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I keep seeing and hearing old cartoons in my head... It's very distracting. Is this normal? Or should I try to find a doctor? Also my brain always feels like it's in a fog and always sleeping. Oh and sorry if I posted in the wrong place.
Hello Eemeena!
No apology... you posted in the perfect place!
How recently did you have encephalitis?
How do you spend your days?
Brain fog is the most common shared e-xperience. It is not comfortable and down right annoying but as long it is not nearing white out conditons it is something you will learn to adjust to.
I was treated in Maryland and sent home to Kentucky after three weeks I think. It was only a month and a half ago that I got it. I'm no longer seeing doctors. And I spend my day trying to do normal stuff like surf the net and talk to my husband and watch TV. Though for some reason I've been wanting to go out more.
Will my brain fog go away? I'm wanting it to go away soon. I have had it go away recently for a few seconds. But not any longer then that.
Hello again Eemeena!
You are at the very early stage post-encephalitis. Improvements will continue for months... and years!
You may wish to check out the following section of Encephalitis Global... http://www.encephalitisglobal.org/Help.asp ...to read more about recovery.
I live in the fog, but like jerseagal said I've learned to get used to it.
I sometimes will associate things with tv so when the things that are associated with the tv comes I remember the tv show.
I went through a time when all I wanted was to go out or be around people once I was able to leave at all. I think it was just my brain letting me know I could as long as I was careful.
I love my computer it's my best friend.
A month is very early in recovery so you have much more to come.
Michelle
The fog I have discovered is a brain safety mechanism. Keeps us from getting fried. Sort of like a brownout when there is to much demand on the electric grid. The power company sends less energy everywhere to save the system as a whole. It will lessen as you form new pathways for messages to travel quickly. Extraordinary stimuli may always cause it in the future. You may come to understand, accept it and use it.
Talk about brain fog, during the 3 public viewings I was in la-la land. Glad to have been there. Shook hands, excepted kisses and repeated over and over thank you for coming.
jerseagal thanks for responding. XD Your post actualy made me feel a bit better about things. I have had moments just starting yesterday where the brain fog wasn't there. I think as time goes by those moments will get longer and longer. Your post gave me hope. XD
You need to see a doctor immediately.
-dannon
dannon what makes you say that? I was in the hospital and got released. I took meds and what not to get rid of it. Also I am seeing a therapist and a psychologist.
You need to call your therapist or doctor immediately and describe these things you are seeing and hearing - that probably can be helped. It may be from the medications you are taking - you may be in a medical emergency.
Waking dreams - I had what you are describing as waking dreams during the acute phase of encephalitis but not a month or so post acute phase. I would be sure to talk to your doctor about this. Maybe you need to change meds. Sometimes it takes awhile to get the right med due to the side effects.
Brain fog - I still have it but not all the time. My mornings are relatively fog free nowadays on most days. After about 1 p.m. the fog tends to return and that tells me to take it easy. I had E 11 years ago. You mentioned having a few seconds reprieve now and you are only a couple of months past acute phase. That is excellent! You are making progress! Try to remember to measure you progress in terms of months, not weeks.
Bob
I am not sure of my meds I get sights that scare me. Does anyone know of Trazodone or Mirtazapine. I don't know if they create the sights and bad on liver. I have been taking b's in a tablet to put under tounge and a folic acid. for brain. Magnesium to relax but don't sleep well, up at 3. Have sights of accidents and depressing stuff. Seems real but I pray all the time for it to stop. I don't know if it's the medicine or the illness. I have left frontal temporal lobe damage and I think circle of dead cells onback maybe cerebral cortex. Where is it the illness or the plls. Is there a doctor on this sight to contact. Thank you. Jody Bill
I see depressing sights when I'm depressed. I find for me my dreams are controlled by my mood. Like if I'm really happy I'll have silly dreams. Also I have a brain fog that when I'm awake I feel like I'm asleep. When the brain fog goes away so do my dreams. At least once a day it goes away. Do your dreams go away at all? Also I'm not taking any meds for my brain. I do take heartburn meds but I don't think that will effect anything.
I agree with Dannon, you should be seen by a doctor of some sort.
Hoboswife-Kim
If it's going to take awhile to get in to your doctor, please call your pharmacist and ask about the supplements you are taking with your meds, sometimes vitmains and minerals can interact to cause a bad effect.
~hen
Eemeena,
One other thought... my brain's sleep center got screwed up from my E. Perhaps this is something you are experiencing?
Hopefully your daytime dreaming thing is temporary, but if not, you may want to see a sleep specialist. You may be slipping into sleep unbeknownst to yourself! There are neurologists who specialize in sleep. A visit certainly couldn't hurt!
-sheep
Thanks Countingsheep. Thats actualy a good sugestion. I might look into it. When my fog goes away so does my dreaming... I might actualy be part asleep at all times. It feels like I'm asleep at all times. I'll talk to my family about finding a neurologist who specializes in sleep.
In the acute phase (2-4 weeks after e) I had similar symptoms.
The great news for you is that it is really early days. As the weeks go by you will notice more and more things rapidly improving. Just take it easy, and remember recovery from e is measured in months, or even 6 month blocks. Give your recovery 2 years at least before making any judgements.
When I was in hospital I used to have awake dreams where while I was talking to people I would dream I was talking to them on a laptop screen - How wierd is that!?! Not suprising though considering i'm a software engineer/computer geek :-) I also remember hearing voices: normal hospital chit-chat all of a sudden became the voices of people familiar to me; i thought I was getting a visit from friends/family when I wasn't.
I am of the personal opinion that these daytime dreams will dissapear sooner rather than later for you: it isn't something that people on this forum talk about often. In this stage of your recovery you will notice some of your symptoms dissapearing relatively suddenly as you progress.
As for the brain fog, it is VERY common. I have read that for brain injury survivors of all types (including whiplash, mild traumatic brain injury etc) that it is just about the #1 complaint post illness. That said, it only gets better, and while its a kind of "2 steps forward, 1 step back" approach, for most people it doesn't get worse. A good medical term for it is "mental fatigue". I've seen it explained by the fact that doing the same task that you previously have done requires much more neural activity now, so your brain gets exhausted much quicker. Image lifting a cup of coffee used to use say 3 neurons, well maybe now it uses 1000!
I have found "brain fog" to be something that prevented me from even looking at a laptop or tv for 5 minutes in hospital 5 months ago change into something that I tend to feel mid to late afternoon (2pm) onwards but no longer stops me from doing my work. Only one month ago it was stopping me from working so that gives you an idea of the sort of pace of recovery that is possible. Unfortunately though everyone is different.
For EVERYTHING that you want to start doing again, my advice is to start off small and then slowly inccrease the amount of time you devote to it. If you can do 5 minutes of tv at a time today, try 6 minutes tomorrow etc. Write down and track your progress if you need to.
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