Migraine with Brain Fog
Hi everyone,
I (27M) am writing this post regarding my ongoing struggle with chronic migraine over the last 2-3 years. My symptoms are a little unusual in the sense the main symptom is what I would call 'brain fog'. A chronic, 24/7 never ending brain fog (a mix of pressure, tingling, buzzing, soreness, diziness, ringing) emanating from the back right of my head. It feels as if someone has smacked me round the head with a baseball bat. I lose my train of thought every 10 seconds. My minds eye is particularly impaired. I find it difficult to learn new things. It feels as if my my 'IQ' has dropped significantly (not that it was high before) and I'm much slower than usual. As if my nerve signals are travelling through molasses. Not to mention I'm dog tired all the time and perpetually frustrated at my own ineptitude.
I'm writing this to see if anyone has had any experience with similar symptoms, and possibly to share in the misery if anyone else is going through this.
I'm trying my best to keep a positive and hopeful mindset that things will improve. I'm taking antidepressants now on the advice of a neurologist. It does seem to be attacking the region where I feel the symptoms emanating from, but progress is slow going.
I would appreciate any advice, psychological or medical about how I can help myself. If anyone has been through/going through a similar situation. What medicines were most effective? Did your symptoms ever go away? What mindset did you adopt to cope? I take some comfort from the 'myth of Sisyphus', but in my darker moments I feel like this will never get better and I have will have to give up on my aspirations in life.
Thanks for taking the time to acknowledge a random stranger on the internet. I wish everyone the best with their journey.
Hi
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Living with migraine is exhausting, isolating and frustrating and I want you to know you're not alone. Migraine is thought to be a complex neurological disease, falling on a spectrum, that can impact our entire body.
Brain fog can be quite debilitating, I'm sorry you deal with this. We have more information on brain fog here; 1) https://migraine.com/search?s=brain%20fog. Do you currently have anything that helps with brain fog?
I do wonder if it's time to seek out help from a doctor who is a true expert in treating migraine and headache disease. The thing is general neurologists may be fine doctors, however it's difficult for them to be experts in one disease state as they treat so many including stroke, MS, epilepsy, Parkinson's and more. Migraine/headache experts have extra board certification in headache medicine that not all neurologists, and treat migraine and headache all day, every day. They can have a huge impact in our care. I can tell you first hand these experts have made a positive difference in my quality of life. Let me share some of our articles on this topic:
2) https://migraine.com/living-migraine/evaluating-doctor-patient-relationship-right-fit
3) https://migraine.com/living-migraine/how-to-evaluate-doctor
4) https://migraine.com/blog/really-find-headache-specialist
5) https://migraine.com/living-migraine/hiring-right-doctor
6) https://www.ucns.org/Online/Online/Diplomate_Directory.aspx?hkey=f8f00552-f924-4ef6-a9bb-6023b1cd341b
I'm sure others will be along shortly to share their experience with you. Please let me know your thought and I'm sending you pain free wishes, Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator (team member)Brain fog happens for me like now when I have a hemiplegic migraine.
It depends. Thankfully, the nerve block at least helped with that. No longer twitching or foggy. But really tired and still have a bit of a headache. 
Thank you so much for circling back to let us know how you're feeling. Glad you're having some improvement and hope the rest of the symptoms and pain quiet and lift soon. Thinking of you and sending calm and healing energy. Warmly - Holly (team member)
