It may sound counterintuitive, but certain medications that are designed to combat cognitive issues related to depression can make the symptoms of brain fog worse. For example, specific selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines can exacerbate these symptoms.
The most common medications prescribed for these disorders are antidepressants like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). However, antidepressant medications tend to not help with improving brain fog symptoms.
Medications that doctors currently use to treat depression do not improve brain fog symptoms and can actually make them worse. Research into new ways to treat these symptoms is still ongoing, but some at-home tricks may help reduce them or make them more manageable.
Depression is a precursor to brain fog, and it is one of several resulting issues for those struggling with low serotonin levels. If you are already taking medication for depression, it may not address your brain fog, and for some people, medications may actually aggravate symptoms of brain fog.
People usually recover from brain fog. You may get similar symptoms after other infections, a minor head injury or during the menopause. Brain fog is also common if you have depression, anxiety or stress.
Brain fog, foggy head anxiety symptoms description:
It feels like you have a foggy head, foggy mind. You have difficulty thinking, concentrating, and/or forming thoughts. Your thinking feels like it is muddled and impaired. Some people describe this symptom as being “foggy-headed” or having a “foggy head.”
It may sound counterintuitive, but certain medications that are designed to combat cognitive issues related to depression can make the symptoms of brain fog worse. For example, specific selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines can exacerbate these symptoms.
How Neurotransmitter Imbalances May Relate to Brain Fog. If your neurotransmitters are not in balance, brain fog will occur. Low levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, or glutamate create lack of focus and low brain function. Neurotransmitter testing allows for personalized care.
Researchers have linked low levels of serotonin with mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Some depressed people experience difficulty focusing, learning, remembering, understanding, and more. It can be distressing to notice your mental abilities declining. The good news is these cognitive symptoms tend to improve with treatment. The bad news is they usually don't disappear.
Since brain fog is a symptom rather than a medical diagnosis, there is no specific treatment for it. However, managing the anxiety, or any condition causing it, may help. Some treatment options could include the following: medications, including antianxiety medications, antidepressants, or stimulants for ADHD.
Although most current and common medications prescribed for depression do not seem to improve brain fog symptoms, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) generally appear to be more effective than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
Both behavioural and neuroimaging studies show that SSRI administration produces positive biases in attention, appraisal and memory from the earliest stages of treatment, well before the time that clinical improvement in mood becomes apparent.
Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or SSRI, which causes an increase in levels of serotonin in the brain. There are suggestions that SSRIs may impair cognitive function such as thinking, memory and concentration as well as affecting behavioural function.
Although this is beneficial for someone who's depressed, for someone who does not have depression, taking antidepressant medication can cause serotonin to build up in the body, resulting in serotonin syndrome. When serotonin levels are too high, the person may experience symptoms like: Agitation or restlessness.
Thyroid hormones: These hormones control the metabolic rate of the body and influence the energy levels, mood, and cognitive function. Low thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism) can cause brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, depression, and memory loss.
Some research has suggested this type of drug aids in neuroplasticity. In other words, these drugs can affect how our minds organize and form synaptic connections. Other researchers believe this type of medication has no long-term effects on our brains once the individual stops using the drug.
If the symptoms develop later or gradually, they may constitute a relapse of the depression. Ultimately, these withdrawal symptoms will improve with time, but they can be unpleasant for days and possibly even weeks. In time, the brain readjusts and people should experience a return to their normal state.
One of the widely-reported side effects of SSRIs is 'blunting', where patients report feeling emotionally dull and no longer finding things as pleasurable as they used to. Between 40-60% of patients taking SSRIs are believed to experience this side effect.
Everyone spaces out from time to time. While spacing out can simply be a sign that you are sleep deprived, stressed, or distracted, it can also be due to a transient ischemic attack, seizure, hypotension, hypoglycemia, migraine, transient global amnesia, fatigue, narcolepsy, or drug misuse.