Concussion and drug abuse. 18 years old
 

ast may I was kicked in the head during a sparring session, I was knocked out and seized for about 6 seconds after the blow. I went the emergency room where they did the proper scans to check for brain bleeding and what not. All came out normal. I was released from the hospital a day later.

Prior to this injury, I was a chronic marijuana smoker, in fact i believe i was psychologically addicted to the drug. Anyway after my concussion I made the really dumb move to smoke marijuana around 4 days after my injury. Although it felt stranger than the usual high, I blew it off as a one time thing and smoked again around 3 days later. The strange feeling was still there but once again i blew it off as being in my head because i had done research that said marijuana has some properties that induce healing in concussed patients. Boy was I wrong. I continued to smoke throughout the next month and a half and even though sometimes i would have a strange feeling in my head i continued to blow it off and reassure myself that it was all just anxiety.

One time i smoked and my head felt as if it was swelling, i woke up the next morning and my brain felt as if it was sloshing around in my head. I also felt extremely foggy and had a warm feeling in the back of my head. As well, I had a pressure/tension behind my eyes and on my temples. This feeling persisted for about 4 days progressively getting better.

I decided it was time to go to my neurologist to get a check up. I told him I had smoked throughout the past few months and he ordered for an EEG and an MRI. I had both and they came out completely normal. The doctor said my brain just needed rest and that there was nothing to worry about. I listened and gave my body and brain rest, eating a healthy diet and having a good exercise regimen.

About 6 months later, midterms came along for my classes at school. I decided that possibly a 20 mg adderal would help me focus better on my studying and what not. I was wrong, it made me completely unfocused and made me have an extreme anxiety attack. Also following the taking of the adderal, I have developed eye floaters when looking into the bright sky, something which I have never had before.

After that incident I have had on and off feelings of brain foggyness, trouble reading, trouble hearing, a feeling of my ears being clogged, swelling brain feeling, hot brain feeling, and just an overall bad feeling. Like I said these symptoms are "on and off" meaning some days I will feel great and other days I will have these symptoms.

I know my choices to use drugs were ridiculous and immature, and nonetheless idiotic. I cannot find any other reason as to why I abused marijuana knowing that it could hurt me in the long run other than the fact that I was addicted. I can assure you that I do not use any drugs any longer, the guilt of my stupidity is too much for me too even consider it. I AM NOT LOOKING TO BE REPRIMANDED FOR MY BEHAVIOR, I KNOW IT WAS STUPID I JUST WANT ANSWERS.

Although I am not using drugs, I am constantly around friends and the party scene (seeming that i am 18), therefore I am constantly around marijuana. Even the slightest (accidental) inhale of second hand smoke causes me to feel different, or "high". I feel as if my brain is extremely sensitive, the high is not normal, I have terrible symptoms such as the hot feeling and brain swelling feeling. As well it feels as if my ears are clogged. I have asked my neurologist once again what these feelings could be, he attributes it all to my anxiety. I without a doubt know that it is not my anxiety and that it is indeed something different. Possibly it is the fact that the blood vessels in my brain have not healed yet, and I am very sensitive to the constricting and dilating that occurs when a drug is introduced to the brain?

I am just look for some insight whether this will ever go away and if my brain will ever be able to handle a social drink or drugs again. I am not worried about smoking marijuana ever again, I could careless. I am worried if G-d forbid I ever need anesthesia, the effects on my sensitive brain could cause extreme damage. Please once again I am NOT looking to be judged, I have made mistakes in my life just as all of us have.

I am looking for some insight on what to do now in terms of neurological scans/ tests to determine and permanent damage, a vitamin regimen I should take to promote healing, and if these symptoms correlate with those of PCS.

Thanks for your time,

Ron

Ron,
Good to see you found us. Mark from Idaho should be seeing you anytime and will have good information on vitamins and other things. Also CycleCrash has good ideas. Sorry for asking you some of the same questions you already answered as your story is long and you know I have very bad memory problems.
Don't worry too much. I think you will fully recover with some time.
Brain

Ron,

My concern is not about your drug use. I am more concerned about your sparring. What kind of sparring do you do ? How often have you had jars to your head of any kind, with head gear/helmet or without ?

You should consider looking for a new social group. 18 does not predispose you to social groups that do grass and drugs.

btw, How much marijuana and other abuse of you brain have you done over the past decade ? Did you drink to get smashed ? This question is about brain health, not behaviors.

Check out the Vitamins thread. It will help your brain purge the many toxins. It will take months of good discipline to clear your brain so it can try to heal. You have 90% of your adult life ahead. Getting a handle on brain health now will give you many benefits.

I have smoked about 3-5 times a week for two years preceding my concussion. I do not do sparring or any sort of physical contact sport anymore due to my symptoms. I do not drink anymore, nor do I do any drugs. I will check out the vitamin feed. Do you believe my strange feelings will eventually go away and allow me to enjoy life again?

I was asking about your past experience with sparring and drinking. I am trying to understand your history. I include marijuana with drugs.

Yes I as well consider marihuana to be a drug, I don't do it anymore. I used to do kickboxing and in training we would often spar. I did this for about 2 years.

I think Mark is looking for evidence of CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which can be associated with individuals having a pattern of repeated blows to the head. It is an insidious degenerative disorder that may not manifest until decades after the trauma history. It can only currently be diagnosed post mortem.

CTE has garnered notice of late amongst football players and other athletes in contact sports. Several pro players have died due to suicide, and there was a pro wrestler who murdered his family before taking his own life.

Actually, I am interested in evidence of Multiple Impacts and Cumulative Sub-Concussive Impacts. CTE usually takes years to develop. The others start showing symptoms early. Two years of Kick Boxing, especially if it included kicks to the head during each round, can be the cause of quite an accumulation of impacts.

Any attempt to understand a health issue needs to start with a full and accurate history. The experts on concussion stress the importance of getting a full history of any impacts and involvement in contact sports.

No not every day was a kick to the head, most of the time it was light punching. I trained about 1-2 times a week, there were sometimes where I did get hid hard, but no signs of concussion that i could tell.

Any hits to the head, whether a punch or a kick count. A sub-concussive impact is a head impact that did not cause any concussion symptoms. They are worse than a concussion hit because they do not cause you to take time to heal.

I ask specific questions because I know what the answer means. Trying to second guess my questions does not help. Most doctors don't know to ask these questions because they do not have adequate concussion training. There are many athletes who have never suffered a full concussion but are suffering serious deficits from the sub-concussive impacts.