"Will I ever feel like myself again?" I whispered, staring at my reflection at 3:17 AM.
Another night of tossing and turning, my mind racing with forgotten tasks and half-formed thoughts.
Another day ahead of me that I'd struggle through in a mental haze...
At 36, I felt trapped in a thick cognitive fog that grew denser by the day. Tasks that once came naturally now required intense concentration.
Conversations left me searching for words that used to come subconsciously.
"It's probably just perimenopause, if not your ADHD", my doctor had said with that dismissive smile I'd grown to resent.
"Hormonal changes affect everyone differently. Many women experience some cognitive changes during this time."
But this wasn't just occasional forgetfulness or mild distraction.
This was walking into rooms and completely forgetting why.
This was staring at my computer screen, unable to focus on an important task.
This was missing appointments, losing my train of thought mid-sentence.
I couldn't escape constantly feeling scattered.
I'd always prided myself on juggling my demanding marketing career, my teenager's schedules, our household, and relationships with ease.
But now? I was drowning in cognitive chaos.
My desk overflowed with sticky note reminders.
My phone buzzed with reminders for tasks I once remembered automatically.
The concern in my husband's eyes only amplified my growing sense of failure.
The worst part was the isolation. While friends and family noticed, they couldn't see the exhausting mental effort it took just to appear normal.
Out of all the remedies I tried, nothing seemed to help.
Prescription meds left me feeling like a zombie. Memory apps just gave me more notifications to forget.
Expensive supplements promising "brain health" did nothing but drain my wallet.
Each remedy ended up being more a disappointment than the one before it, leaving me no choice but to continue masking my symptoms.
"Just push through it," I told myself. After all, millions of women my age were dealing with the same issues and managing just fine. Right?
Little did I know...
A chance conversation would soon lead me to understand what was really happening in my brain—and to a solution that would finally lift the fog.