Not Just in Your Head – Living With Brain Fog

I used to be a fast thinker. Quick with a joke, wordplay, sharp in a meeting, someone who could remember the name of the actor who played a minor role in that cheesy rom-com. But then I got COVID. Mild case. Didn’t even think much of it at the time. A week of fatigue, a cough, a rough throat, flat out in bed for two or three days. Not such a big deal. I lost a fantastic pal Tarlach Mac Nialláis — a gay rights activist in NYC — on April 1st, 2020. Another friend was in the ICU for a week. If he hadn’t had his phone handy, he’d be dead. I certainly got off lucky,  I thought.

Then the fog rolled in.

At first, I blamed it on stress. Who isn’t mentally exhausted? But this was different. Words I knew were suddenly out of reach. They were scrambled in my mind and sometimes during a work meeting, I intended to say: I’ll collect the data for Q4 and I’ll collect the dagger for Q4 would pop out — talk about embarrassing.

One day I just stood in the kitchen staring at a spoon, knowing I needed to use it… but not sure how. It was like my brain was wrapped in bubble wrap and life was moving in slow motion.

Turns out, I’m far from alone.

It’s Real — Not “Just Stress”

Brain fog is one of the most common and persistent symptoms reported by people with Long COVID, and according to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s not a medical condition itself — it’s a symptom. A symptom that makes it hard to think clearly, remember things, or focus. You know that fuzzy, jet-lagged feeling after an all-nighter? Imagine living in that state for weeks, months, and — for some of us — years now.

And yet, people experiencing this are often told that they’re overreacting. That they just need to get back to work.

I have friends who gently suggest I’m just tired or burned out. Employers push for productivity like nothing ever happened. And while I want to get back to my old self, some days I’m operating at 70%. If that.

The Science Is Catching Up

Here’s the thing: brain fog isn’t just in our heads. In 2024, researchers at Trinity College Dublin released a groundbreaking video and study that finally identified an underlying cause of Long COVID brain fog. According to the Trinity team, damage to the brain’s protective barrier and overactivation of the immune system may be leading to inflammation in the brain, particularly in areas responsible for memory and cognition. So there’s a biological reason why we feel like we’ve been hit with a mental sledgehammer.

This is huge. It validates what so many of us have been feeling for a while now. and opens the door to future treatments. But for now? There’s no cure. Just pacing myself. Rest. And a lot of trial and error.

Short-Term Memory? What Short-Term Memory?

One of the most frustrating parts of all this has been losing my short-term memory. It’s not just forgetting where I put my keys (although that happens) — it’s forgetting conversations that happened ten minutes ago. Names I just read. Why I opened a new tab.

According to Dr. Avindra Nath, a researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Long COVID patients often experience “executive dysfunction,” meaning the brain struggles with planning, decision-making, and remembering information in real-time. In an interview with The Atlantic, Nath described how even young, healthy patients are showing signs of reduced cognitive capacity.

“Just Go Back to Work”

What makes it worse is being told it’s not real. That I need to suck it up. That everyone’s tired and I’m no exception.

We don’t do well with invisible illnesses. If I had a cast on my arm, people would offer to carry my groceries. If I walked with a limp, coworkers would probably understand why I wasn’t sprinting to meetings. But brain fog? You look fine. So people assume you are fine.

And many workplaces are not set up to accommodate this kind of slow, inconsistent healing. We’re expected to bounce back without missing a beat. Never mind that some of have trouble holding onto a thought for longer than 30 seconds.

I’ve spoken to friends who’ve been pushed back into full-time roles before they were ready, and others who’ve lost their jobs entirely because they couldn’t keep up. The shame and pressure pile on fast.

So What Now?

Here’s what I’ve learned: this is a real condition. There’s science to back it up. There are researchers working hard to figure out what’s going wrong in our brains. And there’s a growing community of Long COVID patients supporting each other — swapping tips on everything from supplements to how to explain brain fog to your boss.

I have good days and bad ones. Some mornings I wake up and feel almost normal. Other days, brushing my teeth feels like a marathon.

But I’m done pretending this isn’t happening. I’m done apologizing for something that isn’t my fault. And I hope, if you’re in the same boat, you know this:

It’s not just in your head. And you’re not alone.