What is Brain Fog and Why Can’t We Remember Anything?!?!

LATELY, WE’VE BEEN A TAD FORGETFUL. Not about important meetings or taking our morning bouquet of meds—don’t worry, we’re still crushing Wordle—but about basic titles of beloved books or names of people we’ve known for years. “Baby brain!” we say, chalking it up to the common pregnancy and postpartum phenomenon. And then we remember our youngest—and final—baby is a sophomore…in college.

OUR NEXT THOUGHT IS DARKER. ARE WE LOSING OUR MIND, we wonder, frantically shuffling through our lovingly named Crap Cabinet, which contains various oddball gifts and ill-conceived purchases that we haven’t yet mustered the fortitude to take to Goodwill. We are attempting to locate—you guessed it—the giant sudoku book of puzzles we purchased back when we read that article about how it was the key to staying sharp (and then never cracked). ACCORDING TO SCIENCE—AND ALLOY MEDICAL director Dr. Sharon Malone—however, we’re probably not going the way of Julianne Moore in Still Alice. (Gah what an incredible, tragic performance. The Academy sure got this one right!) What’s more likely happening is that our hormones are going haywire due to menopause. Yes, menopause: that special chapter of life in which we realize we’re wiser, more secure…and currently unable to recall the street number of our own home when pointedly and politely asked. WHEN WE HIT MENOPAUSE, OUR ESTROGEN levels drop. And when our estrogen drops, so does our cognitive function, resulting in those horrifying moments when we can’t remember what to call the friendly two-doors-down neighbor we’ve known for a decade. During “the change,” up to 66 percent of women feel forgetful or foggy—whether in the verbal recall department (here!), or in their ability to concentrate, or…what was the third thing?? Give us a second…Hang on…Thinking.. Oh, right! The third category is forgetting where we put things like our keys or our mask or our cell phone or any other highly used item that’s probably actually being balanced on our head or in our back pocket while we check the fridge just in case we stuck it there. Literally millions of women on planet earth are struggling to find something in their mental filing cabinets just like you are. The most important takeaway here is that this forgetful phase will pass.

FOR NOW, THOUGH, IT’S TIME TO PROBLEM-SOLVE. A healthy diet chockablock with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and omega-3 fatty acids (hope you like salmon!) can help as can a mix of cardio and strength training at the gym. Getting enough sleep is always a good idea when it comes to brainpower, as well. Finally, hormone therapy may also be the way to go. Alloy’s products are plant-based and FDA-approved, not to mention easy to get your hands on. As a first step, take our health assessment, right now (before you forget). It only takes a few minutes—literally—and could be your gateway to relief. You’re always on our mind, Alloy