Neuropathy and brain fog: why numb feet can leave you forgetful

Short answer: neuropathy does not damage the brain directly, but it can leave you foggy, forgetful and mentally worn out. Dr. Mohamed Karim, D.C., points to three reasons: chronic inflammation, the exhaustion of constant pain signals, and poor sleep. He adds a fourth his patients often have not considered: some common neuropathy medications list drowsiness and dizziness among their side effects.

How nerves in your feet connect to your head

Every nerve in the body is a highway to one hub, the brain. When peripheral nerves are damaged, the signals arriving are weaker, and the rest of the system adjusts around them. Add inflammation, poor circulation or unstable blood sugar, and people start describing the same things in his exam room: foggy thinking, memory slips, trouble concentrating.

Inflammation

Inflammation does not stay put. It can sit around the nerves, in the joints, and elsewhere. When the body is fighting it constantly, Dr. Karim explains, energy is pulled away from the brain working at its best. People feel slow, less sharp, forgetful. They walk into a room and forget why, lose their keys, cannot remember where they parked.

He treats reducing inflammation as one of the most important goals for overall health, and in his clinic that work starts with gut and metabolic health.

Pain is tiring

When the nervous system is sending pain signals all day, the brain is working overtime and never really gets a break. That constant load drains people physically and mentally. It also explains a pattern he hears constantly: symptoms get worse in the evening when you finally sit down to relax, because there is nothing left to distract the brain from them.

Sleep

Pain that wakes you every hour or two chips away at memory and focus the next day. Better sleep is one of the changes his patients report most as their nerves improve.

The medication question

Gabapentin, pregabalin (Lyrica) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) are among the drugs Dr. Karim’s patients most often say leave them foggy. Drowsiness and dizziness are listed side effects for these medicines. That does not mean anyone should stop them on their own, and a sudden stop can cause its own problems. It does mean memory changes are worth raising with your prescriber rather than writing off as age.

One patient he describes came in unable to tell carpet from tile, with feet that were cold to the touch even though they did not feel cold to her. She was on a high gabapentin dose. At her six-month check she said her feet were feeling better and, to her surprise, her head was clearer and she was not forgetting things. Over those months she had been slowly weaned off the gabapentin, which he believes accounts for much of the difference.

Can improving nerve health clear the fog?

Many of his patients report better focus, energy and sharpness as their overall health improves. His clinic retests every three months and tracks circulation as well as nerve function. As circulation, sleep and inflammation improve, knee and back pain often ease too, and the benefits ripple outward.

Watch the episode

Three takeaways

1. Brain fog is not always just aging.
2. Chronic inflammation affects more than your nerves.
3. Improving overall health can help both nerve health and mental clarity.

Foggy and numb? Book a free consultation or read about neuropathy treatment in North Liberty. Related: how inflammation damages nerves.

This article summarizes a podcast episode and is general information, not medical advice. Never stop or taper a prescription without your prescriber. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or weakness on one side is an emergency: call 911. See our medical disclaimer.