A thread below reminded me.

PCS affects my ability to consume alcohol to a great degree -- a few sips and I'm sort of drunk, but in an unpleasant way. I was wondering if people ever experienced difficulty with pain medicine, as it can also affect the brain (albeit more subtly) and sometimes even cause dizziness, in terms of its effects being augmented or it aggravating PCS symptoms.

I routinely take aspirin and occasionally take Tylenol for my headaches.

I have not noticed a problem.

I have read that ibuprofen is contra-indicated for people taking SSRI's. It is common for physicians to prescribe SSRI's for PCS/MTBI.

I have a problem with even small amounts of alcohol. It leaves me with a almost drunk but hung-over feeling.

incircles,

Does this make sense to you based on your experience?

Oh, I meant narcotic pain medicine (vicodin, percocet, etc). Tylenol and Advil aren't going to be psychoactive at all!

Alcohol affects me in exactly the way you described.

Bear in mind that ethanol (alcohol) is a neuroleptic drug, and a potent one at that. if you start mixing potent drugs, they become an unknown quantity. Different types of people react in different ways to drugs. It has just one heading ---BEWARE -

Oh, absolutely. But I don't drink anymore. And I'm definitely not talking about recreational use or combining things!

Rephrasing my question:

Since I've discovered that alcohol and being around marijuana (I don't smoke) affect me in unpleasant ways, and since this seems to be universal among those with PCS, I'm wondering if people have found that actually medicinally necessary substances that are similarly psychoactive, such as surgical anesthesia or narcotic pain medicine, are similarly challenging to a brain that's compromised. I've been putting off having elective surgery to repair my eardrum, as I'm worried about both the anesthesia and about having to take some sort of narcotic for a few days. Also, I have back pain that comes and goes, and being able to take the occasional vicodin when it's severe wouldn't be the worst thing ever, but I've avoided the stuff as I'm not sure how it will react with my brain.

Alcohol is contraindicated with narcotics. Is drinking important to you for social or other reasons? If not, it would be best to give it up. Overdose and other adverse effects are possible in any combination of psychoactive meds and alcohol, probably more so with narcotics. I had to give up drinking in 1990. The hardest part was dissassociating from "party" friends and resuming the pre-alcohol role of a shy person. Let me know how you are doing. billie

I'd never combine alcohol and narcotics. That's definitely not what I was asking! Also, since alcohol affects me negatively these days, I don't drink. Also, I've had no problems going to parties and being sober. It's really no different except that I'm a more coherent conversationalist now and I remember everything. I never did drink much anyway.

What I am asking: does having post-concussion syndrome affect the ability of the brain to process narcotic pain medicine, anesthesia, etc. like it does the ability to process alcohol? Can such things trigger similar relapses of symptoms including headache, dizziness, flat affect, cognitive problems, etc?

I've had three head injuries in the course of 18 months and have found that I can not drink alcohol without being extremely uncomfortable. It's a hard feeling to describe, kind of claustrophobic. I haven't found any difficulty with pain medication though.