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1 hour remission, random occurrence of apparent shift in brain chemistry

Messages
54
So yesterday I was up pretty late.. about 2 hours past my bed time when all of a sudden I felt the tingly feeling in my brain subside along with the pressure, mental exhaustion and anxiety that usually accompany it. There was no apparent reason for this, other than my staying up past my bedtime. Usually when I push myself to spend more energy than I should, I start shaking, my heart begins to beat rapidly and I feel weak and lightheaded. However this time, I felt a total sense of calm awash me and all brain fog and head pressure alleviated. This resulted in about an hour of feeling close to normal, until I fell asleep and woke up with the same pressure and brain fatigue. Has anybody experienced something similar or can draw any conclusions as to why this might have happened?

P.S.: The majority of my symptoms tend to be neurological, with occasional tachycardia and low blood pressure. Persistent mental exhaustion, tingly and tight feeling in my head and weakness. I do not often experience muscle pain or sore lymph nodes as many people with ME do.
 

Battery Muncher

Senior Member
Messages
620
Interesting. I don't know if it's as pronounced as yours, but I also often get a burst of mental energy late in the day (approx 1130pm - 2am).

I rarely get to stay up that late now as I have to work (I've never been diagnosed).
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
I've had this happen a handful of times. It usually only lasts for an hour or two, and it's always late at night. I have no idea why it happens.
 

Hutan

Senior Member
Messages
1,099
Location
New Zealand
In the past month I've had two instances of an hour to two hours of sudden clarity - both visual and cognition wise.

My vision now is usually blurry, sometimes more so, sometimes less so. I've seen my optometrist several times. She is puzzled, it isn't a problem that can be fixed with lenses. I have to concentrate a lot when I drive as I can't read street signs until I've pretty much passed them. But during those two times, I could suddenly see clearly. It wasn't that the sun had come out from behind a cloud, although it felt a bit like that. Colours were more saturated.

And thinking was easier; it seemed that I could think more quickly. I felt well.

Both times were during the day. I haven't been able to identify a cause, other than being well rested both times.

I know it sounds as if I am delusional, but the difference was sudden and distinct. The return to my normal fuzziness was gradual.
 

Snow Leopard

Hibernating
Messages
5,902
Location
South Australia
I've had times when I have felt comparatively better, but I have not felt normal for a long, long time. I always have the headache and the (fatigued) muscle pain all over the body, including the face.

My first guess is that this experience might be a sign of improvement, but then the other replies have said that they too have experienced similar things, so I don't know.

Certain hormones obey circadian rhythms. Such as cortisol drops during the day and melatonin rises towards bed time. But melatonin increases the pressure in the head feeling for me, so I'm not sure that it can explain it.

Circadian rhythms are a fascinating thing actually, more info here: http://joe.endocrinology-journals.org/content/195/2/187.long
 

Marco

Grrrrrrr!
Messages
2,386
Location
Near Cognac, France
I used to get this during the day - two to three times per year but not for a few years now.

For me it was suddenly feeling 100% well - physically and mentally - which would last a few hours and then I'd be back to 'ab'normal. It felt like whatever was disrupted had suddenly re-set itself.

On one occasion I felt so good I went out and did some normal things which was fine but I was so overstimulated I couldn't sleep a wink and crashed for a few days afterwards.
 
Messages
54
Interesting. I don't know if it's as pronounced as yours, but I also often get a burst of mental energy late in the day (approx 1130pm - 2am).

I rarely get to stay up that late now as I have to work (I've never been diagnosed).

hmm... that's interesting! Have you had any hormone tests done? I remember my GP saying this was pretty common when your cortisol levels are out of whack, especially if it happens regularly.

In the past month I've had two instances of an hour to two hours of sudden clarity - both visual and cognition wise.

My vision now is usually blurry, sometimes more so, sometimes less so. I've seen my optometrist several times. She is puzzled, it isn't a problem that can be fixed with lenses. I have to concentrate a lot when I drive as I can't read street signs until I've pretty much passed them. But during those two times, I could suddenly see clearly. It wasn't that the sun had come out from behind a cloud, although it felt a bit like that. Colours were more saturated.

And thinking was easier; it seemed that I could think more quickly. I felt well.

Both times were during the day. I haven't been able to identify a cause, other than being well rested both times.

I know it sounds as if I am delusional, but the difference was sudden and distinct. The return to my normal fuzziness was gradual.

eeeee!! :s blurry vision is definitely something I have never had a problem with. So are you saying the majority of the time you can't see clearly? Weird that your optometrist hasn't been able to pin it down on anything. Have you seen an ophtamologist or even a neurologist about that issue? That's something that would be near intolerable, considering reading is one of the few activities than I can do with relative ease :3

I've had times when I have felt comparatively better, but I have not felt normal for a long, long time. I always have the headache and the (fatigued) muscle pain all over the body, including the face.

My first guess is that this experience might be a sign of improvement, but then the other replies have said that they too have experienced similar things, so I don't know.

Certain hormones obey circadian rhythms. Such as cortisol drops during the day and melatonin rises towards bed time. But melatonin increases the pressure in the head feeling for me, so I'm not sure that it can explain it.

Circadian rhythms are a fascinating thing actually, more info here: http://joe.endocrinology-journals.org/content/195/2/187.long

Yeah.. I think overall I'm much better than I was before I began seeing my gp.. but improvements with my neuro symptoms don't tend to last very long. I was told I had low cortisol & elevated histamine (or was it low?! I can't remember :( ) which was an indicator my adrenal function was far from optimal. Strange that melatonin does that to you :s . I've tried it before, and it did nothing for me. I take GABA before bedtime, it's the only thing I have tried that I have felt has a significant positive effect on my neurochemistry. I can literally feel the change taking place after I take it. It usually doesn't completely alleviate my head pressure like I what I experienced last night though.

I used to get this during the day - two to three times per year but not for a few years now.

For me it was suddenly feeling 100% well - physically and mentally - which would last a few hours and then I'd be back to 'ab'normal. It felt like whatever was disrupted had suddenly re-set itself.

On one occasion I felt so good I went out and did some normal things which was fine but I was so overstimulated I couldn't sleep a wink and crashed for a few days afterwards.


Yes! that is exactly what it felt like. I felt as if my muscles were getting all the energy I needed to function, my brain fog was completely cleared and I could concentrate perfectly on the task at hand. Have you felt any deterioration/increase in symptoms since you first were sick?
 

Marco

Grrrrrrr!
Messages
2,386
Location
Near Cognac, France
Yes! that is exactly what it felt like. I felt as if my muscles were getting all the energy I needed to function, my brain fog was completely cleared and I could concentrate perfectly on the task at hand. Have you felt any deterioration/increase in symptoms since you first were sick?

A succession of step changes of worsening symptoms for me unfortunately over the last 30 years but everyone has their own individual pattern with this illness.
 

Scarecrow

Revolting Peasant
Messages
1,904
Location
Scotland
@angee111
Since I relapsed five years ago, this has only happened to me once and it was two years ago. I had experimented with a nicotine patch that morning - I don't smoke - then at around 10pm that night I had absolute mental clarity. The amount of nicotine I took made me truly sick. I've tried at a smaller dose but didn't get the same result. So probably coincidence, possibly dose dependant.

Other than that I do have some abrupt changes in cognitive states, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse and the time periods can vary from hours to days to weeks and months.
 
Messages
54
@angee111
Since I relapsed five years ago, this has only happened to me once and it was two years ago. I had experimented with a nicotine patch that morning - I don't smoke - then at around 10pm that night I had absolute mental clarity. The amount of nicotine I took made me truly sick. I've tried at a smaller dose but didn't get the same result. So probably coincidence, possibly dose dependant.

Other than that I do have some abrupt changes in cognitive states, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse and the time periods can vary from hours to days to weeks and months.

Nicotine.. that is.. interesting! Were your side effects from the patch worse than usual PEM crash?? I wonder how exactly nicotine (if in fact it was nicotine) alleviated your symptoms. Extra self experimentation would be in order, only if the side effects weren't overly terrible tho /:
 

Hutan

Senior Member
Messages
1,099
Location
New Zealand
eeeee!! :s blurry vision is definitely something I have never had a problem with. So are you saying the majority of the time you can't see clearly? Weird that your optometrist hasn't been able to pin it down on anything. Have you seen an ophtamologist or even a neurologist about that issue? That's something that would be near intolerable, considering reading is one of the few activities than I can do with relative ease :3

Yes, I saw a neurologist a long time back and got an MRI done. It was normal and so he quickly ushered me out the door saying 'oh, I see lots of people like you. It's just that you have become overly sensitive'. 30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes consultation, $400.

My optometrist has been great but thinks it's a neurological issue rather than something wrong with the eyes themselves. I can see fine up close thankfully, unless I am really tired. I have trouble making out people's faces from across the road and it's worse when things are moving. Driving is very tiring.

I actually had this vision problem on my list to emphasise as an issue with my GP last week, but I can only get through a couple of issues in an appointment and, with my son sick with this too, the list of issues to cover is long. angee111, thanks very much for your reaction. It reminds me that actually this is a significant problem that I need to act on.

@Scarecrow
Nicotine - I've read about that somewhere else as a possible therapy for MECFS. I've thought about buying a patch and trying it out. Maybe I will.
 

Scarecrow

Revolting Peasant
Messages
1,904
Location
Scotland
Nicotine.. that is.. interesting! Were your side effects from the patch worse than usual PEM crash?? I wonder how exactly nicotine (if in fact it was nicotine) alleviated your symptoms. Extra self experimentation would be in order, only if the side effects weren't overly terrible tho /:
I was nauseous fit to die a few hours after applying the patch. It wasn't PEM. I used one of my brother's patches and he was a hard core smoker of many years, so I expect it was quite a large amount. The nicotine didn't have an obvious effect as a stimulant, which was certainly not what I expected. It seemed oddly inert in that respect but then I don't get a buzz from caffeine either. I just become marginally less stupefied than normal.

I think that if there was any association at all between the nicotine and the mental clarity, it may have been a metabolite of nicotine rather than the nicotine itself - but who knows.

@Hutan have you seen this thread?
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...-neurodegeneration-activated-microglia.29337/
 

Hutan

Senior Member
Messages
1,099
Location
New Zealand
@Scarecrow - thanks very much
Wow. I have company in my oddness. :)

From the thread

"Do you remember the findings of odd visual impairments in ME/CS patients that you thought might be significant? The most apparent impairment was 'smooth pursuit' - the tracking of a moving target :

"Patients were most markedly impaired when required to direct their gaze as closely as possible to a smoothly moving target (smooth pursuit)."
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
I think that if there was any association at all between the nicotine and the mental clarity, it may have been a metabolite of nicotine rather than the nicotine itself - but who knows.

I only recently learnt this, but apparently nicotine activates the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, which acts as a brake on the innate immune response.
 
Messages
54
update:
Had the same thing occur to me 2 days in a row!! Granted, I've been able to sleep a full 10-12 hours the past couple of nights but I've been reasonably functional (being able to complete assessment tasks for my course and walk to get groceries) with minimal brain fog and fatigue. I was knackered by the time I got home, but I went straight to sleep and I woke up feeling reasonably refreshed. My legs and neck are in considerable pain but I have no headache, no brain fog and all I feel is a nice "it's bedtime!" kind of fatigue. Just thought I would let you guys know :)
 
Messages
2,565
Location
US
I feel better when I stay awake too long, whether it's night or day. I think it's the cortisol timing or other things that occur with circadian rhythm like someone said above.
 
Messages
54
The only thing I've been doing different is going to bed later (normal bedtime is 11:30, been going to bed at around 2am) and sleeping more. Though today I feel like all the activity I've done in the past few days has hit me.. can't stop yawning and it hurts to try and reach things in high places. I suspect it's due to my adrenals being in overdrive but unfortunately it's gone now /:
 

Scarecrow

Revolting Peasant
Messages
1,904
Location
Scotland
Though today I feel like all the activity I've done in the past few days has hit me.. can't stop yawning and it hurts to try and reach things in high places.
That happened to me too, recently, after an improvement. I went a bit bonkers with the excitement of it, did far too much and then ended up yo-yoing because I couldn't figure out what my new level was. I've now settled down into my new state without pushing the limits of it.
 
Messages
25
Oh my god… I made an account and joined JUST to reply to this thread… this is EXACTLY what I'm going through!! I've had horrible brain fog for the past 8 years straight, and just so life made sure I knew I wasn't crazy, it made the fog randomly disappear for about twenty minutes one day a few years ago. I am DYING to figure out what made it disappear, and what makes brain fog happen in general.

The docs say I'm anxious and that's what causes it, but I'm pretty sure it's rather the opposite-- I get anxious wondering if this crap will ever disappear!!!

I was taking rhodiola supplements when the fog disappeared, so I wonder if it was that or something else? Will be reading every thread on this site for the next month digging for clues!