Need help with something.
 

I need a little help with something.

For those of you who don't know my situation, I was assaulted in June of 2011. I felt pretty normal for 3 months before the world came crumbling down on me. I woke up (sometime) in September and everything was all messed up. Ever since that day, I've been in a constant decline and haven't really shown very many improvements.

The symptoms that I suffer from are: Non-stop language problems (mainly with expressing myself), poor concentration, poor memory, problems with divided attention, some anxiety and a little depression. These problems are always there...but they are worse when I first wake up or before bed.

Those are the main things at least. They are exacerbated by any type of stimulation, anything from music, TV, conversations, people talking, crowds of people, casinos, etc. My speech is always messed up, I'm always struggling to know what to say and how to express it...but you put me around any of the above things and I pretty much become a mute.

This wasn't a problem for me immediately after the injury. Which is confusing...Normally, with a regular concussion you might have a few days to a week delay before the symptoms hit. With a brain injury that was enough to show on a CT/MRI...you normally have symptoms right from the gate. At least this is what I've heard from a lot of clients that I spoke with from NCEP (brain injury rehabilitation).

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is...I've been declining ever since that day in September. I'm not kidding. Its been a really awful recovery for me and I'm very disappointed in what I've become. Its normal for a person with a concussion/brain injury to have a personality change. Well, mine was very mild in the early on (even after the symptoms showed up in September). Now, since its getting harder for me to communicate, my personality is changing even more. My personality, me, the real me comes bursting out of me sometimes...but now its very short lived.

This is where I need your help. I just got my insurance this past weekend and I'm ready to start seeing different doctors to find out what the problem is. I want to find out if there is some underlying cause to this madness. I've already got a few things in mind, such as a full panel of blood tests, I want to be checked for STDs and I'm going to get 2 rotten teeth pulled. I'm also going to get one more MRI to make sure my brain isn't shrinking.

I don't know what else to do. I've tried everything from reducing stress, taking vitamins, different anti-depressants and anti-seizure meds, locking myself in a room for a month, pushing through my symptoms, NUCCA chiropractor, intensive brain injury rehabilitation...blah blah blah...and nothing works.

I just want to start getting better and find out why I feel like crap ALL the time instead of only after/during stimulation.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Nick

Nick,

I would hold off on the MRI if it is just to measure for CTE (shrinking). It will takes years of shrinking before an MRI will show the difference.

Slow down. Get your teeth out and your jaw healthy for a while, then start looking for new ideas.

There are medical reports of people who became psychotic from abscessed teeth, especially the top teeth. Once the abscess was healed, they recovered. I wonder if you decline last fall was not because of the marathon of gaming but instead from your tooth getting to a critical condition. Jaw clenching during an intense game could have caused a problem.

Okay, I'm going to schedule an appointment for a dentist tomorrow.

My teeth have not turned into an abscess...yet. I've been keeping them clean and I've gone through two courses of anti-biotics to beat the infection. They hardly ever hurt...Only when I get food stuck in there. I've accidentally hit the nerve on them a couple times trying to pick food out. Ugggh...It hurt like hell.

Thanks Mark.

Nick

Hi Nick, sorry to hear things still not good - but glad you got your insurance sorted. Bad teeth affect so many areas right through the blood stream, get those suckers sorted.
I used to work with a gorilla called Lomie who was so stroppy and moody and unpredictable until she was knocked out to move locations and the vet found her teeth to be a right mess. 5 extractions while still sedated and she woke up with an immediate personality change to being playful, contented and a fantastic mother.
We all have enough wierd symptoms and limitations from the pcs that we can't do anything about, you should deffo sort the teeth first as it could make a major difference x

If checking vitamins make sure to check Vit D
 

Nick,

When you get to doc about your vitamin count make sure to get D checked. I have read that many issues are bound in person that are DX with MTBI and are then found to also have severe Vit D deficiency

I don't have much to offer other than a message of solidarity...hang in there! I hope things improve over time.

Apart from the specific issues you mention, I still think that some key factors in recovery are: rest, low stimulation, low stress, regular relaxation, and time (sometimes a long time). Boring but I think some or all of these need to be part of your bedrock of recovery. It doesn't necessarily mean lying in a dark room for a month but it does mean getting into a slower, more restful daily, weekly and monthly routine so that your recovery can gradually take hold.

Obviously this is easier said than done (for one thing, I'm not a parent of a young child), but these things have helped me. I changed my environment months ago (moved to the suburbs to be with my significant other) and this has helped me take it down a notch.