In 2017 I sustained a traumatic brain injury. In 2025, I began taking a GLP-1 medication off-label, and my symptoms substantially improved.

The accident and what came after.

In November 2017, I was biking to pick up my daughters from day care when a car hit me. I flew headfirst over my handlebars, walked away with a bruised elbow, and went home with what felt like an ordinary headache.

Within days the headache had become unbearable. I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and severe post-concussion syndrome. I spent years dizzy, with impaired vision and a faltering memory. I stopped cooking because I was afraid I'd leave the stove on. I stopped driving because I couldn't process traffic lights quickly enough. Many days I hid in a dark room and saw my children only briefly.

There is no cure for post-concussion syndrome. I tried everything that might help — physical therapy, vision therapy, strict keto, fascial counterstrain. Every piece mattered a little. None of it got me back to normal.

In early 2025, a friend mentioned GLP-1s. I went where I always go first: the research. I found nearly a dozen peer-reviewed studies — on cells, on mice with traumatic brain injuries — suggesting GLP-1 medications might have a real effect on post-concussion symptoms. I wrote to every U.S.-based researcher I could find. Most replied kindly and said they didn't know of any human trials. One, Dr. Richard DiMarchi at Indiana University, wrote a thoughtful response and encouraged me to bring the literature to my doctor.

My doctor read the papers. He listened. He wrote a prescription.

I tracked my symptoms using validated post-concussion scales — the same 22-symptom inventory, administered on a 0–6 severity scale. At my clinical evaluation a few months after the accident in 2018, my severity score was 81. The day before my first dose of GLP-1 medication, on February 1, 2025, it was 58. By November 2025, it was 6.

I am one person. My story is not a clinical trial. I am not telling anyone to ask their doctor for GLP-1s, and I am not claiming this is a cure. What I am saying is this: the animal and cell research exists, my own carefully tracked data is striking, and I believe the case for formal human trials is strong. I'm sharing this story in the hope that real research follows — and that doctors treating patients who have tried everything know this literature is out there.

What my symptoms looked like, from baseline to today.

I tracked my symptoms using validated post-concussion symptom instruments — the SCAT-3 severity score documented in my medical record at my 2018 baseline visit, and the PCSS (Post-Concussion Symptom Scale) I self-administered weekly once I began treatment. Both scales rate 22 symptoms on a 0–6 severity scale; maximum possible score: 132.

The animal and cell studies that sent me to my doctor.

I am not a scientist. I'm a patient who reads carefully. Below is a representative selection of the peer-reviewed preclinical literature I encountered while researching GLP-1 medications and traumatic brain injury. I'm happy to share the full list and PDFs with journalists and researchers on request.

• 01
  The Therapeutic Potential of Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists in Traumatic Brain Injury

  Harej Hrkać et al. · Pharmaceuticals, 2024 · Read the paper →

  A comprehensive 2024 review of the preclinical and clinical evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists may help protect the brain after traumatic injury by reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell death. The authors conclude that large-scale human trials are now warranted.
• 02
  Novel GLP-1R/GIPR Co-Agonist "Twincretin" Is Neuroprotective in Cell and Rodent Models of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

  Tamargo, Bader, Li, Yu, Wang, Talbot, DiMarchi, Pick, Greig · Experimental Neurology, 2017 · Read the paper →

  Tests a dual-receptor agonist — the same molecular class as the tirzepatide-based medication (Zepbound/Mounjaro) I was prescribed — in cell cultures and in mice with mild TBI. Treatment fully reversed the visual and spatial memory deficits caused by injury. This is one of the papers Dr. Richard DiMarchi co-authored and is the direct reason I reached out to him.
• 03
  Exendin-4 Induced Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Activation Reverses Behavioral Impairments of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice

  Rachmany, Tweedie, Li, Rubovitch, Holloway, Miller, Hoffer, Greig, Pick · Age, 2013 · Read the paper →

  The foundational paper that established this entire line of research. Mice with mild TBI given exendin-4 (a GLP-1 drug) recovered their cognitive function compared to untreated controls. Every subsequent study on GLP-1s and brain injury traces back to this one.
• 04
  Blast Traumatic Brain Injury–Induced Cognitive Deficits Are Attenuated by Preinjury or Postinjury Treatment with the Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist, Exendin-4

  Tweedie, Rachmany, Rubovitch, Li, Holloway, Lehrmann, Zhang, Becker, Perez, Hoffer et al. · Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2016 · Read the paper →

  Published in one of the highest-impact neurology journals, this study showed that a GLP-1 drug prevented cognitive deficits in mice with blast-induced brain injuries — whether the drug was given before or after the injury. The post-injury finding is the clinically meaningful one, because in the real world we can't pre-medicate accident victims.
• 05
  Liraglutide Is Neurotrophic and Neuroprotective in Neuronal Cultures and Mitigates Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice

  Li, Bader, Tamargo, Rubovitch, Tweedie, Pick, Greig · Journal of Neurochemistry, 2015 · Read the paper →

  Tests liraglutide — a widely-prescribed GLP-1 drug sold as Saxenda and Victoza — in both neuronal cell cultures and a mouse model of mild TBI. The drug protected cells from oxidative stress and improved memory performance in mice for up to 30 days post-injury. The study was significant enough that the journal published a companion editorial asking whether GLP-1s might be useful against TBI.

A note on interpretation: all five of these papers are preclinical — they report on research conducted in cells and animals, or review that research. To my knowledge, no human trials of GLP-1 medications for traumatic brain injury have yet been conducted. That absence is precisely why I think this work matters. I am sharing these studies publicly to encourage formal human research, not to encourage patients to try GLP-1s for brain injuries outside of a careful conversation with their doctor. The five papers above are a selection; I am happy to share the full list of studies I found with journalists and researchers on request.

Coverage and appearances.