A Day In My Life With Brain Fog

Waking Up

I woke up at 12:30 PM (okay, I really woke up at 7 AM because my cat woke me up. I spent three hours playing with her then fell back asleep) and headed upstairs. I made coffee and while I put my sugar in it, I lost count of how many spoonfuls I'd done. I thought I'd done two, so I put another in. It turned out I'd already done three so I ended up with a too-sweet cup of coffee.

As I drank my coffee, I did my morning logic puzzle. I do this most mornings to guage where my brain is at. Sometimes I do cross words or problems in a book I have, but today I did sudoku. I can usually do the hardest level of sudoku on apps or websites when I don't have brain fog. Today, the hardest I could do was the medium puzzles, two levels lower than my normal, with multiple mistakes and a lot of frustration. Even with the easier level, it took me twice as long as usual.

I went downstairs to get dressed then realized that I had forgotten to take my morning medicine, so I went back upstairs and did it. After getting dressed and brushing my teeth, I had to go upstairs again to get my retainer, which I'd also forgotten.

I'd planned my day the night before but when I tried to remember what was on my to-do list, I drew a blank.

Afternoon

My mom asked me what I wanted from Panera for lunch. I told her I'd check the menu and text her back as soon as possible. I got distracted immediately and got a frantic text ten minutes later asking what I wanted.

We ate, I went downstairs, and remembered that I needed to tell my dad that I needed to change the filter on my air purifyer so I turned around halfway down the stairs.

I then started my homework: writing a critique letter of my fiction workshop for grad school. What usually takes me around half an hour took a full hour because I kept writing half a sentence and either forgetting what I was trying to say or not being able to think of the word I needed.

I tried to read for class but found myself re-reading a sentence two or three times and not understanding what it said, so I set the reading aside and stretched. When I went back to reading, it was easier to follow but by the end I was struggling again.

While sitting at my desk doing this work, I repeatedly re-opened my e-mail because I would remember that I needed to check it, then as soon as I saw that I didn't have any new messages, I'd remember that I'd just checked it.

At this point, I've accomplished around 2 hours of work. My brain is overwhelmed now so I went to lie down on the couch and watch YouTube. I realize at this point that I had been texting my friend earlier and had forgotten to reply- I reached out and told him to nudge me if I don't reply again.

At some point I picked up my phone and went and did something. It took me ten minutes to find it. It was sitting on my bed in clear view.

Class

I had a class in the evening. We jumped right into class and started with a get-to-know me exercise which was easy to pay attention to because everyone was animated.

When my teacher started introducing the discussion we were about to have, I kept getting lost. With brain fog, my brain works on a lag, so if there's not enough time between sentences I miss some things because I'm still processing what was just said.

We had the discussion, which was about a very difficult topic, and that was pretty okay for me other than some aphasia (not being able to think of words I was reaching for). Luckily, I'm used to this and could work around it.

When we started discussing our readings, I wanted to keep asking my teacher to repeat what they were saying because of my lag. Between trying to keep up with her and trying to take note of what she was was saying I'm sure I missed a lot of the points. Even though I was completely engaged and took notes, I couldn't tell you what I learned because none of it stuck. I'll have to re-write my notes tomorrow and research the topics we went over in addition to all my other homework.

After class I go make tea and can't remember if earl grey is supposed to be steeped in boiling water. I turn the kettle on and pull out my mug, then forget I was making tea and start making my dinner (it's an electric kettle- I remembered when it beeped.) I also stood next to the stove the entire time my boxed mac and cheese was cooking even though I'd forgotten my phone downstairs and I wanted to get get it, because I knew if I did go and get it, I might get distracted. While I was making dinner, I unpacked my medicine that had arrived from my by-mail pharmacy so that I could take just the medicine downstairs and not the packaging.

Evening

I went downstairs and settled in to watch more YouTube- the only thing I had the mental capacity to really do. Eventually I went upstairs to get ice cream and saw the medicine on the counter and realized I'd forgotten it.

When I was done with my dessert, I went back downstairs and removed my makeup. I then realized I'd left my meds upstairs yet again, went back upstairs, and took it striaght to my bedroom and put it on my night stand because I knew if I set it down somewhere I'd never find it again.

While watching YouTube, I thought about a moment during the day where I realized I was referring to someone in my class as by he/him pronouns and stopped to ask if I was using the right pronouns. I then second guessed this memory and it took me a little while to completely remember that this was, in fact, part of my dream last night.

Bed Time

I am completely exhausted now because my brain is tired. This means I've been awake for around 8 hours and been able to be productive for four of them.

I also am now realizing that I forgot to do my inhaler while I was upstairs, and will have to go back up and do that. The thought process that follows is: do I need to bring anything upstairs with me? do I need to bring anything back down? is there anything I need to tell my parents while I'm upstairs?

Before I go to sleep, I'll take my meds-- all neatly tucked away into a pretty pink pill box because otherwise I won't remember if I actually took my meds or if I just think I did. Luckily I have an easier time remembering to take my night time meds. I'll also make a to-do list for tomorrow before I go to bed, including all the things I couldn't get done today because my brain fog was too bad. And I hope it'll be better tomorrow.