My speech was very messed up for a long time.

People recommended that I try to relax too. It didn't help - it didn't matter how relaxed I was - my speech was messed up.

Until I started taking hormones. The concussion I suffered from damaged my pituitary gland and I now need to take supplemental hormones. Since I started taking hormones my speech and voice have improved a great deal. They are almost back to normal now!

The last time I saw the specialist who is treating me, he said he has another head injury patient, like me, who's voice and speech improved after taking hormones for a few months.

I've read this same account from a few other websites about other mTBI patients as well.

Some experts think that some or many cases of PCS are actually caused by hormonal imbalances triggered by the physical insult to the head/brain. Most of these cases of hormonal imbalances correct themselves within the first year after the injury.

The pituitary gland and its stalk are both vulnerable during concussion because they are located in a delicate spot in the skull called the sella turcica below the brain.

I realize that this isn't the case for everyone, and that anxiety can cause some speech impediments or changes for some people. And some focal injuries can also affect the voice and speech.

But in addition to my voice and speech improving, since I started taking the hormones, my ability to do more than one thing at a time has improved.

Everything has improved!

People need hormones to function in the world. Healthy people take them for granted until they aren't there. There are many different hormones that everyone needs.

Hormone production is triggered by chemicals that the brain produces. Some hormones are triggered by an area of the brain and produced by a another part of the body. Some hormones are produced in the brain itself. And some are triggered for production by one area of the brain and then produced by another area of the brain.

One well-known example of a hormone that people need is Insulin. Diabetics don't produce insulin and so they need to take it supplementally in order to function.

But it's all interrelated.

Growth hormone is usually the first hormone to "go" after a concussion that causes hormonal imbalance or dysfunction. Growth hormone deficiency can cause physical and cognitive dysfunction. An mTBI patient who is suspected of having growth hormone deficiency (GHD) might be injected with glucagon to test for GHD. And Glucagon has the opposite effect of insulin. They might also be given an ITT, an insulin tolerance test to prove or disprove GHD.

Before the accident I was in, I was a super-tasker. (I have many sworn witnesses! I used to work in the very fast-paced environment of live entertainment.) I'm not there yet, and I may never be again, but it feels so much better to be able to deal with a restaurant atmosphere again since my filtering process has also improved.

It's been 3.5 years for me and I'm taking 3 different hormones now and I'm doing significantly better! The expert I'm seeing says it may take about a year for my hormone replacement treatment to fully take effect and I'm still improving!

Hang in there.

Most damage caused by a concussion seems to be resolved within the first year, even hormonal damage. No matter what the actual cause of it may be, you'll probably continue to see improvements for years to come!