Dang... You are living my life. I got diagnosed with dysautonomia on top of the fibro/small nerve neuropathy/diabetes/vertigo/cancer and more.

I do have pretty bad brain fog and really bad memory issues but I think a lot of it is caused by the medications too. If you are really worried about it, I would talk to your rheumatologist and cardiologist and see if you can try medication that causes less brain fog. I did that for a while until, I had to switch to a different medication that helped more BUT caused worse brain fog. It was a toss up. -___-

I also started to play more memory and word games on my phone. I also play sudoku that makes my brain work more and that seems to help too. I'm sorry that you are going through all this. It is not fun at all. I wish you all the luck and so far the brain fog is bad but not that bad yet. Sending you lots of healing energy and virtual hugs!!

So while this is all fresh....

I just got off my video visit with my rheumatologist. This is what he said.

There is no 1 to 1 causality between fibromyalgia/pots and dementia/Alzheimer's. With that being said, the entire ball of wax that goes with fibromyalgia/pots like the medications like gabapentin/Pregablin that we take that causes brain fog, depression that goes hand in hand with fibromyalgia/pots, loneliness from being isolated, depression, lack of regular exercise, pain, and other health issues that arise all have a hand in POSSIBLY increasing our chances for dementia/Alzheimer's.

That's what he told me or that's the best that I can remember. But please remember that I suffer from brain fog and I could've misremembered or misunderstood what was said. I hope this helps to maybe answer your question but I think it best to talk to your doctor yourself cuz everyone's situation is slightly different. I know my fibro/dysautonomia is not like others.

Like one of my friends that has fibromyalgia said that LDN was a life changer for her fibromyalgia pain and exhaustion and for me .... It's barely doing anything. Blah I wish it was a life changer for me. Lol

I hope everyone is having a good time decent day!! Sending everyone lots of healing energy and lots of virtual hugs!!!

@A MyFibroTeam Member I know what you mean and how you feel, I think. I have experienced this and still do to some degree and it has caused really heartbroken feelings of despair and desperation.
(I'm more ok with how things are these days, I think.)
If it's comforting let me share what I have learned from my health care providers. This has been focused on long covid for me but because POTS is such a big aspect of that for me and many others, a lot of the advice and education I got was focused on that.

✨You are not losing your cognitive abilities.

Our brains use so, so much energy.

POTS makes it really hard to think clearly. ✨

I really wish there were more awareness and access to the kinds of support we could benefit from. For example, speech language therapy can help us with cognitive skills. Occupational therapy could help us with practical ways to support our memory throughout the tasks of the day.
But it seems as though that's not quite the norm as of now unless we can patch services together, finding the right kinds of practitioners.

I am here for you. 💙

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A MyFibro...

Thinking of you lisa🤗

They didn't mention that to me at all but I'll ask. I have appointments with my rheumatologist and cardiologist coming up in the next couple of weeks.

They did mention that my medication Pregablin causes bad brain fog. I tried to take less of the medication but then my fibromyalgia said nope. They also said that some of my other medications can cause brain fog as well. :/

I also have severe insomnia which also causes more brain fog. So if you sleep well, you'll be less likely to develop cognitive issues in the future. This is something that my PCP and sleep doctor both have told me.

I'll let you know what my doctors say if they say something worthwhile about cognitive issues. Stay strong!! Sending you virtual hugs!!