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Old 11-27-2012, 12:31 AM
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Margarite Margarite is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 162
10 yr Member
Margarite Margarite is offline
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Margarite's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 162
10 yr Member
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I am so sorry! I have a slight idea of what you are going through. My first of at least 4 concussions and at least 12 "bumps" was when I was 19 when I fell off of a horse, but the real kicker (no pun intended) was two weeks later when I was kicked in the head with a ball from about 20-40 feet away by a very good soccer player. I have had a headache ever since then, almost 4 years now. All the other stuff like nausea, dizziness, light and sound sensitivity, concentration and memory issues, those all come and go but the headache is always there. It does get better. But there will always be those bad days. For me, I had to back out of a lot of the really crazy activities with friends, I stopped doing any more exercise than walking, but I did not give it all up. My passion is dancing, so despite all this I continued to teach dancing, though I refused to dance for fun except once in a great while. I got my first concussion in my second semester of my freshman year of college and I still graduated with above a 3.0, but just barely. I haven't found anything that really helps. I would say I felt most in control when I was in college because if I needed to I could go to classes, and otherwise stay in my very dark and cool room just studying or sleeping and only leaving on the weekends to get out a little. Now that I have graduated, I am living back at home and it is so hard because I can't just hole up in my room for days at a time. My parents would freak out. I have to be a part of the family and hang out in the main part of the house.
I have a few things that I think are important, and if they don't work for you, then that is fine.
First DO NOT GET ANY MORE CONCUSSIONS!!!!!!
Second find one person who has headaches as much as you from whatever cause, this person will help you stay dedicated to protecting yourself and will also keep you from thinking that you are going insane.
Third, don't stop living life. You may have to change the way life is lived, but don't stop living it.
Fourth, invest in black curtains or really dark shutters.
Fifth, share every detail with your parents. The longer you wait to share with them the harder it gets for them to understand where you are in regards to healing and how they should treat you or deal with this hurt.
Sixth, Maybe take a year off in between highschool and college. Get a part time job and sleep. You will learn a lot while giving yourself the time to heal that you need.
Seventh, Don't play any sport with a ball, once you get a concussion your head becomes a magnet for anything that can cause you to get another concussion. Believe me, I have had 2 concussions just from watching other people play sports with balls.
Eighth, Even though this seems like a horrible thing, there is always so much good that we can learn from even the most horrible things. I know that I became a more compassionate and understanding person of other people in pain, and I was able to lead several outdoor excursions for people who were less than physically able to summit peaks or hike 50 miles in a weekend. (I went to a college in Wyoming where outdoor excursions were a required part of the curriculum).
Anyways, Good Luck! You will be in my thoughts and prayers!
Live Long and Prosper!
Margarite
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Fell off a horse in late winter of 2009 blacked out for a couple seconds, had amnesia for 10 hours (still don't remember this time), had 2 CT scans, 2 MRI's, 1 MRA all negative. Since the first concussion I have continually knocked my head into different things purely by accident or from being stupid. These many concussions over a short period of time have caused
constant migraines, nausea, and dizziness/lack of balance.
Migraine triggers are:
light sensitivity (especially to florescent or bright lights)
sound sensitivity (especially to high pitched or loud sounds)
temperature sensitivity (especially to cold or extreme heat)
activity (especially if breathing increases or head is jostled)
pressure on head (sinuses, hats, headbands, sunglasses, pony-tails)
lacks or quality (food, sleep, water)
tension (stress, tight muscles, tired eyes, sickness)
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