I remember one dream I was walking into my testing center and the first thing I notice is everyone already taking the exam and I hear the proctor say "ok 5 minutes left"
Really well written post. When you're up in the 170s range every little mistake is magnified in terms of your score. Much easier to notice a drop when you don't have leeway
Try taking a timed section while dehydrated. Then do the same while hydrated...you'll probably notice an incredible difference. Thanks for posting that article, it was an interesting read.