almost 7 months ago i had a pretty bad concussion. PLEASe help, i beg of you
 

I got a concussion skateboarding down a hill on new years eve. After i got the concussion i went to go get a ct scan an they foun out there was brusing and bleeding to the brain. The doctor prescribed me some medication that was steroids, i think it was called dexamethasome or something like that. Anyways for the month i was taking that medication my smell an taste was normal, uneffected my the concussion.

After i ran out of medication. I was to go in an get another ct scan to make sure the bleeding had stoped. I went into the doctors a month after the accident after i had ran out of the medication i was on. The ct showed good news. The bleeding had stopped. The docotr asked if there was anything else wrong such as heaaches or ddizziness etc. There wasnt much besides headaches.

A couple of weeks after the accident out of no where my smell became distorted. During the first month of the accident i was eating like a mad man and everything tasted normal. Its only a month a week later.after i get off of the meds, that my smell becomes distorted.


Its been almost 7 months an my smell an taste are very distorted. I cant smell aything normal. Im here at a friends house for the weekd and he has some beers for us to enjoy and im trying to bare the newly distorted taste of beer but it now taste awful. Is my life gonna be like this?? when im at a wedding and theres wine out, Am i going to have to pretend to enjoy it.


Im so down about this. I had a breakup with a first love of mine and ive been stressing like a mad man. Ive recently tried to cut down on stressing because i know it wont help me get better. Doctors dont seem to be able to do anything for me. They said it will have to heal on its own if it heals at all. Ive been taking vitamin super B. i havvnt noticed any changes.


Am i suppose to live with this distorted smell for the rest of my life. Imagine you smelling rotting chicken constantly...thats whats happening. I rather not be able to smell anything then this.

Please, Help..anyone

Hey man - I don't have any advice for you - Just wanted to let you know your not alone - Got my concussion from skateboarding and went through a break up because of the change in my life. Just keep hanging in there and try to stay positive.

Being negative slows and prevents healing (I'm pretty sick of being reminded of this too)

I have little choice but to believe it though because the alternative is to be depressed which makes everything worse.

I'm sure someone here has a better medical answer for you - just wanted to let you know your not alone.

Can you try that steroid again for few days and see what happens? Steroids suppresses the immune system so just try only for few days. B'cuz if that is the case something sure can be done. If the doctor not willing to give the steroid try another doctor who work with you.

Jason,

I can solve the issue of the taste of wine an beer really easy. You should stop drinking. Post Concussion Syndrome makes alcohol a problem. The experts say alcohol should be avoided or at least limited to a single serving per day. Tell your friends that you need to stay away from alcohol for at least a year if not two.

What amount of B's are in your Super B? I bet it is not an adequate dose.

There are lots of other supplements you should be taking to help your brain.

I suggest you not worry about the strange taste and smell issue yet.

Thanks everyone. I really am going through a tough time here.

Im taking these Bronson vitamins called Super B. It says it has 100 mcg of B-12. IT also has b-6. What other vitamins should i take?

I suggest B-12 (500 to 1000 mcgs daily) I just posted a list yesterday. My brain is fried tonight. Left click on my screen name and chose 'other posts' It was either Friday or Saturday.

was this the list Mark?

You want to use a fish oil rich in Omega 3 and also Omega 6 and 9 if you can find it. If you have the Omega 3, 6, and 9, you have covered the bases. B-12, magnesium, and calcium are also very important.

I just picked up some fish oil at Costco that has Omega 3, 6, and 9.

I take 24 total pieces each morning. Only 2 are meds. The rest are supplements/vitamins.

My standard regimen is

B-12
B-6
B-100 complex
All of the anti-oxidants
a good multi like GNC Mega Men,
Omega 3, 6, 9
calcium
Magnesium
D3

plus, I have a bunch of other supplements but this list is for the brain.

Jason,

Hang in there. I just passed the 7 month mark a few weeks ago and was doing well, had just started working again and BAM! Off again with vertigo/motion sickness/mild pressure issues, I find it odd since I was doing very well.

I second Mark's advice on alcohol, I tried having a small glass of wine over a celebration with my family and half a beer with the recent birth of my daughter and both had very negative results. So I am done. I find Pop especially diet types have a nasty little effect as well and am more sensitive to certain food/drink products.

Try any form of meditation or relaxation that you can, perhaps time to develop a new relaxing hobby or yoga classes? Nice place to find new love :)

I feel your pain about limited answers from doctors, I am in Canada and after 7 months still on a waiting list for an MRI. Just got called last week if they could scratch me off the list hoping I gave up. ***GRRR***

Ohh man, Its been 7 Months and I haven't smelt anything right. You said you got your smell back and it went away again. IT just came back all of a sudden? or its been gradually coming back. Thanks for the response.

Hang in there - I know 7 months is a long time but the recovery period can be a lot longer. It's incredibly difficult but try to stay focused on making good decisions every day (rest, sleep, good nutrition, relaxation, maintaining a good daily routine, minimizing stress and overstimulation, etc) and let the rest take care of itself. There is a lot of good support and info on this site.

Actually my sense of smell was never affected. My issues have been primarily around sound, sight and balance. Balance being the worst of them and the longest lasting for some reason and came back.

So I am afraid I am of not much help or guidance on the smell issue. Have faith that it will come back with enough time to heal.

I am also at the "lucky 7".

After going out for lunch with my wife and having two beers which wiped me out for days, I haven't touched a drop for 5 months. For the first two months my taste buds were completely shot and couldn't stand tea or coffee which was fortunate. However, as a substitute I used to drink diet cola (2 litres per day) if only I had found this site previously....

Minor bump on my head a few weeks ago that set me back - but I do feel a lot better now than I did back in January. To prove it I have a list of about 130 measures that my wife and I score on a month by month basis. It is surprising how even a small change can make a difference

Sospan,

I like the idea of that score chart, sometimes it's hard to see improvement after it takes so long and the improvement is slight.

I may have to start doing something like that as I myself am getting pretty frustrated. Missed out on X-mas and now with 2 kids not able to do alot of the outdoor stuff that I had hoped with them.

I'm in Ontario and same thing! LOL little buggers!

I had to wait a while for my CT

Here is a site with a check list... http://www.headinjury.com/checktbi.htm http://www.headinjury.com/getstarted.html
The lists on the left of the page under "Advocacy Skills" and "Getting Started" has several more.

Maritime for me so often appts are out of province. Had my CT within 6 weeks. Still no neurologist yet.

I would caution everyone about overuse of a score chart. Using it once a month may be OK but more often will end up being confusing and cause anxiety.

Its best value is to be aware that a concussion can negative effect all of these areas. Many of the improvements can come from learning to focus or behave better. Accepting that you have control over many attitudes and behaviors is the start at making changes and improving.

The Brain Injury Checklist is quite overwhelming. You can shrink the width of the window so the chart is narrower.

Be prepared for the roller coaster ups and downs of PCS. You will find that you can even plan for a down period. If you have a stressful event or task coming up, you can rest up before hand and be prepared to have rest time available for after the event or task.

Day to day changes are rarely consistent or long term. If an improvement lasts 2 weeks, it is the start of a possible long term improvement.

Just remember to let your brain have the time it needs to improve.

My best to you all.

I certainly agree that doing check lists every day would be just toooo much! As long as trends are tracked it could help to just check off a few occasionally as symptoms occur ... but maybe that would get confusing too since so many need set schedules to follow.

I guess everybody could just adapt whatever lists suits them to meet their individual goals in keeping track, according to ability and need, and set a schedule accordingly. I just hope one day my son gains enough self-awareness and motivation to even try to use something like this.

I refined mine and got one of my kids to put it into an excel spreadsheet - much easier to complete.

I only do it monthly to coincide with my family doctors appointment. What I have found out is that doctors seem to be more understanding if you can them some sort of measure especially if you can say so and so is better but this is still a problem. I find it useful if someone else helps - reduces the strain on the brain plus you get another opinion.

I found the check list too much for me and couldn't do it.