Brain recovery: how to speed it up ?

DreamStalker wrote: or some foods?
Ketogenic Diets for Traumatic Brain Injury
Fish Oil Credited for Incredible Brain Injury Recovery
Metabolic Therapies: Therapeutic Implications and Practical Application

Thanks, will have a look.

palerider wrote: whatever you want to throw your money at....

You seem to not believe in a quick recovery ?

Kittamaru wrote:I would second the Ketogenic Diet - I only was able to stay on it about two months (because of time issues - working two jobs leaves precious little time for meal prep!) but it was fantastic - I felt a bit more alert, some of the fogginess went away (and this was before I started the CPAP therapy), and I started a steady decline in weight. I'm hoping to restart on Keto in the next month (I'm supposed to be getting a raise at my primary job... hopefully its enough to allow me to drop down to one job)

How much does it cost you per month ?

Janknitz wrote:I third the keto diet. It's anti-inflammatory and getting inflammation down should be your goal. Omega 3 fats like coconut oil and fish oil may help.
Stress reduction is also important. Some simple meditation may help. There are tons of guided meditation apps online.

Meditation: does it ever work with anyone ? I've heard about it quite a lot, but would like to hear from 1st hand experience.
Thanks a lot about the rest.

You asked if meditation ever 'works'... maybe it depends on what you think that means. It's obviously not going to make you more intelligent, certainly not overnight, though over a long time you may well develop some insight into your life and see things more clearly. It can certainly lower stress and the 'discipline' of doing it is good for anyone, likely to lower your BP by some, if only when doing it, and calm you down in general. Don't look for magic bullets here... any 'brain damage' you might have from OSA will be minimized in time by Cpap to whatever extent your body allows - no two people are the same though and there are way too many variables to compare to say any more than you will feel better, more capable, more alert, etc... but a precise yardstick doesn't exist for improvement otherwise. Be careful of fad diets - knowledge about them changes quickly these days and what works for some doesn't necessarily always work for others - it's more likely that the very awareness of trying to stay healthier makes people feel and look better, rather than whether or not they had one vs two spoons of anything vs anything else.

Julie wrote:You asked if meditation ever 'works'... maybe it depends on what you think that means. It's obviously not going to make you more intelligent, certainly not overnight, though over a long time you may well develop some insight into your life and see things more clearly. It can certainly lower stress and the 'discipline' of doing it is good for anyone, likely to lower your BP by some, if only when doing it, and calm you down in general. Don't look for magic bullets here... any 'brain damage' you might have from OSA will be minimized in time by Cpap to whatever extent your body allows - no two people are the same though and there are way too many variables to compare to say any more than you will feel better, more capable, more alert, etc... but a precise yardstick doesn't exist for improvement otherwise. Be careful of fad diets - knowledge about them changes quickly these days and what works for some doesn't necessarily always work for others - it's more likely that the very awareness of trying to stay healthier makes people feel and look better, rather than whether or not they had one vs two spoons of anything vs anything else.

As an FYI:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/science

I do agree that what works for one person may not work for another. But Jaw has nothing to lose by trying the ketongenic diet as long as there aren't any medical contraindications, particularly since there are so many free resources about it on the net.

Jaw, you might want to take a look at this book review even though you weren't asking about Alzheimer's.

https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/2016/05 ... -antidote/

It sounds like there is alot of relevant information that may address your concerns.

49er

PS - Jaw, I was able to borrow the book because of my Amazon Prime Membership after writing this post. It may not be as relevant to your situation as I initially thought. It still seems to be a very interesting book and one you might want to read eventually. But if you are looking into methods for brain improvement besides of course, optimizing pap therapy, doing a google search for ketogenic diets in the way to go.

Exercise your body and your brain.
Get a bike, walk, run if you can. Adopt a routine to stretch everyday.
Do something to increase your circulation and blood flow.

I meditate. Absolutely worth the effort.

Exercise your brain.
Mahjong for example.
Learn to play a musical instrument. Mine is guitar.
Teach yourself to do things w/your non-dominate hand.
I just got interested in making things w/paracord. Not only is it great exercise for your hands,
arms and back, it is great exercise for your brain. It requires extreme focus
to learn the knots. It then is very repetitive. If you let it, it can stimulate your imagination.





Brain repair is absolutely possible.
But just like your body, it requires YOU to make it happen.

I'll see you on the road

jaw wrote:

Janknitz wrote:I third the keto diet. It's anti-inflammatory and getting inflammation down should be your goal. Omega 3 fats like coconut oil and fish oil may help.
Stress reduction is also important. Some simple meditation may help. There are tons of guided meditation apps online.

Meditation: does it ever work with anyone ? I've heard about it quite a lot, but would like to hear from 1st hand experience.
Thanks a lot about the rest.

There's a lot of studies that support meditation. It has certainly improved my focus and concentration, my mood is better, and my blood pressure has improved.

Meditation comes in many forms. I've been pacticing mindfulness meditation which seems deceptively easy, but it's very challenging. I did an 8 week course through my HMO (which cost a fraction of the usual charge for these classes). The course teaches a few forms of mindfulness meditation plus very gentle Hatha yoga. The entire MBSR program is available as a free, online course, but IMHO you'd have to be highly motivated to benefit from that without an instructor and a group.

But you don't need an expensive course and hundreds of hours to benefit. Guided meditations can be very helpful and they are free or very inexpensive. Or check some books out of the library, or several apps online. An easy and entertaining intro to mindfulness meditation is 10% Happier by Dan Harris. He approaches it from the point of view of a total skeptic. And other forms of meditation may be more accessible than mindfulness.

It costs nothing, it can be done in just a few minutes a day. So you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

BTW, I'm hoping to reduce my chances of dementia. There has been ONE study to date that showed any promise in restoring brain function. ONE. A small pilot study at that, but with the only success I've ever seen. And it wasn't drugs or doing puzzles. It was a long list of lifestyle changes.

Here's the study. http://www.buckinstitute.org/buck-news/ ... s-reversed See item #4.

The full study is here. Note also the dietary recommendations.

Stress destroys brain cells, meditation helps deal with stress. You decide.

jaw wrote:

Goofproof wrote:

jaw wrote:My untreated AHI was > 50 for more than 11 years

What did you do for the ten years and 315 days before you started treatment?

I only know I have severe OSA since February 2016. My estimated 11 years is back to 2004-2006 when I suddenly found that
- I needed to open the window in winter at night, otherwise vivid dreams would bother my sleeping and a feeling of tiredness would occur
- Quite many occasions I found my brain / head so weird (feeling of fogginess)

Brain MRI checking for tumor?

What is wrong with you Avil? Are you actually that bored? Why not try HELPing people instead of being a jerk?

BlackSpinner wrote:Stress destroys brain cells, meditation helps deal with stress. You decide.

How do you define stress ? I think using the brain (even when watching a romantic movie) is already stressing your neurons to work.
If meditation helps to reduce the stress of mental work, meaning my neuron would learn to work more efficiently, then I do agree that it is helpful for my brain to recover.

carbonman wrote:Exercise your body and your brain.
Get a bike, walk, run if you can. Adopt a routine to stretch everyday.
Do something to increase your circulation and blood flow.

I meditate. Absolutely worth the effort.
....
Brain repair is absolutely possible.
But just like your body, it requires YOU to make it happen.

I'll see you on the road

Thank you so much for sharing that with me.

jaw wrote:

palerider wrote: whatever you want to throw your money at....

You seem to not believe in a quick recovery ?

as other people have said, you need to be talking to neurologists, and seeking answers in brain damage/recovery forums, not a cpap help forum.

if you DO, as you seem to think, have some sort of brain damage, then that's where you'll get answers.

jaw wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote:Stress destroys brain cells, meditation helps deal with stress. You decide.

How do you define stress ? I think using the brain (even when watching a romantic movie) is already stressing your neurons to work.
If meditation helps to reduce the stress of mental work, meaning my neuron would learn to work more efficiently, then I do agree that it is helpful for my brain to recover.

There are very standard definitions of stress out there. Watching a movie (unless it triggers memories of trauma) is not one of them. Stress (the real stuff like over work, divorce, death, lack of money, illness) generates hormones that cause your system to do all sorts of things - like pee a lot. And yes a lot of mental work with deadlines is certainly stress related.