I don't know...I forgot!

I don't know...I forgot!

Well just yesterday I got an error on my washing machine, and thinking it was a load imbalance, I'm screwing around in the machine trying to fix it, completely oblivious to the fact that the wash was completely dry....I got the error as I'd forgotten to turn on the water! Doh!

And it's been years since I've gone through the change.

DD2 is only 25yo and she experiences brain fog when her Vit D3 levels are low. This has happened twice and last for weeks - until she goes to have blood work and sees her levels. Each time she started taking Vitamin D3 and she's better in a few days (3-5). She also sits in the sunlight for 20 minutes each day. She's a granola mom (no GMO, No Gluten, organic, etc) and won't take the RX of Vit D3 - more likely to upset stomach. So she buys this:

Here is a link that might be useful: Sundown Naturals Vit D3

I felt the exact same way 9 years ago when I started at the office Im at now....what they had me doing in the beginning was so incredibly simple a 7th grader could do it, but I felt like nothing was getting through or connecting. And it wasnt overload of them trying to teach me 50 new things, it was basically one thing but everyday I felt like I was in a fog. I was almost beginning to think there was something toxic in this old building. I told a friend and she said it was probably hormones...it finally subsided but those first few weeks were almost embarrassing.

I never had that problem but a friend of mine did and she couldn't just ride it out because she couldn't function at work. She ended up on some kind of HRT which made a huge difference. I guess you have to weigh the risk/benefit of taking something for it.

My memory isn't as good as it was pre-meno but I seem to be able to manage that pretty well with my iPhone - lots of lists and my calendar at my fingertips.

Yeah, I really don't want to get into medication unless I truly can't function. I just feel stupid, that's all. So far I'm able to work fine but it's the typically no-brainer tasks that suddenly seem to tax my brain and attention! I seem to have lost my attention span, too. Sometimes I don't even want to watch a movie on TV because I wonder how I could possibly sit there and focus for that long.

Well, I am glad to see I'm not the only one!

ogoo...I drink tons of water.

Long time since I was perimenopausal but know I will get brain fog if I use aspartame or if I neglect to take B12 for awhile. Feels to me as if my head is stuffed with cotton batting. Haven't had it for a long time as I eat a very healthy diet and avoid foods with synthetic chemicals.

Years ago I read that lack of B12 can cause symptoms similar to dementia so I do take it periodically.

This post was edited by luckygal on Fri, Oct 4, 13 at 19:27

Try Vitamin B6 -- in the P5P formula (more effective) -- believe me -- it will really help! :)

Adderall

I had brain fog for a year and found out my Vitamin D level was dangerously low. See a dr. and find out.

Also in the low Vitamin D camp. I was totally surprised by this. The brain fog is better now that I am taking supplements, but I need to schedule a follow-up blood test.

Double post

This post was edited by awm03 on Sat, Oct 5, 13 at 13:28

Interesting. I have been taking B12 for a while because my levels were low, but they are back on a normal level so I've been slacking on taking the supplements. Maybe I should start taking it again every day.

I just checked my med records online and I can't see that I have ever been tested for Vitamin D levels. DH was, and is taking 1000 IU per day, so maybe I'll start taking some too.

B6 too? Yikes. I'm gonna be taking a lot of pills. Maybe I'll start with the B12 more regularly, and add the D, and see how I feel.

Thanks!

I started talking FemMeds just over two months ago. It's a mix of herbals to stabilize hormones. They say to take for at least 3 months to notice a difference. After one month I saw no difference and was skeptical, but after 2 months I felt my mood lifting and that fogginess and minor depression (really just a lack of interest in life - I even lost interest in decorating, agh!) started to fade. It also fell during my summer off, so I'm with holding final judgement for a while yet, but I am hopeful.

I just started perimenopause in June. Today I get in my car and it stinks inside. Normally my car just has a faint smell of leather. Apparently I left fish in the backseat since thursday. Since being perimenopausal I find shopping much more of an ordeal then before.

As for vita D, all doctors in the area (western new york) test your levels. Apparently we are all low around here. I do take some everyday.

What I find being peri m. is that the symptoms tend to come and go. New ones develop, others fade away. I am only taking supplements at this point.

Regarding the vitamin D. Here in Kansas City, our family doctor said everyone he has tested is low. He recommends daily 2000 mg dose. And to double up the next day if a dose is missed.

Gosh it's nice to know I'm not alone on this. I used to have an almost eidetic memory so when I started "slipping" I headed straight to my doctor. Granted at that time my memory was still very good compared to now, but for me that remembered almost everything it was difficult to handle when I suddenly couldn't remember everything. My doctor told me that no, I wasn't coming down with early signs of Alzheimer's. She felt at that time it was more my being overly busy, but said it could be I was showing early signs of perimenopause even though I was only 36. Over the last few years I noticed my memory got worse when I was in pain. I could barely keep a thought in my brain let along function enough to figure out anything but the most basic of tasks. This has been going on for just over twenty years. I recently started taking Alive Women's Energy multivitamins and noticed my memory is getting better. I do want to look into the Sundown Naturals and FemMeds as I really hate taking anything that isn't natural if at all possible.

This post was edited by justgotabme on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 1:35

Debrak, same thing for my siblings. My brother didn't want to believe it. I told him he lives in Buffalo and works overnights, so he really is probably low. I live in the Carolinas, so I have no excuse other than it is too hot many days in the summer, and we are stuck inside like Buffalo in the winter!

Don't start the day with any sugar! Jump start your morning with a good dose of protein~I have a string cheese and an Oikos yogurt, and an hour later a banana. Twice a week I have 2 eggs and an English muffin, no jam/jelly, but maybe cream cheese. I also add milk to my one cup of coffee. I stay away from gluten until noon or later. That really seems to be the cause of my brain fog, along with lack of 'good' sleep.

SueB -- happened to me because my sleep quality was so poor due to hot flashes, night sweats, etc.

Are you getting enough good quality sleep?

Just a thought.

I have been doing a no/low sugar thing for months now, so that's not the problem! Hm, maybe I need more sugar? Kidding.

It's definitely worse when I haven't had good sleep.

I went on Wellbutrin. It helped my night sweats, hot flashes=helping my sleep quality. I felt better immediately. Ymmv.

Some practitioners are using SSRIs for similar purposes.

Ha, then I'm ahead of the game because I've been on a low dose of Celexa since June for panic attacks...another joy of perimenopause.

Oh yes the joy of panic attacks. I'm going to double my dose of vita D to 2000 iu. I ran out of black cohosh and I really feel the difference, in a bad way.

Debrak, you may want to read a bit more about vitamin D before you self medicate with a higher dose. We tend to overdo this stuff in the U.S.
From the article linked below:

" The US Endocrine Society guidance, for example, advises supplementation with up to 2000 IU per day, but this is overzealous, she said. "A more reasonable dose is 600 to 800 IU per day," she noted, adding that she is an author on a new guidance, soon to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, which will state that 2000 IU per day "is not warranted." "

The uv wavelength that helps us produce vitamin D is the same that causes aging and skin cancer (with enough exposure). So limited sun exposure is the key. Right now vitamin D is the new fad--- it has replaced the megadoses of vitamins a, e and c, and other supplements that seemingly everyone has been on at one time or another.

Here is a link that might be useful: Journal Article on Vitamin D from European Endocrinology Conference

Thanks kswl. Unfornately can't view the article. I am scheduled for a blood test soon to test for vita D and will go from there.

Read the article The Estrogen Dilemma by Cynthia Gorney published in the NYTimes in 2011 and anthologized and reprinted widely. Please do yourself a favor and read up on HRT, specifically "the timing hypothesis." This was probably one of the most important things I ever read and has confirmed my own decision about what to do.

I'm sorry, I forgot a medscape access was necessary to read it, and I can't post more than a limited quote for copyright reasons. But I am glad you are getting tested by an md before taking any higher doses!