My daughter dictated this to me:

"Thank you so much for your reply. You seem very well informed.

I don't suppose there is anything you can do at the present time about neurofibrillary tangles, is there? I appreciate the information you provided about glutamate. It sounds like what the rise in glutamate may be similar to the drop in magnesium. We don't know if it is a cause or a result. You said that what you do in the first 24 to 48 hours after concussion is important. What would you advise?

In answer to your question about how I sustained so many concussions, as far as I can tell it seems to be a combination of bad luck and a constantly lowering threshold. My first concussion was the result of an assault. My second happened 8 months later when I bumped my head. That was the only one that was actually my fault. My 3rd happened when I was on the bus and the driver hit the brakes very suddenly and my head whiplashed. The fourth was given to me by an extremely careless physician who, upon hearing my temples were swollen, sharped jabbed me in them and did not stop despite my screams of pain. The 5th concussion happened when I was on the bus and a man walking down the aisle behind me slammed his elbow into my head. The 6th happened when my mother accidentally hit me in the head with a glass pan when she was turning around.

The most troubling aspect of my decline has been the feeling of powerlessness ever since the initial concussion. I have gone to extreme lengths to avoid any kind of head bump. I have become incredibly careful with my movements, but for some reason I can't seem to avoid the clumsiness of other people. It is so frustrating to feel that there is really nothing I can do. For individuals with the innate genetic weakness that predisposes them to an ever-lowering threshold, what help is there? What hope is there that we can ever again lead a normal life or stop the decline?

I am trying to hang in there, but it gets more difficult with each successive event. My intelligence used to be all I had in the world, and now I can no longer read or write or do math or think properly or even do simple tasks like listening to music or speech without incurring a migraine. For the past several months, I have been doing nothing other than lying in bed all day trying to avoid negative stimulation. I feel like I am no better than a vegetable. I am sorry that this is all probably more personal information than you were expecting. It is just that when I think about the seemingly unstoppable series of concussions that have ripped everything in my life away from me, it is hard to feel any kind of optimism or hope for the future.

My grandmother had Alzheimers, and if what you say about neurofibrillary tangles is correct, then even if I manage to break this cycle somehow and have my brain back for a couple of decades, I cannot help but feel that my life will end in the same way that hers did. As far as I know, there is nothing that can be done to prevent Alzheimers yet. I am trying to eat a lot of curry. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.

Thank you again Mark, for your input."

Mark, you didn't comment on my daughter's question about anticonvulsants. Do you have information on anticonvulsants treating or preventing PCS?