Quote:
Originally Posted by Mimsies
I got a concussion December 14, 2010 when my head was accidentally hit in the front by a (very strong) 8th grade child playing dodgeball and it was slammed into the brick wall behind me. I also had a tiny hairline fracture in the left base of my skull.
I re-injured myself last summer when falling out of a chair. However even before the second injury, I still had (and still have) a constant mild-moderate headache (on a rating of 1-10, 6 without lexapro, 4 with it). I tend to list/tilt to the left, have no memory for numbers, unreliable "short term memory," sensitive t light (pretty much always need sun glasses), sensitive to sound, and am far more easily irritated and much less patient than I used to be. I also lost 12 IQ points. I am very sensitive to sensory stimulus in general, and have a strong reaction to being touched when I am not expecting it.
So I have ALWAYS been on the quiet side and tended to keep my thoughts to myself. Because of this, I just recently noticed that I actually now have a very difficult time translating my thought into speech. I can know what I am thinking, which is totally lucid, but then have the hardest time getting it into words. It is especially pronounced when I am upset, stressed, or very tired.
Sometimes I cannot even say "Hi" to someone I know, and give them a little wave instead. I regularly have an impossible time answering questions like "How are you?" and if someone notices that I am upset, "what's wrong?"
I also often stutter, and mix words up in order, or mix different parts of word up, e.g. I often struggle to say water bottle or bottled water and struggle my way through iterations like "botter wattle" "wobber bobble" etc.
My ability to write is unaffected, and my ability to read aloud words that are in front of me is unaffected.
Does anyone else have this trouble? How are ways you cope with it?
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Hi Mimsies!
I relate to everything! I lost the ability to speak my thoughts 5 days after my car accident in 2007. It felt like a disconnect between my thoughts and mouth. What came out didn't make sense. My speech improved, but word finding and stuttering were a huge problem the first 2 years. I suffered heat stroke in 2011 which caused me to regress and again have issues when meeting new people, my headaches increase, I get emotional or frustrated - which becomes cyclical and I get tired.
It sounds silly, but I've always had a thing for speaking with an accent - my kids loved stories with different voices. Anyway I found out on accident that when I used an accent I could talk with near normal fluency. The doctor explained that the accent uses a different part of the brain. I used that as a solution for several months.
My IQ went from a Mensa qualifying 134 pre-tbi down to 98 on my last neuropsych. My son (25) and I recently had dinner with his grandfather, whom I haven't seen in 10 years & love dearly, when he asked me "So, what do you do with your day now?" I looked at my son and burst into tears because I was unable to get the words out to answer the question.
I noticed from the beginning that when I was interrupted while talking or someone being "helpful" tried to fill in the words - it made matters worse. I'd forget what I was saying and be unable to finish the conversation.
While I know slip ups happen when talking, this is different. Anyone else have people dismiss it as a normal aging process and find it frustrating? My son thought this until I moved in with him. Living with me he sees it's a constant issue and not the normal slips everyone experiences.
This is still a problem and has taught me patience with others. I start therapy next month so if I learn any new tricks I'll be sure to update.
~Kristy