[QUOTE=worriedmama;1213459]Thank you to all who've taken the time to respond. <3

[In regards to the following:

Friends/Social Life:
He has been, frankly, more social than I'd like! It exhausts him, and often after his friends leave or he comes home from an activity, he is wiped out, cranky and sullen but aware that its a Catch-22. ]

You all have a hard decision to make. Does he want real normalcy for the future or a try at forced normalcy now. Trying to have forced normalcy now will sacrifice getting to true normalcy in the future or at least delay it. Exhaustion is his brain telling him he is doing too much.

[We are working on normalcy vs recovery, and actively trying to find a balance that allows both. ]

You can't have all of both right now. He is at a critical time in his neural maturing. He could be risking his future. There are age related maturing achievements that will only happen now with a healthy brain. Delaying his recovery could result in a failure of some maturing concepts. I know two people who went through similar challenges at this age who never developed the judgement skills and other maturities needed for a successful life.

[His focus right now is on going to his Boy Scout overnight camp to work this summer. His therapist & psychiatrist are on-board bc it's a supportive place where he can work and rest and be in a familiar structured environment. I am less convinced, but also fully aware I cannot keep him trapped in our 4 walls.]

He needs more than just a supportive place. He needs someone who can recognize when he has had too much activity. That takes special observation skills and it does not appear your son will be forthcoming to tell somebody about how his days are going if it impacts his camp days.


[Memory Loss:
Temporary. He lost all facial recognition immediately following the ER visit when he did not remember who we were. We had to introduce him to his sisters every afternoon when they came home from school. He began by remembering complex chemistry equations with no idea how he got there, and it's all come back significantly since then.

Psychiatrist (whose description is below), has said that son received KNOWN meds that can cause psychosis in "sensitive" brains with migraine cocktail twice. No indication that it caused it, but it's a distinct possibility.]

A concussed brain is known to often be sensitive to meds, especially psychoactive meds.

[Normal Diet:
Teenage boy diet. We have taken him off all caffeine, but it's difficult to keep him away from fast food. We cook at home as much as possible, and we have been paleo in the past, so it would be easy to go back to that protocol. Risperdal has made him hungry (which for him is a huge plus, he's always been underweight), and he does grow a vegetable garden and likes veg.]

Fast food usually means huge amounts of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. He has some serious choices to make.

[Sleep:
My husband has said that for all purposes, his sleep appears normal. (He slept in his room for several weeks after son came home from inpatient.) Even with son's reports of nightmares, there's no outward appearance of them while sleeping. He & dr's are guessing he is missing out on Stage 4 of sleep and just staying in REM for hours.]

A sleep test might be worthwhile. Nightmare can indicate inadequate blood flow that will contribute to the intensity of all of his symptoms.

[Vits/Supps:
NOW Gylcine 3-4g
Natural Calm 4g magnesium
Melatonin 5mg
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (1200mg fish oil, 600mg total epa & dha)
Vitamin D 1000 i.u.
"Sweet Dreams" melatonin blend (3mg b6, 100mg mag, 1.5mg zinc, 50mg glycine, 35mg theanine, 25mg 5-HTP, 50mg GABA, 2.25mg melatonin)]

That appear to be a lot of magnesium. Did the doc say to take that much ? Natural Calm is mag citrate. Mag oxide would have him on the toilet all day. But, there are concerns that synthesized mag citrate breaks down into glutamic acid, a free glutamate. That is definitely not good for a struggling brain. 300 to 400 mgs should be all he needs. More is not always better and often more can be worse.

A blood test can reveal his mag levels. A full range blood test would be worthwhile. Thyroid (4 tests), B-12, folate, thiamine, phosphorus, niacin and some others are worthwhile at a minimum. I don't remember them all.

[As needed:
Aspirin (up to 900mg for migraine pain)]

975 mgs is a common dose (3 x 325 mgs) that can be taken twice a day. The anti-inflammatory effect is worthwhile even if he does not need the pain relief. If he is a lightweight, 2 x 325 twice a day may be enough. How much does he weigh ?

["Looping":
YES YES YES. We have been calling it "fixating." He gets stuck on an idea, regardless of what it is, and talks about it incessantly until we do it. (Which has since improved considerably.) His words he says he hears (with no consistency if it's inside or outside his head) are random words whose meanings we've been able to suss out - those words were 90% of the time used in vulnerable times for him, and he has attached to them (claiming that the voices know the words are irritating to him). He still hears them, and they are still distressing to him, but volume and frequency are not consistent. ]

"(claiming that the voices know the words are irritating to him)" Sorry, way above my pay grade.

[He has always been OCD'ish, since age 4 at least. It was never anything remotely like a problem, just a personality quirk - 'a place for everything, everything in its place' type.]

This may magnify his struggles as his brain tries to make order out of his world. The concussed brain often struggles to ignore even little 'out of order' issues.

[Psychiatrists:
Met w his reg psychiatrist on accident, in a way. She has a background in head injury and considers herself a sports psychiatrist. We loved her right away. She has promised us he would be okay in about a years time, but we have tremendous difficulty believing her. ]

Are you not involved with his psych appointments, at least for a part of the session ? My wife attended most of my psych appointments and made some excellent observations.

This 'a years time' claim is totally unfounded. Every concussion is different. After the first 6 weeks, there are no known commonalities. It is one of the most distressing things a doc can say, especially as that year's time approaches.

[We aren't even sure what okay means, much less in a year. They have not mentioned schizophrenia or any affective disorders or bipolar. (That doesn't, to me, mean it doesn't exist, just that we haven't come to that bridge yet. I would be lying if I said those diagnosis aren't terrifying to me.)]

[ Depression:
That's honestly our biggest concern at the moment. This thing seems to morph faster than we can adjust some days. We are all exhausted, but hanging on to hope.]

My biggest concern is that he appears to not want to make the temporary changes that can greatly enhance his opportunity for a good recovery. If his brain is easily fatigued and he personality responds to that fatigue, is speaks volumes. He is also at a critical point academically. Being ready for next school year is important. I lost my entire sophomore year to less than my normal grades (straight A's as a freshman to mostly B's as a sophomore. Recovered mostly for junior year but my combined GPA suffered greatly. 0.25 points, honors vs high honors and possibly top 3)

I hope you have an opportunity to influence his choices. You know what he should look like in his eyes. His time at camp will prevent your observations. Please be careful and get his B vitamins going.

My best to you.