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20 Silly Things People Forgot About Because of Fibro Fog

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Have you ever forgotten your keys? Words like banana, elbow or shoe? What about your own birthday? If you live with fibromyalgia, you probably know that “fibro fog,” the term people with fibro use to describe brain fog, can cause you to forget the simplest of things. While this can be frustrating, and sometimes even scary, it can also lead to some very silly moments.

Fibro fog is caused by cognitive dysfunction, one of the main symptoms of fibromyalgia along with widespread pain and fatigue. Fibro fog can affect your memory, make you stumble over words and forget what you were saying.

As frustrating as fibro fog can be, sometimes, laughing at the ridiculous thing you just said can ease some of your frustration when you can’t find the word you are looking for.

That’s why we asked The Mighty’s fibromyalgia community to share some of the silliest things they’ve forgotten because of fibro fog.

Here’s what our community had to say:

The silliest thing I’ve forgotten is…

1. Who’s On the Phone

“I’ll call someone and forget who I’m calling. So it’s a nice surprise when my mom or my partner pick up and not a doctor’s office. Or I’ll call a nurse line and forget why I’m calling and have to hang up and call back when I remember.” – Evren G.

2. Words

“Everyday words. Cucumber is my usual. I very often have to doodle my shopping list because I can’t remember what things are called sometimes.” – Kate S.

“I forgot the word ‘cats.’ I ended up asking my partner if he’d ‘fed the… err… not… dogs?!?’” – Sophie R.

“Random words. Like, the other day I could not think of ‘alfredo,’ so I sat there explaining it’s that white sauce on most pasta dishes.” – Alexandria M.

“Basement, I forgot the word basement. I called it ‘the down upstairs.’ People still mock me for that one.” – Sam H.

3. How to Unlock the Door

“I tried to enter my house with my car key fab and couldn’t figure out why the ‘unlock button’ wasn’t working.” – Chelsea L.

“I’ve got a minivan that has a trunk button. I once used that to try to open my house door, only to realize what I did once my van behind me starts beeping as the trunk is opening.” – Barbie V.

“I forgot I couldn’t unlock my front door with my car key fob.” – Allie H.

4. My Phone Number

“After a fender-bender, I accidentally gave my parent’s phone number instead of mine. I haven’t lived at their address in 33 years! The man’s insurance company couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t get me on the phone.” – Heidi J.

5. Where I Live

“The part of the state I live in. I’m in North Carolina and we have two kinds of BBQ, eastern and western. I ordered eastern because I was for sure I lived in the eastern part of the state and I don’t even like eastern style BBQ.” – Jessica B.

6. What I Bought

“Just yesterday, I made a $40 purchase and left the goods in the store! Put my change away and walked out without my stuff!” – Em L.

7. What’s Cooking

“Cooking! I was cooking a roast and I took it out of the oven and of course not thinking, I used my bare hands to take the lid off totally forgot it was hot and got burnt bad.” – Tammy M.

“I forgot what I was cooking even though I had just spoken to my partner what I was cooking lucky he realized and helped me out. Probably my silliest one.” – Hannah Y.

8. What the Conversation’s About

“I’ll be in the middle of a sentence and forget what the sentence was about.” – Charmaine H.

9. Where Things Go

“I once put a gallon of milk in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator. My husband knew I was having an off day and just moved it to the refrigerator without saying anything. That’s just one of the many funny things that has happened over the last 10 years. We get a good laugh out of it most of the time.” – Shannon L.

“Opening the fridge door when trying to get the washing out of the tumble dryer or opening the dishwasher to put the milk away.” – Emma P.

10. Ages

“I just got candles on Sunday for my husband’s birthday cake. He turned 38, not 28 and I didn’t realize the mistake until I heard him mention being 38 later in the day. We both got a kick out of it when he saw the candles!” – Jenny W.

11. My Cell Phone

“I lose my phone constantly. One time, I lost it and it was in my hand.” – Emily K.

12. My Own Birthday

“My birthday. Got it mixed up with my husband’s once.” – Bethan O.

“My husband’s birthday and social security number are very similar to mine as we are only 22 days apart in age. I mix them up all the time.” – Heidi J.

13. Codes

“Stood outside my front door for 20 minutes because I had forgotten my entry code. I had to call my husband to give me the code again.” – Gina B.

14. Names

“I genuinely forgot my own daughter’s name. My family was telling me that a family friend was calling their daughter Ruby and they all looked pointedly at me as if it should mean something to me. I replied with, ‘ugh, awful name,’ then they all turned to look at my daughter, Julia Ruby… It took me a whole two minutes to realize what the awkward silence was all about. And, naturally, I bought my child toys and sweets to make up for being such a terrible parent.” – Debi G.

“How to spell my own name. Thinking back to it, I see it’s silly and funny. But at the time, I cried like a baby.” – Gloria M.

“My dog’s name. His name is Babba and I forgot it. It took me five minutes of asking ‘what’s this dude’s name?’ to my parents. They wouldn’t answer because they thought I was kidding. I could have easily looked at his tag.” – Caro A.

15. Keys

“Not being able to find my car keys when they are in my own pocket.” – Sandra L.

“On multiple occasions I got through two gates, up an elevator and down the hallway to my storage unit before realizing I don’t have the keys.” – Meghan Z.

16. Rinsing Off

“Stepped out of shower, dried off, got dressed, only to discover that I never rinsed the conditioner out of my hair.” – Louise M.

17. Turning Something On

“I went inside the gas station and paid for my gas. Came outside and proceeded to pump it. After a minute, I took the pump out and left. When I got home, I noticed my gauge was still low. I realized I had forgotten to turn on the pump.” – Lisa C.

“Put all my clothes and detergent in the wash the other night and forgot to turn it on! An hour later I went back to check and started taking clothes out and was like, ‘why are they bone dry?’” – Allison M.

18. My Child

“My daughter! We were barbecuing at my mom’s house and after saying goodbye to everyone, it wasn’t until I was a couple of blocks away did I realize I had left her there. I turned around to go back and was greeted by my mom and daughter waiting on the porch.” – Christina P.

19. My Purse

“My purse. In the freezer after a Costco trip. For two weeks.” – Kerri M.

20. The Law of the Road

“I once waited for a stop sign to turn green.” – LeDeene D.

“I forgot that only the streetlight in front of me is for me. [Then the] streetlight for traffic going left and right of me turned green. I saw it and drove straight through a busy intersection.” – Isabella F.

If you notice your fibro fog getting worse or interfering with your day-to-day functioning, talk to your doctor. Finding a fibromyalgia treatment that works for you is often a process that requires a lot of trial and error. Though there is no cure, treatments such as medications, graded exercise, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and functional medicine may help.

To learn more about fibromyalgia and fibro fog, check out these articles:

Originally published: August 4, 2019
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