I Need Your Help! Concussion Prone and Possible PCS With No Where To Turn
 

I've never used a website like this before but I've gotten to the point where I'm trying to use all the resources available to me to get my life back on track. Quick background on me: I'm a 23 yr old female who's had 5 concussions in the last 6 years and this last one caused me to quit school and my job and move back in with my mom. I have student loans and other bills I need to pay off and can't go much longer not working but my body is not consistent enough for me to be a reliable employee. I don't have any health insurance either so I've been doing a lot of research on what I can do to get my body to heal.

Detailed Concussion History:

My first concussion, that we know of, was as a junior in high school (17) at the end of my basketball season in Feb 2006. I lost consciousness for the few seconds between hitting my head on the court floor and my coach being at my side. The physical trainer at the game gave me the go ahead to get back in the game because I felt fine and my eyes were not dilated, I also didn't tell him I had passed out cause I didn't realize it at the time. I didn't know til later when my sister who was on the JV team told me I had def passed out for a few seconds. We went to the doctor after a few days and he easily diagnosed me with a concussion due to my headaches, loss of consciousnesses, and dilated eyes. After about a month of being on 800 mg of ibueprofen my headaches were gone and I was healthy enough to start track season.

My second concussion was in October 2008 (19) due to hitting my head in the bathroom. Headaches weren't too bad and were manageable with ibuprofen but I had major sleeping issues and some depression symptoms and worked closely with my doctor to get that under control. Schoolwork suffered but was okay in time for the next semester.

My third concussion was in July 2009 (20) due to a collision on the basketball court with one of the guys on my little brother's varsity team during summer practices. Went to the doctor after realizing I was nauseous and my eyes were dilated, along with the obvious headache. Headaches cleared up by the time I went back to school in September after rest and ibuprofen.

My fourth concussion was in June 2010 (21) due to a playground ball hitting the back of my head. Worked with a concussion specialist with major headache, sleeping, and fatigue issues. First time my normal daily functions were affected and felt slowed down mentally. Went back to work the end of August (since my brain wasn't ready to go back to school yet) and symptoms took about 8 months to really subside.

My fifth concussion was in the beginning of December 2011 (22) due to an airbag deploy in a car accident. I have no idea how long I was out and didn't realize I had lost consciousness until about two weeks later when I was able to really remember details of the incident, I was also in major shock and didn't realize it due to the adrenaline that helped me make it through the rest of that day. I didn't go to the hospital cause I didn't feel any symptoms for a few days. A week later, after taking my finals, I quit my jobs and moved across country back to my moms cause I wasn't able to get up and go to work. It's been over 2 months now and I still have more bad days than good days and feel like I've plateaued in my recovery. I sleep for 9-12 hours on average just so I can feel semi-normal. I was working two jobs and going to school full-time before the accident and I feel my body just gave out from the trauma of the car accident along with the concussion. Unfortunately this time I no longer have insurance so I can't go see a doctor. Ibuprofen doesn't work for me anymore but it seems that aleve works pretty well for my headaches, but the constant tiredness, fatigue, and sudden emotional changes is what worrys me. Also my daily functions take a lot out of me and sometimes the only way I can get any energy is from caffeine. I seem to think I have PCS this time around but am not familiar with it.

I just don't know what to do anymore because the rest and aleve is not getting me back to normal like it has before. I really need to get a job asap and am willing to try anything that works. I'm looking to go to a chiropractor or massage therapist and possibly seeing an herbalist to try and see if any of these options could help. Any and all suggestions would be so helpful!! I just want to get my life back in order as my mom can't really afford to take care of me (she has 5 other kids and is in school full-time since my dad left her) even though she says it doesn't matter since we have no idea how long it will take for me to get back to somewhat normal. Please help me know what options I have and what any of you have found to help your PCS symptoms! Thanks!!!

bballana,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your struggles, especially your concussion history.

It appears you have the idea that losing consciousness has a major impact on your severity of concussion. LOC (Loss of Consciousness) of short duration has no bearing on symptoms. In your case, the most important factor is the number of concussions you received over a short period of time.

Your prior recoveries have no bearing on your ability to recover from this recent concussion. You likely have used up a fair amount of your brain's tolerance for injury and recovery. This makes recovery problematic in that it is likely to take much longer and be less complete.

A first point regarding medical insurance and such. Auto insurance usually includes medical coverage for the occupants of the vehicle regardless of fault. It may have a $5000 limit but can be helpful. It is called occupant medical payments or something similar.

Second, you are still very early in your recovery from such an accumulation of concussions. An upper cervical chiropractor (NUCCA.org) may be helpful due to the fact that the auto wreck likely caused whiplash and concussion injuries.

Getting a good nutritional supplementation regimen started will also help. There are plenty of posts about nutrition here.

You need rest. That will likely be difficult in your mother's crowded home. I wish I had a suggestion there but sorry. Avoid visual and auditory stimulation. There is a post from Dec 20 in the top sticky thread called 'Links, etc. that discusses the suggested protocol for your stage.

It will help if you will tell us a bit about your most problematic symptoms. There are plenty of knowledgeable people here.

My best to you.

Wow, sounds like you have had a lot of ups and downs. Sorry to hear that you're feeling so bad right now. :hug:

Mark has some good advice about resting and taking it easy. Sleeping a lot and not trying to do much is probably wise at this point and will help you recover as quickly as possible.

Here's the list of things I came up with that I could do without hurting myself while I was at that phase of recovery: http://eowynridesagain.wordpress.com/game-basics/

Also, just be aware that caffeine is also not real great for your brain while it's trying to recover. It may give you energy, but it also can interfere with your brain healing itself. Good nutrition is important.

Good luck!

I have always been told by doctors that the damage to my brain would be worse if I lost consciousness, so that's new to me that it doesn't really affect my symptoms. And yeah, having had so many I've given up all sports, exercise, and other activities that could easily cause any more. I guess I was just hoping that like the other times I would be okay in a month or two but maybe I need to be more patient.

I have a family friend who has a great chiropractor and herbalist that I'm gonna look into trying next week. I haven't heard of NUCCA before but it looks interesting so maybe I'll do a little more research on that.

Also the main issues I'm having this time around are of course headaches, trouble falling asleep, not feeling rested when I wake up with less than 9 hours of sleep, depressing feelings/thoughts that come out of nowhere, loss of appetite (I have to make myself eat even if I'm not hungry) more emotional, more cranky and impatient, long-term memory loss (which seems to be improving), trouble with short-term memory (I have to write down everything or else I forget), ability to concentrate on anything for longer than an hour or two is gone, easily distracted, tired out after just showering and doing my hair/makeup when I feel up to it, feeling weak (hard time with this since I've always been an athlete and never had a problem lifting heavy things or opening jars or other screw on tops), rare issues with balance, and mild eyesight issues (I already have glasses so used to sometimes getting blurry eyed when tires). I think that's most of everything I'm having issues with, but I could be forgetting something. haha.

I just don't see how I can keep going with just lounging around the house and sleeping so much. I'm constantly bored and I'm used to being busy all the time. I do some minor chores around the house when I feel up to it especially cooking and baking since that's what I've been going to school for and it doesn't bother me much since it comes so natural to me. Since I'm bored I'm on my computer a lot watching movies or tv episodes since reading books hurts my head more. I don't know if the computer hurts my recovery but I don't know what else I can do to keep somewhat busy? Being able to be somewhat productive is the only thing that's keeping me sane right now...

bballana,

My husband was involved in a MVA last month and at one point, he was actually thinking of NOT going to the hospital. Once the fire company and police saw that he lost conciousness, they didn't take him to just any hospital, but to a trauma unit. For someone who didn't want to go, he ended up as an inpatient for 3 days! He had CAT scans, and MRI and other tests.

Plus, in your situation with airbag deployment, you usually do not have a choice as to wether you go to the hospital or not. It's automatic. How do you know that something else is not going on other than PCS? You never were checked out, let alone had any tests done (CAT scan, MRI, etc).

If you lost conciousness (LOC) it was very irresponsible of the rescue or any other abled person involved in the accident to not get you checked out. On the other hand, auto insurance policies have medical coverage. It is not to late to call your auto insurance company and tell them that you need to open a medical claim for the auto accident you were in 2 months ago and that you are going to the hospital to get checked out. Once your insurance company gives you a claim number, you give that to the hospital and they bill your auto insurance company.

You are having late effects of the accident and this is common.

Good Luck!

Oh, and I did have one doctor's visit using my car insurance with a doctor I've seen before for my concussions and everything came back normal: thyroid, cholesterol, MRI, and all the other tests he had me take. All he could tell me was to rest and try aleve instead of the ibuprofen. Also I've heard caffeine can help with headaches and its always seemed to help relieve mine before and still works at times. I'm leaning towards maybe I suffered more than just the concussion from the whiplash so that's where I think a chiropractor would come in handy. Thanks for all your thoughts! I'll def take these and any others I receive to heart and see if any of them work for me! :)

I had never been in an accident before so I didn't really know what to do and the other two cars involved left after we shared insurance so no emergency personnel were involved. I didn't feel off until hours later after I had my car towed and was back at home and just figured I had a slight concussion. Also I have a very high pain tolerance which sometimes gets in my way cause I don't realize there is a problem until much later than most people. The symptoms didn't get terrible until a few days later which is when I decided to move home and saw my family doctor. Everything with him came back normal, as it has every other time, so he just said I needed to rest and take aleve for the pain.

My comments about LOC pertained to momentary LOC. Sustained LOC is different. Both should be reported but a momentary LOC versus no LOC has very little bearing on long term symptoms. One could have altered consciousness that lasts a short period of time and be in worse shape than someone who never had any LOC. Often, this altered mental status is gone by the time EMS arrives unless they do a intense assessment.

EMS often use LOC as a way to make decisions per policy. Getting a good assessment of mental condition is more important.

I bet AmyMarie's husband was exhibiting poor mental status. In sports, such poor mental status is often ignored except to hold the player out of the game.

Be careful with caffeine - experts only recommend that people recovering from brain injuries should not drink more than one cup a day.

Rest. If your bosy wants to rest, it's probably still healing. Brian injuries take a lot of energy to heal.

You're going to get bored. That's just the nature of the beast. I was very active before the injury I sustained and I get really bored sometimes. The first year or so was the worst, but I'm doing better now so I'm able to do more, not anywhere near what I used to, but I'm not bored most of the time now, so it's an improvement.

Contact an attorney who understands brain injuries.

Very sorry to hear of your injury. I'm looking into local support groups. They have them for the injured AND their caregivers/family. Just helps to know you're not alone.

Kind of feels like rehab when i tell myself "one day at a time" and sometimes "one hour at a time"!