TomAce,

The first thing to do is stop looking at everything as black and white. The science is just observations, not solutions. There are plenty of studies that point to a single issue like mindfulness meditation and changes they claim result from it. But, do those imageable changes cause improvements? Everything is in shades of grey. We do best when we listen to our bodies.

Moderating stimulus can make a difference. Changing the intensity of how we take on life can make a big difference. Those who are intent on understanding every detail tend to be the people who have the most struggle with anxiety. Letting go of this need to have control over the details is important.

Over-stimulation comes from damage to parts of the brain that filter out extraneous stimulation. Those stimulations are always there. The brain lets them through without the normal filtering process.

Some believe this white matter and similar issues are the result of a break down of the blood brain barrier. This needs proper nutritional support and a reduction of stimulation to give the brain a break with less stress.

Think of it this way. It you injure a joint, you can splint and protect that joint and let it heal before starting a rehab program. Or, you can limp along for months and years because you never allowed the joint to heal.

My orthopedist, after scoping my knee and finding nothing wrong to fix but I improved anyway explained it this way. The scoping trauma caused me to give my knee a break for a month. This low stress recovery period allowed the unfound injury to heal.

We need to reduce our exposure to stimulation so our brains can get the break from stress so healing can happen.

I believe mindfulness meditation works because it becomes a disciplined time of giving the brain a break. Other relaxation systems can be just as beneficial. I changed how I was subjecting my brain to stimulation. Short periods were followed by quiet. I even rested up prior to planned stimulating events.

What people fail to understand is that these over-stimulation events are hard on healthy brains. The brain is not designed to tolerate such stimulation. People subject themselves to some of these over stimulations as a form of self-medicating. It triggers chemistry (dopamine and adrenaline, etc). Over time, this over-stimulation can lead to fatigue, anxiety, depression and more.

There should not be a goal of improving multi-tasking tolerance. Multi-tasking is stressful and harmful to the brain. Trying to do a cognitive task while being stimulated by sound, sight, feel, smell or other is multi-tasking.

The skill worth learning is Stop to think. That means stop the stimulations so you can think.

Listen to your body. Give it a break.

BenW and Mark,

My understanding about DTI scans is that the very mechanism that they use is what makes it difficult to be precise about the details about a white matter lesion. As the DTI scan measures water molecules travelling along axons (correct me if I'm wrong), doctors can't specify what's going on where the fluid flow is disrupted/different from other parts of the brain. It could be that axons are damaged to the extent that signals can't be transferred over them, it could be that axons are twisted and thus are malfunctioning. Either way, it's a neural traffic jam due to (axonal) road work of some kind. You don't know what's wrong with the road, you just know that things aren't moving forward in your lane.


LMLS,

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. In my experience, getting better comes parallell to learning more about how one's symptoms manifest themselves. Managing symptoms is key both for being able to go by from day to day and for getting better.

Reading about how you've lived what seems to be a very, very active life made me think of something: I've come to realize that before I hit my head against the ceiling, I was living in a way that was unhealthy in regards to how I was treating myself mentally. Thought patterns of insecurity and very high demands on myself triggered anxiety which in turn triggered pretty severe symptoms. I try to be more chill about things and therapy + meditation seem to be helping with managing anxiety. I'm not at all saying that you necessarily are weighed down by unhealthy thought patterns just because you've been living an active life, just that trying to chill out can be helpful when trying to overcome cognitive symptoms. There are no shortcuts. The physical recovery part can't be helped much by therapy or meditation, but you seem to be on the right track with your supplements.

People on these forums tend to be very helpful and they have helped me out a lot. 11 months after my injury, I'm back in university and I'm able to meet friends at noisy bars for over an hour now. I'm reminded of my symptoms very rarely these days. Things will get better than they are right now. Hang in there and take care.

smutsik,

From what I have read about DTI is it just shows an increase in fluid flow compared to the normal. The science has not yet defined why that increased flow exists other than to observe that is coincides with an injury and/or anxiety/depression. Whether it is axon related, myelin related, inflammation, edema, or ischemia, nobody appear to know yet. Damaged myelin is as problematic as damaged axons. Axons have greater healing potential than myelin. Folic acid, B-12 and such help with myelin healing. The other issues disrupt normal function.

If you want to fry your brain trying to understand DTI, here is a good article.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Brain

Increased fluid flow in the area where it looks like there is a lesion? I seem to have my facts backwards, this sounds really interesting.

Axons having greater healing potential than myelin? Cool, I'd love to read more about this. Is it covered in the article you linked? I haven't read much about continual myelinization at all (at least regarding the concept as a part of rehabilitation), just some vague points about what kind of fats are beneficial for the process in general. Are myelin sheaths thought to be damaged in traumatic brain injury?

Thanks for the article, I'll look into it tomorrow.

The myelin sheath heals/grows very slowly. It does not close open gaps well. Nerve fibers will grow/heal looking to reconnect with the other side of a break.

Multiple Sclerosis is mainly a auto-immune disease of the myelin. That is why it is so deadly. Remove the insulation and the nerve signals short out.

When nerve reconnect surgery is done, they just have to connect the sheath. The nerve fiber will grow along the sheath.

Vitamin therapy is helpful with the myelin. Omega 3 fatty acids are for the nerve fibers.

Mark,

I appreciate the reply. I really liked the knee scope analogy.

I don't think I really ever gave myself much of a break. I've been so concerned about getting back to what I was, that I continue to be active and expose myself to a lot of stimulation.

There is certainly something to be said for relaxing, taking a step back and not being so focused on the problem. I appreciate your insight.

Over the 9 years I have been on NT, I have witnessed dozens who spent a year or more pushing through their symptoms with a drive to get on with their lives. When they finally decide to slow down and give their brain a chance to heal, recovery starts. I've seen people waste 18 months of misery then slow down and recovery remarkably in 6 months or so.