Frontal lobe problems?

[Hoopoe]

Lately I've been thinking that my brain health is comparatively poor to my physical health which has improved substantially over the last years. It seems I need to focus more on the brain now.

The biggest problems seem to be fatigability, distractability, difficulty with spoken language and conversations (pauses, grammatical errors, having to revise sentences while speaking, hesitation and low spontaneity), difficulty feeling emotionally connected to other people, difficulty planning and executing these plans (especially if I can't act on impulse, and it requires waiting, or daily commitment).

Together with the physical limitations it feels a bit like I'm stuck in my brain with my interests and thoughts and feelings but have difficulty expressing them properly.

While I'm no expert, a lot of this sounds a lot like some frontal lobe problem to me. I'm pretty sure most of this is not severe enough to count as "real" frontal lobe dysfunction but the pattern seems to be similar.

Treatment wise, the best thing would be just to continue trying to practice the relevant skills, right? And to see it all as a sort of neurorehabilitation. And is there anything I could take to help the brain heal, like fish oil? I'm not up to date on these things.

 

[Hutan]

The biggest problems seem to be fatigability, distractability, difficulty with spoken language and conversations (pauses, grammatical errors, having to revise sentences while speaking, hesitation and low spontaneity), difficulty feeling emotionally connected to other people, difficulty planning and executing these plans (especially if I can't act on impulse and it requires daily commitment).

Could the issues not just be explained by a combination of ME/CFS (whatever the pathology of that is) and a lack of regular practice? (i.e. speaking with people, especially speaking with people you aren't familiar with and about topics that aren't every day ones).

A family member had a vitamin B12 supplement prescribed for nerve healing after Bell's palsy.

 

[Hoopoe]

Could the issues not just be explained by a combination of ME/CFS (whatever the pathology of that is) and a lack of regular practice?

That's what I'm thinking. There doesn't seem to be a need to introduce another hypothetical diagnosis to explain these observations. I'm interested in improving these problems within the limits of the existing illness and circumstances.

I'm interested if knowing whether other people can relate to what I'm describing, and if they have suggestions for how to improve these skills.

 

[Kitty]

I find that, as my physical health "improves", my brain symptoms always get worse.

There is a small but real increase in my physical capacity sometimes, but there's an additional factor: my PEM threshold also rises a bit. This means I really can do a bit more, but I can also overstretch my capacity a bit more without getting hammered.

I inevitably do overstretch it, of course, and this is responsible for the worse cognitive function. In my case, there's no point in trying to train my brain or improve my nutrition; I just need to rest more. When I manage my activity better, I get a more balanced improvement in physical and cognitive capacity.

Not everyone is necessarily the same, of course. It's clear that physical activity directly reduces cognitive capacity in my case, because as well as this chronic form, there's a very funny acute version. If I try to speak after having to stand or walk for half a minute longer than I can manage, absolutely no coherent words will come out—I just make noises. It's very similar to what happened to a migraine sufferer I used to work with during his aura phase.

 

[Ash]

In my experience any cognitive effort especially to read technical information, do repetitive tasks inorder to build skills or rapidly task switching causes my cognitive capabilities to plummet. I simply get worse and worse until I can’t function at all. It takes a long time for me to build back up to my starting point.

In my opinion it’s just like physical exercise can be for PEM.

I do think if you’re stable ish in your health you can safely try out new routines and more efficient mental planning and add in more stimulation and interpersonal communications. But I think how successful this will be is likely to come down to your physical stamina level. Can you maintain activity and stimulate your brain enjoyably or is it too much.
Sounds like you’re at a point where it’s worth exploring and experimenting with what ever takes your fancy.