MRI / CT Scans of my (Meth) Brain

[acklac7]

@December Flower was wanting to take a look at these a few months back, so I figured I'd just post them here publicly (if appropriate). I'm not sure what, if anything, anyone is going to be able to determine from said images, but I figured I'd put them out there.

MRI was done when I was using approximately 25mg – 100mg / day for approximately 2 years and doing exceptionally well. CT scan was done around a year later when I was using in upwards of 200mg / day and in a heavy state of psychosis.

I'm primarily interested in whether there has been any sort of white matter remodeling, and whether my hippocampus shows any abnormalities, any and all feedback is appreciated!

(And yes, I know they have my name on them, I really don't care at this point...)

File on MEGA

mega.nz

 

[acklac7]

Does anyone see anything special? There HAS to be some sort of difference with all the stimulants I've used/abused over the past 20 years...

Normal Brain (Left) My Brain (Right)

 

[acklac7]

Also, this is my Hippocampal formation, correct? Anything stand out?

 

[acklac7]

@negrogesic

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

Seen them a while back.
Just common background research.

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

 

[negrogesic]

It is hard to tell without being able to manipulate the DICOM image myself (and adjust for contrast etc). I don't mean to alarm you but I do see a bit of an abnormality in proximity to the medial aspect of the temporal lobe and occipital lobe. I saw a little dot and zoomed in:





You are going to want consult with a veterinarian asap insofar as it's removal.

Good to see you back man, gotta behave yourself though!

 

[Robi]

i had that same dot in my vagina once

 

[acklac7]

It is hard to tell without being able to manipulate the DICOM image myself (and adjust for contrast etc). I don't mean to alarm you but I do see a bit of an abnormality in proximity to the medial aspect of the temporal lobe and occipital lobe. I saw a little dot and zoomed in:





You are going to want consult with a veterinarian asap insofar as it's removal.

Good to see you back man, gotta behave yourself though!

I'm dead, dude. DEAD!

FUCK YOU! I'M BEING SERIOUS DAMMIT!

There's something going on with my brain, I'm sure of it. I'M BEING SERIAL!

 

[acklac7]

Good to see you back man, gotta behave yourself though!

And thanks man, I intend to do just that. Now that I'm cleaned up sober and sane I would like to become a mod (at some point).

 

[December Flower]

disclaimer: Just doing this because you asked me to, I'm not a fan of making any speculations via the internet,
this is just someone who has seen a bunch of brains and kind-of knows what to look for,
which without having proficient data isn't easy.

How long were you sober when you did the MRI?

I've watched a cool set of MRIs over a bunch of months,
of a methamphetamine addict recovering, and the brain actually did a lot to normalize again.

At first glance you can see the changes to the striatum, that's for sure.
Actually could look like an onset or after-effect of striatial necrosis, but it's hard to even see because the picture is so bad.
Did you move your head during the MRI?

You certainly do show some abnormalities, structural changes are there, functional changes I cannot even try to tell without an EEG
Meth is well-known for causing both structural changes, which are there to a certain degree, but not too bad, you should have used a more similar brain to yours for the comparison. Anyways, what did your doctors say? Let's start with that.

 

[Skorpio]

This certainly is probably due to biases I have, but I think you can only see really gross changes via brain imaging. Even fMRI which measures energy usage gets troubling when people try to correlate it to complex phenotypes

Welcome back dude.

Aaaaaaaaaahhh it sees me back!

 

[December Flower]

This certainly is probably due to biases I have, but I think you can only see really gross changes via brain imaging. Even fMRI which measures energy usage gets troubling when people try to correlate it to complex phenotypes

Welcome back dude.


Aaaaaaaaaahhh it sees me back!

you pretty much have to compare to MRIs from the same person.
Told him to do 2 tests a year apart, one while still taking the substance, one while having stopped for a year.

you can still definitely see abnormalities, but only the very krass ones,
otherwise it might just be a generally entirely different brain structure, so often no way to say anything

Really doesn't help that the left image is a very different looking brain

 

[Skorpio]

you pretty much have to compare to MRIs from the same person.
Told him to do 2 tests a year apart, one while still taking the substance, one while having stopped for a year.

you can still definitely see abnormalities, but only the very krass ones,
otherwise it might just be a generally entirely different brain structure, so often no way to say anything

Really doesn't help that the left image is a very different looking brain

Could you predict phenotypic changes (beyond seeing a lesion in one part of the brain and suggesting dysfunction of what is under it's control) of a brain from before and after pictures?

How much information is ascertainable from an mri?

 

[acklac7]

How long were you sober when you did the MRI?

Sober? say what? I was on Meth prior/during both of the scans.

Did you move your head during the MRI?

Nope.

You certainly do show some abnormalities, structural changes are there

With my history of stimulant/alcohol use/abuse I'm quite certain there should be some abnormalities present.

Anyways, what did your doctors say? Let's start with that.

You can read the reports when you run the "Autorun.exe" executable:

At any rate, the report states the images are "unremarkable". That said, they were looking for evidence of damage from a vehicular accident / impact, not drug-use (which I strongly suspect shows up as some sort of markedly different pathogenesis?)

 

[December Flower]

Could you predict phenotypic changes (beyond seeing a lesion in one part of the brain and suggesting dysfunction of what is under it's control) of a brain from before and after pictures?

How much information is ascertainable from an mri?

well not just with the MRI, i need at least an EEG to make assumptions based on functional changes,
instead of structural changes. MRI pretty much gives you structural changes only

 

[acklac7]

Welcome back dude.

Thanks my man. Good to be back

Aaaaaaaaaahhh it sees me back!

Those eyeballs are fucking creepshow, huh?

 

[acklac7]

Told him to do 2 tests a year apart, one while still taking the substance, one while having stopped for a year.

I still have one MRI outstanding, this was from over 10 years ago, just after I had an absolutely horrifying car accident. I still need to get that one, I'm working on it...

And I've been off Meth for 9 months now, so I guess I can have another MRI done here soon? But you need an EEG or something now? Which would you rather me obtain? And how would I go about (fabricating) an injury such that I could obtain one under insurance coverage?

 

[December Flower]

I still have one MRI outstanding, this was from over 10 years ago, just after I had an absolutely horrifying car accident. I still need to get that one, I'm working on it...

And I've been off Meth for 9 months now, so I guess I can have another MRI done here soon? But you need an EEG or something now? Which would you rather me obtain? And how would I go about (fabricating) an injury such that I could obtain one under insurance coverage?

really depends on what you want out of it.
Do you want to know more about the structure of your brain? Then MRI is the way to go
Do you want to know more about the functionality of your brain? Then you want an EEG

On an MRI you could see cell death for example, brain having less mass, etc., while on an EEG you could see how Meth interacts with/reprograms regions in your brain.

It's both very interesting. Over 10 years ago, were you taking meth, then?
Because it does look rather healthy, as far as I can tell

edit: In Germany I'd say: "Just do both", because it's free
but I realize this shit is expensive in the USA.

Depending on how much money it is it's just not worth it

10 years ago my doc was afraid of me having a brain tumor (i have insane migraine attacks that often hold on for days, always on the same side)
so I got 7 days in hospital, MRI, EEG, even EKG, spine fluid test, cognitive testing, and a session with a psychiatrist to be fully evaluated. Oh and pain meds, which i don't take
Cost me 70€, for the 7 days in hospital..