Concussion, no. my TBI was the result of complications of brain surgery

Yes! I've experienced the same relief, too! I've stumbled upon this, too. I stumbled upon water fasting having tremendous healing effects and I think there may be something here for us PCS folks.
*admin edit*

I just concluded a 5 day water fast and I've really noticed a difference. I think, after I regroup, I might really try to go for this. What do I have to lose??

THere's a YouTube video of a TBI gal who had 16 year headache relieved/cured thru water fasting! There's SOMETHING to it.

Thomas83James,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your struggles. You say you got relief but don't say what you got relief from. Was it head aches or some other PCS symptoms ?

I have been dealing with post concussion syndrome for a decade from sports injuries. When I fast it seems to make my brain much calmer and once I break the fast I have more sustained energy. I only fast when I know my schedule is lighter. I will go into fast and do a ketosis diet the next week and report how I feel. Right now I feel awful so I have nothing to lose.

Before Fast
Headache 7/10
Fatigue7/10
Body Aches 8/10
Focus 3/10

Just finished 24 hour fast
Headache 8/10
Fatigue (alot more energy) 4/10
Body Aches 8/10
Focus 6/10

so my energy seems to be better which is awesome, all other symptoms pretty much the same. Going full keto this week to see if it further improves. Eggs and butter here we come. her der.

My brain always phyically feels inflamed so since keto reduces inflammation it must have some benefits right? Can't see the brain healing if it is always inflamed.

Thanks, Heather (and others), for bringing this to our attention. I have never heard that fasting be useful and I am interested in your experiences.

However, I would caution against the "What is there to lose?" attitude sometimes experienced when someone gets postconcussion symptoms. What there is to lose, of course, is gaining a more speedy recovery if nutrition is what your body needs to heal after a concussion.

I feel that after my concussion I probably should have eaten more than I actually did, particularly protein. Logically, as the brain tries to repair itself nutrition is needed in excess of what was taken in before. I maintained a "healthy diet" but in retrospect I wish that I had eaten more, particularly protein, just to make sure that my body had all that it needed. I believe that magnesium is lowered after a concussion so perhaps supplements would be beneficial. I think that this process is more important than just trying to deal with the symptoms of headache, even though they can be really terrible.

Would it be useful to consider two cases?

1 in the immediate aftermath of a concussion, where I would argue that nutrition for long-term healing should be the concern;

2 Years after the event when all the healing that is going to happen likely has happened and one is only concerned with managing day-to-day symptoms. In that case, it seems from what other have reported in this thread that there might be some benefit to some people and it would seem that there would be less risk of doing harm. Even then, I would think that it should be used as a tool to break a cycle of pain, if that seems to work.

I have not tried it but I am interested in the experiences of those who have - so thanks for sharing.

Concussed Scientist

while I was told food is like medication for me, by neuro, at some point I really lost appetite and was too dizzy to go shopping. I stayed about 4-5 days with low food intake, one day full water fast..

I enter my data every day, these are the only days in the last 60 days or so that my symptoms have only been around 1/10 (higher is worse).

But I decided to get back to eating since fasting sounded counterintuitive and I was afraid I might cause damage or slow healing.

just my short experience...

Hi Heather

I found this post while searching for fasting to do with concussion . I have lost concussion syndrome and have the same issue where even a tiny knock to the head brings back concussion symptoms .

I wondered did this ever go away for you I.e. Did your head become more resilient ? Did you continue to fast in the same way to stop the symptoms ?

Thanks

Lucy

Lucy,

Heather has not been around sine 8/2014. Others has done fasting and have another thread. An alternative to fasting is a anti-infammation diet. They are easy to google.

For many, the head sensitivity to bumps is just an anxiety trigger. Learning to ignore the bump can be helpful. What kind of bumps cause you symptoms? What symptoms are the result?

Oh Hi I just noticed an update was requested!

Yes the head sensitivity did indeed go away gradually over about 3 months, with me feeling much better 1 year after the injury, as would be expected.

I am pretty certain my symptoms were not anxiety or "in my head" (no pun intended) and I resented at the time when people would suggest as much.

I think it is worth noting that I did not try fasting directly after the initial injury and experienced the same extreme hunger and low blood sugar others are describing. So I can't comment on the use of fasting directly after a serious TBI. I tried it by accident maybe 7 months in.

I really believe the fasting played a big hand not just in managing my symptoms but in overall healing and there is more and more evidence to support this possibility. I'm happy to see others have had positive experiences with fasting too. And I can also conclude from the thread that we are all individuals in individual situations and it doesn't always help. Im pleased there appears to be no first hand evidence from those who posted where a short fast was dangerous.