PCS and success with coffee
 

I've had many experiences where PCS started to affect me at work and elsewhere. Coffee with only a little sugar seems to almost masks PCS symptoms especially with screens. Also on a motorcycle where your eyes are moving back and forth keeping track of many things on the road.

Anyone else with a similar experience?

Coffee helps, but I would say that stimulants in general help to mask my symptoms. Surprisingly, low dose pseudoephedrine (just 15 mg) does wonders for me. More recently, I started on Wellbutrin and it seems to be helping.

Of course there's a debate as to whether stimulants will prolong recovery, by affecting the amount of rest that you're giving your brain. Logically you would think this might be the case, but I'm not aware of a medical study which proves this.

My doctor had a good argument, which is that staying at home all day and being on disability or unemployed (which is where I'd be without stimulants) leads to depression, and that's most definitely bad for the brain. I gave myself 5-6 months of rest, but about a month and a half ago (I just hit month 7 post concussion) I decided to go with the stimulant approach. It has indeed been good for my mental health.

Could you further explain what you mean about the motorcycle and your eyes? Thanks.

In a car you're fairly insulated from noise and traffic. On a motorcycle, your dealing with a lot more for example balance, keeping track of other motorcycles, cars, trucks, obstacles in the road like potholes, and also weather. Your eyes are constantly scanning and the head is turning a lot.

So in that respect, your brain and body are working harder to process everything that's going on. Couple that with a sunny day and you can be dealing with other stresses like dehydration.

Stimulants like coffee have helped me deal with all of the different inputs which I'd argue are more on a motorcycle than that of a car.