DebraJeane,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am sorry to hear about your son's injury and struggles. I see you are also pursuing an SSDI application for him.

With the information you have provided, it is hard to offer much help.

Can you tell us a bit more about him? Age, mechanism of injury and type of TBI, other health issues, prior history of head impacts from sports, etc. any medications he is taking,

A common problem from TBI can be the hormone system. It is extremely complex with cascading effects where on problem cascades to many others.

Is the doctor doing a complete hormone panel? How about B-12, D3 and folate? Deficiencies of B-12, D3 and folate can lead to problems with brain recovery.

Regarding the SSDI application, I am not surprised they are doing a wait and see response. There are attorneys who specialize in SSDI so legal aid is not necessarily the best direction. The attorney gets a fee of 25% of back pay up to a limit of $5400. They are not usually required this early in the process. So, has he only had one denial so far? It takes two denials to get out of your state's Disability Determination Service and to the SSDI appeals judge. Denial on the first application is almost the standard policy, especially for someone so early in their recovery.

Other than the sweating and blisters, what other symptoms is he struggling with?

Gluten intolerance seems to be the current rage. Fortunately, it is not catastrophic to remove gluten from his diet, at least for the short term. If he improves, gluten can be slowly reintroduced to see if he has a negative reaction. I have a daughter who struggles with gluten but has some tolerance for it if she is careful. There are other factors that can magnify gluten intolerance, that once addressed, lessen the gluten intolerance.

Let us know how else we can help.

And, try to remember that the brain heals slowly with often a roller coaster ride along the way.

My best to you.