Overcoming Brain Fog

By Kaz Waters, The Mindset Medic

There was a period where I genuinely couldn’t find words mid-sentence. Not occasionally. Regularly. I’d be talking to a colleague, a client, or just trying to order a coffee, and the word I needed would simply not be there. Gone. Like reaching for something on a shelf you’ve used a thousand times and finding it empty.

I remember standing at the nurses’ station one afternoon, looking at a patient file I’d read three times already, and thinking: I have absolutely no idea what I just read. That wasn’t tiredness. That was brain fog, and at the time I had no framework for it, no language for what was happening, and no idea it was connected to what my hormones were doing.

If you’ve experienced it, you know it’s not just forgetting where you put your keys. It’s a heaviness behind the eyes, a kind of static where clear thought used to be. It can make you feel stupid, frightened, or like you’re quietly losing your grip on yourself. For women in perimenopause, it’s one of the most distressing symptoms precisely because it’s invisible. Nobody sees it. You just have to keep functioning while your brain feels like it’s buffering.

What I’ve come to understand, and what Chapter 8 of Stress-Free Perimenopause with EFT Tapping explores in depth, is that brain fog isn’t a sign that something is permanently broken. It’s a nervous system and hormonal communication problem, and like most communication problems, it responds when you actually address it.

Falling oestrogen affects the brain directly. Oestrogen supports serotonin and acetylcholine production, both of which are critical for memory, concentration, and clear thinking. When those levels fluctuate, your brain notices. Add chronic stress, poor sleep, blood sugar swings, and a lifestyle that hasn’t accounted for any of this, and the fog thickens considerably.

What helped me was approaching it from multiple angles at once rather than waiting for one magic fix. Sleep became non-negotiable, not aspirational. I got specific about blood sugar, eating in ways that kept my energy stable rather than spiking and crashing. I started treating cognitive load like a physical resource I could actually run out of, which meant being more deliberate about where I spent my mental energy across the day.

And EFT became the thing I reached for when the fog rolled in and the frustration behind it started to build, because that frustration, the “why can’t I just think straight” loop, adds a layer of stress that makes everything worse. Tapping through the emotional charge around the brain fog, not just the symptom but the fear and the self-criticism underneath it, gave my nervous system a way to settle that the fog could start to lift from.

It didn’t happen overnight. But it did happen.

If you’re in the middle of it right now, I want you to know it’s not permanent and it’s not you falling apart. Your brain is adapting to a significant hormonal shift, and it needs support, not punishment.

Chapter 8 of Stress-Free Perimenopause with EFT Tapping goes much deeper into the neuroscience of brain fog, the specific lifestyle and EFT approaches that help, and how to work with your body through this rather than against it. The book is coming soon and I’d love you to be first to know.

Join the waitlist here and grab your free 5 minute Perimenopause Reset Or if you’re wanting to go deeper into your tapping practice please visit me at  www.kazwaters.com.au