Brain Fog & Fatigue Defined. Follow up to Study Strong & Fight the Fog

I can’t even tell you how flattered (shocked!) I was to see over 700 notes on my Studying/Brain Fog post, but I think there are a few things that I need to clear up based on some of the reblog comments. When you see “brain fog” or “fatigue” written about, here is how the terms are being used:

1. Brain Fog, Cognitive Dysfunction: occurs in people with chronic disease that cause widespead inflammation (e.g., Autoimmune Arthritis). The inflammation in the body, pain, and fatigue* combined cause cognitive dysfunction for many patients, symptoms included but not limited to: 

  • Poor memory (difficulty recalling words, concepts, directions)
  • Disorientation, confusion (e.g., driving and forgetting where you are going; forgetting how to get to a familiar place)
  • A feeling of being in slow motion
  • Difficulty concentrating or thinking about analytical concepts (making complex sentence structure, reading, and technical subjects difficult to study and understand)
  • Difficulty expressing thoughts in an articulate manner

2. Fatigue: the feeling of exhaustion that cannot be pushed though; the feeling of walking around with soaking wet duvet covers over one’s head, broken bones, torn muscles, bricks tied to one’s body, a core temperature of102 degrees F, and being expected to function in this constant state. It does not simply mean tired when used here on Chronic Curve. 


So please, refrain from using the term “brain fog” when you mean to say “tired,” “worn out,” or “studied out.” They are not one in the same and do patients like myself and my readers here an unintentional disservice. Using the words improperly just leads to more misunderstanding. We have enough of that already!


*If you know the original photo source, please send a link my way. Was unable to locate it

54 Notes/ Hide

  1. healthyhousewife reblogged this from chroniccurve and added:
    So amazingly accurate for those of us with chronic pain, mental health, autoimmune diseases, etc.
  2. yami990 reblogged this from chroniccurve and added:
    this is so true and i don’t know any better way to explain it.
  3. badhouses reblogged this from chroniccurve
  4. butidontfeelstronger reblogged this from chroniccurve
  5. ehryl7 reblogged this from chroniccurve
  6. howwefunction reblogged this from chroniccurve
  7. veruca-assault reblogged this from chroniccurve
  8. swisscheesemusings reblogged this from chroniccurve
  9. hit-in-the-boingloins reblogged this from lifewithautoimmune
  10. katisconfused said: Are people seriously thinking that is what it means? :/ No it’s not the same as burnt out on studying, its. It’s Trying to study and being totally unable to and trying to pass classes without textbooks because you can’t absorb them well enough
  11. jennhope reblogged this from lifewithautoimmune
  12. lifewithautoimmune reblogged this from chroniccurve
  13. maggiemunkee reblogged this from chroniccurve
  14. 50shades-of-ba-sing-se reblogged this from chroniccurve
  15. writetomemydear reblogged this from chroniccurve
  16. thrivenotsurvive reblogged this from chroniccurve
  17. gigglingatcrimescenes reblogged this from chroniccurve and added:
    [Above image is of someone’s face from the nose up. They look up at a sign on their forehead that says, “Out of Order”.]
  18. unravelingreality reblogged this from chroniccurve
  19. chronic-illness-support reblogged this from chroniccurve
  20. gorgogliare reblogged this from chroniccurve
  21. liebeliebes said: I’ve likened brain fog to having a concussion.
  22. keepcalmandsavespoons reblogged this from chroniccurve

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