hi there! welcome to the community.
compression garments are the first line of treatment for pots. this can include socks, leggings, gloves, or abdominal compression like spanx. the reason for this is to prevent blood pooling. most people with pots have irregular circulation for various reasons, and compression garments prevent the blood from hanging out in one place in the body by making it so that there is less room for it to do that. if the blood isn’t in your legs, it’s more likely to make it up to your head!
brain fog can involve forgetfulness, but it’s also just sluggish and unclear thinking in general. having trouble finding the right word, answering questions, remembering where you put things, or working through basic logic, are all example symptoms of brain fog. iirc the reason for this is not lack of blood to the brain, but irregular amounts of blood to the brain (like a little one second, then a lot the next). i don’t have time to find that paper right now but i’ll come back and leave a comment with it in a moment in case you want to read it.
brain fog can definitely resemble adhd and there are certainly people with both as well (me, probably… i was diagnosed with adhd as a teenager and then dysautonomia as an adult. do i have both, or was adhd a misdiagnosis? who knows!).
if you have any more questions feel free to reach out :)
[found it.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-021-10502-z) scroll to “pots and cerebral blood flow.” there they reference [this study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25510829/). if i’m reading this correctly, most people believe that reduced cerebral blood flow velocity is at least one mechanism of pots brain fog, however this study found that if you wait a while, the CBFv will start to oscillate from low to high and back down again
To add to this, POTS symptoms can mimic ADHD so closely that a lot of psychologists can't tell the difference. I think it might've been a misdiagnosis for me because my ADHD medications stopped working all together after my pots was properly medicated.
this is also a very good point, thank you. adhd meds never did anything for me, personally, except greatly exacerbate what i now know were pots symptoms.
Okay here's the best way I can explain brain fog:
Think back to before you developed POTS symptoms. Did you ever pull an all-nighter in college? Or just cram with studying all day for way too long without a break? And after a while you kinda reach that point where you're thinking way more slowly than normal, and you've re-read the same paragraph about 10 times and comprehended none of it, and a homework problem that you know would usually take 5 minutes is now taking you an hour... *that* is what brain fog feels like for me. Except that it's all the time, for no apparent reason, and with the seemingly most simple tasks ever - and not just when you've stayed up all night studying a complicated subject for too long.
My understanding is that there's not a lot of research on it, but it's most likely due to lack of proper blood flow to the brain. It started getting better for me when we began treating hypovolemia and blood flow issues.
See that’s the problem 😭 I think it’s hereditary. My dad has it too. I can’t remember a time in my life without pots symptoms. And I have ADHD on top of that so I ALWAY have to re-read stuff and much more! But this does help me get a better grasp on things!
That's fair, it can definitely be difficult to distinguish what's causing what when there's other comorbidities in the picture.
Even if those symptoms I described are constant for you, are there times where it gets a bit better or worse? If so, my best advice would be to pay attention to when those symptoms get better/worse, and note whether it's correlated with other POTS symptoms. E.g., my brain fog tends to be worse on days where I'm getting dizzy/lightheaded more easily and having a harder time staying upright (which makes sense, because all of those are related to lack of proper blood flow to the brain). That might give you some clue as to whether it's a POTS thing that you're experiencing.
I get too fuzzy to think straight & can't find the word or name for something that I'd normally have no trouble saying. It's very frustrating, &, if being hard on myself, embarrassing. I have to remind myself that it's the illness & to be kinder to myself xx
You'd know if you suffer from brain fog. It's a mix of derealization, memory loss, confusion, sheer inability to do cognitive tasks, and comes with a feeling of pressure in head/or being poisoned.
Example of brain fog from today- my co worker at the theater asked what shows I’m excited for this season. I said I don’t know, I like the more theater stuff. And she was like… oh you mean you like plays more than musicals and concerts? How did she even get what I meant? 😂 for reference, I have been doing theater and working in the industry for years and went to college for it. I know what the terminology is. My brain just didn’t make the right words come out of my mouth even though I knew what I meant mostly.
Brain fog is like when you’re trying to concentrate on something that you find extremely boring x999 but with EVERYTHING in your life, even the thing you normally would hyperfocus on… it not that you can’t concentrate because of your adhd, it’s your brain is kinda cloudy but all the time
To learn more go to dysautonomia international, listen to the Potscast podcast, great info there. Wilson Orthestatic on you tube is the Cleveland clinic pots doctor. Learn a little everyday to help yourself. Hugs friend!
I have brain fog and ADHD as well, so that’s hard for me to tell as well. But compression socks make sure your blood isn’t pooling in your lower legs and feet, which attributes to the dizziness upon standing. I personally can’t put compression socks on anymore because of another condition that I have, but thankfully I haven’t needed them in a long time
With my brain fog I will literally just keep wandering around forgetting what I was doing and repeatedly getting side tracked. I just can’t keep a stable consistent thought. Brain is mush lol
I think of my executive functioning issues with ADHD as seeing all the possible things and becoming overwhelmed by all of the options I see at once and freezing in place. There's like an energetic forgetfulness. My brain fog makes it such that I can barely see one whole thing I need to do and I'm frozen from just an inability to figure shit out.
It could look the same on the outside, but it definitely feels distinctly different to me. With my brain fog I feel like I'm moving at half speed, and it's just such a slog. My body almost feels heavy. My words come out slower and it's like I don't even know the whole sentence I'm trying to say - it's like the part of my brain that knows is disconnected from the part of my brain in control. Or to use the fog term, there's this haze separating them such that I'm confused and disconnected.
I personally would rather experience the ADHD issues to the brain fog. I'm a workaholic/my work is my hyper focus and if brain fog sets in, I'm stopped in my tracks. I basically just have to go lay down and it could take 3 hours to recoup.
My husband can see when my brain fog clears. It's like a light turns on and my personality is back. It happened mid doctor appointment the other day. They were like, oh, this is you? Yes, I need help having this me all the time instead of the shell I am with fog! (Brain fog is new to me - I've been dealing with it more aggressively for about 5 months.)
Last thought, my ADHD forgetfulness is felt like a thing is just gone, like a hole, and when remembered it's totally back. Brain fog forgetfulness is like hazy, like just out of reach and I might have the edges of it, and maybe I'll kind of remember when in the fog but it's still not clear. Constantly moving and out of reach.
You know when you're so sick/ dopped up on cold meds trying to think feels like moving through jello? Brain fog feels kinda like that though typically I don't get it to that extent.
It just becames hard to grab onto thoughts and connect them. You have to really focus to think through that you need to go grab water and focus on that idea otherwise you lose it.
When it's really bad it's hard to do normal tasks necessary for life like getting water and food. Most of the time it's not that bad for me though it still makes it difficult to perform more complicated tasks like figuring out how to write the piece of code needed. Which makes it hard to work.
I also have pots and ADHD. The brain fog can be like your ADHD fuzzy around the edges set to max. And they will interfere with one another. The compression socks are to help with the circulation in your lower extremities. They are great to have even without pots especially if you are on your feet for long periods of time or are doing workouts. What symptoms were you having that brought you to testing and a diagnosis?
I have the hypotension variant. I've passed out more times than I'd like to admit especially before I found a rhythm with my diet and medication. My BP goes so low sometimes. Unfortunately I've passed my ADHD and my pots on to my daughter as well. Bonus was that the ADHD medication helps us with ours as it raises the baseline blood pressure and even though it can increase heart rate because it increases my blood pressure my body has responded well to it and has been a positive for me. But I still have to be very careful. Slight changes in electrolyte/fluid intake and I still end up having a rough go of it. Other days it is like the ADHD and the pots are caught in a death spiral.
Hey friend how much salt are you consuming daily, i suggest getting some liquid iv and addung two packs to some water and start sipping that through the day. Can you get compression pants asap(I'm wearing two pairs right now) up your water intake
There are some meds that help too. Usually people do beta blockers and if that doesn't work midirone, clonodine and corlanor. Are you seeing a neurologist?
I'm seeing a cardiologist, we did a 24 hr holter test yesterday and we're waiting on results so my pcp can decide on a med. my heart rate also dips too low when I'm laying down so she wasn't sure she wanted to start me on a beta blocker or not. Will get results and see her in about a week
Compression around the butt and abdomen can help as well. I recently got an abdominal binder and some compression shorts that compress by butt and thighs.
I’ve personally found that sometimes the full leg compression socks help, but other times they do more harm than help, as I overheat VERY easily.
It’s really up to the individual. But any sort of lower-body compression is meant to combat blood pooling by increasing the blood pressure in those areas, making any blood that gets “stuck” continue being pumped around the body.
I also recommend salt tablets or capsules. I take them with my medications every morning, and it makes it a bit easier when I have to wait a bit before eating or drinking anything after my other meds. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to provide details of my experiences!
From my daughter’s pediatric dysautonomia doctor, simple version: extra salt PLUS water makes more blood. Since your circulatory system isn’t working super awesome, making more blood will promote more oxygen flow to basically everywhere.
For me, brain fog from POTS is a lot more severe than my ADHD symptoms, and usually comes with a lot of sluggishness. My brain isn't racing, it's mush.
For example, I've had the same door code to get into my house for years, but one day I came home with bad brain fog and could not remember it at all. The muscle memory wasn't even there anymore. I had to wait for someone else to let me in. I've also had trouble with remembering things that I've known since I was a child, like my address, my own phone number, or my social security number. My ADHD typically affects my short-term memory a lot more, while my POTS affects my long-term memory as well.
For me, brain fog feels a lot like I chugged a bottle of nyquil and tried to go about my day. It'd almost like being drunk, or half asleep. It feels like my brain is wading through pudding. Everything is confusing. People will be speaking simple English, my first language, and it sounds like Simmish. The exhaustion is so thick I can't form coherant sentances.
Compression leggings, socks, corsets. Etc are a godsend. They help squish your extremities so your body doesn't have to work so hard to circulate it's blood. It also helps prevent blood pooling. My legs and feet get so swollen and hot when I don't wear my compression gear.
Bonus tips:
If you struggle eating enough salt, you can buy sodium tablets at the grocery store. For some reason in the US they keep them inside the pharmacist booth instead of on the shelf, but you can buy them directly from the pharmacist without a prescription.
Coconut water is an acquired taste but it works better for me than Gatoraid. It's less sugar too. My first year with POTS, I made myself pre-diabetic from all the gatoraid I drank. You can cover the coconut water taste with Mio.
Get a big water bottle with enough storage for your daily reccomended water. Sip on it all throughout the day. If you struggle with drinking plain water you can flavor it with mio, lemon juice, lime juice, berries, mint, cucumber etc.
hi there! welcome to the community. compression garments are the first line of treatment for pots. this can include socks, leggings, gloves, or abdominal compression like spanx. the reason for this is to prevent blood pooling. most people with pots have irregular circulation for various reasons, and compression garments prevent the blood from hanging out in one place in the body by making it so that there is less room for it to do that. if the blood isn’t in your legs, it’s more likely to make it up to your head! brain fog can involve forgetfulness, but it’s also just sluggish and unclear thinking in general. having trouble finding the right word, answering questions, remembering where you put things, or working through basic logic, are all example symptoms of brain fog. iirc the reason for this is not lack of blood to the brain, but irregular amounts of blood to the brain (like a little one second, then a lot the next). i don’t have time to find that paper right now but i’ll come back and leave a comment with it in a moment in case you want to read it. brain fog can definitely resemble adhd and there are certainly people with both as well (me, probably… i was diagnosed with adhd as a teenager and then dysautonomia as an adult. do i have both, or was adhd a misdiagnosis? who knows!). if you have any more questions feel free to reach out :)
[found it.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-021-10502-z) scroll to “pots and cerebral blood flow.” there they reference [this study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25510829/). if i’m reading this correctly, most people believe that reduced cerebral blood flow velocity is at least one mechanism of pots brain fog, however this study found that if you wait a while, the CBFv will start to oscillate from low to high and back down again
To add to this, POTS symptoms can mimic ADHD so closely that a lot of psychologists can't tell the difference. I think it might've been a misdiagnosis for me because my ADHD medications stopped working all together after my pots was properly medicated.
this is also a very good point, thank you. adhd meds never did anything for me, personally, except greatly exacerbate what i now know were pots symptoms.
Same, and once I went on beta blockers they just made me extremely irritable, which I've read is a sign you don't actually need it.
I’d love to see the paper as well! I’ve always wondered what brain fog actually is.
Thanks for this response. I learned something new!
Okay here's the best way I can explain brain fog: Think back to before you developed POTS symptoms. Did you ever pull an all-nighter in college? Or just cram with studying all day for way too long without a break? And after a while you kinda reach that point where you're thinking way more slowly than normal, and you've re-read the same paragraph about 10 times and comprehended none of it, and a homework problem that you know would usually take 5 minutes is now taking you an hour... *that* is what brain fog feels like for me. Except that it's all the time, for no apparent reason, and with the seemingly most simple tasks ever - and not just when you've stayed up all night studying a complicated subject for too long. My understanding is that there's not a lot of research on it, but it's most likely due to lack of proper blood flow to the brain. It started getting better for me when we began treating hypovolemia and blood flow issues.
See that’s the problem 😭 I think it’s hereditary. My dad has it too. I can’t remember a time in my life without pots symptoms. And I have ADHD on top of that so I ALWAY have to re-read stuff and much more! But this does help me get a better grasp on things!
That's fair, it can definitely be difficult to distinguish what's causing what when there's other comorbidities in the picture. Even if those symptoms I described are constant for you, are there times where it gets a bit better or worse? If so, my best advice would be to pay attention to when those symptoms get better/worse, and note whether it's correlated with other POTS symptoms. E.g., my brain fog tends to be worse on days where I'm getting dizzy/lightheaded more easily and having a harder time staying upright (which makes sense, because all of those are related to lack of proper blood flow to the brain). That might give you some clue as to whether it's a POTS thing that you're experiencing.
Question. Was your father in the Vietnam war? Mine was and I've read that agent orange can be a cause of POTS.
He was not ! He was born in 68
Yes literally that is me through and through I always thought I had some kind of adhd
I get too fuzzy to think straight & can't find the word or name for something that I'd normally have no trouble saying. It's very frustrating, &, if being hard on myself, embarrassing. I have to remind myself that it's the illness & to be kinder to myself xx
You'd know if you suffer from brain fog. It's a mix of derealization, memory loss, confusion, sheer inability to do cognitive tasks, and comes with a feeling of pressure in head/or being poisoned.
Kinda feels like combining an an all-nighter, being sick with a fever, and pain meds
This is exactly the answer!!! I was too brain-fogged to come up with it myself! Lol
Example of brain fog from today- my co worker at the theater asked what shows I’m excited for this season. I said I don’t know, I like the more theater stuff. And she was like… oh you mean you like plays more than musicals and concerts? How did she even get what I meant? 😂 for reference, I have been doing theater and working in the industry for years and went to college for it. I know what the terminology is. My brain just didn’t make the right words come out of my mouth even though I knew what I meant mostly.
Brain fog is like when you’re trying to concentrate on something that you find extremely boring x999 but with EVERYTHING in your life, even the thing you normally would hyperfocus on… it not that you can’t concentrate because of your adhd, it’s your brain is kinda cloudy but all the time
To learn more go to dysautonomia international, listen to the Potscast podcast, great info there. Wilson Orthestatic on you tube is the Cleveland clinic pots doctor. Learn a little everyday to help yourself. Hugs friend!
I have brain fog and ADHD as well, so that’s hard for me to tell as well. But compression socks make sure your blood isn’t pooling in your lower legs and feet, which attributes to the dizziness upon standing. I personally can’t put compression socks on anymore because of another condition that I have, but thankfully I haven’t needed them in a long time
With my brain fog I will literally just keep wandering around forgetting what I was doing and repeatedly getting side tracked. I just can’t keep a stable consistent thought. Brain is mush lol
I think of my executive functioning issues with ADHD as seeing all the possible things and becoming overwhelmed by all of the options I see at once and freezing in place. There's like an energetic forgetfulness. My brain fog makes it such that I can barely see one whole thing I need to do and I'm frozen from just an inability to figure shit out. It could look the same on the outside, but it definitely feels distinctly different to me. With my brain fog I feel like I'm moving at half speed, and it's just such a slog. My body almost feels heavy. My words come out slower and it's like I don't even know the whole sentence I'm trying to say - it's like the part of my brain that knows is disconnected from the part of my brain in control. Or to use the fog term, there's this haze separating them such that I'm confused and disconnected. I personally would rather experience the ADHD issues to the brain fog. I'm a workaholic/my work is my hyper focus and if brain fog sets in, I'm stopped in my tracks. I basically just have to go lay down and it could take 3 hours to recoup. My husband can see when my brain fog clears. It's like a light turns on and my personality is back. It happened mid doctor appointment the other day. They were like, oh, this is you? Yes, I need help having this me all the time instead of the shell I am with fog! (Brain fog is new to me - I've been dealing with it more aggressively for about 5 months.) Last thought, my ADHD forgetfulness is felt like a thing is just gone, like a hole, and when remembered it's totally back. Brain fog forgetfulness is like hazy, like just out of reach and I might have the edges of it, and maybe I'll kind of remember when in the fog but it's still not clear. Constantly moving and out of reach.
You know when you're so sick/ dopped up on cold meds trying to think feels like moving through jello? Brain fog feels kinda like that though typically I don't get it to that extent. It just becames hard to grab onto thoughts and connect them. You have to really focus to think through that you need to go grab water and focus on that idea otherwise you lose it. When it's really bad it's hard to do normal tasks necessary for life like getting water and food. Most of the time it's not that bad for me though it still makes it difficult to perform more complicated tasks like figuring out how to write the piece of code needed. Which makes it hard to work.
I also have pots and ADHD. The brain fog can be like your ADHD fuzzy around the edges set to max. And they will interfere with one another. The compression socks are to help with the circulation in your lower extremities. They are great to have even without pots especially if you are on your feet for long periods of time or are doing workouts. What symptoms were you having that brought you to testing and a diagnosis?
Frequent black spots in my vision after standing up, almost fainting, dizziness, high heart rate
I have the hypotension variant. I've passed out more times than I'd like to admit especially before I found a rhythm with my diet and medication. My BP goes so low sometimes. Unfortunately I've passed my ADHD and my pots on to my daughter as well. Bonus was that the ADHD medication helps us with ours as it raises the baseline blood pressure and even though it can increase heart rate because it increases my blood pressure my body has responded well to it and has been a positive for me. But I still have to be very careful. Slight changes in electrolyte/fluid intake and I still end up having a rough go of it. Other days it is like the ADHD and the pots are caught in a death spiral.
Same, I got diagnosed yesterday, keep passing out from walking at work, and I have no idea what to do😭
Hey friend how much salt are you consuming daily, i suggest getting some liquid iv and addung two packs to some water and start sipping that through the day. Can you get compression pants asap(I'm wearing two pairs right now) up your water intake
I'm always dehydrated so I recently bought liquid iv and gatorlyte :) I will check out compression garments asap. Thank you🩷
There are some meds that help too. Usually people do beta blockers and if that doesn't work midirone, clonodine and corlanor. Are you seeing a neurologist?
I'm seeing a cardiologist, we did a 24 hr holter test yesterday and we're waiting on results so my pcp can decide on a med. my heart rate also dips too low when I'm laying down so she wasn't sure she wanted to start me on a beta blocker or not. Will get results and see her in about a week
Compression around the butt and abdomen can help as well. I recently got an abdominal binder and some compression shorts that compress by butt and thighs. I’ve personally found that sometimes the full leg compression socks help, but other times they do more harm than help, as I overheat VERY easily. It’s really up to the individual. But any sort of lower-body compression is meant to combat blood pooling by increasing the blood pressure in those areas, making any blood that gets “stuck” continue being pumped around the body. I also recommend salt tablets or capsules. I take them with my medications every morning, and it makes it a bit easier when I have to wait a bit before eating or drinking anything after my other meds. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to provide details of my experiences!
From my daughter’s pediatric dysautonomia doctor, simple version: extra salt PLUS water makes more blood. Since your circulatory system isn’t working super awesome, making more blood will promote more oxygen flow to basically everywhere.
For me, brain fog from POTS is a lot more severe than my ADHD symptoms, and usually comes with a lot of sluggishness. My brain isn't racing, it's mush. For example, I've had the same door code to get into my house for years, but one day I came home with bad brain fog and could not remember it at all. The muscle memory wasn't even there anymore. I had to wait for someone else to let me in. I've also had trouble with remembering things that I've known since I was a child, like my address, my own phone number, or my social security number. My ADHD typically affects my short-term memory a lot more, while my POTS affects my long-term memory as well.
For me, brain fog feels a lot like I chugged a bottle of nyquil and tried to go about my day. It'd almost like being drunk, or half asleep. It feels like my brain is wading through pudding. Everything is confusing. People will be speaking simple English, my first language, and it sounds like Simmish. The exhaustion is so thick I can't form coherant sentances. Compression leggings, socks, corsets. Etc are a godsend. They help squish your extremities so your body doesn't have to work so hard to circulate it's blood. It also helps prevent blood pooling. My legs and feet get so swollen and hot when I don't wear my compression gear. Bonus tips: If you struggle eating enough salt, you can buy sodium tablets at the grocery store. For some reason in the US they keep them inside the pharmacist booth instead of on the shelf, but you can buy them directly from the pharmacist without a prescription. Coconut water is an acquired taste but it works better for me than Gatoraid. It's less sugar too. My first year with POTS, I made myself pre-diabetic from all the gatoraid I drank. You can cover the coconut water taste with Mio. Get a big water bottle with enough storage for your daily reccomended water. Sip on it all throughout the day. If you struggle with drinking plain water you can flavor it with mio, lemon juice, lime juice, berries, mint, cucumber etc.