Forgetfulness/headaches
 

Hello I am a 17 Y/O female with asthma, a seizure disorder the doctors haven't been able to totally figure out and I have had at least 5 concussions all of which I lost consciousness . I also have severe head aches daily. This past month I have been feeling more upset , emotional etc than usual followed by forgetfulness . I am forgetting normal things I usually wouldn't forget things like where I put my school bag, my moms number, things I learned the day before etc. sometimes I don't remember when I fall asleep and wake up confused a lot wondering where I am. Some days it's worse than others and it's starting to worry me. Are my concussions catching up to me? Is it something brain related? I just need some sort of answers.

I'll try and tackle this one but there are many possibilities to your described symptoms. First off, concussion symptoms present themselves within a short time after a head injury although there is variability from minutes to days. It would be unlikely though to have new symptoms present themselves weeks or months after the injury unless other issues are going on inside the head besides the concussion. Having lost consciousness at the time of your head injuries does not necessary imply a complicated course of recovery. Though having had multiple head injuries is probably a more concerning issue. I will assume, judging by your story, that you haven't had an injury in recent months. Thus if your emotional difficulties are only of a month's duration, could you be suffering from a mood disorder such as depression where memory and focus difficulties are common. The other consideration is your seizure disorder that could account for unexplained periods of "loss of time" or, as you describe, not remembering how you fell asleep followed by confusion upon awakening. In summary, if your last head injury was followed by recovery, I would look for a different diagnosis to explain your new symptoms. Hope this helps. Canadoc

teen97,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I bet you have had far more concussions that did not result in loss of consciousness. As Canadoc said, your concussion history is troubling.

Something he did not mention is hormones. If you are an athlete, your hormone changes may be delayed and just now starting to challenge your system along with the neurological struggles from your concussions. EsthersDoll has some good info about hormone issues. I'll look for the thread for you and post a link if I find it.

Here is a link to her posts. http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread202646-2.html

Scroll down for her second post.

teen 97 hello my son too had several concussions by headbagging. And he also would forget things for example he went running and said he got lost for a moment we've lived here for 5 years. Then he would put refrigerated items in the kitchen cabinet. Then he was really emotional like crying and depressed. Ben had lots of headaches, eye's sore and pinging in his ears. He couldn't sleep at nite and was almost "sleep walking" his dreams in the day hours. Most of the symptoms happed the first year. Two years later he has mental illness. I'm not saying you do, just maybe get checked by your local mental health center to rule it out. Hope you feel better soon! Let me know how you make out.