Brain sensitivity to bumps went away after I am drunk
 

I just came from a party. I am drunk. While I was on my way, I couldn't feel a bump on the road in my head. This has been my major symptom since the injury. But those bumps and potholes I used to dread always didn't bother me at all after I am drunk. I felt totally normal and insensitive to them. This makes me wonder if I have become overly conscious about them and I don't actually have a physical problem. Any thoughts ?

I think you are right. Anxiety is a big cause of many PCS issues.

I hope the person driving was not drunk.

I experienced something sort of similar recently while biking. I've recently upped my excercise considerably, from 45 minutes on a stationary bike, to up to 90 minutes biking outside on a road bike. I used to be a big runner (ran xc and track in HS, college, and post-collegiately until a hamstring injury about 6 months before the concussion) and it has felt amazing to move through space fast again, and exercise outside.

When I first started biking, I'd be really careful and focus on how I'd feel a bump in my head. But after a while, and as a ride progresses, I sort of get in a happy zone of being in the moment, still being careful to not hit big potholes, but just enjoying exercising, and I don't feel the bumps as much as I did early on.

So yeah, I think a lot of it is probably in our heads.

It's funny I've bumped my head at parties while I've been drinking and felt fine the next day. Concussion problems are in part caused by excitotoxicity (too much glutamate), and alcohol affects GABA receptors lowering glutamate, possibly alcohol temporarily lowers the excitotoxic neurometabolic response that can possibly happen if you bump your head? Idk, that's just my take. Of course, drinking is no solution to concussion problems and is recommended to be avoided as much as possible while in recovery. Coincidentally, I "know" someone who has told me their bumped head symptoms becoming less worse after using marijuana. My take on that is that it can lower inflammation and has been proven to protect against excitotoxicity.

You nailed it. I have similar experiences. When I always watch for bumps and adjust/lean forward my body, I always feel them somewhat. It's like my mind is always on high alert. But when I am busy talking on phone or talking to the person sitting besides me, it hardly bothers me and I sometimes pass over a considerably big bump without freaking about it. So yes, major part, if all all of it, is anxiety I think

Mine is definetly not anxiety as i feel the jolts even when im sleeping


Iether its the nerves or CSF

roffa,

What jolts do you feel when you are sleeping ?

What symptoms do they cause ?

I can sort of relate to that. Sometimes I'll be dreaming about a hit to head or jolting and I'll actually feel it in my dream. Sometimes it's actually bad enough to wake me up, since the pain feels very real. Not sure if I'm tremoring in my sleep and my brain is adapting my dreams to that sensation, since I have tremors.

Those sure sound like anxiety driven dreams. PTSD and lesser anxieties often cause such flashback like dream states/nightmares..

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Hi - I'm new to this forum and it's my first post.

I have been in my own sumo match with PCS for just under 2 years - felt quite a bit better (but not 100%) after 10 months and lots of different doctors visits / physical therapies, then have hit a recent relapse over the last month or two.

I had this same issue (bumps in the road would cause symptoms). In fact, I had to sell a car that I owned that had a CVT transmission because the jerky shifting of the gears would make me feel ill!

I also felt 100% myself when drinking alcohol.

I was told by a neurologist that alcohol suppresses the vestibular system, and that's why it made me feel better. Even one beer would take the edge off quite a bit. It usually would cause a rebound the next day, where my vestibular issues would be worse.

Also, I got the same effect from antihistamines (e.g. benadryll) which made me feel fantastic when I was on them and worse afterwards...

I'm not sure if this was specific to just my case, but if it wasn't, i hope it is valuable information for someone....

Just as a word of warning. While alcohol may help some of you with some symptoms, I drank (1-2 beers) a few different times while recovering from my concussion and that flared up all of my symptoms to making me completely blocked from my personality/self. I have been in this awful stage for almost two months now, so just wanted to share so people are very careful and measured in even experimenting with alcohol while recovering.