10 concussions and brain damage only 17
 

hi, im new to this forum, and am hoping to find an answer for this long sought question, or many. (i appologize for the awful typing, its on my ipod) im 17 years old, and beleive to have had at least 10 concussions, at least 2 major ones. i have only gotten 3 diagnosed, one of which i got last friday.

in 8th grade, i got 3 in one month, 2 of which were from football. i stopped counting track after that and i didnt know what a concussion was when i was little, and thinking back i know ive had several. (i would do stupid, dangerous stunts and things). and all concusiions i never took the proper care for recovery. one of the ones i got in football, i went to nyc the next day. the one on friday, i went to a party on sat. and drank, and smojed pot. not to metion that i (used to be) kind of a pothead, smoking almost once a day, and heavily drinking on the weekends. another time, i (possibly) got one Nd went to a rave and popped molly (mdma).

i have also done lsd and psilocybin mushrooms, as well as snorted adderall 4 (different) times, (i was drunk). (if this helps answer my question) and since a couple months ago i became majorly depressed, and suicidal, ( but am getting bettér now thankfully). and now i dont know what is wrpng with me, and at least 20 out of the 30 sypmtoms occur to me; so at thit point, i just pray that someone knows, and can help me understand this, and myself further.

Hello,
I moved your thread over here to our Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Concussion Syndrome forum for you.

welcome here
 

Hello Mattd,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. This is a really good place, and kind people will weigh in to answer your questions.

At the moment, I can't recall your question, but if you are serious about recovering your brain and living a full life, then it's my belief that you need to heal from the inside out. Take care of your body with really good nutrition. This means eat a balanced diet and include lots of fruits and vegetables.

Look at the stickie on the top of this forum to see about really good vitamins and minerals too that will help you.

Taking care to heal also means no drugs and alcohol. If your friends like these things, and you want a full life in the future, you know the choice to make.

If you feel you have had 10 concussions and some major ones, then you really need to consider your lifestyle and how you can live a full life. I will tell you no more contact sports or putting your brain at risk for more injury. CTE is real --- chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- This is what the NFL was being sued for recently by former players.

Head injuries can mess with so much of your life and the life of your loved ones. The side effects can include depression, anxiety, insomnia, and this is just a start. You probably know all of this, but I guess I needed to say it.

You can ask questions and other people will weigh in.

Here's wishing you peace and good days to come.

Sincerely,

poetrymom

Hi Matt,

Let your brain heal before doing anything else reckless for a little while.

I imagine you are posting here because you might be scared of the symptoms you are experiencing? There is still time to recover... but let that fear keep you away from risky behavior.

Know that you are always going to be more susceptible to tbi from now on because you've already been diagnosed with one.

Don't worry about the past, or try to figure out how many tbi's you may have sustained right now. That information probably won't help you in the least - expect for maybe telling your Dr. so they have a better idea of where you're at.

It may prolong your recovery, but really, it's only been a week?

You're very lucky that you'r young and young brains heal the best from tbi.

But the partying isn't going to help you or be fun to have to deal with its effects in the long term. Partying has only a very short term effect that may feel good sometimes... if you feel like you can't make a decision that is beneficial for your long terms goals - like having your brain work the way you want it to for the rest of your life, then you may want to talk to a therapist. There is something called "delayed gratification" that they can help you with.

Hang in there.

If you want to post some of the troubling symptoms you have then we can address them and give you some advice about how to deal with them.

For the most part, I would say you are probably going to be okay soon but please take it easy until then! And try to remember this fear that you have about what you are experiencing the next time you are invited to party with your friends. You now have more experience in life than they do - they don't know what it's like to be scared of having a malfunctioning brain - and it's not fun! And the worst part is that it's not fun for much, much longer than the fun part of partying is. (I hope that makes sense.)

Response to those who commented on my thread
 

Hi, thank you for all your replies. What Both of you said is very helpful, its just that seems as though I'll have to give up my social life for many months to heal...As for the symptoms, the following that are in brackets i believe to apply to me. And i geuss the question i forgot to ask, was (whats wrong with me?)

*edit due to copy paste from a site that has copyright*

Hi
I have had to edit your copied section as the site you copy pasted from has copyright

Best to wait until you have enough posts to add links rather than copy from sites with copyright as we can have problems if you do that.

As a courtesy I am adding the link to the page you copied from
http://www.webmd.com/brain/brain-dam...atments?page=2

ok so once againm the symptoms i have are, all of the cognitive symptoms, (if you were to #the symptoms of perceptual symptoms) i would have, 1, 4, and 6. the first 3 of the physical symptoms, tremors (my hands shake unwillingly), sensitivity to light, slurred speech, and pretty much all the behavioral symptoms

mattd,

May of us have struggles if we need to look back and forth between a chart and other information. My visual memory is worthless so I can not track the information from the WebMD chart.

What are you doing to accommodate or work-around your symptoms ? Each symptoms should be addressed individually. There are no catch all treatments. Many of us have found ways to move ahead despite these pervasive symptoms.

You have no idea how long your social life will be "on hold". And it may not be on hold, but just different than it was before.

Maybe you can meet a friend for a board game? Video game? Movie? Listening to a new album? Walk? Card Game? Bike Ride? Coffee shop hang out?

Just let your friends who are are going to hang out with know that you may have to suddenly call it quits and they'll probably be ok with that.

Meet with less people at a time than you were before?

"Partying" isn't the only way to socialize. There are lots of things you might want to do once you take that off the table.

You might make a new friend?

Or make a current friend a closer friend?

You may only have to deal with these issues for a few more days, or a few weeks. You, nor anyone else, know how long these symptoms will last that are prohibiting you from having a more robust social life.

You could wake up one day feeling all better! (It happens. I've read about it.)

If you do wake up feeling all better, watch out to see if the symptoms return, and if they do, continue to take it easy, or back off whatever it is you're doing.

But agonizing now that you have to completely give up your social life for several months seems way premature and very pessimistic.

Just hang in there and try to take it one day at a time if you can.