Brain fog and tomorrow's appointment

Tomorrow is my “Brain” appointment.  My neurologist is concerned about my memory problems and we are trying to get to the bottom of what is happening.  He set me up with an MRI scan and this brain appointment at my last visit with him.  I called about the results from my MRI and was told there are minimal changes from my first scan that I had in 2009.  Then I was asked by a friend if I ever had my thyroid gland checked because that could cause some of the symptoms that I have been having.  I haven’t so I called into my doctor and had them check it.  It was a simple blood test and I had the results back the next day.  That came back normal as well.  I was going to cancel this next appointment if something showed up on the scan or with my thyroid, but since it didn’t I am going ahead with it.

“I feel like I have to remember more 

now for the both of us.”  

That was the response that Reuben gave me when I asked him if he turned off the television after we left the house the other day.  I find myself second guessing and verifying things more often now.  Before I start a story with someone I usually ask, “Have I told you this before?”  I have started putting reminders in my phone and setting an alarm to go off so that I will remember different things.  I have post-it notes in my car, my office and magnetic note pads on our fridge at home that I utilize often. 

I read an article on brain fog as it relates to MS patients.  It feels like you have this information in your brain somewhere, but you just can put it into words or remember the details of something.  I can feel my brain “Fogging” up when I get too warm, stressed or after a long day.  I don’t want to say that this happens when I get tired, because I am not tired as in I need to fall asleep.  If you see me in the late afternoon into the evening and I am staring off into space the brain fog has kicked in.  Some people mistake this as something is wrong or I am sleepy, but I just need to rest my body and my brain at this point.  My neurologist told me that I need to slow down and try not to do so much all the time.  This can be hard especially when the summer is so short and you want to make memories with your family and friends.  This is going to be a work in progress for me.  I like to be busy, but at the end of a busy day I can really feel the effects that it is having on me.

This appointment tomorrow is at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology in Golden Valley.  I have never been to this location before, but this is where the doctor is located that does the testing.  I have to be at my appointment at 11:15 AM and they told me that it will take around 4 hours!  They advised me to bring a lunch because it can be a long day.  I am not sure exactly what this test is going to involve.  They told me that they are trying to find out why my memory is failing me.  A shorter version of this test is often done to diagnose Alzheimer’s or dementia in patients.  My neurologist is going to try and figure out if this is a symptom of my MS or if something else is going on in this crazy body of mine that we might be able to reverse.