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Comment by EMM_386 | Hacker News Reader

I was affected by this "brain fog" after getting Covid, but I didn't put two and two together.

I called my doctor's office to schedule an appointment and when the receptionist asked what the appointment was for, I simply said "brain fog". I had no other way to describe it.

It was intense and disturbing. I often couldn't put cohererent thoughts together, I was constantly forgetting what I was doing, forgetting where I had just put something.

Over the coming weeks it slowly receded, but there's no doubt it is real.

I've had people dismiss it as "it's all in your mind". They're right on some level ... it was in my mind. But it was very real, and I have no doubt it was SARS-CoV-2 related due to the timing and sheer intensity of it.

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Not that this it's a good excuse, but it stressed doctors out when they are not able to diagnose something. So when all the tests and checks look good they are quick to dismiss the problems as psychosomatic as a way to cope with the stress of being unable to diagnose you.

It's a dysregulation of the ANS/sympathetic nervous system which is likely caused by auto antibodies - so it's very much physiological and outside the expertise of a psychiatrist.

While you are right, there is a common misconception that psychosomatic means that the patient is making up its symptoms and that it’s in his mind. That’s not what a doctor means by psychosomatic, but rather than the symptoms are totally real but that they are originating from stress.

So, any good doctor will try to heal your symptoms regardless of the cause. The only difference when they think it’s psychosomatic is that they’ll also try to treat your stress.

Or perhaps 'the patient is creating symptoms using their mind' eh?

The symptoms exist, they are originating due to thoughts/beliefs in the mind.

Yup. Most doctors are basically glorified pigeonholers. Grab pigeon (patient), find matching hole, put pigeon in hole and read the directions on the hole.

Unfortunately, when there isn't an obvious matching hole they tend to stuff them in wrong holes (there are conditions for which getting the right diagnosis often takes years), or when they don't see any appropriate hole they stuff them in the "crazy" hole. And the doctors are very reluctant to take a pigeon out of a wrong hole, especially if it's the crazy hole.

I recall a thread on here from some years back, diagnosis: anorexia. Real diagnosis: partial gastroparesis. She didn't want to eat because her body wasn't pushing the food on down the system properly and eating was very unpleasant!

> physiological and outside the expertise of a psychiatrist

did you mean to say psychologist? In the US at least, psychiatry is a medical practice area. Writing Rx scrips requires pharmacological training, so you need to hold an MD amd pass medical boards etc. Not sure if DO route is even an option.

Psychology otoh can be practixed with a Psy.D (clinical focus) or Ph.D (research focus) no MD, residency involved.

I've been getting this since having kids and I called it brain fog too because I didn't know how else to describe it as well. Tests all came back negative. I now just attribute it to exhaustion and lack of sleep, but I find as I get older the symptoms come fast if I don't sleep enough or I get sick and my body isn't 100%.

Did you get your Testosterone checked? There are studies showing men lower T levels when babies are born, if you were already low it could be a issue.

Yes, testosterone was checked and came back normal.

I had this as well and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Sleep with a CPAP machine now and it has made a huge difference in my life.

Do you still feel like this? Is there anything that helped you?

I wrote a longer comment in this thread about things that helped me, you can find it in my comment history.

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