Quote:
Originally Posted by muddyriverrugby11
I am 20 years old, and will turn 21 in April. I have had multiple concussions as I participated in Football and Wrestling in high school, and then went on to play a year of college football. I've been playing rugby, until last spring during a game I was kneed to the head, received 20 stitches, and another concussion......I then returned to play 3 weeks later, with no real problems. The next week at a rugby tourny the first game I felt concussion symptoms again and then took my self out of the game. That was May of '09 and I have had this hell since. Symptoms are/were nausea, migraines, hazy, no motivation, depression, dizzy, zoned out. I was on Amitriptyline for 6 months, which I've recently weened my self off. I have not been able to lift weights or train since, which was the biggest part of my life. At first I pushed through it like athletes are taught, as it was engrained in me to do so personally. Drinking is up and down as some times Ill feel fine and laugh and be loud as I usually am, and then other times I'll feel stuck or in a haze, basically feel like garbage. I've always been the loud, funny, and people person my whole life, and now it all seems gone.....Depression is what becomes of this, which no one ever wants to admit, but when your whole life has been taken away for damn near a year, it what becomes of it.......if anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it greatly or strories of someone who has become them selves again after a long struggle with Post Concussion Syndrome.....I'd appreciate it more than anyone could imagine.......Thank you very much
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Hello bud. First off, I am terribly sorry to hear about what you are going through. My only possible comfort I can give you is my story. Although my concussion does not seem as intense as yours, I suffered a concussion five months ago that have given me a multitude of severe symtoms. Some of them were/are extremely blurry vision (tunnel like, very sensitive to light), lethargy, head aches, anxiety, depression (month and a half), decreased sex drive (virtually none) and many, many more. I, like yourself, would become very hit and miss when I was drinking. Sometimes I could forget a little, other times I took it to heart and became even more depressed. Prior to my concussion I was the happiest, most outgoing and funny guy you could ever meet. My injury caused me to become very dependent on friends/family/girl I was involved with. I became very socially withdrawn and felt like trash, just as you describe. These symptoms began to wein three months ago. The improvements were EXTREMELY slow and unnoticable day to day. The trick i've found is to track your improvement week to week. Very slowly things will come back to you. My depression/concussion was the darkest time of my life by far.
Five months in, I have regained a lot of what I had lost emotionally. Although I am still on sleeping pills and weining myself off, I am a much more functional and happy person. Time does not inch by, nor do I stare at the clock anymore. Life is much brighter. Although i'm no where near 100 percent, I know that I AM getting better and that thought makes everything bearable. My advice to you is to rest as much as you can. I made the mistake of taking on 55 hour work weeks through the heat of my depression because I wanted normalcy. You will feel MUCH better when you rest and are idle (even though it's emotionally difficult). The best thing I can tell you is that there IS hope, you WILL get better, I know because I went through something similar. I lost hope, never thought I would get better. I am, and just like you, I more than anything else would kill for the day I wake up "normal" again. You will buddy, keep the faith. Concussions are by defiintion temporary. Keep yourself out of harms way, rest up, and try and stay as hopeful and positive as possible. The happiness you lost will return to you. All the best
