Where is my mind??
 

I feel like I'm losing my mind, or like I've lost or destroyed it, literally. My brain feels so foggy and I can't concentrate, think straight, or think as sharply/intelligently as I used to be able to. I used to be so smart. :( I'm mad at myself for hurting my most prized "possession"-- my brain/intelligence-- and wondering if I can ever get it back, when, and how.

For the record, I feel a lot better *emotionally*. I've been taking OTC supplements and trying to eat well. Maybe if I start exercising more consistently and getting better sleep/getting into a better sleep routine, I will feel mentally better as well???

Pigtails, I have 123 days of sobriety now, and I am still struggling with this. It is getting better, but there are some days I am sure if my head was not attached I would lose it.

You are doing fabulous, don't worry I have faith our brains will recover :)

Thanks. I hope you are right!!

I am in the same boat as you and Found are. I believe that our impatience with our cognitive abilities is actually a sign that we are improving in that area. The fog and lack of concentration didn't bother me when I was drinking, I was more concerned about running out of booze and when I could try to make that happen.

Exercise, sleep, and diet improvements will make a stronger healthier body, and that is the right place to start for a more betterer brain.

Pixies-Where is my mind - YouTube

Someone had to do it!

Right with ya, Pigtails. I go through every day in a fog ... but at least it's not an alcoholic fog. ;) It's part of our healing process. We've abused our bodies and our brains for so long that it takes awhile for things to get back to normal.

If it helps you ... and if it gives you a laugh (laughing is important during healing, hehe), get this ... every time I go to the grocery store now, I lose my car. Seriously. I park in a certain place and make a mental note of where I parked when I go inside ... but then I come out and still can't find my car. Yesterday, a REALLY old man had to help me find it! He didn't really even know what my car looked like, but he found it! Oh well. Better to be in a "sober haze" than an alcoholic one! But I think I'm going to need to put a tracking device on my car! lmao!!

Congratulations on your 75th day, Pigtails! You are one day ahead of me.

I actually have the opposite problem - some days I am still an emotional wreck, but I have been clear-headed since day 1 (or maybe day 2).

If you want, I will send you some mental clarity if you will give me some emotional stability:lmao

Seriously though, it's amazing how the body can repair itself if it is nourished and exercised.

In my mind I can put my thoughts together but ask me to do it verbally! I'm a mess. Oh well at least we'in this together!
:D

LOL desertsong. You know it's bad when you have to depend on an old guy to help you find something hehehe

Ha ha, thanks for the laugh everyone. And yes, that Pixies song has become my theme song (it plays in my head when no other area of my brain seems to be working!)

FreshStart, you're right that I wasn't paying attention to my cognitive abilities when I was drinking. I paid no attention to the environment around me or what was going on inside me... I just wanted to party and drink.

Your brain WILL return! Maybe better than before! Just keep moving forward. I suggest this be the #1 reason you never relapse. :)

My brain is somewhere out there too. So are my emotions, wow. I've read this is common and it should get better with time.

I forgot my wife's name briefly last night. That was interesting.

God bless.

it takes us a while in sobriety to get all the monkeys to play in the same tree....

Bob

WOW- Thank you for shedding some light on this subject. I thought it was just me!! I have been in a fog for weeks now, it seems. I am still myself, but I just feel a BIT detached from reality. Difficult to explain, but I think you all know what I mean. Hard to believe that I felt ( mentally ) better when I was drinking all the time. How can that be? Oh well, onward and upward!

Yep, perfectly normal to feel this way. I couldn't put two sentences/thoughts together (especially in the first year). Alcohol/drugs were the social lubricant for me for so many years. Take that out of the equation and the brain needs time to re-adjust.

two years sober and my short term memory is still suspect at times, but otherwise things have improved tremendously. daily meditation has really helped me with concentration and problem solving issues that i was having. it just took some time and some effort to repair all aspects of my self. physical exercise, mental exercise, good nutrition, meditation, etc...

I'm still a newbie when it comes to being sober and most of all, staying sober. I'll throw in my 2 cents though. If you're eating a healthy-balanced diet, perhaps you should lay-off the vitamins. You might be overloading your system with unnecessary vitamins to process.

google PAWS and it might explain why youu're feeling so 'out of it'. it's what happens to/in the brain after the physical w/d is over. it will pass, and if it doesn't, see your doctor for a checkup. took me over six months to start feeling 'right' in my mind.;) now at two years sober i'm doing great, except for the occasional 'senior moment'.;)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-ac...rawal_syndrome

I feel the same, but here is some food for thought. I read a study a few years back that after long-term drug/alcohol abuse, the brain actually perceives the intoxicated state as "normal." That's why so many people are able to focus and concentrate when under the influence (within limits of course). I'm thinking that once you quit the drinking, the brain is no longer in it's normal state and the result is fogginess. The brain has to re-learn the normal state which is sans liqour.

Thanks everyone for the info. That makes a lot of sense about my brain thinking the alcoholic state is "normal". In fact I was just reading in the Big Book that it gets to the point where an alcoholic thinks that a life with so much alcohol is normal. So yeah my brain is adjusting big-time and doesn't think this is so normal! I need to just give it time and be patient. I certainly didn't only drink for 2-3 months, so I can't expect my brain to get used to not drinking in only 2-3 months. Kind of a like the theory behind losing weight, ha ha. Thanks again everyone. Actually my brain feels much better today-- I have some more intelligence going on in there. :) And to the poster who mentioned vitamins-- yeah, I am trying to eat healthy so as to get my supplements the natural way but I feel like I'm very deplete from having such bad nutrition/alcoholism for quite awhile. I take Sam-E in the morning and I usually take 5-HTP and a brain/memory/concentration booster-- with Hyperzine A--with it, but I think they are counter-acting each other or something, so today I left out the brain booster and perhaps that's why I'm feeling less foggy. I will try it at a different time of day than the others. At some point I want to get all my supplements naturally but I am way behind the curve and so the OTC supplements seem to help a lot.