Alcohol Brain Fog: How to Heal Your Brain

This can involve counseling, support groups, and healthy behaviors like regular exercise and a well-balanced diet. Gillian Tietz is the host of the Sober Powered podcast and recently left her career as a biochemist to create Sober Powered Media, LLC. When she quit drinking in 2019, she dedicated herself to learning about alcohol’s influence on the brain and how it can cause addiction.

Alcohol hinders the ability of the brain to transfer information from short-term memory to long-term storage. It is like a delivery truck on a route that gets alcohol brain fog sidetracked and never makes it to its destination. Alcohol has a dehydrating effect on your body, which is why you have a hangover when you drink too much.

Magic, Medicine, Toxin: Why the alcohol-anxiety connection is so insidious.

You may also want to consider taking a nap during the day if you are feeling particularly tired. It is vital to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night. These deficiencies can lead to symptoms like fatigue, poor concentration, and irritability. Also, at higher concentration alcohol blocks the NMDA glutamate receptor in the same way as anaesthetic drugs, such as ketamine, and this further impairs memory function.

Many people with an alcohol addiction are malnourished, and it is possible that your body does not have the nutrients it needs for proper brain functioning. Your brain fog may also be another side effect of the symptoms that accompany withdrawal. For instance, insomnia might make it hard to think well during the day. Knowing you could experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms may feel daunting, or even deter you from trying. Remember that the worst of the symptoms typically wear off after 72 hours. In some people, symptoms may continue for a few weeks after their last drink, but they will lessen over time.

Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

You drank for a long time, and it’s going to take more than a few weeks or months for all of that damage to be reversed. Partial repair of some of the structural changes to the brain can occur within the first few months of sobriety, with the most noticeable and https://ecosoberhouse.com/ important effects occurring in the first year of sobriety. It’s well established that heavy alcohol consumption decreases brain volume — with white matter especially vulnerable — but studies also show that some of that damage can be reversed during recovery.

• Heavy alcohol use has been linked to brain damage and other disorders.
• With a focus on individualized treatment and support, Renewal Lodge can provide a path toward long-term recovery for individuals struggling with alcohol use disorder.
• When alcohol is consumed, it enters the bloodstream and travels to the brain, where it can affect brain function.
• They may find conversations hard to follow, or they may not be able to pay attention to presentations.
• Furthermore, excessive alcohol consumption is estimated to cost the United States economy over $249 billion annually in healthcare expenses, lost productivity, and criminal justice costs.
• While in the hospital, vitals are monitored and fluids will likely be administered.

Alcohol is a depressant which works in the same way as a sedative, making your brain processes slow down, with resultant impairment of memory. “At roughly twice the legal limit, a blood alcohol content of .16, you become vulnerable for a blackout ― although this varies. In a blackout, alcohol shuts down the ability of the brain to consolidate memories,” he told the Huffington Post.

Brain Fog

If you want to learn more about brain fog and how to manage it, here are plenty of helpful resources. The cognitive dysfunction can impact your life negatively, affecting your career, relationships, and overall motivation. Yoga is a type of exercise that combines physical activity with mindfulness. Just make sure to start slowly if you’re not used to exercising and building up your stamina over time.

One of the best things about getting sober is that there’s a newfound clarity of thought. Irrational thoughts that lead to impulsive behavior are replaced by more reasonable ones. This initial phase of sobriety can be invigorating and is often referred to as the “pink cloud”—a period that feels a little like you’ve found a unicorn. If you’re ready to leave your addiction in the past, put your trust in our licensed and certified addiction therapists. We have more than 120 years of combined experience helping people just like you move past addiction. What remains unknown, says Tapert, is if the cognitive downward slide in teenage binge drinkers is reversible.