Need to know im not alone
 

i suffered a concussion 5 days ago, i hit my head off the bathtub after i fainted. The day after was fine, no real symptoms. but since them i am getting troublesome symptoms which include being VERY confused, feeling "not right" have extreme anxiety (had a panic attack), feel nausea, feel foggy, no appetite, etc. Im full of fear and feel like im about to die to be honest with you. i went to the emergency room and they did a cat scan and said it was normal. i was shocked, the way i feel does not seem normal at all. I guess im kind of surprised as to why days after the concussion i start to get these AWFUL symptoms. My sleep is definetly messed up too. has anyone ever experienced this and how long will i be suffering?

You're not alone. I've been through the "I feel like I'm about to die" phase, and obviously I'm still around.

It's just feelings, grind your way through it.

Take care.
Kenjhee

nicnak,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear about your concussion.

You are very early in your recovery. Everything you are experiencing is normal. The clear CT is normal. In fact, you could have a much worse concussion and still have a normal CT.

The delayed symptoms are normal. They are caused by the cascade of physiological and biochemical events happening. It can take a day to even a month for concussion symptoms to show up. The brain tries to continue on like normal but after realizing a strain, it may shut down some brain cells. It also takes a while for the toxins that are released from the concussion to reach a critical mass to cause symptoms.

There is no way to prognose how long your recovery will take. At this early stage, you are very likely to spontaneously get better almost over-night. About 80% will. The rest have recovery times that vary widely.

For the best recovery, you need to do a few things.

Avoid stress. This may mean taking a few days to a week or more off from work or other endeavors. Quiet rest should be you normal day for the near future.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, MSG, artificial sweeteners (aspartame, Equal, Nutrasweet are the worst) and high sugar content foods, especially high fructose corn syrup.

Many of us increase our intake of B-12, Omega's, and vitamins, but most of us have been dealing with concussions for weeks or even months.

When I say avoid stress, this means physical, mental and emotion stress. No loud music or sounds, limited TV and computer/smart phone, avoid stressful events and people, and avoid any risk of chemical stress/allergies, drugs, environmental toxins, etc. Even being in a room with multiple people talking will tend to cause a panic attack. Many of us use foam ear plugs for those mandatory trips to the grocery store. Shop during off peak times. No mall or busy stores. No driving during rush hour times.

And again, quiet rest. If you need some sort of activity to ward of the frustrating boredom, try activities that are manually oriented. Knitting, sewing, solitaire with a deck of cards, painting/crafts without solvent glues or paints. The hands can not move faster that the injured brain can handle except with the computer or video games.

If after a few days of quiet rest, you do not feel better, let us know what symptoms you are struggling with and we will be here to help.

My best to you.

Oh, you are SO not alone. I didn't have any symptoms the first day. I had nausea and headache the second day. I had cognitive symptoms the third day. By the fourth day I really couldn't function.

You need to REST your body and your brain right now. Please take time off from everything you possibly can: work, school, family responsibilities, church. Pull in favors to get people to help you out with things.

Do you have kids? Can you have a spouse or parent take over primary care for them?

Stay in a low-stress environment. Sleep. Listen to nature sounds or spend time outdoors. Breathe deeply. Don't push your body or your brain.

Stay away from caffeine, alcohol, tobacco. Drink plenty of water (half your body weight in oz. every day -- i.e. if you weigh 100 lbs, drink 50 oz.)

Eat whole foods -- a "clean eating" diet. If you can, take 3 tbsp of ground flax seed in juice every morning.

Connect with your spiritual practice -- even something as small as making a list of 3-5 things you are grateful for every day.

Keep in touch with your doctor, and let him or her know what symptoms you are continuing to experience. Vision, hearing, and balance changes, as well as emotional and cognitive problems are all post-concussive effects that you want to have at least documented and treated if possible.

Keep us posted, too. Lots of people here have great ideas that can help you!

I feel like my family are not taking my symptoms seriously. I mean i look totally healthy, but my actions are so different. I cant even hold a normal conversation with friends or family, i just keep isolating because i feel so weird. And the panic attacks are normal? (racing heart, trouble breathing) i mean i've never in my life had anxiety as bad as this. the confusion comes and goes, some times through out the day its worse than others.

The panic attacks are completely normal. There is a YouTube video series that you and your family/friends can watch called "You Look Great." It is 6 segments that take about an hour total. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be

If the panic attacks plague you throughout the day, you need to slow your day down. Your brain will not heal when it is overwhelmed (panic attack). You need to work at linking as many days without a panic attack together as you can. First, just try to make it through one day without a panic attack. You are probably learning some of your triggers. Pay attention to what precedes a panic attack and try to avoid repeating what ever form of stimulation it is.

We've all dealt with this. You need quiet rest without auditory and visual stimulation.

So, please try to find some quiet area and time and rest.

My best to you.

when i was in the hospital they gave me ativan for the panic attacks. is it bad to keep taking them if i have a concussion?

Here are some other links for patient & family education:

http://www.brainline.org/content/201...u-to-know.html

http://www.brainline.org/content/201...y_pageall.html

http://depts.washington.edu/uwtbi/Ed.../patiented.htm

Hi Nicnak
 

I am glad you found NT. Mark from Idaho is so right about the TBI symptoms. Hang in there. You are not alone. Given time, recovery can happen. It is just frustrating when the doctors say all is well and you know it isn't OK. The CT scan cannot see the concussion all the time. Keep posting, everything you have experienced has happened to others. Give yourself time to heal. Neruo Talk will be here to talk to anytime. I will keep you in my thoughts. ginnie

thank you guys so much for your support. i do have another question. when will the confusion go away? also is it normal to have stomach issues?(nausea, diarhea) i have practically no appetite and when i do eat my mental symptoms get worse. another symptom i have is i get lightheaded when i stand up. are these all normal?

and the new symptom i got yesterday is it feels like my hearing is muffled. like it feels like i have ear muffs over my ears.

I have never experienced that sensation but others have mentioned it from time to time over the past few years.

Most of us just have tinnitus.

I had a lot of nausea, but no vomiting or diarrhea. I wonder if the diarrhea could be a medication side effect? What meds are you taking? Or possibly related to the anxiety?

If the nausea is really out of control, you can get an anti-nausea prescription. I was on Zofran for a couple of months right after my concussion.

My hearing alternates between tinnitus and muffled, at least in my left ear. It also seems to be related to my dizzy spells. It seems similar to the way Meniere's disease is described from what I've read.

Yes. I too had muffled hearing at times. Can be disorientating but soon get used to it as the body adjusts. I went throuh several stages ... quite interesting.

Oh my gosh. Totally understand. My symptom onset happened the same way yours did. It has been almost 6 months for me, and I still sometimes get confused. (But not constantly finally) Unfortunately, like mark has said, there is no way to measure when your symptoms will clear up. (but, i have also heard that you could wake up one day and be great...hasn't happened to me yet, lol :p)

As far as the tummy troubles, I had no appetite for a week straight after my most recent injury. It was like my brain was not telling my stomach that it was time to eat. That did go away after the first week.

When you get lightheaded standing up, (I did too, it could be because of the lack of nutrition since you are not eating, or to the concussion, idon't know, but) try to stand up slowly, or if you are standing from laying down, stand up progressively. (kind of roll to the side, and tuck your legs in, and do it slowly...at least that seems to help for me)

It takes time, but you will definitely learn coping skills to help you power through this. And this forum is full of great people with tons of advice and combined PCS experiences, so just keep posting and reading when you feel up to it!
:grouphug:

Re: New stomach issues-

We found a simple whole foods type diet, and eliminating gluten and dairy helped the stomach issues improve dramatically.

Good nutrition seems to be a helpful with many symptoms. This lifestyle change my daughter made gives her something that she feels in control of too, which has to feel good. :)

Also another one with the episodic hearing muffle. My mother (a retired RN) believes this is a classic sign of high opiate dosage (which I take for pain).