Do you feel like your brain is foggy? It might be your thyroid!

Brain fog is a common complaint from many of my clients, and it’s something I really struggled with early in my thyroid health journey. Your thyroid is your master gland, so it can have a real influence on what's happening with the brain. 

Let’s talk about what it means and what you can do about it. 

First off, thyroid brain fog it's not really seen as an official diagnosis, even though many of us have it.

I describe it as feeling like you are in a haze. You can't focus, can't concentrate, and you feel like your brain isn’t working properly. Sometimes it feels like your short-term memory goes haywire.

So what can cause this? 

Stress

Stress causes your body to go into fight or flight mode, which causes the body to direct its attention away from what it deems are “non-vital systems” - unfortunately, the thyroid is one of them. 

Stress can hinder the conversion of inactive T4 to active T3 that your body can actually use. When the thyroid isn’t functioning properly because your body thinks you don’t need it in that moment, that can lead to brain fog (amongst many other symptoms!)

Sleep

Stress and sleep go hand-in-hand. A lack of sleep can cause cortisol levels to spike (that’s your fight or flight response kicking in); a spike in cortisol can make sleep difficult.

If you’re not sleeping well, there’s a good chance your thyroid isn’t functioning properly and if your thyroid isn’t functioning well, your brain might not either.

Nutrition (and water)

Poor nutrition can cause inflammation in the body, which can also lead to cortisol spikes, impacting the thyroid hormones.

This includes water! Being properly hydrated is often a really easy solution to clearing up brain fog… and this is true for people without hypothyroidism, too!

How to clear your brain fog

Getting rid of brain fog can be as simple as addressing those causes I mentioned above.

1. 
   Focusing on nutrition, including water, and eating a clean, balanced diet. 

2. Lowering stress levels, which might mean changing how you exercise, taking up meditation, or making some other lifestyle changes. 

3. Getting enough good-quality sleep. This might come from lowering stress levels or changing up your nighttime routine.

It may seem like a lot, so I recommend starting with just one of these steps. See how that makes you feel, maybe get a full thyroid panel test, and then keep working through these different solutions until you feel like your mind is finally clear. 

If you need help with addressing brain fog, contact me here.