To Sleep, Perchance To Dream

Ah, so it seems that not all EEGs are created equal. From talking to Dr FrankenBrain^TM today, it seems that we have an apples and oranges comparison from the EEG when I was asleep to the one when I was awake; and this could explain why they are so different. Of course, seeing as this is medicine, we have disagreement from some of the neurologists as to which EEG is the most revealing.

Hah, all I know is that these boys and girls need to deliver a definite prognosis before Christmas as I'm running out of excuses to explain to my friends why it is that I have forgotten their pet Iguana's birthday.

We've also been spending some time more with a quantitative EEG (qEEG) analysis (more on brain brushing later) and they've pinpointed (well, assuming you can pin-point with a 6 inch brush) several areas of my noggin which are not performing up to snuff. Basically, one side, a bit down the front, a lump at the back, and a nice slice in the middle. One side (it's my secret as to which one) seems to be "normal", whatever normal is.

Now, it would be remiss of your scribe not to own up to the fact that the use of qEEQ is considered controversial or leading-edge depending upon your mindset. Of interest is that the qEEG results to-date have mapped one-to-one to the nuropsychological testing and to my previous observations. They've even "predicted" results I actually had but was too embarrassed to own up to.

So, with all that in mind, we've been trying some electrical brain stimulation. Basically, it's like jumps-starting your car only you don't have to stand outside in the pouring rain to do it. Now, to take part in this little adventure, it helps to either be clinically insane, have a lot of faith in your doctor, or be faced with the fact that there probably is no other cure so "what the hell, let's do it anyway".

The nice thing about the brain 'stim, is that all you do is sit down, let someone plonk electrodes on your skull, and you enjoy the show. The weird thing, and it's really weird, is that you feel nothing at all except overwhelming tiredness. It was explained to me that the tiredness is because the brain is a muscle and it's being exercised but I suspect a better analogy is that if you stick you head inside a high-voltage transformer that only the clinically insane would not expect to feel a little strange afterwards. There's an interesting article on slate about this procedure here.

So, what's next? Well, I owe you all a report back from the brain dentist (do I, or do I not need to brush my brain better?) and I get another day of nuropsychological testing.

Whoopee, more being asked to count backwards; I can't wait!