Yup, quite frequently, i also reverse my words, instead of washing the dishes, I ask, are you going to dish the water, or if I call the dogs, i frequently reverse the letters in their names, thus calling them with half the name of each dog. or how about going to McDonald's and asking for for ham fries and french burgers. I am to the point I just laugh, because there is nothing else to do but cry.

Hi all. First, thank you for making me laugh! I am not laughing AT you, but with you! Especially the driving away without the food! ( I wish I did that..maybe I would lose some weight! LOL) And i am picturing a windshield of post-it notes now!)
I almost feel like an imposter posting here because I am not (yet) officially diagnosed with SS...but I am still thinking it is a definate possibility for me as so many symptoms fit and although my tests were not positive, I have had false positive tests before for other things so...
But anyway, I DO have sever brain gof..OMG I meant FOG see that! (am shaking my head at that typo..it was not intentional yet funny I think! I once was writing about my brain fog and meant to say "I need fog lights for my brain fog" and instead wrote "I need fog logs for my brain fog")
Brain fog is also listed for CFS and menopause both of which I do have. It is horrible..and I used to pride myself on my memory. I am still pretty good at long term memory and dates for some reason....I can tell you a date in the past but can not tell you what happened two minutes ago.
I, too, have resorted to writing virtually everything down...and have notebooks and calendars and post its and little scraps of paper everywhere and it is so annoying!
It is scary when driving I will say that. I will forget to put my car in park, or be so brain tired that I should not even be in my car! I call it the "stoopits".
Shoot I lost my train of thought here...big surprise.
Monday my fog was so bad I had the news on but was not focused enough to comprehend it. I told my doctor this Monday afternoon and he asked me if I had ever been diagnosed with ADD...no I have not...and doubt I have that now at age 46.
I am on stimulant meds for the fatigue and sometimes they help the fog ( been on diff ones and just started a new one again yesterday), but not always.
I get so bad I will shave my underarm twice or put deodorant on under one arm and not the other. OMG!
Monday while at work I had to look down and see if I had put on two of the same shoes!
And medicines? I have to write down when I take them....one day I did not do that and took two by mistake!
Although I can and do laugh at myself, at the moment I do feel like crying because it is frightening to feel like I have Dementia ( which my father had and my aunt has)...and this is affecting my job and that can not happen!
Ok enough out of me on this topic..I just felt compelled to share my experiences.
Be well

Hi. I have brain fog and I've been having it for years. I was just DX'd last September and I'm still getting some diagnosing of things as I have multiple autoimmune diseases. I know a lot of us do. In addition to Sjogrens and Lupus, it now looks like I have Hasimoto's, but have to go through multiple tests. You know how it is. Anyway, so I have the brain fog, but I'm not real sure which problem is causing it... one of these, or fibromyalgia. Probably all of the above.

have a great day!

YES I too have this problem. Loosing the words, not recalling something that just happened. Puzzled look on my mug while I am fishing to find the word to use. Then being distracted by the look on the persons face as they watch you look for the word. Oh I am just glad I can come here and see I am not alone. How ever akward this is at times it can (with the right company) generate a laugh or two to help ease the embarassement. And yes my confidents is shaken also.
ps: Post it notes are my friend

Oops! Talk about fog..I was texting my youngest daughter and told her I was cuddling with Hayie, my granddaughter but I meant to text with Tassie, my dog!

lol. That's funny, M. I just try to play it off as much as I can. But......for how long??? before people just think I'm insane?? Ok, I am a bit insane so I guess I can play it off for a long time. Hell, may as well just add crazy to my list... lol I love you guys.

I just had to ask my Nanna, who is in her mid 90's where I put my keys. This was after I ran in to get us some coffee. From the counter to the condiment bar I couldn't for the life of me remember which was decaf or caf. Then walking to the car, even though I kept repeating sugar, right, sugar, right- I somehow gave Nanna the one without sugar. SHE'S IN HER 90s!
Isn't it crazy when the fog lifts though? I scramble to get as much done as I can like I'll turn into a zombie again at midnight.

Twodryeyes... at least you got your ham fries and your french burgers. I got nothing when I drove off:) LOL

Jeeplibby2... glad I made you laugh... we all need some of that with this horrible disease. If we ever meet, let me know which side of you to stand on... the side that smells good cause it got the deodorant:) LOL

DeetyB... You hit the nail on the head... I very often feel like I'm in my 90's.

This has a been a much needed funny discussion spot:) Thanks Tom!

Lace

The Calender says it is almost Easter. I am looking forward to hiding the eggs and then trying to find them with the grand babies. LOL. I'll probably find some of them when we mow the lawn next. YUCK. I've thought about making a yard diagram and marking them off as I hide them. (Joking of course)

Well...JUST wrote a 5-paragraph reply to this...pushed a "wrong button" & shazaam!!!...GONE!! Dont' ya'll just HATE that!? Anyhow....Coodos (sp?) to you Tom...for writing this topic! Most ppl are too hesitant to talk about this...too scary! Like so many here, I too had an extremely sharp memory/mind until ALL this started! Made straight A's through school, 4.0's in collegs, scored almost perfect on the Postal Exam, & was only 16 yrs old when I first entered college! I started having word/name recall problems 12 yrs ago...when I was working in the public school systems as a Speech-Language Pathologist! It could NOT have been "old age"...as I was only 33 then. It gradually got worse with time...then BAM...in the early spring of 2007...it was as if my mind & body decided to just "jump off of a cliff!" That's when ALL my neurological symptoms bombarded me bigtime!...although, I'd had MINOR parasthesias & Fibro "pain" symptoms prior to that.

Of ALL my numerous symptoms...the SPEECH-LANGUAGE/COGNITIVE/MEMORY issues did NOT fair well with my career as an SLP! I was having MAJOR brain crashes throughout the day...where it would just completely "shut down"...then when it decided to "reboot," I'd have NO idea WHO had been talking, or WHAT had been said/happened!? It was not only frightening...it left me completely incompetent to perform my job duties! These were the main symptoms that forced me to retire early. :( Of course, the ADD symptoms where I could no longer concentrate/read, multitask, organize, etc...didn't help either!

About the "brain crashes"...the worst incident that happened to me was when I was driving to work one morning down our dirt road...3 yrs ago...& had a sudden "brain crash!" When I'd come to my senses...I'd completely missed a sharp turn & was driving off into a field...right into a barbed-wire fence!...had to get a farmer to pull me out! Needless to say...this scared me to death!! I didn't tell my husband this until several months ago...for fear of "someone" taking my driver's license away! Of course, there are still numerous times (as there were then) when I'm driving...& the "brain crashes" kick in...but are much milder...whereas I simply can't remember WHERE I'm going...or WHY??

It was suggested to me in the MS forum (back then when it happened), that I might be suffering from "PARTIAL COMPLEX SEIZURES"...also known as "silent seizures." I'd studied this in grad school, & had worked with numerous students/patients who'd had this...but for some reason, I just couldn't...or didn't want to, equate this to ME! I've read where this is common with MS...but not sure about SjS.

Lace...I can soooo relate to the "driving off without the goods &/or money!"...have done this too many times to remember!...& STILL do it! LOL! And JeepLibby...try putting hair spray on your underarms & deodorant on you hair! I can't tell you how many times I've done this...I annoy myself!! LMAO! They found this one so funny over in the MS forum...that they asked my permission to use it in their new "MS Comedy Book." LOL! Yeah...might as well LAUGH at ourselves...I've found that CRYING dosn't help one bit...just brings on the MIGRAINES!! LOL! It's just SOOOOOO darn great to have a place to come to & discuss these things....so that I know I am NOT the ONLY person who deals with this insanity....DAILY!! LOL!
~tj

Boy I do hate when things get lost in cyber world. But hey, you deleted the rough draft and we got the better story:) LOL

I'm on the retreat commitee, planning a women's retreat for my church and I am finding that I may have taken on too much. I love doing stuff like that but it's getting harder to do my normal stuff.

Thank you for sharing your story. That must have been hard having to retire so young. The whole car thing is very scary. I feel for you. Hang in there... God must have some other great plans for you:)

Lace

Geez, with a memory like that maybe politics is in your future?

I can relate but far from that extreme my memory has gradually gotten better unless we do trivia. If I try and think of an actors name I draw a blank.
My favorite comment to people is , I was just reading your mind and drew a blank. -Of course after they mention they must have been reading my mind-. I know if they were reading my mind - they really would have drawn a blank.

I've gotten so tired from night trips that my driving skills are definitely diminished and I consider myself a excellent driver. I actually have let my oldest son drive when I get that way.
My vision gets blurry my mind wanders so I can relate.

I posted this because I knew people with SjS have a special version of brain fog.

I WISH I could cry that would be a daily event just for the tears. I cry my eyes hurt so bad I want to cry- lousy dilemma. Painful is the best way to describe it.

I highly recommend you all use a stick deodorant!

We have all had a lot of fun with this thread, even though it is a big daily reality for us. Before, I always thought it was because I was so tired all the time. I, also, was very intelligent and had great recall when I was younger. If I heard or wrote something once, I knew it. I was in the Ntl honor society and made Dean's list or President's list in college. By the time my Nursing career ended, we had a policy we went by to check an order 3 times: re reading the order on the med sheet, comparing the name on the medication to the order and then when we got to the room, we compared the name on the pt's bracelet to the name on the med sheet, and again confirmed the medication. I was checking things WAY more than that.
I too had a great mind for trivia, but now I almost get things said and they disappear. If I try very hard to remember, I draw a blank, but if I just move away from it, it finally pops into my head and I just say it out loud at a very odd time. One time I went to the gas station, went in to pay for my gas, went out and got into the car and drove away. Thankfully, when I realized and drove back, he had remembered and no one else had gotten my gas,.
The scariest time for me is the day to day times when I actually feel a fog inside my brain. Almost like I am trying to walk around asleep or walk through waist high water. During those times, a list doesn't help...I wouldn't think to look at it. My body will go to the restroom and get a drink of water, but I always have to double check meds and things like that.
I try to make things work by instinct. I have a very specific place where I put my keys. If they leave there, they clip onto my camera case as it is almost always with me. But I have found them in my pocket, lost in my purse etc. But the strict place for them helps.
I can offer no advice for anyone else going through this...only that we all do it. I have no clue as to what will help fix it.

http://drphil.com/shows/show/1436

I caught this yesterday because of the subject matter very interesting show. Water is a problem with brain function not enough we lose brain power. HUM.....Sjogrens dries you out any correlations?

I believe solid diet and the right mix of vitamins and exercise are critical. I started a very regimented diet over a year ago loads of antioxidants to boot. I know my brain function has gotten better obviously not back to 1990's levels but better.

I watched the show and they test you before and after the changes this girl score improved 21% in six weeks! She got brain power back using this method.

Worth a try for the people here running into barb wire fences . :-)

It gets so bad when I get tired. I start sentences and don't finish them, I can't remember words, and I feel like have I have lead in my blood and cotton candy in my brain! My kids say I talk like Yoda!