Part !!
Okay so here is what has helped me combat fibro brain fog. Decongestants used to help in my later 20s when I was told I had allergies, but I developed an irregular heartbeat and had to get off. Today Excedrin for migraines helps, but what has really helped that is not collective in your body is Allegra. It not only has taken away the body tingling, but it helps to reduce brain fog. My ENT told me its safe to take everyday because it doesn't build up in your body, but I take only as needed. Being gluten free has also made a huge difference as has avoiding grains, especially beans and lentils (those really trigger brain fog for me). In fact, there is a book called Grain Brain, that while I haven't read, I feel was written for me Ha ha. because it discusses the affects certain grains can have on your brain. I thought I was the only person on earth who experienced this phenomenon!

With Allegra, Ententzmes Forte, Coq10 (that also helps your brain and promotes energy) and now acupuncture, I have seen a reduction in fibro brain, muscle pain, and flare ups. Not to say I still don't get tired, I do! I still can't do too much, but I can do more than before. My physical endurance has defiantly improved and I can do my PT exercises longer and without too much consequence. But if I stand for too long or engage in something for too long, I get over tired, overwhelmed, headachy and my mind begins to malfunction. My sense of judgement becomes impaired, I become clumsy and I get cranky. My husband always warns me beforehand to take a rest, but sometimes I don't listen and pay the price. And then there's the weather, I can't do much about that and nothing I take or do completely shields me from its effects on my body and head. I still have to take it especially easy on these days because I just feel so migraine prone, sleepy, and weak. But the intense muscle pain I used to feel with weather changes is minimal thanks to acupuncture. Acupuncture has so far worked for me, but sadly it has not worked for some.

I've written too much! I often do, sorry. I'm a writer at heart.

Love you all. Please take care and hang in there during this time of challenge.

Peace and hugs,
Zoes

My answer is too long to post so here it is in two parts (sorry)!
part 1
Penelope, (btw I love your name)!!
Fibro brain fog was the first fibro symptom I developed in my mid teens. I want to say hormone changes triggered and that I may have been predisposed to Fibromyalgia. Looking back my dad had bad migraines and used to say he felt like his head was in the clouds and he couldn't think clearly. He was embarrassed about and while it came and went I remember him having difficulty writing at times, even signing his name (on a bad test grade hee. And it wasn't his shock of my grade)!. As I got older I noticed he struggled even to write a check and that his hand quivered (around 60 years of age).. Sometimes he'd go over a number over and over because he couldn't get it right.

Well many years later, I have encountered similar challenges, But my earliest memory is one day being with friends and all of a sudden feeling like my mind was floating and I couldn't think straight. I became withdrawn and afraid to talk, because when I did I sounded weak and incapable of putting a full sentence together. At that age I never mentioned to anyone. And as I grew into a young adult I thought it was just me and I learned to live around it. I loved going out and having fun, but on days I didn't feel like myself, I isolated myself from others. No one really new. Later in life I did start telling friends, even doctors that I kind of felt "out of it" once in a while and didn't know why.

But it wasn't until I started experiencing real neurological problems like slurring of speech and an inner shaky sensation that would leave me drained of my very essence that I felt a panic that something wasn't right. Well along side the brain fog was also an increasing fatigue, that I pushed through until I no longer could.decades later. (My profile explains the slew of related symptoms I've had).
But brain fog was very debilitating for me and I totally understand how you and others who experience, feel. I remember telling doctors that if they tested me on those days I had brain fog, I would certainly test with a learning disability. But because on normal days I am collective and articulate, doctors were kind of skeptical and didn't understand what I was trying to explain. As I aged I had a slew of tests from a brain scan to echo cardiograms to make sure the speech impediment wasn't from a stroke or heart problem. Inside I new it was neurological, but my neurologist couldn't figure it out nor my rheumatologist. I really don't know why because its so obvious now to me that it was fibro all along, especially since I also started complaining about increasing fatigue, muscle pain and flu like symptoms! Anyway, now I understand that fibro can lead to migraines and cognitive dysfunction.

My fibro fog symptoms worsened after 4 years. It was so bad that I had to quit my job as an editor. Then, food allergies popped up along with severe itching into the night. I tried Benadryl for a few nights to stop the itching and get some 😴. It lifted the fog! I researched the new symptoms and it seemed I had worsened into mast cell activation syndrome. For 9 months I’ve been taking the medications for this with much benefit. I don’t know if this will help you, too. Fibromyalgia is still a mysterious disease.

I like your writing, plus it is informative.

I think some of the medications they put us on make it worse. I was on Cymbalta for 2 years. During those 2 years my memory was horrible, I couldn’t say a sentence without stopping to think of a word I wanted to say. it really concerned me because my mother had Alzheimer’s. After being completely off Cymbalta the fibro fog got 80% better. Now when I talk with my husband about movies, I say “I don’t remember seeing that movie” then we both say “ah, the cymbalta years” 🙁