Regression
 

Hey everybody, hope I could get a little help and advice from everyone. I am 5 months out from my latest concussion from playing rugby. I have been starting to slowly but surely work my way back into physical activity. I usually cannot go out and socialize anymore but this weekend I was feeling up to it and went out and had a few social beers. I also surfed twice over the weekend and played a little baseball. Too much I know! Which was completely my fault and stupid of me.

Now, after not having headaches for almost three months... I am back to the same old stuff. I am back to being fatigued, having migraines and hiding myself in my room when at home. The good news is that my eye strength is better (in front of a computer) and I am alot less irritable and not as depressed, relative to my earlier stages of healing.

Have a permanently screwed myself up? Does anyone have any advice (other than taking it easy and not excercising) that they could offer me! I'm pretty bummed. If anybody has some interesting vestibular exercises or any other methods of healing please let me know. Also does anybody know exactly why a few beers are horrible for the brain? Any thoughts, insight, and advice would be awesome! Is there anything I could ask my doctor to prescribe to me to help with fatigue and headaches? Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

Matt

Mattsocal,

Alcohol has no interference to pass thru the blood-brain barrier, and is a brain toxin; your brain is still in repair, those cells in repair are super-sensitive, and any irritant is deleterious to the process.

Also, even though, at the time, you felt good doing it, the running impacts/ sliding impacts, whatever impacts of baseball; the wrenching impacts of surfing, all having impact in the healing brain, and you later felt those effects.

Back off again, slow down again; give yourself time again. How much you were affected is something only time can tell.

Check out the Vitamin/Supplement link on the forum started by MarkofIdaho. Very useful.

Rest.

Fatigue goes with our problem. Rest is something useful. The supplements / vitamins are useful. Slowing down is useful. Its hard but useful.

Headaches accompany many of our problems........ yes, our docs may help, check out our threads, many of us use different medications; different docs prefer different medications dependent on what they perceive is the root causation........ Check with your doc , ask him after he has taken a complete history and examination of you about your headaches and concussion.....

Be sure to check out the medication he recommends before just accepting it, it may not be to your liking regarding side effect possibilities, etc. be sure to be an informed consumer. This site may help with info on some usual medications used - the heading is about Migraines because many concussion sufferers are diagnosed with post-traumatic migraines.

Best Wishes.

Hey Matt,

Have you permanently screwed yourself? My non-MD opinion is no, while the brain is plastic and rewires itself you do need to remember that concussions are cumulitve in nature so you need to protect from getting more. Setbacks happen - 12 steps forward then out of the blue 7 steps back. I look at it like software updates - while they fix known bugs, they also seem to mess up things that worked originally.

In my experience, the nature of the TBI/PCS beast is that there are no rules - we are all different. However, since my accident (6.5 yrs) I don't really drink anymore because my natural state of being now is similar to having a few beers. Wine is something I enjoy so I've learned I can handle a shot glass and don't indulge beyond that. Alcohol also interacts with medications so you really need to be careful - you might just need to accept not drinking at all is a change you need to make for your well being.

It took months to find a med that took care of my migraines that I tolerated and then after a few years it stopped working and had to go through being a guinea pig again. I can't recommend a particular one as they work different with each person's chemistry. I've tried:

Midrin (works when they hit),
amitriptyline (preventative - gained lots of weight),
Topamax (preventative - caused neuro pain in jaw/blisters),
Inderal (preventative - caused blister rash),
Imitrex (Preventative - caused serotonin reaction),
Neurontin (preventative - side effect I can live with - balance issues)

The list above is small, but when you find one that works for you it's hard to move on to another one. What I learned the hard way is to find a medication whose side effects you can live with - blisters, vomiting, weight gain, neuro pain weren't something I could live with, but I can tolerate feeling like I'm on deck of a boat - so I stopped at Neurontin.

For fatigue and brain fog my neurologist went outside the box and prescribed an ADD medication - HUGE difference in my level of cognitive function and energy. Taking this medication has allowed me to feel as close to "normal" as I have since before my accident. Not all doctors agree with this treatment, but it works for me. Good luck!
~Kristy