‘Wait, Why Did I Come in Here?’ What Brain Fog Feels Like — and How to Clear Your Head

Everyone has days in which they feel like they’re not at their best. You feel sluggish or tired, as though you’re in a fog. You might experience brain fog as a temporary symptom when you haven’t slept enough or your body has been under a lot of stress. 

But brain fog can also be a symptom of a more serious underlying medical condition. Read more to learn about what brain fog feels like, what can cause it, and how to treat it.

What is brain fog?

Brain fog is not a medical condition. It’s a general term people use when they feel that their thinking is fuzzy or slow. 

Think of how you feel in those first moments when you wake up — your brain is slow to process, everything seems a little foggy, and even your body moves a little slowly. Brain fog feels like that but can last for weeks or months. 

What are the symptoms of brain fog?

Symptoms can vary based on the cause, but common symptoms of brain fog include:

• Difficulty with concentration: Your brain may feel fuzzy, and it may be hard to think clearly. 

• Memory loss: This can affect your short-term memory, so you might feel forgetful or be unable to remember what you were doing a moment ago. 

• Fatigue: This can show up as physical or mental fatigue.

• Attention difficulties: Your mind may wander during conversations or drift away from the task in front of you. 

• Trouble with multitasking: Executive function describes the brain’s ability to plan and juggle multiple tasks at the same time. People with brain fog can experience trouble with this, which is known as executive dysfunction. 

• Lack of motivation:You may struggle to start tasks that would normally be easy for you. 

• Confusion: You may have trouble making sense of the world around you or feel a lack of mental clarity. 

• A feeling of fuzziness: Your head may feel fuzzy in a way that’s hard to explain. Some describe it as feeling spacey or scatterbrained. 

• Speech difficulties: Some people struggle to find words.

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8 causes of brain fog

Brain fog can result from a wide variety of underlying conditions or life situations. Here are eight reasons your head could feel fuzzy. 

1. Anxiety or depression 

This is when you feel anxious and have trouble thinking clearly or focusing. The relationship between anxiety and brain fog goes both ways. Having brain fog can make you anxious, and anxiety can lead to brain fog. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which came first. 

The same is true for depression: Your head may feel foggy due to depression — or vice versa. For many people, brain fog can be one of the first signs of a mental health condition like anxiety or depression. 

Here is a simple quiz to assess if depression or anxiety could be causing your brain fog. If you think you may have depression or anxiety, talk to someone you trust and get some professional help. Depression and anxiety are treatable with counseling, therapy, or medication. 

2. Undiagnosed medical conditions

From thyroid imbalance to celiac disease, persistent brain fog can be a symptom of a treatable medical disorder. Sometimes becoming more and more forgetful can be a sign of something more serious, like Alzheimer’s or other neurological diseases.

3. Nutritional deficiencies

Many vitamins and nutrients can affect mental function. For example, a low level of vitamin B12 is associated with lower brain function. Other vitamin deficiencies that can make your head feel fuzzy include low levels of any B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and zinc. 

4. Medication side effects

Medications can cause brain fog, too. Typically, this can happen with pain medications, antidepressants, and chemotherapy. But other medications, like statins for cholesterol, can also change how the brain functions. If you’re taking any medication and experiencing brain fog, talk to your prescriber about whether your medications might be to blame.

5. Pregnancy brain fog

“Pregnancy brain” is a real thing. One review looked at 20 different studies and found that women who were pregnant had more difficulties with memory and thought processing than women who were not pregnant. The differences started in the first trimester but were clearest in the third trimester. 

It’s not entirely clear what causes pregnancy brain fog. It’s likely to be a result of the many hormonal changes in the body and their effect on the brain. It may also be related to the physical changes in the brain during pregnancy. 

What’s clear is that pregnancy very literally transforms the way the brain is wired. Add the sleep problems and physical discomforts of pregnancy and it’s no wonder that your head may feel fuzzier than normal. 

6. Adult ADHD

ADHD might be playing a role if you feel constantly sidetracked, have difficulty completing tasks, trouble staying focused, and show poor time-management skills. Some adults have had these symptoms their whole lives but only get diagnosed in adulthood when life stressors make it harder to function effectively. 

7. Life stressors

Too much stress has been linked to cognitive problems and may be a trigger for symptoms like brain fog. Some of the most stressful life events include things like divorce, major illness, death of a loved one, and loss of a job. 

Stress can affect every aspect of life. And a lack of quality sleep, poor diet, and not exercising are all associated with worsening brain function. 

8. COVID

Brain fog is a possible complication of COVID. One large meta-analysis looked at 81 studies. It found that as many as 1 in 5 people with COVID still had symptoms of fatigue and cognitive problems 12 weeks after infection.  

Why are people experiencing brain fog more since the pandemic?

A major reason for the rise in people reporting brain fog during the pandemic is directly linked to COVID. The virus itself is neurotropic, meaning it can make its way into brain cells and cells of the nervous system. 

Some people experience brain fog while they’re fighting off an infection with COVID. But for the people who go on to have “long COVID,” their symptoms can last longer than 12 weeks. 

The brain fog that results from long COVID often comes with other symptoms, including:

• Fatigue

• Dizziness

• Muscle aches

• Word-finding difficulties

• Memory problems

• Slower walking speeds

• Slower response times 

You didn’t have COVID, but you’ve had brain fog since the pandemic. Why?

A recent study showed that even people who didn’t catch COVID during the pandemic had signs of increased inflammation in the brain compared with people before the pandemic. The authors suggest that some of the lifestyle changes associated with the pandemic (like the early lockdown measures) were stressful enough to cause brain-fog symptoms even in those without COVID. 

Other reasons the pandemic may have led to increased brain fog symptoms include: 

• Increased burnout across many professions

• More people working remotely

• The challenges of being an essential worker during the pandemic

• Increased parenting stressors

• Increased financial difficulties 

• Rising rates of mental health problems

How to get rid of brain fog

It’s natural to want a quick fix to clear brain fog. And if there’s an underlying medical reason for your brain fog, your healthcare provider may be able to find a relatively simple treatment. But if the reason for brain fog isn’t clear or there is no known treatment, here are five tips to help lift the fog:

1. Get more sleep. To help get quality sleep, try to use your bed just for sleep, keep a regular bedtime, and avoid screens before bedtime.

2. Exercise. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and leads to better brain function.

3. Eat a healthy diet. The Mediterranean diet is associated with better brain health. Researchers found that when people change to this kind of diet, their cognitive function improves. 

4. Spend more time outdoors. Nature packs a powerful punch of brain-boosting therapy. It’s not entirely clear why being close to nature benefits brain function, but research indicates a strong link. 

5. Practice stress reduction. When you’re stressed, your body goes into “fight-or-flight” mode, which diverts blood flow to your body rather than your brain. This makes it harder to think. Decreasing stress can reverse that trend. Mindfulness exercises are a great way to lower stress and improve mental fatigue.   

When should you get help for brain fog?

Here are some signs that the cause of your brain fog may be due to an underlying medical condition:

• It starts suddenly without a clear reason.

• Your brain fog seems to be getting worse with time.

• You have trouble completing daily tasks.

• Your level of brain fog is interfering with your social relationships or work.

• You’re experiencing other unusual physical symptoms, such as weight loss, night sweats, hair loss, diarrhea, unusual rashes, numbness, or tingling.

For persistent brain fog, contact your healthcare provider for an evaluation. They will ask you detailed questions about your symptoms and may run blood tests to look for a cause. Depending on your specific symptoms, your provider may refer you to a specialist as well. Together you can come up with a plan to help bring your brain back into focus.  

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP, has more than 15 years of experience as an attending pediatrician in a variety of clinical settings. She has worked in a large academic center in an urban city, a small community hospital, a private practice, and an urgent care clinic.

Edited by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. An experienced and dedicated pulmonologist and hospitalist, she spent a decade practicing and teaching clinical medicine at academic hospitals throughout London before transitioning to a career in health education and health technology.

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