Chemo fog

[dt22207]

Hey everyone,
I'm two months post chemo and all signs are positive. My hair's even coming back. All the digestive and other side effects have gone away, except for the mental fuzziness.

I wonder if anyone has any experience with how long it takes for the fuzzy-headedness to go away. In general I'm much sharper than I was during chemo, but at least once a day I get the strange foggy sensation. I can tell when it's coming on by a slight tickling sensation in my temples and then for anywhere from a half hour to the rest of the day all my thinking is sluggish. Names elude me. Math is difficult. It's like my brain just goes into slow motion.

Any thoughts as to how long this lasts? I hate to complain, because I am alive after all and I'm very happy for that. But I do hope this clears up.

Thanks,
Dan

[Karen]

Hi Dan,
Glad to hear you're rebounding from chemo in most aspects. It must feel grat to have that behind you ! Did you have the same chemo brain during chemo or has this just started?

[petep]

I'm one year out, post chemo....I'd guess 6 months out....

once I could not remember my parking garage code at work...sat there just staring at the thing....and i'd been punching it in every day 3 months post chemo....I had to laugh at myself...

you really just have to laugh when that happens though...what can you do...you are right, you are alive to be able to laugh at these things...

[dt22207]

Hi Karen,
Yes, I was a lot worse during chemo. What's surprising me is that my mind just suddenly seems to wander off and be unresponsive. I've tried coffee, exercise, even a quick nap. My memory and concentration just seem to drift away at random times.

Pete, thanks for your reply. I'm glad to hear someone else has had the same thing and that it does clear up. Over the weekend I got caught when I forgot my phone number just as I was giving it to someone.

It's not the end of the world, but it's definitely embarassing.

[Karen]

Dan,
A good sign is that it is getting better...perhaps more time is all you need. If it's any consolation, I'm 48 and walking into rooms and forgetting why I went in there, peoples names and yes, even my phone number and ATM PIN escape me at times. I think we all are multi-tasking too much and all experience this to some extent.