My brain gets tired!!!

[countmosula]

Hey there,

After concentrating for long periods of time, I find that my brain feels kind of "fuzzy", in that I have trouble concentrating and find myself glazing over words and sentences, meaning I have to re-read them! This is troublesome especially for when I get to BS. Anyone else experience this fatigue, and how do you deal with it? Thanks!

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[user003]

Take breaks during studying, review material you studied a while ago, get a hobby or hit the gym during your free time. Good luck

 

[AugustMCAT]

Take breaks during studying, review material you studied a while ago, get a hobby or hit the gym during your free time. Good luck

He's talking about the actual exam.

OP, consider taking a caffeine source between the writing sample and biology section.

 

[muhali3]

yeah at the end of bio it's easy to get mentally fatigued. i took caffeine pills during breaks.

100mg right before the test began, and another 100mg before the writing section.

 

[FightinUruKai]

Be aware of caffeine, as it can make you jittery if you take more than you are used to. I had the same issue for a bit, and this is what works best for me:

Start off with breakfast - egg and sausage sandwich + iced coffee approx 45 mins-1 hr before I start exam.

Snack 1: 1/3 of a container of coconut water (lots of electrolytes and vitamins!) plus 1/3 of a Naked Blue Machine fruit smoothie(lots of fruit sugars +b vitamins), finish with water

Snack 2: 1/3 of a container of coconut water, 1/3 Blue Machine, plus a cheese stick. finish with water

Snack 3: 1/3 of a container of coconut water, 1/3 Blue Machine. finish with water.

Best thing to do is try to have a snack routine in practice before the exam - you don't want to try to introduce something new on the day of the exam. Good luck!

 

[NinjaMed]

One before starting the MCAT.

One before WS.

 

[salim271]

One before starting the MCAT.

One before WS.

i lold... but as for me, i kept a redbull in the locker at the testing site and sipped it during breaks. Kept me energized the whole way, I came out feeling like I could take the test again tbh. Didnt really tire out until 3 hours afterwards.

For practice tests its pretty much impossible at least for me to have a open redbull in front of me and not drink it, so i would drink one on break right before BS, because thats when i would really start to get tired.

 

[PingPongPro]

The best way to improve your stamina is going to be what you do before test day. When you decide to run a marathon, it doesn't matter what you eat, drink, inject, snort, etc. if you haven't prepared your body to be accustomed to the stress you are about to put on it. Likewise, if you are getting tired towards the end of your test, then make sure you train yourself to study for 5 hour intervals. Right now you may not be able to go 5 hours, but slowly build up from wherever you are at and make it a goal to not end early. You need to train your body to be able to focus for this amount of time.

If you want to improve endurance, try taking some an old format full length. They are like considerably longer than the current format, and will help you in the long run. Once you take a 6.5 hour test, 5 ain't so bad.

 

[MacBiochem]

Hey there,

After concentrating for long periods of time, I find that my brain feels kind of "fuzzy", in that I have trouble concentrating and find myself glazing over words and sentences, meaning I have to re-read them! This is troublesome especially for when I get to BS. Anyone else experience this fatigue, and how do you deal with it? Thanks!

Exact same thing happens to me... i get so exhausted... and i dont know what to do. TBH i never considered energy drinks, or caffine. Im definitely not a coffee person, i get way too jittery and cant focus. I use to drink a lot of energy drinks before... im writing on Sept.1st... i think i will try energy drinks for the next couple of days during breaks, and see how they work. Try that too? it may help... i hope we can both think of a way that works for us.

and thanks everyone- for sharing ur methods

 

[muhali3]

as your brain uses energy, it creates metabolic waste products like adenosine which have an inhibitory effect on neurons.

caffeine is a competitive inhibitor of adenosine.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I had the same problem as the OP. I found that eating a handful of nuts and raisins between sections did wonders for me.