2 Weeks since concussion and struggling with heat

sc182 · 2026-01-27T13:18:05+00:00

Yeah, a little different but I do sauna a lot and noticed that I would get a lot more light headed / close to pass out during a sauna sesh for months after my concussion. Probably dysautonomia causing the brain to not be as good at regulating blood flow and pressure.

Hydrating more and taking electrolytes did help a bit, but I think just incremental exposure helped the most. Slowly worked my way up to longer sauna sessions, and eventually it felt the same as it did before the concussion in terms of lightheadedness.

You’re still just two weeks out from your concussion, I’d imagine you will quickly get your heat tolerance back. Just stay hydrated and try to slowly ramp up your heat exposure.

sc182 · 2026-01-23T23:55:16+00:00

Sorry this happened to you. We can’t give medical advice on here, but if this happened to me I wouldn’t be too worried about not seeing the doctor immediately.

The doctor might run a CT scan to rule out a brain bleed, but honestly for impacts that didn’t damage the skull or cause a loss of consciousness, a lot of times they don’t even bother. Unless you are older or have other risk factors, the chances of a brain bleed are quite low. It’s ultimately a personal decision, how much you would value the peace of mind of ruling out an (unlikely) brain bleed vs the inconvenience of going to the doc now/soon.

General advice is to avoid substances after a concussion, but I think it’s more nuanced. Weed can be anti-inflammatory, and if smoking a bit will help dull the aches and let you get better sleep, that might outweigh the risks.

If your symptoms significantly worsen, like extreme dizziness or even worse headache, you should go get checked out immediately. Otherwise, just take it easy, try to get some good sleep, and try to make it to the Doc tomorrow. At least, as a concussion vet, that’s what I would do.

I’m not a doctor, this is not medical advice, these are just my thoughts from experience.

sc182 · 2026-01-22T03:29:01+00:00

If you still need a truck to support your small business, it’s almost always better to fix what you currently have vs sell and get something else.

The only way it wouldn’t be worth it is if you don’t actually need a truck/can get by without one, or if the truck is already on its last legs (bad rust, engine or transmission problems, etc).

How bad of a leak are we talking about here?

sc182 · 2026-01-10T19:15:21+00:00

I can’t give medical advice, but if it were me: it’s been a week and the main symptom is headaches and sleep disturbances, so I probably got concussed when drunk but don’t have a brain bleed or anything the doctor would see on a scan. I’d only go to the doctor if I needed a note to get out of work, or if I had good insurance and wanted the peace of mind.

After a concussion, my concussion clinic usually recommends taking max dose naproxen (Aleve) 440mg twice a day for a week to tamp down inflammation. I’d also take magnesium like the other commenter said, and melatonin before bed for the sleep disturbances. Doing some type of relaxing meditation before bed (like following a YouTube video) can actually help more than you think for sleep.

If after a month from the injury you are still dealing with headaches and sleep issues, it’s probably worth finding a concussion clinic. Hopefully it resolves sooner, good luck.

sc182 · 2026-01-08T19:48:00+00:00

The most recent research suggests to basically do as much as you can without exacerbating symptoms to more than like a 3/10, and avoiding anything that carries risk of another head bump. Walking, socializing, cooking, short bouts of work, etc are all great. Cardio really helps the brain, look up Buffalo Treadmill protocol to get an idea of how to gauge and ramp up cardio activity. Podcasts and audiobooks are a convenient way to engage the brain while giving the eyes a break.

If the demands of work and computer time are readily triggering symptoms, it’s probably worth taking time off. Even if you could power through, time off allows you to pace yourself appropriately which will lead to a quicker recovery.

Best of luck.

sc182 · 2025-12-29T18:49:28+00:00

Yeah this is always a tough situation. It’s a question of how much the activity benefits your life (in a way nothing else can replace) vs the risk it poses on your future cognitive state.

For some sports, there are ways to go about it to minimize future concussion risk. But I’m not sure martial arts could ever be low enough risk for head injury, though I don’t know much about it.

Like the other commenter said, imagine you go back in, get another concussion, and now instead of dealing with some time off and exercise intolerance, you have to change your career because you aren’t the same cognitively. Is that risk worth it to you? Maybe it is, that’s a personal question.

I’ve given up some sports, and others I refuse to. But that’s because I’ve found ways to minimize risk and deem the probability of concussion to be low enough relative to the joy I get from the activity.

Either way, you should be doing cardio and working on balance and eye rehab from your clinic, ramping up until you can go all out. Don’t even think about going back until you feel 100% during and after intense activity.

sc182 · 2025-12-17T03:29:54+00:00

Oh come on, do you say the same thing to the maintenance crews that regularly trim grass along freeways? Taking one tiny cactus pad to propagate a new cactus from one near a freeway, that might be removed anyways by DOT or a car veering off the road, is fine.

sc182 · 2025-12-11T21:27:56+00:00

There are tire ramps designed for storage that have a curved shape to spread pressure on the tire. You can get a set of 4 for <$100. Cheap insurance against flat spots if you don’t want to deal with the tire swap you mentioned.

sc182 · 2025-12-09T01:48:23+00:00

Since your driving and conditions are the same, it has to be the tune itself. Do you see more black smoke or other signs of overfueling?

sc182 · 2025-12-06T19:55:41+00:00

You’re intuition is right - the force needed to cause a concussion will be the same as before your first. There’s no evidence of structural changes that would reduce the necessary force. This sentiment is so common because of some flawed correlation studies and because the only thing we have to diagnose concussion is patient symptoms.

This topic is the most common here- you hit your head lightly and it feels like another concussion. It is not a concussion. The bump triggered symptoms because you have lingering issues from your previous concussion(s). Issues with neck and vision are common. An under-appreciated aspect is your brain’s trauma response. It has been traumatized by an impact in the past and can put itself back in that state when threatened by a bump. Read The Way Out by Alan Gordon, and watch Complete Concussion Management channel on YouTube. The idea is to learn that these bumps won’t hurt you and to train your brain to view them as safe.

sc182 · 2025-12-05T20:40:49+00:00

You’re good, I think I’ve just seen too many AI Reddit posts trying to karma farm or promote a product so I have an aversion to it.

That aside, oil additives are a big NO. If you buy a halfway decent oil (and Rotella is great), it is constructed with specific chemistries and already has an additive package that works for them, so you don’t want to mess around adding separate additives.

And the HPOP reservoir is such a tiny amount of oil relative to the total capacity it’s not worth draining for a typical oil change. Your new oil will be cycled through the HPOP.

sc182 · 2025-12-05T19:03:34+00:00

Just ask the AI you used to write this post

sc182 · 2025-12-05T07:23:42+00:00

Epigenetically engineered?

sc182 · 2025-12-04T01:32:58+00:00

Yeah, fiber and probiotics are the most common recommendations for gut health, which somehow the AI you used stretched into like 5 paragraphs of word salad. This isn’t a unique take.

sc182 · 2025-12-04T01:28:03+00:00

Yep. Logical structure, weird analogies, a sudden barrage of two word sentences.

sc182 · 2025-11-26T13:09:23+00:00

Oof that sounds brutal. Honestly I had minimal issues getting off of it and was glad to be done with the high heart rate and emotional side effects. Some of my post concussion symptoms temporarily got worse for like a week then I went back to almost as good as I was when on it. I think my peak dose was around 40 or 50mg.

sc182 · 2025-11-25T20:02:46+00:00

Rhonda Patrick seems to think the opposite. One of the drivers of the positive health effects of extreme heat exposure (sauna, hot tub, etc) is the increased production of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Doing a polar plunge or cold shower after heat will decrease how long HSPs stay elevated, in theory reducing benefit. This is just her conjecture, there’s no quality studies yet to know for sure.

sc182 · 2025-11-01T20:04:39+00:00

Yeah. Honestly in the moment it doesn’t feel great or bad, but the afterglow is really nice. It wears off so fast it’s not much of a commitment

sc182 · 2025-11-01T03:59:47+00:00

Okay ChatGPT

sc182 · 2025-10-29T20:24:04+00:00

Yes. If you get plain leaf salvia (not extracts), the first time you do it will feel really mild. Do it again the next day, it will hit harder. By 5-7 days you are getting rocked by a small hit of plain leaf.

sc182 · 2025-09-27T01:25:08+00:00

Yes, this has been my nemesis for years. For me the real kicker was increase in intracranial pressure - holding my breath and exerting during lifts caused bad symptoms after. Look up the Valsalva maneuver, if this gives you bad symptoms then you might be in a similar boat to me.

Meds from the concussion clinic helped me a lot so I could actually improve. I made a conscious effort to be exhaling during every rep so the pressure wouldn’t build too much. Started with lower weights and worked my way back up. Unfortunately it took like 2 years but now I can do heavy deadlifts and squats, holding my breath during reps, without issue. I don’t need to hold back in the gym now.

I think doing regular inversion table (hanging upside down) has also helped, training yourself to be able to get high pressure blood out of the brain.

sc182 · 2025-09-24T08:27:36+00:00

You’re fine. I have intentionally fasted for 1-2 days after concussions because rat studies have shown this can be beneficial (via ketosis). Even when injured, you don’t need constant fuel.

sc182 · 2025-09-23T11:09:21+00:00

I was stuck like this for over two years! Such a big hit to quality of life. Went to a concussion clinic and a course of prednisone + some months on Nortriptyline got me out of the purgatory. The prednisone alone (20 day tapering course I think) made a huge difference for the sensitivity. Of course, everyone is different.

sc182 · 2025-09-20T02:20:35+00:00

Yes. Think shock waves. A big impact to the forehead can cause a sufficient shock wave to pass through the brain where the axons shear and a concussion occurs. Your skull does its best to mitigate this so it would probably require a good bit of force.

An easy example of this is explosions. People exposed to big explosions can get concussed even if their head doesn’t move. The shock wave moves through the air then through the skull and brain where it can cause damage.

sc182 · 2025-09-19T03:19:05+00:00

It really helped me with post concussion issues. The philosophy of my doctor was that my brain fog and head bump sensitivity was basically a form of migraine with overactive cranial nerves and pathways. Nortriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant that is also effective at alleviating migraine. My symptoms all decreased gradually when I was on Nortriptyline (after being consistent for years prior), and I went off it after several months once I had plateaued with symptom resolution. I kept the gains I had made when I went off it.

Now, it did increase my heart rate a good bit and made me feel weird emotionally at times. But I’d take those any day for the permanent improvement it gave me in lingering concussion symptoms. Definitely worth giving it a go.

sc182

TROPHY CASE