How long does it take brain fog to clear?
 

I didn't realize that the reason that I couldn't pick up a book and read it from cover to cover possibly had something to do with my alcohol abuse.

I have a horrible time concentrating and focusing and things were not always that way.

My place is so unorganized and when I try to organize I don't seem to get anywhere. (Note, I was never an organizing guru) but I can barely even purge. I am confused about what to toss when actually if I tossed everything in my travel bag life would still be ok. lol.

I have tried to take adderall in the past and it did nothing for me and actually caused me to drink because I felt so on edge.

I feel a little more clear or just not hung over or drunk but I am just wondering IF or WHEN my focus and clarity will come back?

It is only day 4.

Thanks

Many of us drank for years - it may take a little while for you to recuperate from that.

My brain fog got less week by week - by 30 days I was feeling better, although the improvements kept on after 30 days too.

I hope your journey is a shorter one, PP :)

PinkPanther congratulations on 4 hard earned days of sobriety!
Try not to panic it will certainly improve. I know the brain fog really scared me I was convinced I had early onset dementia at one point.
Like Dee it was pretty bad for about a week and then each day I got a bit more "together".
You're doing really well but perhaps give yourself a little break and remember you are healing. Take care xxx

I think there were a couple of things going on with me due to the low stage I reached. Initially I lost the ability to think, concentrate or make simple decisions. When I tried to read a book i'd get about two pages in and then find I had lost the plot and had to start again. Some of that was caused by brain damage either from the booze or the malnutrition. It took a long time, like two or three years for me to sharpen up, and it seemed, in hindsight, to improve according to how much I was challenged.

The other aspect was kind of fog and fatigue brought on by the merry-go-round in my head. That was a mixture of shameful memories from the past and consequences of selfish alcoholic behaviour in early sobriety. I seemed always to be in conflict one way or another. That of course kept me awake at night, on edge, fearful and tired. That problem left after about two months, the time it took me to get through to step five. It was quite a remarkable turn around - like overnight.

It is only day 4.

This. Everyone is different but I would say most people feel much better after 30-90 days.

I really don't recommend taking methamphetamine in order to clear alcohol induced brain fog. You'll just compound your issues.

Be patient.

It will get better, keep going. It will probably take a lot longer than you would like, but it's worth the wait, trust us.

For organization, have you gone to flylady.net? She's good for step-by-step organizing. It's kind of a dated website, you may be able to find one you like better, but flylady really helped me get more organized and let go of stuff. Lots of tools and steps to take. Baby steps.

Getting my house organized really helped with the brain confusion, too. To be fair, though, I did the organizing while I was still drinking. It was one of my many anxious habits to keep stuff I don't need.

Took me about a month

One of the things that really seems to help me with brain fog is drinking TONS of water, especially in the very early days. I'm on day 83 now and I find that some days are better than others, no matter what I do.

When you drank for as long as I did and as much as I did, your brain becomes scrambled eggs. Amazingly, I was sharp as a tack because I was used to it. When I quit drinking and my brain started to unscramble, I wasn't used to it. I got confused a lot and lost my place a lot - brain fog. Even up to six months I was experiencing 'brain fog'. But eventually, I don't remember how long it took, everything was normal again. It varies person to person and drinking history has a lot to do with it. Just know that your brain will heal. It is a good idea to play 'brain games' or do other activities to keep you on your toes. Believe it or not, even something like putting puzzles together helps the healing process.
You'll get there, don't lose heart.

It took a solid 6 months before it started letting up and until about 9 months to get to a point where it didn't feel like my thoughts were dissolving before I could actually formulate them.

Brain fog was really bad for me.

HI there- good job on four days!

I have to follow along with Mike especially (and the folks that said 30-90 days)...I was VERY sick when I quit, after nearly a decade of increasingly heavy drinking that got to the point of being told I had a year, 18 mo if I didn't quit.

I used to "read" while also watching TV. Uh-uh, yeah - I didn't digest anything and while I love(d) cooking mags, I could really only skim them and mark pages "for later" when I could "concentrate"....I realized about 60 days in that all the TV shows I had on DVR? As I binge RE-watched them, they seemed new because I had only digested max half of any of them!

I had a bad case of aphasia (in short, the inability to grasp the right word, or to do so quickly- this terrified me as I love to write) and the frequent moments of standing in my apt with things like "now WHAT did I just do with [ ]?" and such.

All of this took time to clear up. I am still scatterbrained at times - generally my husband thinks its charming, no one really notices enough to comment, and my ability to focus when I need to is generally good - and I just passed 2 yrs sober.

Everyone's experience is different and, indeed, time takes time- if you have not heard of PAWS, here is a great article about what our bodies, minds, and feelings can go through in the first months and years of sobriety - www.digitaldharma.net under tab "PAWS" (Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome which generally is identified as a cluster of symptoms after the immediate withdrawal phase).

Keep going! You can do this and things will "reassemble" and sort themselves out with continued sobriety.

Three to six weeks for me, but once my memory and cognitive functions came back, it was like coming up for air!

You won't feel it at 4 days that's for sure. By Day 7 you should be feeling alot better but, there is alot of rewiring the brain needs to do. Give it about a month.

I am so mad at myself. What have I done to myself?

I am not going to get upset about it as there is nothing that I can do about it except for try to come back from it.

I will try to begin to exercise my mind with something, anything... Maybe just 15 min in the morning or instead of looking mindlessly at photos on IG like the rest on the world.