I feel brain dead sometimes!

[Dixon1995]

I am pretty sure this is either diabetic related or another chronic illness that has yet to be diagnosed. Does anyone else

• Struggle with their memory
• Struggle with their speach
• Extreme levels of brain fog
• Misplace items
• Forget what you where doing while doing something
• Lose attention when someone is speaking to you
• Struggle to multitask

I feel like i've got brain rot, or diabetic dementia, if there's such a thing, no offence to anyone. I am 27 years old, type 1 diabetic for 13 years, HBA1C 49mmol/L.

Just feel like I'm not all there in the head at the moment. Thanks for reading.

 

[Yulkuy]

I've heard that extreme lows can cause some brain damage which is either permanent or lasts for a while

 

[zand]

As a T2 I have had all of those symptoms when my BGs were a bit high, say 10 or so.

Also though I have had the same symptoms post covid. My brain function hasn't returned to its pre covid levels.

 

[ultradad]

I was watching this video earlier today that you might find interesting. Had bad brain fog for years till i changed my diet.

Hope you find it helpful

 

[HSSS]

As well as diabetes things like iron deficiency (ferritin not just hb), b12 and vitamin D deficiencies can cause these type of symptoms and the nhs “normal” levels can be an awful long way from optimal according to many other medical authorities. Thyroid issues are another possibility. I’d suggest a good chat with a decent dr and a raft of blood tests for which you get the actual results not just a subjective “normal” response.

 

[Zhnyaka]

the first thing that comes to my mind is that these are the consequences of hypos... hypos are very dangerous for the brain (haha, it sounded like you didn't know that)

 

[Lamont D]

Hypos will do it!
quick spikes will do it!
quick spikes followed by hypos followed by more spikes and hypos will certainly exacerbate the brain fog!

 

[Dixon1995]

Thank you all for your replies! I do find that after 7pm or when I am fasting I feel much better.

 

[EllieM]

Thank you all for your replies! I do find that after 7pm or when I am fasting I feel much better.

I'd second @HSSS 's suggestion to talk to your doctor and get a blood panel done. This doesn't sound to me like a normal complication of T1 and with an hba1c of 49 you sound pretty well controlled. (Disclaimer, maybe not if that 49 is achieved by multiple severe hypos.)
I definitely get brain fog when hypo (my ability to do maths or navigate dwindles to zero) but it doesn't sound as though that is what you are talking about.

Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 543160]

I suffered badly from brain fog for several years prior to my T2 diagnosis. I was (reluctantly) eating a high carb diet, and as soon as I started cutting back down on carbs again, I got my working brain back. It's much happier on my low carb/ketogenic diet - our brains can apparently also become insulin resistant, and mine certainly now works (more or less!) as it should when it's running mainly on ketones for fuel .

 

[Jaylee]

I am pretty sure this is either diabetic related or another chronic illness that has yet to be diagnosed. Does anyone else

• Struggle with their memory
• Struggle with their speach
• Extreme levels of brain fog
• Misplace items
• Forget what you where doing while doing something
• Lose attention when someone is speaking to you
• Struggle to multitask

I feel like i've got brain rot, or diabetic dementia, if there's such a thing, no offence to anyone. I am 27 years old, type 1 diabetic for 13 years, HBA1C 49mmol/L.

Just feel like I'm not all there in the head at the moment. Thanks for reading.

Hi,

Oddly, I was asked questions about my memory & cognitive function by a DSN at my last appointment?
“How is your memory? Do you ever get the feeling of walking into a room & forgetting why?” (That sort of thing.)
Strange I thought, not an issue for me. She didn’t elaborate, but I felt it was either hypo brain damage related or “long covid??” (I’ve not had covid.)

 

[EllieM]

@Dixon1995 is only 27 and T1.

While I guess insulin resistance and double diabetes is a possibility for any T1 I suspect/hope that it's unlikely at his age... Hence I also suspect that the symptoms are also unlikely to be a long term response to too many carbs, though I freely admit I don't know what's going on. I'd recommend slight wariness on cross posting with T2 causes here.

And as a long term T1 I haven't personally noticed any long term effects of minor hypos (though I guess I wouldn't necessarily know). In the OP's position, I would definitely be seriously looking at non diabetic causes as well as diabetic ones.

Good luck @Dixon1995

 

[Sukie5]

Hi
I have all those symptoms, i was given blood test a year ago, vit D deficient, so been taking vit D daily since.
I had mild covid in January 22. I knew i had covid as soon as i woke up that morning. I typed a text to my son and couldnt make sense of it! Deleted 4 words to make 1 correct word. Total brain fog! Lasted weeks but im still affected. Just like you, i can walk from kitchen to utility room (next door) to get milk, toaster etc and end up retracing my steps to jog my memory 'what did i go for!'
It isnt as bad as it was, so that encourages me it will improve further, but its a slow process. Seeing the B12 video above, i eat meat, but not too much, so i will up my diet.
You say you are better in ketones, so that shows you are feeding your B12s..
I think you should run with that and treat yourself as being carb intolerant..
Cutting out all but those carbs you cant avoid will speak volumes if this is so.

I have to say, i have done a month carb free and broke my fast a week ago, all my symptoms returned, sweating, tingling legs, overheating and voracious appetite!
Its not rocket science, carbs arent friendly

 

[Andy V]

I am pretty sure this is either diabetic related or another chronic illness that has yet to be diagnosed. Does anyone else

• Struggle with their memory
• Struggle with their speach
• Extreme levels of brain fog
• Misplace items
• Forget what you where doing while doing something
• Lose attention when someone is speaking to you
• Struggle to multitask

I feel like i've got brain rot, or diabetic dementia, if there's such a thing, no offence to anyone. I am 27 years old, type 1 diabetic for 13 years, HBA1C 49mmol/L.

Just feel like I'm not all there in the head at the moment. Thanks for reading.

Not sure if this will help or not. A friend of mine is a paramedic, is Type2 and prescribed statins as part of medication regime. He told me he had to step down as an officer to a lower band grade due to experiencing "brain fog", having difficulty formulating plans of action while at work. Having stepped down to a lower rank he ended up doing much more research culminating in him stopping taking statins. And hey presto the brain fog cleared away!

He also mentioned getting into an exchange with his GP who stated "high cholesterol can lead to heart disease". Surprisingly my paramedic friend had discovered there's actually no hard evidence to support that statement but also importantly, which cholesterol type are we talking about??? See Dr Paul Mason (YouTube??) explaining statins and cholesterol.
It may be relevant to point out statins are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, incomes for pharmaceutical companies.

 

[Lrlp]

Not sure if this will help or not. A friend of mine is a paramedic, is Type2 and prescribed statins as part of medication regime. He told me he had to step down as an officer to a lower band grade due to experiencing "brain fog", having difficulty formulating plans of action while at work. Having stepped down to a lower rank he ended up doing much more research culminating in him stopping taking statins. And hey presto the brain fog cleared away!

He also mentioned getting into an exchange with his GP who stated "high cholesterol can lead to heart disease". Surprisingly my paramedic friend had discovered there's actually no hard evidence to support that statement but also importantly, which cholesterol type are we talking about??? See Dr Paul Mason (YouTube??) explaining statins and cholesterol.
It may be relevant to point out statins are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, incomes for pharmaceutical companies.

I'm 30 years old and been type 1 since the age of 10. Last year I went for my usual check up with the specialist and he was talking about putting me on statins! I refused and asked why. He said it's to minimise risks because it'll help cholesterol. I didn't even have high cholesterol but I managed to bring it down even more by diet alone.

 

[david4503]

There are just so many conditions that could contribute to the OP’s symptoms. I don’t know that diabetes would be the first on my list of suspects, although doctors will often try to rule out the diabetes before they consider anything else. I wouldn’t suggest guessing about it for very long or spending a lot of time on forums trying to figure it out. See a doctor you can trust.