Purple Haze All In My Brain

October 3, 2006 9:45 AM

From the age of 17 until about 30, I was doing alot of 'partying', enough binge drinking and bong tokes to have surely killed a lot of brain cells. Currently I may go out hard like once every two months. I always partied like a rockstar, and have probably 'forgotten' more wild nights than my tamer aquaintances have probably ever experienced. I am not exactly proud of this. And now, after all these years of neurological irresponsibility, I seem to be walking around in a constant cognitive haze. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I feel like I just woke up, feeling groggy, all day long. A kind of perma-fog. All of my cognitive functions seem to be a little numbed. My question for all the neurologists out there is what is causing this post-hangover fog on my brain, will it ever go away, and what can I do to lift it away. Do I need to get a B12 injection, eat lots of fish, lay off the sauce, or am I simply going to be in this purple haze forever.....
posted by jasondigitized to health & fitness (30 comments total)

Consider the possibility it's psychosomatic.
posted by phrontist at 9:53 AM on October 3, 2006

I second this question and eagerly await a response that will help me remove a similar perma-fog.
posted by dead_ at 9:53 AM on October 3, 2006

Not answering as a neurologist, but as a fellow traveler: do 30 days totally sober, and pay attention to how you feel. You might find that you achieve enough improvements in your mental state to stay that way. Or, maybe not. But it's good to have a baseline sober feeling to compare to your everyday state.

If you're anything like me, you'll find that it's not just the hard-charging nights that drain you, but also the smaller, more frequent bouts (which, I bet, would be considered hard-core by plenty of people).

YMMV
posted by Bookhouse at 9:55 AM on October 3, 2006

Well first of all trying going a month or two completely clean and sober and see if you clear up at all doing that. Also try exercising your noodle, read a lot, go to plays, try some creative stuff. You are probably functioning with a lower ammount of healthy braincells then you had when you were 16, but I would imagine you can clear you head a bit at least.
posted by BobbyDigital at 9:56 AM on October 3, 2006

Ya, dry out completely.

I feel tons more focused without any boozing. Even after a couple beers in an evening I'm off my game for a few days after.

And of course it's added bonus = saving money.
posted by FlamingBore at 10:01 AM on October 3, 2006

How much sleep do you get? Is it less than 8 hours a night? Is it what you've always gotten by on? Boozing & c. isn't the only neurological irresponsibility that a lot of us get up to. I crossed a line in my late 20s where I felt much worse when I didn't get enough sleep than I had when only a little younger.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:11 AM on October 3, 2006

Thirding the sober time. I've been doing a week clear every month, and it's noticable even during the rest of the time.

Also, exercise. I used to love running to clear the head, or a heavy session on the X-trainer at the gym, but recently I've been finding that Pilates is cool. The exercise sort-of reconnects me with my self - either your mind wanders, or your mind empties, and both of these are good when it returns.
posted by handee at 10:16 AM on October 3, 2006

The other sleep related advice I've heard has to do with sleep apnea. For physiological reasons, your brain sort-of-wakes-you-up to deal with what it perceives to be air blockages. You don't come fully awake, though, so you don't realize it's going on. The end result is that you end up not really getting any sleep. I've heard it can feel a lot like what you're describing.

It's pretty easy to detect. They have you sleep in a lab for a night, and they can tell pretty quickly if it's happening by watching your EKGs. It's fixable, but usually requires wearing a mask-thing to bed. It's not sexy, but it may be better than the constant haze.

That said, other people's advice is probably more applicable. This is just another idea...
posted by heresiarch at 10:19 AM on October 3, 2006

Regular physical exertion and lots of water. You don't have to run a marathon every day, but definitely do something to work up a sweat every day. And drink more water than you think you're thirsty for -- a half ounce for every pound of body weight. Making those two things a daily occurence for me has greatly lessened that cotton-brained feeling the next day if I booze/smoke up.
posted by macadamiaranch at 10:21 AM on October 3, 2006

I used to drink maybe a beer or glass of wine every night with dinner, maybe 2 or 3 cocktails on the weekends - not heavy drinking by any means, but regular. Once I cut that down to maybe 2 beers a week and a single cocktail every other weekend, plus quitting smoking and swimming twice a week, I feel not just physically energized but more awake as well. Energy level is up, I get by just fine with a little less sleep (6 hours instead of 8 seems just fine now) and my quality of work is better too. I am waking up earlier without feeling exhausted, falling asleep faster, and (I think) I'm better in the sack, too.
posted by luriete at 10:27 AM on October 3, 2006

I'd suggest vigorous exercising, exercising in general will detox your body, but vigorous exercising, such as sports will give your body the shot of adrenaline your body is craving.

While I haven't gone through the transition myself, my brother is currently going through it, and he has to get his adrenaline fix to keep himself from turning back to the booze. He has his watersports in the summer (water skiing, kite-tubing, wakeboarding, if it involves being tied to a boat going 40-50mph, he's all about it).

He snow-skies in the winter, but it's not quite enough. He also works as a nurse in an emergency room (all the time, not just in the winter), and the traumas that come in really help him keep sane.... Would it be considered ironic that every car accident that happens while he's at work reduces the chance that he'll go get trashed and end up causing an accident himself?
posted by hatsix at 10:31 AM on October 3, 2006

You may just be getting old. There's no harm in trying the advice above and other strategies like cleaning up your diet, nutritional supplements, etc., and you may find something that makes you feel like a million bucks. But there's also a chance that you'll have to accept that some of this sort of fuzziness is a natural byproduct of not being as young as you used to be.
posted by decathecting at 10:33 AM on October 3, 2006

This is completely out of left field but I had a similar foggy feeling for years. I think it had something to do with allergies and diet because after dealing with the allergies and limiting the junk carbs the fog magically cleared. Since then, if I drop the ball on either, the fog comes back.
posted by Opposite George at 10:34 AM on October 3, 2006

Yup - lay off the sauce, retire the bong. Sounds like you've had your lifetime allotment - time to move on.
posted by scheptech at 10:39 AM on October 3, 2006

I'm no neurologist, but I'll second the suggestion that this may be psychosomatic. For the reason why I believe this may be true, I'll defer to an abstract from the Journal of Psychopharmacology. 20(4):518-25, 2006 July and a link.

Stereotype threat occurs when individuals, believed to be intellectually inferior, perform badly on cognitive tests they perceive to confirm stereotypes about them. Due to the wide media coverage of studies purporting to show cognitive deficits in ecstasy users it is possible that they experience stereotype threat. This study tested ecstasy and non-ecstasy using polysubstance misusers on a variety of cognitive tests after they had been exposed to stereotype threat. This priming consisted of exposing them to information about the long-term effects of ecstasy which either stated that ecstasy caused memory loss or that it did not. Ecstasy users that had been primed that ecstasy did not cause cognitive deficits performed better than the other three groups on the delayed portion of the prose recall task from the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test battery. There were no other statistically significant differences between any of the groups on any of the other cognitive tests used. This suggests that stereotype threat exists in ecstasy users and may be influencing their performance in experiments designed to identify cognitive deficits. In order to prevent this occurring in future studies, experimenters must be careful how they conduct their experiments and discuss their results with the media.

posted by Matt Oneiros at 10:50 AM on October 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

It took me about 3 months to clear up completely after giving up the hard-partying lifestyle, and I'd only been at it for 3 years. So multiply that by 5...add some for exponential effects... I'd give it 3 or 4 years of complete sobriety.
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on October 3, 2006

Pot takes awhile to get out of your system. Maybe try cutting that altogether and losing some weight, since it's stored in fat cells.
posted by electroboy at 11:11 AM on October 3, 2006

Another vote for getting regular exercise. When I go a few days with no exercise I sleep restlessly and feel very foggy the next day. A half hour of light jogging is enough to avoid that.

I also agree with avoiding alcohol at least a few days a week. Even a small amount can disrupt your sleep cycle in a way that makes you less rested the next day.

Finally, is it possible you have a low-grade depression? Your description of fog and mental numbness reminds me of times when I've had long-term low-grade depression. In my case, exercise and adequate sleep helped immensely. It may be worth a chat with a doctor if the idea resonates with you at all.
posted by rhiannon at 11:15 AM on October 3, 2006

How do you know that everyone else doesn't have the fog, too?

Consider yourself lucky that you've been able to glimpse clarity, and certainly try to find things that allow you to reach clarity more often, but you should know that no one lives their life in a constant state of lucidity. Somehow, we continue to muddle through. Stimulants can work if used occasionally, but there's always the rebound you have to worry about, and you have to get used to controlling the extra energy because it's much easier to get distracted. Biotest is the manufacturer of a product I recommend.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:22 AM on October 3, 2006

You don't actually kill any brain cells with recreational drinking...even heavy'ish drinking. Ethanol becomes toxic to neurons at concentrations that would cause a host of other problems first - such as passing out / breathing difficulties / liver damage. Occasional canniboid use is also not neurotoxic. However, there may be residual effects on brain chemistry which can be remedied with a healthier lifestyle, as discussed above. But its not like you're any less smart or have lost some important brain function in your years of partying.
posted by dendrite at 11:31 AM on October 3, 2006

_{Before I get called out: I have no affiliation with the company, I just like their stuff. I wish they'd send me some free crap to "evaluate", but alas, I remain free from influence.}
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:34 AM on October 3, 2006

I don't think it is psychosomatic, and to suggest that is simply disregarding the symptoms. I do think you're burnt out, and with age your brain is no longer capable of recovering as quickly as it used to. As others have suggested, you might want to consider going completely sober and cleaning out your body, to give it time to recover. It could take a while.

I think that rather than taking B12 because it is supposed to help, you may want to do some serious research into neurotransmitters, such as seratonin and dopamine. For starters, I'd try taking Lecithin supplements (at safe doses) to increase your supply of acetylcholine. And a well-rounded vitamin and mineral supplement might be more useful than one that is overloaded on one particular nutrient.
posted by Araucaria at 11:54 AM on October 3, 2006

Stereotype threat is not something that continues to apply throughout the entirety of one's day. The experiments (the ones I've read about have been about race) show that when specifically told that the test they are about to take measures intellectual ability, for example, black students will fare worse than when they are told the test is "being tested to see if it's accurate," for instance. It only applies in instances when you think others are going to judge your intelligence and you've just been made aware that your "difference" (race, drug use, gender) is something that makes others consider you incapable of doing well on the task at hand; the threat diminishes when that reminder of difference goes away. Unless someone or something is constantly reminding jasondigitized that his everyday actions are usually fucked up by partyers, I can't see how it would apply.
posted by occhiblu at 12:36 PM on October 3, 2006

I've never been a big drug or drink user, nor have I completely abstained. I've done fasting, excercise, supplements, etc. in fits and bouts, but nothing sustained in that arena either. And, I'm not young any more.
I've felt like you for most of the last six years, except for a few weeks of time here and there. I've always talked about it as like being in a fog. It is a strange, self-conscious experience. I don't think its the same as being depressed, but there are some similarities. Now, since I left a job I hated (6 months ago) and started one I love, I don't really feel like that anymore at all.

I think the difference between fog / no fog is whether or not I'm engaging with my life: excercising either brain, body, or spirit. This is the common thread beween the periods of lucidity I've had in my 6-year fog and my current fog-free days.

If I'm doing interesting work, working on difficult problems, trying new experiences, traveling, writing on deadline, coaching a kids soccer team, reading a tough book or watching a challenging film/ TV series, the fog lifts. If I'm hating my work, being complacent, letting things slide, faking my way through it, just going along with whatever, the fog rolls in.

I think it's part of aging in as much as it is easier to get in a rut as you get older because of roles, responsibilities, and dwndling opportunities to be surprised or meet new people.

Anyway, if I'm in the fog I have to push and push and push hard to get any traction in most activities. I feel the fog is holding me back from making progress, but as soon as I do get that traction, the fog lifts and stays away for weeks. I've had a great 6 months- travel, writing, learning, new job, new people, new activities, and I feel lucid and smart. I had begun to write off feeling like that again.
posted by putzface_dickman at 1:04 PM on October 3, 2006

put it this way: you're getting old. you can't at 30 do what you did at 20 and get away with it. i advise that you give up booze and you give up dope absolutely for 6 months. you'll feel better.
posted by londongeezer at 1:23 PM on October 3, 2006

I've had a similar problem lately. I rarely drink these days but, due to the stress of my business and other things, I sometimes end up smoking too much which puts me in a similar sort of fog.

Three things seem to clear that up almost instantly: exercise, drinking lots of orange juice, and drinking lots of green tea. For easy remedies in the office, I can't stress the latter two enough. A couple of glasses of both and I'm immediately back to my old self.
posted by pandaharma at 3:17 PM on October 3, 2006

I have a really simple but not easy answer for this. It's a modification of the old saying everything in moderation. I go for everything in balance. If you're going to party hard you should work equally hard and I do mean physical excercise as well as mentally stimulating stuff.

Not to be a big "enabler", but this reminds me of a story my grandma told about growing up as a farmer in Poland. Her family would wake at 4am, work the farm and fields til 8 or 9pm and drink vodka and tell stories til midnight or 1 am. Yea, grandma filter, but she could still drink, still tell great stories and lived well into her 80's. It's something to think about. And good luck.
posted by snsranch at 4:56 PM on October 3, 2006

Occhiblu, I mean to suggest that jasondigitized is harming his performance himself by viewing himself as a brain damaged (probably not true) aged out partier.

Because his expectation is to perform poorly, he will.

While not actually stereotype threat the principle remains the same.
posted by Matt Oneiros at 6:33 PM on October 3, 2006

I have no clue, although the fish oil is probably a good idea.

I'll second the idea that you should investigate mental/emotional culprits. When you are under stress your brain functions differently and fails to keep emotional memories (like having a good time). Not that being a partier is stressfull -- more likely the stress would be an internal stress. If you're not happy about something -- anything -- then it could have kept you in this haze for years.

The question might be: why did you party like a rockstar (you're not exactly proud of it?). Was there an issue in your life that made you do this in excess? I'm not criticizing... just wondering if we've been down similar paths.
posted by powpow at 8:28 PM on October 3, 2006

I spent years in a fog. Then suddenly something intrigued my mind, and the fog disappeared. I now call this 'fog' by another name, that name is 'boredom'.

Thing is, partying is fun, but your brain likes exercise. Find something your mind wants to grab, then run with it.

Of course, other advice here is generally good. Just don't straight-jacket yourself into oblivion. It's okay to still have a good time occasionally.
posted by Goofyy at 3:59 AM on October 4, 2006