remove what it doesn’t need so you can heal naturally!

Don’t wait to get motivated, to take better care of yourself, to develop symptoms or to realize your life is precious. You have the power to make a choice and decide how you want to take care of yourself and your family. You can make a positive impact on your help. Make your health a priority today.

If you’ve got more questions on what is brain fog, reach out to us, we’re here to help. If you’re interested and, in the Vienna, VA area, you can schedule an appointment with Dr. David Gustitus by filling out our new patient intake form. You can also call us at (571) 378-0108 or reach out to us via email. We’re located at 8391 Old Courthouse Road, #350, Vienna, VA 22182.

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