What Thyroid Brain Fog Feels Like and How You Can Treat It

In addition to knowledge regarding their thyroid status, hypothyroid people may be influenced by specific information they receive regarding cognitive issues. Although mainstream sources of information provide balanced perspectives, there are many sources such as the internet or social media that promulgate skewed information and opinions, which could affect reports of symptoms. In a relevant study, women with breast cancer were interviewed regarding cancer-related cognitive problems (87). Half of the women received a letter before the interview that described the occurrence of cognitive complaints in cancer, while the other half received a neutral letter. The women who received the letter describing this association reported significantly more cognitive symptoms, suggesting that they were primed to notice or report symptoms. This may also occur in people with hypothyroidism and should be considered when counseling patients and designing research studies.

A reason many short-term side effects subside is because a user’s neurophysiology has adapted to the synthroid. Additionally, the doctor will have had adequate time to pinpoint a precise synthroid dosage for optimal TSH levels. The dosage of synthroid taken on a daily basis can have a profound effect on whether you’re likely to experience unwanted side effects. Dosing with synthroid needs to be as precise as possible to avoid side effects and severe adverse reactions. Individuals prescribed synthroid at suboptimally high levels are the most likely to experience noticeable, unwanted side effects. If you’re several months into treatment, but are still experiencing severe nausea as a side effect, it is necessary to discuss with a medical professional.

Do Thyroid Disorders Cause Forgetfulness and Brain Fog?

The complaint of brain fog in patients with hypothyroidism may signify a state of persistent hypothyroidism despite treatment. Population-based studies consistently report that people who are unaware that they have an elevated TSH level report levels of fatigue and mood disturbances similar to people with normal thyroid function. In contrast, people who know they have thyroid disease report increased fatigue and decreased mood regardless of TSH levels, including normal levels. In another study, 150 patients with treated hypothyroidism, normal TSH levels, markedly elevated TPOAb titers, persistent symptoms, and elevated fatigue and lower HRQoL scores were randomized to optimal medical therapy or thyroidectomy. Surgery may have conferred a large nonspecific effect in these patients, but the results are impressive and intriguing. A few small studies have reported mild cognitive decrements in treated Hashimoto’s patients with normal TSH levels (63–65), although another study reported no cognitive decrements and normal fMRI imaging in Hashimoto’s patients (66).

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If you’ve been taking synthroid along with another medication and/or supplement, but weren’t specifically instructed to do so by your doctor, it could be that the simultaneously administered combination triggered side effects. You may also want to consider whether the co-administered substances have synergistic and/or antagonistic neurophysiological effects. In some cases, suicidal thoughts may be transient and subside as synthroid is continued and/or dosing adjustments are made. If you feel suicidal after taking synthroid, it is necessary to seek immediate medical attention. Your doctor may be able to switch your medication, adjust your dosage, and/or prescribe an adjunct agent to mitigate depressive thoughts.

• To decrease propensity of side effects related to dosage timing, synthroid is recommended to be taken at the exact same time each day.
• It is also understood that lack of moisture from the tear glands and tear ducts can cause inflammation, which could lead to blurred vision and/or eye problems.
• You may still experience some unwanted side effects, but many short-term side effects will have improved.
• In the end, if you’re exhibiting major cognitive decline, your healthcare provider should conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine if medical conditions aside from your thyroid disease may be contributing to your current state.

If you’re solely taking synthroid (and no other medications or supplements), you won’t need to consider this variable as influencing your side effects. However, if you’re taking synthroid and a cornucopia of pharmacological and/or supplemental agents – it is necessary to consider that there may be interactions. Something as simple as taking a multivitamin along with synthroid is known to decrease its effect, which could lead to suboptimal therapeutic outcomes and/or an increased incidence side effects. If you are still feeling extremely tired, and the onset of tiredness occurred after you started synthroid, it may be necessary to consider that your body doesn’t respond well to a synthetic chemical or this particular drug. If no alternatives exist, your doctor may consider prescribing a eugeroic or wakefulness-promoting agent so that you don’t drift off to sleep throughout the day. Most individuals won’t swell to gigantic proportions, but it may be obvious that some swelling has occurred.

If you have cognitive symptoms or have demonstrated significant functional deficits, talk to synthroid fetus your doctor about repeating thyroid function tests. Based on the results, your healthcare professional may adjust your levothyroxine dose, add liothyronine (Cytomel) to your treatment regimen, or recommend taking DTE (NP Thyroid, Armour Thyroid). The main form of thyroid hormone replacement consists of synthetic lab-made T4 thyroid hormone (levothyroxine).

It is likely that their worsened symptoms of brain fog are due to something other than mild thyroid disease. Some of the surveys regarding brain fog in other clinical populations have asked what things improve their brain fog symptoms. The most common responses have included sleep, exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction (9). Finally, cognitive rehabilitation interventions, which include structured approaches to address cognitive deficits and patient-reported cognitive symptoms, are effective in improving cognitive function in a number of conditions (72–79). Cognition assessments have included tests of memory and executive function, the cognitive domains that best approximate patient-reported symptoms of brain fog, and which are known to be affected by thyroid hormone.

What other conditions can cause brain fog symptoms?

However, the available questionnaires do not address all concerns exhibited by the medical-centric patients. Another population-based study of almost 6000 people found that the prevalence of fatigue in respondents who were euthyroid with no known thyroid disease was 34%. Rates were similar in overt or subclinical hypothyroid respondents, who were unaware that they had an abnormal TSH level.

• A survey on brain fog symptoms adapted from thyroid-specific patient-reported outcome was distributed online.
• It is likely that their worsened symptoms of brain fog are due to something other than mild thyroid disease.
• However, with continued treatment and proper calibration of dosing, a user’s appetite may normalize and the preliminary appetite reduction and accompanying weight loss may subside.
• Illness representation plays a critical role in adaptation to a chronic disease and is related to levels of depression and anxiety (90).
• For some patients, it is so severe that they are unable to participate in everyday conversation.

These latter findings lend credence to the concept that slight decrements in memory and executive function exist in subclinical hypothyroidism but do not explain persistent and severe brain fog symptoms in LT4-treated people. Persistent symptoms of brain fog are the most frequently reported factor for treatment dissatisfaction in people with hypothyroidism. While it is usually possible to mitigate brain fog with thyroid replacement therapy, these symptoms do not always completely resolve. The chances of reversing brain fog symptoms by treating hypothyroidism are particularly low in patients identified with subclinical hypothyroidism (mildly decreased thyroid function).

What can you do to treat thyroid brain fog naturally?

It produces the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which control the growth, development, and metabolism of nearly every cell in the body 1. If you think you have brain fog from medication (taken for a thyroid issue or other health issue), talk to your doctor about alternatives. Researchers aren’t entirely certain why these issues surface, but thyroid hormones play an important role in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s important for learning and memory. Symptoms of mild dementia sometimes develop when thyroid levels are abnormal, and they usually resolve with treatment. It is possible that LT4 therapy does not lead to adequate intracellular levels of T3 in the brain. Supporting this hypothesis, thyroidectomized rats treated with LT4 to normalize TSH levels have relatively high brain T4 levels, which downregulate DIO2 activity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus.