Why is (Hormonal) Brain Fog so frustrating and annoying?
How frustrating and annoying is Hormonal Brain Fog!
I say “hormonal” because I’m talking about the symptoms of brain fog you get during the perimenopause and menopause period and not the after effects you can get from Covid or the medical diagnosis Dementia.
As you may know, Hormonal Brain Fog can affect your memory, your concentration, as well as, experiencing a temporary decline in your mental sharpness.
My story is….
My brain fog started a few years back where and when I knew very little about it.
I can still remember the exact moments when I was having conversations with people and my thoughts would just stop working….. just like that!
Either I couldn’t continue the discussion or I would start talking about something completely different to what we had actually started talking about.
Names of people or trying to explain something or remembering why I was telling someone something, were the worst.
Driving was another issue.
I became extremely anxious and insecure about my driving.
Judging the distance from the curb (especially at night) or the nearness of the other passing cars was frightening.
My eyesight suffered too as most things seemed blurred or I could see dark shadows on the road which scared me.
Or, arriving in places where I couldn’t remember how I had actually got there!
Luckily Brain Fog is not the beginning of the end. Luckily there will be an end….you just have to sit and wait for it to go and not come back!
In the meantime…..
The other day it happened to me again. I was sitting there and thinking “why am I here?”
I had to think….but, NOTHING. My brain was emptier than empty.
I just sat there and thought. “here we go again!”, “nope, nothing there….just a clear crystal ball with a lovely blue sky and clouds passing by….arghhh!”
One side of me was saying “think women, think!”
The other side of me was saying “chill out, there’s nothing you can do about it!”
It IS worrying when you are trying to work or you are at work.
You feel incompetent (even if it is not true).
You fear that someone is going to say something to you about your sluggishness.
We don’t need this added stress…the day is hard enough as it is!
Perimenopause and menopause symptoms or conditions are slowly starting to get recognised in the work place.
Obviously, there is still a long way to go.
However, we, ourselves can do something about it.
We can try talking to our boss(es) or the HR Manager.
Or, we can start taking “sick leave” on the days that we are going through rough times.
I know you will probably be saying “I can’t throw a ‘sicky’ everytime I have perimenopause or menopause symptons”!
Well. “yes” you can!
We have to learn to look after ourselves.
The feeble excuse of “I can’t do that”, “I’ll loose my job”, bla bla bla is only going to lead to even more self-worrying or burnout.
The only way things will change, is… if we change them.
“Yes”, it is scary but you will never know until you try.
I did it. I took almost four years out of work which obviously had it’s consequences.
But, I am glad I did it, though.
I just couldn’t go back to work. I was constantly exhausted and felt extremely lost in life, and then, I totally isolated myself.
Thankfully, I am now fighting back. I still get exhausted and my motivation levels drop drastically when I’m tired and/or when I am in a place where I don’t want to be.
Patience and acceptance is no longer in our vocabulary.
Around your fifties, you start to get that feeling “I don’t care anymore” or “fuck it or fuck off” (which is an article I still need to publish…it’s all written up though). It’s a liberating feeling and an ever becoming popular therapy, telling everyone who is annoying you to “fuck off”.
I’m currently moving back into education among other things, therefore to build up or reinforce my concentration levels, I am re-passing advanced and complex grammar.
Learning a new language or like me, advanced, complex grammar, helps your brain retain (more) information or facilitate information recall.
It is there, where the mind likes to work and therefore, becomes creative.
It is there where you can try to hold at bay Hormonal Brain Fog.
It is there where you can work on your internal voice/self.
And, it is there where you can put a lot of the past and things at peace and start living your “better life”.
Taking up sport and hobbies is crucial in this period of life and can help us work through our emotions, hormonal changes and some of lifes difficulties.
It is hard. But the saying “Life is hard, but we make it much harder” is actually true.
If things are too easy, we wouldn’t be motivated to do anything out it.
So, “there is light at the end of the tunnel”, or when the fog lifts, everything will be so much clearer.
Try to stay calm and it will pass.
“Love your life”
“Love your fifties!”
Photos are Pexel.com. The authors are: -kindelmedia-7298393, -j-mt_photography-628996-1721537, marcus-aurelius-4064177, n-voitkevich-6837791, -jplenio-1632793