J-rap Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 My dd is 23 and has had chronic migraines for years. She probably has 200 triggers, and she used to joke that even thinking hard seemed to trigger migraines. A couple years ago she had some red flags for possible evolving autoimmune conditions, which we are watching. In the past 6 months, she's gotten a lot more physically tired (not like herself), but the bigger issue is that she says her mind feels more and more exhausted. Like sometimes it's difficult for her to think well enough to keep up a conversation! It might be at the end of the day, but it can just as likely be when she first wakes up. This is my dd who otherwise is fit, healthy, very social, positive-thinking, already on an anti-inflammation diet, etc. Anything else we can be trying for the mental fatigue? I just feel so badly that she is dealing with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 It sounds auto-immune, most of us with auto-immune issues suffer some version of the fibro-fog. I wish that I could give you a magic bullet. Resting as much as possible helps, particularly resting the brain and body before someone expects you to be "on." Caffeine helps in the short term when your brain must function, but I think hurts in the long term. Vitamin D has always been recommended, but I haven't noticed any difference. Identifying and treating the autoimmunes would probably help the most. I hope someone here can offer more ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I'm going to throw out the possibility of Lyme disease. With our son, his mental capacities were greatly diminished at the height of his illness. (And in case it comes up, no, a negative indication on a western blot test does not rule this possibility out, since that test has an extremely high false-negative rate.) Prayers for a successful diagnosis and a speedy recovery for your daughter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 My friend with an autoimmune disease unfogged when she took wheat out of the diet. I unfogged with methylcobalamin and high vitamin D as well as dropping wheat...MTHFR genetic variation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Dropping wheat/gluten made a big difference for me with mental fog, exhaustion, and headaches. I feel bad again anytime I eat it. Taking B12 and VitD has helped a bit too. Has her thyroid been checked, I also have hypothyroidism. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Silent migraines? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Anemia. Check for iron. And specifically check ferritin levels on the iron panel...not just iron/hemoglobin levels. Edited November 19, 2016 by momacacia 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 A family member that this happened to turned out to have a severe iron and B vitamin deficiency. He cleared up with regular rx injections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Good suggestions, thank you. She did have a workup a couple years ago at Mayo to see if something else could be behind her chronic migraines. (They do run in the family, but hers seem untouchable.) That's when they noticed the red flags for an autoimmune. They did run a Lyme Test at the time too. I hadn't realized that autoimmune conditions can include brain fog. She meets with a neuro-chiropractor who recently ran a slew of tests (I think it included everything people have suggested so far!) so it will be interesting to see if there's anything else going on. It would be so nice if the brain fog were something easily treatable, like low iron. She also has more testing at Mayo in January. For those who notice a difference when removing wheat from your diet, have you found that you need to be 100% GF to keep brain fog away? Edited November 19, 2016 by J-rap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 thyroid and adrenal can make for foggy thinking. for thyroid - you want free t3, free t4, and reverse t3. for adrenal you want the 24 hour saliva test. (taken 4 - 6 points during that time.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) For me, it does not have to be 100% wheat free to stay defogged. I can do pizza made with king arthur organic flour (no folic acid added) for one meal, or just ordinary (with folic acid) waffles for breakfast once a week. Anymore and I experience memory retreival difficulty. Carbs at 75g or less daily, and that distributed throughout the day, is very helpful....basically skip bun/bread in favor of lettuce, and no pasta dinners. For b12, the low end of the US normal scale is not enough to thrive, its just to keep one alive. Make sure to get daily sun exposure for the D. Edited November 19, 2016 by Heigh Ho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Has she had a sleep study? Things that help me: CPap Vitamin D Methylcobalamin Gabapentin Low dose naltrexone Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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