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Transcript

Brain Fog vs. Dementia: What's Actually Happening · Create The Best Me

• 0:01
  Speaker: It's the little moments that scare you the most.
• 0:04
  Speaker: You're in the middle of a sentence talking to a friend, and suddenly the word is just gone.
• 0:12
  Speaker: You can see the object in your mind.
• 0:16
  Speaker: You can picture it, you know it, but your brain is just blank.
• 0:24
  Speaker: You laugh it off and say, “Oh, it's just my menopause brain." You make a joke to cover the awkward silence.
• 0:36
  Speaker: But later, when you're alone, that fear creeps in.
• 0:41
  Speaker: Is this normal or is this just the beginning of something worse?
• 0:46
  Speaker: Is this just brain fog, or is this early dementia?
• 0:52
  Speaker: If you're a woman in your forties, fifties, or sixties, and you've been terrified by those “where did my brain go?” moments, I want you to listen.
• 1:03
  Speaker: Because what I'm about to say is very important.
• 1:06
  Speaker: Most of what you are experiencing is not early dementia.
• 1:11
  Speaker: You are not losing your mind.
• 1:14
  Speaker: Your brain is going through a massive biological transition.
• 1:19
  Speaker: And there is a very real, very physical reason why your memory feels different right now.
• 1:27
  Speaker: As a transformational coach, and here at Create the Best Me, we don't just talk about "aging gracefully." We talk about what it really feels like to be a woman in midlife and how to navigate it with actual tools, not just plateaus.
• 1:45
  Speaker: In this episode, I'm going to walk through three things: What actually happens in your brain during menopause the biology.
• 1:54
  Speaker: How to tell the difference between typical menopause fog and actual red flag symptoms.
• 2:02
  Speaker: My three-part brain reset routine to help you find your words and confidence again.
• 2:10
  Speaker: Let's start with the biology.
• 2:13
  Speaker: Why is this happening?
• 2:14
  Speaker: To understand this, we need to talk about estrogen.
• 2:19
  Speaker: For most of our lives, we think of estrogen as a reproductive hormone that manages our periods and helps us have babies.
• 2:27
  Speaker: But estrogen is actually the master brain protector.
• 2:31
  Speaker: Think of estrogen like a steady electrical current that powers your brain.
• 2:36
  Speaker: It supports blood flow to the brain cells.
• 2:39
  Speaker: It protects neurons from inflammation.
• 2:42
  Speaker: It even helps regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.
• 2:48
  Speaker: When we have plenty of estrogen, the lights are on at full blast.
• 2:54
  Speaker: You can see everything clearly.
• 2:57
  Speaker: You can find things easily.
• 2:59
  Speaker: But during perimenopause and menopause, that steady current starts to fluctuate.
• 3:06
  Speaker: It spikes, it drops, and eventually it lowers permanently.
• 3:11
  Speaker: It's like someone playing with the dimmer switch in your living room.
• 3:16
  Speaker: The lights flicker and they get a little dimmer.
• 3:19
  Speaker: And when the lights dim, it's harder to find things, right?
• 3:23
  Speaker: You might stumble, you might squint.
• 3:26
  Speaker: This is exactly what happens to the memory part of your brain and the focus center.
• 3:34
  Speaker: These areas of your brain are packed with estrogen receptors.
• 3:38
  Speaker: When estrogen drops, these areas essentially lose their "fuel source." They don't die.
• 3:44
  Speaker: They don't break.
• 3:46
  Speaker: They just slow down.
• 3:47
  Speaker: This is why you have that tip of the tongue phenomenon.
• 3:51
  Speaker: The file for the word is still in your brain.
• 3:54
  Speaker: You haven't lost the file.
• 3:56
  Speaker: But the retrieval system the search engine is running on low power.
• 4:02
  Speaker: So when you can't find the word “spatula,” it's not because you have dementia.
• 4:09
  Speaker: It's because your brain search engine is buffering.
• 4:13
  Speaker: Now, if it were just hormones, it would be annoying, but manageable.
• 4:18
  Speaker: But we have to add a second ingredient that makes this terrifying: cortisol.
• 4:25
  Speaker: We talked about cortisol in my last two videos regarding belly fat and sleep.
• 4:31
  Speaker: Well, guess what?
• 4:32
  Speaker: It's running your memory too.
• 4:35
  Speaker: When have a moment of forgetfulness, what is your immediate reaction?
• 4:40
  Speaker: Panic.
• 4:41
  Speaker: “Oh my God, I forgot. Everyone is staring at me. I look stupid.” That split second of shame triggers a shot of cortisol, stress hormone.
• 4:56
  Here's the cruel irony: cortisol blocks memory retrieval.
• 5:00
  Here's the cruel irony: So you forget a word because of low estrogen.
• 5:05
  Here's the cruel irony: You panic, high cortisol, the panic shuts down the memory center even more.
• 5:11
  Here's the cruel irony: Now you really can't find the word.
• 5:14
  Here's the cruel irony: You aren't losing your mind; you are stuck in a Stress Loop.
• 5:18
  Here's the cruel irony: And let's be honest about our lives right now.
• 5:23
  Here's the cruel irony: Midlife is the sandwich generation era.
• 5:26
  Here's the cruel irony: You might be caring for aging parents, worried about adult children, managing a career, and trying to keep a household running.
• 5:35
  Here's the cruel irony: Your brain is processing more data than a 25-year-old's brain, but with less hormonal fuel.
• 5:43
  Here's the cruel irony: If you tried to run a high-definition video editing software on an old laptop with a hundred browser tabs open, the laptop would crash.
• 5:54
  Here's the cruel irony: That is exactly what your brain is doing right now.
• 5:58
  Here's the cruel irony: It's not broken; it's just overloaded.
• 6:02
  Here's the cruel irony: And I know what you're thinking.
• 6:04
  Here's the cruel irony: "Okay, Carmen, that sounds nice, but how do you know it's not dementia?" I'm not a doctor, and if you are worried, you should always get it checked.
• 6:14
  Here's the cruel irony: But there are very specific differences between "Menopause Brain" and "Dementia." Let's go through the checklist.
• 6:23
  Here's the cruel irony: The Key Test.
• 6:25
  Menopause Brain: You lose your keys.
• 6:27
  Menopause Brain: You eventually find them in your coat pocket or the counter, and you think, " Ugh, I'm so scatterbrained.”
• 6:36
  Red flag: You find the keys in the refrigerator or the oven, and you have no memory of putting them there, and it doesn't seem strange to you that they are there.
• 6:48
  Red flag: The Word Test.
• 6:50
  Red flag: Menopause Brain.
• 6:51
  Red flag: You forget the word "Remote Control." You say, "hand me that, you know the clicker thing for the TV." You describe it.
• 7:02
  Red flag: The word comes to you an hour later in the shower.
• 7:05
  Red flag: You forget the word, and you can't describe what the object does.
• 7:11
  Red flag: You stare at the remote and you don't know what it is used for.
• 7:16
  Red flag: The "Lost" Test.
• 7:19
  Menopause Brain: You drive to the store, you zone out, missing your turn.
• 7:24
  Menopause Brain: You realize it, turn around, and get back on track.
• 7:28
  Red Flag: You are in your own neighborhood, on the street you've driven 500 times, and you suddenly have no idea where you are or how to get home.
• 7:41
  The Awareness Factor: This is the biggest one.
• 7:45
  The Awareness Factor: In Menopause Brain Fog, YOU are the one noticing it.
• 7:50
  The Awareness Factor: You are frustrated.
• 7:53
  The Awareness Factor: You are apologizing.
• 7:55
  The Awareness Factor: You are aware of the change.
• 7:58
  The Awareness Factor: In early stages of dementia, often the person does not notice.
• 8:03
  The Awareness Factor: It is usually family members who notice first.
• 8:07
  The Awareness Factor: If you are watching this video, terrify that you are losing your memory, the fact that you are aware enough to be terrified is actually a good sign.
• 8:19
  The Awareness Factor: So we know it's likely hormones and stress.
• 8:23
  The Awareness Factor: What do we do?
• 8:24
  The Awareness Factor: We can't just wait for it to pass.
• 8:27
  The Awareness Factor: Here is my three part brain reset routine to help you function better right now.
• 8:34
  Strategy One: Feed your brain.
• 8:36
  Strategy One: The glucose stabilizer.
• 8:39
  Strategy One: Your brain uses 20% of your body's energy.
• 8:44
  Strategy One: When your blood sugar drops, your brain goes offline first.
• 8:48
  Strategy One: If you are skipping breakfast or running on coffee until 2:00 PM, you are starving your brain.
• 8:56
  Strategy One: For the next week, I want you to eat protein and fat within one hour of waking up.
• 9:02
  Strategy One: An egg, Greek yogurt, a protein shake.
• 9:05
  Strategy One: Stable blood sugar equals stable focus.
• 9:09
  Strategy One: It's that simple.
• 9:12
  Strategy Number Two: The "External Hard Drive." Stop trying to be a hero.
• 9:18
  Strategy Number Two: In your thirties, you could hold a mental to-do list of 50 items.
• 9:22
  Strategy Number Two: You can't do that anymore, and you shouldn't try.
• 9:25
  Strategy Number Two: Write It Down.
• 9:28
  Strategy Number Two: Using a list, a calendar, a voice memo isn't giving up.
• 9:34
  Strategy Number Two: It's offloading the work so that your brain has energy left over for thinking.
• 9:40
  Strategy Number Two: If you write it down, your brain doesn't have to spend energy holding it.
• 9:47
  Strategy Number Three: Pause And Pivot.
• 9:50
  Strategy Number Three: This is for that moment when you forget a word in public.
• 9:54
  Strategy Number Three: Instead of freezing and panicking, which releases cortisol, I want you to have a script ready.
• 10:02
  Strategy Number Three: When the word disappears, smile, take a deep breath and say: “That word is hiding from me right now. I'll come back in a minute. Anyways, the point is." By acknowledging it without shame, you stop the cortisol spike.
• 10:21
  Strategy Number Three: And usually the moment you stop forcing it, the word pops right back up.
• 10:28
  Strategy Number Three: And I wanna leave you with this thought.
• 10:30
  Strategy Number Three: Your values as a woman, as a mother, as a professional, is not based on your ability to remember the name of the actor that was in that movie from 1995 instantly.
• 10:45
  Strategy Number Three: Your wisdom, your experience, your heart is still there.
• 10:50
  Strategy Number Three: The machinery is just being upgraded.
• 10:54
  Strategy Number Three: Be patient with yourself.
• 10:55
  Strategy Number Three: If you try the protein breakfast this week, let me know in the comments.
• 11:02
  Strategy Number Three: Did you notice a difference in your afternoon focus?
• 11:06
  Strategy Number Three: I wanna hear your results.
• 11:08
  Strategy Number Three: And if you're ready to tackle the physical side of stress, specifically that stubborn midlife weight that seems to come from nowhere, you need to watch this video right here on Menopause Belly.
• 11:25
  Strategy Number Three: If you would like to read more about today's topic, you can read that at createthebestme.com/ep153.
• 11:35
  Strategy Number Three: Until then, catch you next week and remember, you are beautiful, strong, and capable of creating the best version of yourself.
• 11:45
  Strategy Number Three: Don't forget to be kind to yourself.
• 11:48
  Strategy Number Three: I'll see you next week.
• 11:50
  Strategy Number Three: Bye for now.