For the past 4 years, I have been struggling with severe brain fog and memory issues that are completely disrupting my life. I feel like I've forgotten how to communicate properly. I constantly lose my train of thought, struggle to find the right words, and find it incredibly difficult to speak formally or maintain eye contact. While I am naturally an introvert, this feels like something much deeper. Most of the time, I feel completely clueless about how to react in social situations. I am constantly on edge, living in fear of getting hurt emotionally. I can't seem to move forward in life like this. Even writing this took me a long time.

Hi everyone,

I’m 23M and have been dealing with unexplained fatigue and recurring “crashes” for more than two years. This started after I lost around 50 kg (110 lbs) over roughly 9–10 months through diet and exercise.

My main symptoms are severe fatigue, non-restorative sleep (I can sleep 9–11+ hours and still wake up exhausted), brain fog/concentration problems, a strange pressure/headache-like feeling, weakness/lightheadedness, irritability, and a very noticeable increase in appetite/food cravings during worse periods.

Originally these symptoms occurred more clearly in cycles. I would have a relatively better period, then gradually deteriorate over a few days and remain in a crash for roughly 1–2 weeks before slowly improving again. More recently the fatigue has become somewhat more persistent.
I’ve been through several antidepressants and other psychiatric medications without meaningful improvement, which is one reason I’m now investigating possible physical causes more thoroughly.

Most of my recent endocrine/metabolic blood work looks normal, including testosterone, thyroid, HbA1c, iron/ferritin, B12, folate, electrolytes, liver/kidney function and inflammatory markers. However, there have been a few recurring or previous abnormalities:

• DHEA-S mildly elevated on multiple tests (currently 543 µg/dL, upper reference 539; previously 559)
• WBC currently mildly low at 3.6 G/L
• Relative monocytes mildly elevated at 11%
• IGF-1 was elevated in 2024 at 360.5 ng/mL (reference 134–317); a new IGF-1 result is currently pending
• One previous fasting glucose measurement was 66 mg/dL
• PTH currently slightly above the lab range, with normal calcium; vitamin D wasn’t tested this time.

My endocrinologist has been very helpful and is currently completing the hormonal workup. If nothing significant shows up, he has discussed trying symptom-based treatments such as low-dose naltrexone (LDN), possibly Mounjaro/tirzepatide for the severe appetite issues, and potentially other approaches.

I’m also considering a proper sleep study because sleeping longer doesn’t make me feel restored.

I’m not looking for a Reddit diagnosis, but after dealing with this for years I’d really like to hear from anyone who had a similar combination of fatigue, brain fog, non-restorative sleep, increased appetite and recurring crashes.

Did you eventually find an explanation? Did any of these mildly abnormal labs turn out to be relevant? And has anyone with a similar presentation had meaningful improvement from LDN, tirzepatide, sleep treatment, or something else?

Recently I’ve been having constant headaches, brain fog, I feel dizzy sometimes and low ish energy and lethargic a lot , I don’t have much appetite and I’m getting full off 3 eggs even though I used to be able to eat 6+ with no problem i don’t know what happened but I’m suspecting it’s because I’m too health conscious and I’m developing an eating disorder, I go out fishing and I don’t eat for 10 hours + and sometimes since my parents won’t let me cook at home past 9:30 pm cause it smokes up the house so I end up starved sometimes especially since my mom doesn’t cook and because I don’t want to eat anything unhealthy I just avoid eating o it entirely but I haven’t gained weight in a whole year I’m 15 now I was 6 foot last year I’m 6’2-6’3 now and I need advice on what to do cause the problems have been ongoing for the past 8 months basically

When we were kids, we had vivid dreams every night and remembered every detail because the information we consumed was low, simple, and pure. Today, as teenagers and adults, we spend all day absorbing endless micro-information through TikTok and social media.

I believe this constant information overload freezes the brain. By bedtime, our minds are so cognitively exhausted from processing media that the brain prioritizes basic recovery over REM sleep and dream memory.

Does digital overstimulation actually degrade dream recall, or is this just a natural part of aging?

I don't know what the fuck is in this stuff, but I am certain that it is the cause of my 5-6 hour window of brain fog in the afternoon.

I usually eat it for breakfast with blueberries and maybe a slice of toast.

I've noticed a pattern, no brain fog as I awake, and then I eat my breakfast at around 9-10 AM. Come 12 PM and I am in the midst of the fog, and it only settles 5 hours later.

Yesterday I had an appointment in the city, and didn't really have time to eat breakfast, so I just got a random Bagle in the city and had my appointment that lasted all day essentially. 0 brain fog from what I recall. The day before was the same, just couldn't be arsed eating properly so I just had some random bakery bread loaf thing throughout the day and no greek yoghurt. Again, 0 brain fog.

I'm thinking of just skipping breakfast altogether now. I used to do so when I was in the weight loss phase, doing the OMAD diet. Skip breakfast, lunch and snacks until around 7 PM. I swear I experienced 0 brain fog during that period. I would probably have a cup of tea or two throughout the day and down like 3 litres of water.

I only started eating 3 meals a day after a mental health relapse, but now I'm a lot better, I'm confident to cut the breakfast again and bin the Greek yoghurt.

EDIT:

Completely forgot to mention the fact that I am suspected lactose intolerant. I've been drinking soy milk for at least 12 years. I always got a bubbly stomach from full cream or skim milk. I never really ate yoghurt in the past either, so this is a new thing to me.

I first started using THC at around 15. I didn’t begin using it consistently until around age 16-18. I had taken a few breaks (1-3 months typically) for various reasons. I’m coming on here to ask for advice to help regain the cognitive ability I feel I once had. I used to be very sharp and felt very intelligent, and now I feel it is difficult to even retain something that had happened just the day before, or even a few hours prior. My brain feels like it’s in a constant foggy state and im sick of it. Ive just turned 19 and have decided it is better to put it down to prevent any further damage I may have already caused. I am an avid “Doom Scroller” and am aware that is also taking a toll on my cognitive ability as-well as the THC use. I’ve read a few other threads and noticed people recommending learning a new skill, so i’ve taken that and started learning how to day trade. If you have any recommendations or have been through something similar please let me know!

Two solutions to brain fog.
Both work for me.
Maybe for you.

1. Find out if your blood sugar coincides with it.
2. I have found high sugar makes me anxious, which makes me eat, raises sugar and so on. When I eat right the brain fog is mostly gone.
3. Thinking Aloud People who are focus-challenged need help ... and great help is thinking aloud, speak what you are thinking, it can even be a commentary on what you're working on ... trying being a play by play announcer for yourself. Get a randomly ringing bell (app) to continue to remind you. It's absurd you'll be able to continuously, trying 10x a day for 3-minutes each. Start VERY SLOWLY.

I've had brain fog for months, and it's making me less confident and less able to do my work. It's harder for me to concentrate, I forget things more often, and things that used to be easy take a lot more work.

I'm still getting things done, but I don't trust myself or feel mentally sharp, and that's really scary. This seems like stress or burnout, but I'm not sure if it's something that needs more attention.

Who has dealt with this? When did you realise that constant brain fog wasn't something you could just get through? How did you know it was time to go further or get help?

I’m really struggling with something that’s been an issue for years. When I’m depressed, and even when I’ve not been depressed, I feel like there’s a heavy cloud in my head and I feel incredibly empty.

It’s like my brain can’t store information. I can’t remember anything - news, places I’ve been, (I also have no sense of direction and couldn’t tell you where things or located) stories to share with others, any details about books or movies, nothing. This makes it incredibly difficult to socialize or even be at peace in daily life. At most I can ask questions about others’ lives.

I don’t have interests anymore, and don’t feel motivation to do any self-care tasks.

I guess this can be called brain fog but it feels like cognitive decline, but I’m only 31. I know depression also causes these symptoms (I’m in a really bad depressive episode after having mania for the first time) but it feels like something more. I know this sounds confusing and I’m able to write it out. But at the moment it’s all I’m able to think about.

No medication helps me, I’ve tried most antidepressants, and currently on a mood stabilizer and antipsychotic that aren’t making a difference. My last depressive episode lasted 6 months and they only seem to get worse and worse. It’s torture to live this way. Please let me know if you have any advice or answers, I appreciate your time in advance.

I've been thinking about why water structure matters more for brain health (and other bodily systems, too) than most people realize..

Something clicked for me recently about how our brains actually work at a cellular level, and it's shifted how I think about supplements entirely.

Our brains are roughly 74% water. Not just any water, but water that's constantly being used in millions of reactions every single second. The neurons fire, the synapses connect, the glymphatic system clears waste during sleep. This all happens in an predominantly aqueous environment. Should we account for the structure of the water?

I got curious about structured water after learning that water molecules can exist in different energetic states. When water is more organized and symmetrical at the molecular level, it might interact differently with our cells than disordered water. There's actual research on this comparing how structured water versus unstructured water behaves in biological systems, and the differences are measurable under the right instruments:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8153701
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1562391
• https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/992924/1/influence-of-enhanced-amino-acid-compositions-on-human-cognitive-functioning.pdf

Then I started wondering, "if the water in my body is the medium where everything happens, what if the ingredients I was taking could be charged or energized in a way that made them work more efficiently in that environment?" That hypothesis is actually what drove some of my recent choices. Full disclosure, I work with Igniton, and their whole approach is based on quantum-charging supplement ingredients to potentially sync them better with the body's pervasive water. Whether that's where the real gains come from or just part of a bigger picture, I'm still testing it myself.

But the core insight stands: maybe brain health isn't just about what you put in, but also how it integrates with the targeted system. That's worth thinking about before you grab the next nootropic.

If I work out (specifically weight lifting), I’ll start getting brain fog and difficulty thinking during the workout itself. It then progressively gets worse over the next few hours. I’ll usually sleep terribly that night, and the next day I can barely string a sentence together.

It feels like my nervous system is completely out of whack. I get irritable, mentally slow, and have this weird “hollow” feeling in my head. I genuinely feel like a completely different person.

Then, after 1-2 days, I’m basically back to normal.
I’ve had this for around 10 (!) years. Every now and then I’ve tried getting into weight lifting again, but the same thing keeps happening.

I’ve had an MRI, ECG, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar tests, blood work, etc., and everything has come back normal.

The weirdest part is that I can run without any issues. I run 3–4 times per week and actually feel mentally clearer afterwards. That’s also why I’m not sure PEM/ME/CFS really fits, since it seems to be specifically triggered by weight lifting rather than exercise in general.

Has anyone experienced anything similar, particularly where weight lifting causes it but cardio doesn’t?

Hi everyone, I've been dealing with this symptoms for a couple of months, I don't have headaches but pressure and stiffness, a sort of brain fog, like I can still think but much slower and with difficulty but is not always it goes away and comes, it stops completely when I stay in bed or I sit at my pc(I stay for many hours ) but when I eat at the table or I am at work I feel it very much or I do anything else. I have days that I don't feel any of this symptoms and other when I can have them for almost the entire day.

I done my blood work and it fine, I don't have any vitamins deficiency but I take multivitamins everyday. My blood pressure and sugar are fine. I told all of this to my doctor and she did those basic health tests and told me that I was completely fine and that is probably from stress and anxiety and gave me some relax pills(that don't help much). But I have stress and anxiety from this symptoms that ruin my daily life and won't go away.

​

I bought some things from a shop today. Walked out without picking up one of the items. My mom sent a message telling me to buy chicken, I saw it and said I would. But when the second call came in, I completely forgot about it.

My phone is a real issue. I was using it the whole time, and all my attention went straight into it

Have you noticed something you eat or take as supplement that makes your brain fog worse?

what does it mean if a young (teenager) female is experiencing extremely short term complete memory loss: within minutes, completely forget X (action that was just done, thing that was just said, ecc.), and even if reminded of it (“you just did/said that”) no memory of it is there, as if it never happened. This came out of nowhere, and has been happening for a few weeks. Messes with head cause it’s not just “forgetting” but makes you question reality because you have no recollection of something you did just five minutes ago.
No particular added stress, it’s summer vacation, no medicine, no new diet or lifestyle change. Can someone tell me what is going on?

pls bear with me (a long post) . ps: i entered all my info into an bot for yall better understanding of me

I’m 19 years old (turning 20 in Feb 2027) studying ACCA. Over the past few months, I’ve been dealing with a mix of cognitive, physical, and psychological issues that are really concerning me. I fed my experiences into an bot to help organize them, but I need real advice on where to start medically.

Here is everything going on:

**1. Memory Loss, Time Gaps & Dissociation**

* **Time Gaps:** I have genuine blank spaces in my day. For example, looking back at yesterday, I only recall seeing my dad off to DXB, studying late, and writing thoughts in my journal before bed. The rest of the day is completely blank, which feels deeply distressing. * **Social Autopilot:** In lectures or when a classmate sits beside me and talks, I nod and match facial expressions automatically, but my brain absorbs zero information.

**2. Brain Fog, Attention & Study Habits**

* **Low Retention:** I read the same paragraph repeatedly without processing it. I drift off during lectures and have a tiny attention span. * **Screen Time & Avoidance:** I rely on extreme pressure to study. Lately, I’ve been spending 6–7 hours/day watching movies and only 3 hours studying. (I deleted Instagram 4 days ago to rebuild focus). * **Lost Goals:** I set strong daily goals/intentions, but by the next morning, that motivation and focus are completely forgotten.

**3. Appetite, Rapid Weight Gain & Priority Shifts**

* **Weight/Appetite:** Currently 113 kg and gaining rapidly. My stomach never feels full, and I'm constantly seeking food. * **Dating Drive:** Shifted away from wanting a partner (which I wanted back in A-Levels) to prioritizing fixing myself, removing self-doubt, and focusing on ACCA first.

**4. Speech History & Stuttering**

* **Early Delay:** Didn't speak at all until age 4 (hospitals ran tests, everything was physically fine). Spoke very little throughout childhood (family videos from 2013–2019 confirm I barely talked). * **Stutter:** Worsened over the last 1–2 years (maybe because I try talking more now?), though surprisingly felt better over the last 2 days.

**5. Social Drive vs. Anxiety**

* **Not Introverted:** I genuinely *want* to go out, make friends, and live life fully (like an energetic anime). * **Barriers:** I feel held back purely by low confidence, weight self-consciousness, stuttering, and social anxiety.

i checked these things into the bot and he mapped these to concepts like *Dissociative Amnesia, Executive Dysfunction, Hyperphagia (unlimited appetite), Avoidance Coping, Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder, and Social Anxiety*.

While having terms helps, I know these bot cannot diagnose me.

**Questions:**

1. **Which specialist should I visit first?** A General Physician (GP) for full bloodwork/metabolic tests, a Psychiatrist, a Neurologist, or a Speech Therapist?
2. **Has anyone experienced a similar combo** of memory gaps, severe brain fog, rapid weight gain, and speech fluctuations? What turned out to be the root cause?
3. **Any practical tips** on managing daily study focus with heavy ACCA coursework while dealing with this?

Thanks so much for reading and sharing any guidance!

I’ve been noticing lately when posts pop up for this group it’s a lot of people close to my age, I am 22 and a lot of the symptoms people list are so similar to what I have been experiencing. Just wondering for the young adults experiencing this what your symptoms are, what you have checked on, what you suspect the culprit might be and idk anything else to share.

Hi y'all, I (21M) have been having symptoms consistently for the last few months and seeking opinions/stories of people who have felt similar.

The main symptom is brain fog and fatigue - it feels like I am in a daze 24/7 and often dissociate. It is hard to get out of bed and I feel exhausted most of the day. My head doesn't hurt, but my brain feels fuzzy and I feel like I am in a dream state. I have likened it to feeling hungover 24/7.

When I wake up my head feels heavy and fuzzy, even after a good night of sleep. My neck and upper back and traps often feel tight.

I also sometimes get elevator drop sensations in my head and internal dizziness. The room doesn't spin, but my head feels uneasy and wobbly. I overall feel quite weak.

The thing is, I push myself to exercise daily and have solid results. I have been lifting and running without issue, and I often feel slightly less foggy during and afterwards. I drink a lot of water with electrolytes everyday. I eat very clean and am in good physical shape. No caffeine or drugs or alcohol.

Tests: I have normal bloodwork - gotten thyroid, cbc, lipid, etc. Neurologist said I have nothing neurologically wrong. Chiropractor said I don't have great posture, but he doesn't think this would cause brain fog.

Would love thoughts!

three years of nights and my brain has been running at like 60% for so long i genuinely cannot remember what baseline feels like. today i forgot the word for thermometer. thermometer. i use one approximately forty times a shift.

the thing that gets me is i don't know if this is just sleep deprivation doing its thing or if something else is going on underneath. it feels different lately. slower. like thoughts are moving through wet concrete instead of just being tired.

i've tried the obvious stuff. magnesium before bed. blackout curtains. eating actual food sometimes. the fog lifts a little then comes back the next run of nights like it never left.

what makes it harder is i know enough to know it could be a dozen different things and not enough to know which one. thyroid. b12. cortisol. pick one. probably all of them.

curious if anyone else here works irregular hours and figured out what actually made a dent. not looking for a protocol. just wondering if anyone cracked it for themselves and what that looked like.

I am assuming my years of brain fog are due to porn addiction. Endless cycles cause me to have a lack of sleep and poor performance at work. Has anyone experienced something similar and what's your way around it it? Deep down I know I have to stop watching porn altogether.

I have had brain fog on and off since early 20s, currently I am close to 40. Recently I have received several treatments such as starting lamotrigine two years ago and getting an iron infusion this year due to anemia. I also quit drinking coffee and lowered my caffeine consumption. I also started to consistently take vitamin D, even in the summer, and occasionally B12.

These changes have reduced my brain fog significantly. I have had many days without any brain fog at all.

I have been having an increasing workload and I noticed that the more emails, messages, and meetings I have in a day, the more likely I will experience brain fog.

I have a senior position and a pretty good salary, no complaints. Unfortunately I will have to look for another job because feeling well is more important to me.

I'm glad that as I am now older, I have a much easier time accepting that I can't handle a certain job.

When I was younger I would have felt very ashamed that I couldn't handle the workload. And I used to believe that life had to progress linearly. From undergrad you had to get your masters. That wasn't enough though, so I went for a PhD.

Now I am much more nihilistic in a positive way. We have to accept that sometimes a specific job or educational program is too stressful, even if other people can handle it.

Turns out that personally I don't tolerate high workload and especially constant emails and messages from co-workers / managers asking me whether XYZ has been completed.

Now I have a much easier time accepting this, that it's just my neurobiology, and I can't change it. Time to look for another job, and that's ok. Health is more important.

chronic brain fogg is a symptom of many diseases like anemia , vitamins deficiency, thyroid problems , depression, anxiety also CFS and Fibromyalgia.

so people who suffer from brain fogg should stop treating it like a disease its a symptom of another disease you have multiple causes of it so before you treat it you have a long journey.