The Fog Days of Summer

After surviving the longest, wettest, coldest spring that I can remember in the Pacific Northwest, I am having trouble adjusting to the fact that it's mid June. Mid-June! Unbelievable. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that summer is right around the corner. Our weather is certainly not doing a thing to convince me that it is truly the middle of June.

Unfortunately, the thick bank of fibrofog that has descended on me is right on schedule. Maybe even a little early. I can't figure out why but mid-June to mid-July is my foggiest season but it is. And it really bums me out. My pain and stiffness are easing up and the feeling of general malaise is dissipating, so I should be doing really good. Why, why, WHY does this time of year always get ruined by the damn fog?

In the past, I've suspected maybe it's the adjustment to the kids being out of school and not getting into a routine right away. Maybe it's the sleeping in a little later and not getting out to walking the dog as early. But the fog is here and the kids are not yet out of school so that can't be it. It also can't be the typical weather pattern of marine clouds in the morning and afternoon sun because we haven't gotten to that yet. (Although that does seem to aggravate my fog).

Whatever it is, I wish it would go away. I hate feeling like this. I feel so disconnected from everyone and even from myself. I can't focus my eyes. I can't process half of what goes on around me. I can't think straight (or at all sometimes). Life just doesn't seem...real. It reminds me of when you're halfway to getting drunk, when your brain slows down and it feels like everything is moving too fast around you and shifting around in jerky motions. (At least that's how I remember feeling when halfway to drunk - I don't drink anymore. I spend too much of my life trying to obtain mentally clarity to throw it away on substances that make me feel weird!)

Somewhere in the distant, fogged in corners of my mind, I can remember posting an article about supplements to take to help with the fog. (Or did I only think about posting it?) I think it's time for me to hunt down that article and try some of those supplements because I do not want to feel like this for the next month.

Wherever you are, I hope your weather and your fibro symptoms are treating you better!

Namaste!

Trish

An Interesting Article on Fibrofog

Finally, an article that recommends some medications and supplements that might help with fibrofog! http://www.prohealth.com/fibromyalgia/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14402&B1=EM021611&slvor=10594.1032735.0.1.0.37055&eid=fibrohaven%40gmail.com

It lists tricyclic antidepressants as possibly making fibrofog worse but it seems like my fibrofog episodes are much less severe since I started taking amitryptiline. Of course, I'm only taking 20 mg and I'm not feeling much of a sedative effect.

I'm certainly willing to try some of the supplements. CoQ10 is expensive but it also helps with fatigue so a round of it might be worth a try.

Another thing I found very interesting about this article is that it talks about how fibrofog might be caused by all the extra signals the brain is receiving because of pain and fatigue. Something I've noticed is that I get brain fog from being somewhere noisy with lots of movement and different things going on. My brain essentially shuts down for the rest of the day after time spent in noisy, busy environments. I wonder if it's the same thing - the brain becoming overwhelmed with too many signals?

Does this happen to you? Have you found anything that helps with it?

Fighting the Fibrofog

Warning: This post is sure to fairly incoherent because I am under the influence of fibrofog today. 

Out of the awful trio of categories of fibromyalgia symptoms (pain, fatigue and fibrofog), I'd have to say that the fibrofog is the one I hate the most. Even if I'm tired and/or in pain, I still feel like myself. Not so with the fibrofog. I feel totally disconnected from myself and everyone and everything else. Severe fog days are the worst days I have. I absolutely hate feeling this way. I find it hard to believe that people take drugs wanting to feel like they are drifting outside of themselves like this. I think it's an awful feeling, one I would go to great lengths to avoid if I knew how.

What makes it even worse is that I haven't found a single thing to help with it. Once I have it, the day is shot for me. Nothing I do seems to make it any better. Sometimes, it seems to lift a little bit after dark but maybe it just seems that way because by that time I've given up on trying to do anything. At least with pain I can take a pain reliever or sit on the heating pad. With fatigue, I can rest. Nothing seems to lessen the fog.

I've also been unable to figure out what triggers it, for the most part. Flareups with pain and fatigue usually follow a weather change, a day of overdoing it or a time of stress. Sometimes these flareups have fog and sometimes they don't.

Sadly, almost all advice for fighting fibrofog consists of tips on living with it and dealing with it, not preventing it or making it go away. A google search of "how to combat fibrofog" turned up a whole page of posts almost identical to this one: http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/memory_tips.html  Sure, these are good tips for living with it but I don't want to live with it. I want it to go away. Something causes it, therefore something must cure it.

The only thing I've discovered that consistently causes my fibrofog is sleeping in. (Although it's not the only cause - I have plenty of fog days even when I get up early)  Sometimes I can get away with sleeping after 8:00 but not usually. Sleeping until 9:00 or later always causes a bout of fibrofog for me. Cloudy days in summer are another thing that triggers fibrofog, which may be because I sleep later than I normally would because it's so dark out. I know, there's an easy fix for that - set my alarm clock! And that I will be doing more religiously for the remainder of the summer. I do not want another day like this one.

How about you? Have you discovered any triggers or helps for fibrofog?

What Is Wrong With That Woman?

As Invisible Illness Week draws to a close, I can't help but be a little disappointed. I had hoped to be much more involved. But, alas, life didn't cooperate. The big monkey wrench in my plans to read and comment on tons of blogs and listen to blog talk radio was my laptop. It refused to go online for several days and my back can NOT take sitting in the computer chair downstairs. Neither can my arm, apparently. Every time I rested it on the desk, an electric shock feeling shot through my arm. That's a new one for me. *shrugs*

One of the things about the invisible nature of fibromyalgia that really bothers me is that I know people sometimes wonder what the heck is wrong with me. I look normal, I don't take any drugs or other substances that cloud my mind and yet, sometimes, I act really weird. It's the lousy fibrofog. Sometimes, I'm so out of it I don't even realize I'm doing anything strange until I see people staring at me with that "what is wrong with that woman?" look on their face. Often, I'm not even sure what I'm doing to attract their attention. Is it my glazed over eyes that won't focus on what's in front of me? My super slow reactions? My unsteady gait? I really don't know.

Other times, I'm aware that I'm having difficulties: Running my card through debit card machines becomes a major feat that requires all the focus I can muster. I can't figure out how to turn on the dishwasher and stand at the sink turning the water on and off. I just stand there, blankly staring at someone when they talk to me because my mind can't unravel the noises into language. Or, it takes me an eternity to even realize they are talking to me and that I should answer. I forget the words for things. I forget what I'm talking about right in the middle of talking about it. I forget what I'm doing right in the middle of doing it. I plan two things for the same day and don't even realize it until the day before when I suddenly realize I can't be in two places at once. I momentarily forget how to turn my lights or wipers on in my car...the list goes on and on.

And then there are the moments of complete and utter blankness that go on long enough to really freak me out. For example:

* The phone ran and I went over and opened the microwave door, then stood there confused about why the phone was still ringing.

* I was completely unable to work the debit card machine at Safeway and the checker had to come around the checkout and help me.

* My kids were locked out and knocking on the door. Instead of going downstairs to the door, I went to the light switch and started turning the light on and off. When I finally realized that wasn't working, I unbuttoned my pants.

* I got a phone call and this familiar male voice said, "Hey, Trisha. I'm home now." I just stood there trying to figure out who in the world would be calling me to tell me they were home. Finally, the perplexed voice said, "This is Chris." Still, I just stood there silently, going through the list of every Chris I'd ever known and wondering why any of them would be calling me to tell me they were home. Finally, the light bulb came on. It was my neighbor! The very neighbor who's kids were at my house waiting for their dad to come home. The very neighbor that I had talked to two hours before.

* A clerk asked for my phone number and I could NOT remember it. At all. We finally had to leave it blank on the paperwork.

Moments like this both embarrass and scare me. I hate feeling stupid and I don't like people thinking I'm on drugs or something. And those long moments of blankness are so scary. Just where is my mind? How can it just be gone?  I read about one woman who forgot how to read. FOR A MONTH. Can you imagine? I'm terrified that my fibrofog will get that bad.

I've thought about shopping for a shirt that says "I'm not drunk, I have fibrofog!" What do you think? Good idea? Do you ever find people staring at you with the "what is wrong with that woman?" look on their face?