How to earn a living with brain fog?

[D Raini]

Sorry I am late to this important conversation. Simplelife, I understand your situation and my recommendation is to monitor your stress and this is a big part of the fog in my experience. Everyone on this thread have provided such great suggestions. I too will attempt moving more and engaging in App games or simple board games. Anything to help circulation and relaxation sounds beneficial to grasping control of the fog.

A little more about fibro fog. I was diagnosed with FM earlier on in this year, I am learning new symptoms associated with the condition. I finally decided to do more googling about FM as I am desperate to control the symptoms. On my journey, I realized fibro fog also affects speech. I had no idea until yesterday while searching for answers. Although I was super happy to find a reason for the speech issues, it made me emotional and frustrated. Just another hit to the chest. As a student and employee, I want the best for my future goals. However, the fibro-fog and speech impairments are sometimes unavoidable because life sometimes brings stressful conditions that increases FM symptoms. While attending residency for two weeks at school, I was stressed with so many things happening at the same time. Of course fibro-fog kicked in, I could have presented better but had no control over the symptoms. Some people hold on to those moments and judge you harshly. I was told to let people know about my condition as a way to prevent judgements. I have decided my medical condition is no one's business. I just have to learn to manage the conditions and buildup a strong shell to deal with the consequences. If my manager needs to know about my illness to accommodate my work environment, then I am ok with this. As a person with FM, I will continue to be resilient and accept my limitations however, I won't go down without push back to find solutions. I want to thank you all for this thread because the recommendations are worth trying to improve FM symptoms. A million Thanks to everyone here. Cheers!!!

 

[sunkacola]

@D Raini ....good for you.

 

[D Raini]

Thanks Sunkacola! Have you experienced the speech issues?

 

[sunkacola]

No in terms of impediment. But what happens all too often is that I will forget the most simple and common word in the moment of a conversation. It is exasperating, especially for someone who has always had the right words at the fingertips previously. Fortunately it doesn't happen all the time and people probably don't notice that much.

 

[D Raini]

Thanks for sharing and I can appreciate the frustration. You are fortunate to only have the symptom on occasion. In school, we have to work in teams and under a lot deadlines/pressure. Therefore, my FM issues pop up more often than I would like. The good news is that I am still able to engage in studies and work while managing the symptoms. Hopefully the suggestions will help...

 

[EzbG]

I live in the Bay Area

As in CA? I am in what is called North Bay, but it’s more NE, than either E or N

 

[EzbG]

But what happens all too often is that I will forget the most simple and common word in the moment of a conversation

OMG - I hate that! But will make a noise with the tongue, and laugh…then say something like “you know what I mean?” I have noticed - that issue is common among non-FM folks, too. So they get it.

 

[cookiebaker]

yeah, losing that one word - usually such a simple word, too - I can totally relate!

 

[JayCS]

yeah, losing that one word - usually such a simple word, too - I can totally relate!

I now resort to saying what comes off the top of my head and laughing about it together, rather than disturb the flow.
Quite a bit of dementia in our families, so suggested to my wife that way she can watch out for if it's getting worse....

 

[hope23]

How do you hold down a full-time job with brain fog? I need to work to support myself, but I'm struggling just to work <10hrs/week and take one class to update my skills (and do a complete career change to something more fibro-friendly) . I'm already receiving some social services, so I feel that avenue is already pretty tapped out. I'm also under time constraints since my savings is nearly gone. I simply need to earn my own way or live on the streets.

As soon as I start to make headway on my resume or class assignments, I hit a wall. I only have a few good hours of brain power per day. It's always one step forward, two steps back. I'm very discouraged even trying to imagine working 40, or even 30 hours per week!

So, how do you work a full-time job and support yourself when your mind shuts down after a few hours?!

Hi Simplelife,
My journey has been a little different, i can peg the onset of my symptoms to a specific date, my symptoms began on the 19th of February 2016, this was a weekend away with my then partner for our anniversary. I have worked full time through my entire journey and i can assure you it is not easy as many will share. I like the idea of brain games, for me this takes the form of i play blokudoku which is a phone game, what i also do is i listen to audiobooks(only books i have read multiple times before, effectively white noise). For me this allows me to continue with my work and keep going. I think that it has taken a long time for me to truly appreciate the importance of self care(self care can look different for us all, its about finding the thing that gives you rest and fills your cup).
In all the jobs i have done since starting my fibro journey i have found the best are those that are willing to work with you and allow you those short microbreaks that make the day possible, for me my microbreaks at work are a couple of minutes stretching(usually on the floor) as necessary.
It is possible but it is in no way easy, and i think its important to work upwards gradually which i know is outrageously hard in most work situations. If you go from 10hours to fulltime in one crack though, i feel like(and i can only say what my own experience has been going from not much to a lot in anything can cause massive issues, and flare ups) youve almost lost the battle before youve started, again just my experience and opinion.
I also find from a brain fog point of view, i find that i need to keep a list and add to it as things i need to do pop up, this combats things slipping through the cracks when trying to work through a wall of fog, its like driving your car in fog youve got to slow down and take things as they come, and note them as you see new things.