Brain Feels Fast

[chipper]

Brain feels fast and everything is slow around her. She feels like she must slow her speech so she won't be talking so fast that she cannot be understood.

"She" is my daughter and she also has dys.

My daughter feels like she could watch a movie on fast forward and be more comfortable. When driving she felt like she was going 5 miles per hour and in reality was going 50.

This is an experience that stayed with her an hour this time.

Klonipin does not help and there is no anxiety.

There doesn't seem to be any kind of trigger.

Has anyone experienced , or heard of, anything like this?

[skyblu]

Has she been checked for seizures?

[bjt22]

That's very different from anything I feel. In fact, I'm quite the opposite. I feel as if everything needs to slow down so I can catch up. My speech and thoughts don't "race"...it takes me quite some time to get them together a good deal of the time.

[chipper]

Has she been checked for seizures?

No she has not, but I am sure that will be the next test. That was my husband's thought. Thank you.

[ramakentesh]

I can relate to that. I feel that way yet feel tired - wired and tired. Sometimes in crowded environments I am the opposite in that I seem to feel overstimulated and unable to concentrate, yet most of the rest of the time my mind operates in fast forward. I also have to slow my speaking down.

Does your daughter find it hard to keep still sometimes, especially after sitting or standing for a while?

How does she tolerate caffeine?

It could be the result of excess norepinephrine/sympathetic activity - hypervigalance and feeling hyped up from epinephrine can also result in this.

When im at work I type so fast that I finish four page reports in half an hour sometimes, but when im sick im too dizzy and cant think straigh

This is why many hyper POTS patients are often tested heavily for hyperthyroidism.

[chipper]

I can relate to that. I feel that way yet feel tired - wired and tired. Sometimes in crowded environments I am the opposite in that I seem to feel overstimulated and unable to concentrate, yet most of the rest of the time my mind operates in fast forward. I also have to slow my speaking down.

Does your daughter find it hard to keep still sometimes, especially after sitting or standing for a while?

How does she tolerate caffeine?

It could be the result of excess norepinephrine/sympathetic activity - hypervigalance and feeling hyped up from epinephrine can also result in this.

When im at work I type so fast that I finish four page reports in half an hour sometimes, but when im sick im too dizzy and cant think straigh

This is why many hyper POTS patients are often tested heavily for hyperthyroidism.

This is very interesting. She has always seemed to be somewhat hypervigilant. At times, fidgeting constantly, with variable concentration, she had late 90s psychiatrists screaming ADD! ADD! She has difficulty with SNRIs, maybe pointing to excess norepinephrine?

Since reaching adulthood, caffeine actually seems to have either no effect or a reaction opposite of what is expected. She has taken caffeine pills in an attempt to have more energy, but shortly after, she must sleep for a few hours. Whether this shows the little effect of caffeine relative to how very tired she always is or if it is a paradoxical reaction, we do not know.

At times, in very noisy crowds, she feels like you do. But when she leaves, it is as if she can still hear the noise of the crowd. She will cover her ears, even though she knows the sound comes from the inside. She says it just feels like she should.

Another reason that her situation is rather confusing, she actually does not have a hyperadrenergic form of POTS. She has what is believed to be unipolar depression. However, in a very new publication, I recently read a definition of mania: fast brain activity resulting in fast speech and actions. But, of course, like everywhere else, nothing was mentioned about the relationship between the speed of brain activity vs. perception of the speed of the atmosphere.

[ramakentesh]

The symptoms I described were all in relation to POTS. When my POTS is in remission they disappear.

Im sure if you went to a psychiatrist they would suggest ADHD or Mania, but when my POTS is bad my mind is often racing and my body is trembling from excess norepinephrine/epinephrine.

The psych profile of POTS patients was the subject of a recent study where most patients were found to have concentration deficits similar to ADHD

[jenwic]

I get this way during my premenstrual week. I have told my mom that I feel like I have ADHD and cannot concentrate to read anything. I feel completely wired all the time. I developed this after having POTS for several years. I can always tell right after my period starts that I feel calm and normal again.