Brain fog symptoms
People who have brain fog, can have brain fog for many different reasons which were discussed on the “What is brain fog” Page, the problem with brain fog symptoms is that there can be many thousands of ways that brain fog can present itself and while we can’t list them all here we can break them up into sections that relate to the causes of brain fog.
Common brain fog symptoms
- Lack of mental clarity
- Inflammation (general)
- Inability to focus and or concentrate
- Confusion and or disorientation
- Forgetfulness
- Memory problems
- Lack of attention
- Slowing mental response
- Foggy thinking
- Brain feels fuzzy
- Foggy headache
- Feeling “spacy” or confused
- Feeling fatigued
- Thinking more slowly
- Feeling that your brain is failing
- Difficulty in problem-solving
- Trouble finding the right words
- OCD thoughts (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
- Feeling mentally lost
- Feeling mentally vague
- Fogginess
- Strange thoughts
- Inability to think
- Brain becoming dysfunctional
- Feeling cloudy
- Easily distracted
- Trouble organizing thoughts
- Losing train of thought
- Headaches
- Menopause (With brain fog symptoms)
- Fuzzy head
- Head feels foggy
- Can’t think straight
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Cloudy head feeling
- Head feels heavy
- Cloudy mind
- Cognitive fog
- Feeling foggy and tired
- Cant find the right words
- Slow to respond
- Mental health problems
- Cognitive dysfunction
Brain fog conditions
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Dementia
- Depression
- Anxiety
- OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder)
- Autoimmune disease
- Loss of neurotransmitters (reduce biopterin)
- Memory loss
- Loss of neurons
- Panic attack disorder
- Leaky gut
- Intestinal permeability
- Allergies
- Advanced aging of the brain
- Social anxiety
- Bipolar disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Loss of brain cells
- Methylation disruption
- Aggression
- Impulsive tendencies
- Insomnia
- Low self-esteem
- Panic attack disorder
- Phobia’s
- Psychosis
- Any dysfunction, disorder or disease of the brain
Brain fog symptoms and methylation
Methylation is one of the most important processes that happen in your brain and body. It makes everything work properly and without the process of methylation, you cannot live. Methylation is the process of maintaining the balance of literally thousands of neurotransmitters, hormones, and other biochemicals essential to good health and life, especially in the brain.
Methylation is so important in fact that it is responsible for millions of “methylation” reactions every second! So it’s really important to understand that your ability to “methyl-ate” is a vital factor in determining your ability to achieve good health of the brain and brain cells.
Methylation has many jobs to do, it does this by supplying the body and its various systems with what they need to do their job at optimal levels, so when your methylation is out of balance this can set off a chain reaction of problems that can literally mean the difference between you having brain fog and or brain disorders.
Methylation is produced in the body to make methyl groups, these groups are then “donated” to the parts in the body and brain that need them for processing their many functions.
When you have brain fog, there is a very good chance that your methylation is disrupted. This leads to many problems especially related to neurotransmitters that are so important for proper brain function which brain fog works against.
Methylation is a balancing act, when balance problems occur this can result in many symptoms related to brain fog and brain disorders such as:
- ADD/ADHD
- Allergic reactions
- Aging
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Anxiety
- Autism
- Autoimmune disease
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Chronic degenerative diseases (of the brain)
- Cardiovascular disease (poor circulation to the brain)
- Chronic fatigue
- Diabetes (lack of blood sugar in the brain)
- Delusions
- Depression
- Poor detoxification (leads to a toxic brain)
- Fibromyalgia (inflammation)
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Muscle pains (inflammation)
- Low neurotransmitters (dying neurons)
- Depression (Maybe suicidal)
- Nausea
- Seizures
- Vomiting
- Obsessive-compulsive disease
- Pain (Inflammation)
- Phobias
- Psychosis
- Schizophrenia
- Headache
- Migraine
- Irritability
- Increase in anxiety
Brain fog symptoms & gut problems
A Leaky (intestinal permeability) gut is usually part of the process involved in brain fog and really most autoimmune diseases. What’s important to understand, is that a leaky gut produces a toxin such as LPS (Lipopolysaccharides). LPS toxins create brain inflammation Which means that a leaky gut can speed up inflammation in the brain.
LPS toxins are also inhibitors of the MAT gene, the gene involved in methylation as discussed above. While LPS toxins reduce MAT expression, this reduces your body’s ability to produce SAMe (your body’s master methlydonor) and reduces your glutathione production (your body’s most powerful anti-oxidant). This of course means less methylation, less repair of the brain, and faster aging of the brain. Symptoms of Brain fog associated with gut problems include:
- Intestinal permeability
- Leaky gut
- Abdominal recurrent pain
- Acute brain injury
- Acute pancreatitis
- Advanced aging
- Autism
- Autoimmune disease
- Chemotherapy treatment (side effects)
- Lack of energy
- SIBO
- Chronic heart failure
- Crohn’s disease
- Cirrhosis
- Coeliac disease
- Food allergy & sensitivity
- failure to thrive
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Inflammatory joint disease
- Problems with gut immunity IgG & IgA
- Neurodegenerative disorders (brain fog)
- Gut flora imbalances
- IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome)
- Malabsorption
- Obstructive jaundice
- Microbiome dysbiosis
- Constipation and or diarrhea
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Schizophrenia
- Diabetes
- Pernicious anemia
- Cardiovascular disease
Brain fog symptoms and histamine
Histamine is a ubiquitous messenger molecule released from mast cells, enterochromaffin-like cells, and neurons. Its various actions are mediated by histamine receptors H1, H2, H3, and H4.
Histamine is a neurotransmitter that works closely with the immune system and is one of the few CNS (central nervous system) neurotransmitters found to cause consistent blood-brain barrier openings.
When you have brain fog, this activates inflammation mediators, neuromediators and cytokines which carry and release:
- Histamine
- Proteases
- Cytokines (IL-1B, TNFa) immune inflammation response
When this happens, you get epithelial permeability or “barrier breakdown” in the brain, this reduces your brain defenses leading to brain fog, including from with:
- Brain barrier (defenses)
- Gut (leaky gut) as discussed above
- Sinuses (more inflammation)
- Lungs (more inflammation)
- Vaginal track (more inflammation)
Now that we have discussed how histamine can be a trigger for brain fog, let’s take a look at the potential symptoms:
Brain fog symptoms and genetics
Most people have genetic mutations that make them susceptible to brain fog and brain disorders/diseases, this explains why there are epidemic levels of mental health disorders in society today and brain fog helps to explain a lot of the “undiagnosed” or “misdiagnosed” health problems we now see every day in society.
Brain fog and or the symptoms you have seen here are far-reaching and complex, this is of course due to many reasons but genetics plays a big role in your mental health and the health of your brain, your gut, your immune response, your histamine stability, and inflammation reactions.
Genetic mutations or “active” gene mutations are almost always involved in brain fog, lets’s take a look at what symptoms you might be having problems with your brain fog from a genetic perspective.
Serotonin imbalances are common with MAO gene mutations in braing fog and brain diseases/disorders, these include:
Low serotonin (From high MAO A)
- Aggression
- Anxiety / Social anxiety
- Carbohydrate craving
- Constipation – serotonin is required for the control of gut motility as it activates smooth muscle activity.
- Depression – worse during winter
- Impulsive tendencies
- Insomnia
- Low pain tolerance
- Low self-esteem
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
- Poor dream recall
- Social phobia
High serotonin (From low MAO A)
- Aggressive behaviour
- Antisocial behaviour
- Confusion
- Extreme agitation
- GI distress / nausea
- Muscle twitching
*Mental health symptoms in bold.
FUT2 genes are extremely important genes that are part of the gut problems that come with brain fog, remember the gut and brain axis from earlier? Moreover having a mutation in these genes can lead to literally thousands of health problems including serious brain fog and or brain diseases/disorders. Here are just some of the major symptoms to look out for:
- Any Autoimmune disease
- Leaky Gut
- Intestinal permeability
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Eczema or dermatitis
- Problems with IgG immunity
- Problems with IgA immunity
- Autism
- IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
- Pernicious anemia
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cancer
- Neurodegenerative disorders
- Gut flora imbalances
- Mouth oversensitive to heat or cold
- Irritability
- Anxiety and or tension
- Lack of energy
- Constipation
- Tender or sore muscles
- Pale skin
- Tooth decay
- SIBO
Because the neurons are getting damaged in brain fog, there is likely a low nerve growth factor (NGF). Additionally, we need to check if there is low BDNF which is (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Further, some people have gene mutations that reduce their BDNF which can be a contributing factor to brain fog and brain disorder,s and brain diseases.
Are there reduced neurotransmitter levels? Since the neurons are being eaten and there is brain inflammation along with potential for reduced BDNF, you may not be making enough neurotransmitters which can cause many mental illnesses.
Are there other key mental health genes involved that reduce neurotransmitter production that increases the risk of brain fog? Yes, absolutely, the following genes can all be involved in the metal health symptoms of brain fog:
- COMT
- MAO
- DHFR
- MTHFR
- DDC
- GAD
- MTR/MTRR
The APOE genes are important genes for your brain. APOE genes are associated with poor catabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, this means that the gene can cause serious health problems in the brain.
Your brain needs to use your triglyceride-rich lipoproteins to make repairs and rebuild your brain, when this slows down as a result of bad APOE genes the main problems are:
- Increased total cholesterol
- Decreased HDL levels
- Imbalances in EFA (essential fatty acids)
- Increased risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease
- Increased risk for dementia
- Increased risk for memory loss
- Increased risk for mental health problems
- Increased risk for psychosis associated with mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
The APOE genes, especially, the gene mutations of APOE 2 & 4 are well known for the development of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease & APOE genes
Alzheimer’s disease is a big problem and it’s getting bigger as we have a much bigger aging population. If you or somebody you know has bad APOE genes, that are active, there is a good chance of having at least a decline in mental cognitive health.
Alzheimer’s disease also often has elevated A1C which is a measure of your blood sugar levels and helps to determine pre-diabetes. Therefore, fixing blood sugar imbalances will also help with Alzheimer’s disease.
Dementia and APOE genes
Another “brain” problem associated with bad APOE genes is dementia. Dementia is also a decline in cognitive brain function associated with possible APOE mutations, however, usually, there are other problems in terms of detoxification such as heavy metals that interfere with brain function, either way, if you have active APOE gene mutations you can’t use your fats to rebuild your brain and so dementia from brain fog can redult.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Cognitive:
- Mental decline
- Increased memory loss and or confusion
- Difficulty thinking and understanding
- Delusion
- Disorientation
- Forgetfulness
- Making things up
- Mental confusion
- Difficulty concentrating
- Inability to create new memories
- Inability to do simple maths
- Inability to recognize common things
- Inability to learn new things
- Difficulty with language and problems with reading, writing and working with numbers
- Difficulty organizing thoughts and thinking logically, shortened attention span, Problems coping with new situations
Behavioural:
- Aggression
- Agitation
- Difficulty with self-care
- Irritability
- Meaningless repetition of own words
- Personality changes
- Restlessness
- Lack of restraint, or wandering and getting lost
Mood:
- Anger
- Apathy
- General discontent
- Loneliness, or mood swings, depression, anxiety
Psychological:
- Depression
- Hallucination
- Paranoia
- Psychosis
Symptoms of Dementia
- Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion
- Difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing
- Disorientation
- Wandering and getting lost in a familiar neighborhood
- Trouble handling money responsibly and paying bills
- Repeating questions
- And many of the symptoms listed in Alzheimer’s disease
“Amazingly refreshing to finally find someone who understands what they are talking about and knows what to do about it, after many years of struggle my search for good health is finally over, thank you so much!”- C. Loft – Australia
The DAO gene has the job of producing the DAO enzyme. The DAO enzyme is the enzyme that helps process histamine.
When you have DAO gene mutations, you can’t break down your histamine and this can lead to many problems that help to increase your inflammation that support ongoing brain fog.
When you don’t make enough DAO, histamine can build up in your body, this can then lead to higher inflammation, overreactions, and sensitivities to many things.
Histamine is a balancing act
- Balanced levels of histamine keep you in good health
- Too much histamine can make your immune system overreact and or cause mental health problems as in brain fog
- Not enough can cause underreactions (poor immune response)
Histamine is a neurotransmitter. People with DAO gene mutations can produce too much histamine, a condition known as histadelia which can contribute to OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Excess and or deficient histamine can lead to the following:
- Brain fog
- Excess inflammation
- Bouts of depression
- Headaches or migraines
- Food allergies and or overreactions to foods
- Abnormal fears, compulsions, and or rituals
- Fast metabolism
- Easy sexual orgasm
- Depression and or suicidal thoughts
- Sneezing in sunlight
- Crying, salivating, or feeling nauseated easily
- Inner tension or driven feeling
- Shyness or over-sensitivity as a child
- Seasonal allergies such as hay fever
- Obsessive or compulsive tendencies
- Little body hair and lean build
- Light sleeper
- Schizophrenia
- Pfeiffer disorder
If you have DAO gene mutations there are many ways this can present, the most common way is allergic reactions. Lots of histamines is located in the gut so it’s no surprise that food allergies are most common, here are a few more signs:
- Allergic reactions
- Food sensitivities
- Hives
- Runny nose
- Itchiness
- SIBO
- Leaky gut
- Car sickness
- Seasickness
