Chemo brain?

[Cb75]

What does chemo brain feel like? I've completed 8 rounds of folfox and have started to feel like my brain is slow and in a bit of a fog. It's hard to sometimes focus. Is this chemo brain?

[Dori]

It's hard to say whether those symptoms are from chemo or stress, but I felt like my lack of focus and fogginess was from the chemo. I hope you see some improvement soon.

[Bev G]

Hi CB75,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I AM NOT a doc,but I would say yeah, that's sure how mine started out. I hope you feel much clearing of this when you get off of chemo.

Best wishes,

Bev

[Bob_Weiss]

The problem with the diagnosis "chemo brain" is that the symptoms tend to be similar to some of the symptoms of various other common disorders. These would include: depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder. The overlap is a reason why the mental health field didn't recognize chemo brain as an unique disorder for many years. I'm not sure if it is included in the new DSM psychiatric disorders manual. For myself, I have found that the most helpful approach is to look for a remedy for each of my occasional odd symptoms, and not to be concerned with getting a precise diagnosis.

[Nellie]

I was in a fog, hard to concentrate and other 'symptoms' when on chemo. I had a little break over Christmas (3 weeks) and it was amazing, the fog lifted ~ my head was clearer, it felt so good feeling (comparatively) normal! Now that chemo has started again the fog has reappeared!
Nellie

[justin case]

Do you remember what you were going to go get, when you got up from the computer
Regards,
Michael

[KarMel]

Do you remember what you were going to go get, when you got up from the computer
Regards,
Michael

Have you found milk in your pantry?

Do you have trouble rembering words during a simple conversation? That is my biggest issue.
I had to ask someone once, "what is the name of place you go to get braces for your teeth?" Orthodontist would just not come to my brain. Fortunately, this was a good friend who understood my situation.

[mstults]

I have those symptoms when I need my thyroid medication increased.

[elise]

Sounds like what I was like. I also had a terrible memory and a hard time recalling words. Still do months after ending chemo.

[sadysue]

My biggest problem with chemo brain is similar to KarMel's problem - words. I know in my head what word I want to say, like the word CAT, but I just cannot get it from my brain to my mouth. It's the weirdest feeling. I have not forgotten the word; I just cannot say it. While on chemo, I was slurring my words a lot but fortunately that seems to have passed with time. I have also noticed a type of stuttering when I try to say something quickly. Once I deliberately slow myself down, it comes out the second time I try to say it. I was told that after chemo, our body cells regenerate themselves but that brain cells do not. Once they are gone, that's it. Don't know if that is true or not. I was watching a TV show a few days ago and there was a Harvard professor of neurology speaking - he said that brain cells can regrow. I think the jury is still out on a lot of these theories about brain cell regrowth. I sure hope the guy from Harvard is right!

[RayGirl]

Do you remember what you were going to go get, when you got up from the computer
Regards,
Michael

Have you found milk in your pantry?

Do you have trouble rembering words during a simple conversation? That is my biggest issue.
I had to ask someone once, "what is the name of place you go to get braces for your teeth?" Orthodontist would just not come to my brain. Fortunately, this was a good friend who understood my situation.

My husband would find the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the pantry all the time.

I remember playing the alphabet game with my kids in the car, we were on the letter C and couldn't think of anything that started with C, I had to ask the oldest one 'you know that green thing in the desert with all the prickly things, what is that called??' nothing like having a 6 year old help you with vocabulary.

[Ontario Guy]

Oh, do I remember that feeling, knowing what I wanted to say but the words to say it had vanished from my brain.

I found a solution in changing languages. My partner and I speak fluent French, but I learned it as an adolescent so it is stored in a different part of my brain from English. We normally don't have much use for French here in Southwestern Ontario but this was a delightful exception.

Just an idea.

OG

[RickMurtagh]

I was foggy from chemo for sure, but what I think was chemo brain for me was like when you have a word right on the tip of your tongue and after a minute or two it comes to you, but it never does any more. I just stopped trying to come up with he word. Early on speaking was sometimes tiring. Now, years later things are better, but not back to the way it was. I think I used to be pretty bright, now, not so much. HOW I thought about hings changed after chemo. I was a programmer and computer languages where pretty easy for me to learn. Now, not so much.