MedDRA preferred term

Brain fog: adverse event reports recording this term

14,398 reports to FDA record it, 2013–2026; 0.1% of the database.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "There is no certainty that the reported event (adverse event or medication error) was actually due to the product. FDA does not require that a causal relationship between a product and event be proven, and reports do not always contain enough detail to properly evaluate an event." The information in these reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

14,398
reports recording the term: 0.1% of all reports; 4,300
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 4,241 in the 12 months before; 51.8%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 0.8%
record death among outcomes, as reported: 9.1% across all reports

"Brain fog" is a MedDRA preferred term recorded in 14,398 adverse event reports received by FDA, 0.1% of the database, from February 2013 to June 2026. The term is chosen by whoever codes the report to match what the reporter described.

4,300 reports recorded it in the 12 months to June 2026, close to the 4,241 of the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Of reports recording this term, 51.8% are marked serious, 0.8% include death among the outcomes and 12.4% include hospitalisation, as reported.

The drugs listed most often as suspect products in those reports are Finasteride, Dupixent and Ayvakit. That order mostly follows how many reports each drug has overall; the table also gives the term's share within each drug's own reports. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

Reports by month, five years

FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

Drugs listed as suspect products in these reports

Drug	Class	Reports with this term	Share of the drug's own reports
Finasteride	5-alpha reductase inhibitor	352	2.3%
Dupixent	Interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist	341	0.1%
Ayvakit	Kinase inhibitor	313	2.7%
Kesimpta	CD20-directed cytolytic antibody	300	1%
Orgovyx	Gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor antagonist	270	1.2%
Tymlos	—	246	0.9%
Ibrance	Kinase inhibitor	242	0.3%
Revlimid	Thalidomide analog	220	0.1%
Ocrevus	CD20-directed cytolytic antibody	214	0.4%
Trikafta	—	213	2%
Atorvastatin	—	211	0.5%
Xywav	Central nervous system depressant	169	2%
Pomalyst	Thalidomide analog	159	0.2%
Xeljanz	Janus kinase inhibitor	146	0.1%
Mounjaro	GLP-1 receptor agonist	145	0.2%
Ozempic	GLP-1 receptor agonist	133	0.3%
Humira	—	131	0%
Prednisone	Corticosteroid	131	0.1%
Zepbound	GLP-1 receptor agonist	129	0.2%
Repatha	PCSK9 inhibitor	123	0.1%
Skyrizi	Interleukin-23 antagonist	119	0.1%
Human immunoglobulin g	Human immunoglobulin G	118	0.7%
Gabapentin	Anti-epileptic agent	117	0.2%
Ciprofloxacin	Fluoroquinolone antibacterial	114	0.3%
Lumryz	Central nervous system depressant	111	3.2%

Drugs with a page on this site, ordered by the number of their reports recording this term. The last column is the term's share within that drug's own reports, against 0.1% across the whole database. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

By pharmacologic class

Class	Reports with this term	Share of class reports	Median drug in class
Kinase inhibitor	1,150	0.1%	0%
CD20-directed cytolytic antibody	643	0.2%	0.2%
GLP-1 receptor agonist	555	0.1%	0.1%
Atypical antipsychotic	549	0.1%	0.1%
Thalidomide analog	476	0.1%	0.1%
Serotonin reuptake inhibitor	415	0.2%	0.1%
5-alpha reductase inhibitor	382	1.5%	0.4%
Corticosteroid	355	0%	0%
Interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist	351	0.1%	0.1%
Janus kinase inhibitor	341	0.1%	0%

Classes ordered by count. Class shares follow the class's overall report volume as much as anything else.

Patients in these reports

Patient age

Under 20%2

2 to 110.1%20

12 to 170.5%77

18 to 4417.3%2,488

45 to 6421.1%3,037

65 to 7412.1%1,747

75 and over7.7%1,102

Age not given41.2%5,925

Patient sex

Female57.4%8,268

Male25.7%3,699

Not given16.9%2,431

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. 77.7% of these reports give the United States as the country.

Questions about "Brain fog"

What does "Brain fog" mean in an adverse event report?

It is a MedDRA preferred term, the dictionary FDA uses to code what a reporter described. The report's own description is not published by openFDA and is not shown here.

How many reports record brain fog?

14,398 reports through June 2026 (0.1% of all reports), 4,300 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs appear most often in these reports?

Finasteride (352), Dupixent (341), Ayvakit (313), Kesimpta (300) and Orgovyx (270). Drugs with many reports overall lead almost every term's list. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Does a drug appearing here mean it was responsible for this reaction?

No. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

I have this symptom. What should I do?

This site cannot assess anyone. A pharmacist or clinician can; for an emergency, call the local emergency number. Nothing on this page is medical advice.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. Drug names are as reported, resolved to the brand or generic name on the FDA label where openFDA's harmonisation matched them; classes are the pharmacologic class (EPC) from the label and the National Drug Code Directory of 17 Sep 2026. Terms are pooled across spelling and capitalisation variants of one MedDRA preferred term. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.