I got my results. They weren’t anything unexpected — for the most part. This was my fifth (I think … I’ve lost count) overnight sleep study, and the results of each have been pretty much the same. And the solution has been as well. I did this sleep study in the raw, that is, without…
Category: Brain Health
Writings on brain injuries, remedies, and interesting tidbits, from the perspective of one who suffered a closed head injury and didn’t lose consciousness. Mild brain injuries are injuries too.
GABA and Gamma Waves
I’m trying to understand GABA, specifically I’m trying to understand how I can induce GABA secretion in my brain so as to replicate an astonishing experience I had with a research drug, a GABA analogue. I started thinking, no, wondering if or how brain waves and neurotransmitters are linked. GABA is a neurotransmitter, and I…
Does a National Strategy on Mental Health Have Any Meaning in Canada?
The Mental Health Commission of Canada has released its National Strategy report. It took them five years to compile and write it. I understand that they had two Chairmen — the original one resigned. I’ve heard several interviews with the second Chairman, a physician, and the original Chairman, a Senator, and I caught a snippet…
Clinical Trial Woes
Sooo … I was in a clinical trial recently. It was, uh, interesting being on the other side of the guinea pig fence. The drug did more than expected. And then it was taken away! But I get ahead of myself. It was March 1 when this story began. I saw a new specialist and…
Brain Injury Recovery is Like Hauling a Triple Across Canada … And Back
Recovery from brain injury is a long haul. It’s like being a trucker driving an over-the-limit 40 m triple road train loaded up with gold-containing ore, from the far eastern tip of Newfoundland to the far western edge of Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon, who travels smoothly and happily in the early…
What Doctors Don’t Know: Brain Injury Equals Weight Gain
Weight loss. The entirety of North American society is grappling with weight loss. With diet. With exercise. With staying at a healthy weight. But believe it or not, people with brain injuries struggle even more than the typical North American. We struggle more because we may no longer be able to perceive that one’s stomach…
The Sleep Study
It’s me and the men. Fat men. Snoring men. Young men. And extremely picky men. That latter is a new one to me in my five (six?) sleep studies. Seriously, does this guy think a hospital is going to purchase his preferred kind of sheets just for him? It’s not like in the pre-bed bug…
The New Sleep Specialist
A new year, another new doctor. The first thing my new specialist said as soon as I sat down was: I know what your problem is. Pause. You have physician fatigue. No kidding. Astute. I don’t recall another doctor noticing that on their own or, if have, acknowledging it openly to me. I immediately paid…
The Sleep Questionnaire Marathon
Sleep disturbances and brain injury go together like bread and butter. But I had sleep problems even before my injury. I’ve had four (five?) night-time sleep studies and one day-time one, the latter as part of the first night-time study. They’re, uh, fun. Think round things glued with concrete to your skull, straps round your…