Concussion and Alcohol
 

Hello,

I have been dealing with PCS for a little over a year now and have been doing much better recently. Unfortunately last weekend, I slipped in the snow and hit my head. It did not seem to be a hard hit and I felt fine afterwards, so I did not think much of it. That night, I went out with friends and drank alcohol fairly heavily. A couple of days later I started to realize that I might have re-injured myself because I started having symptoms. I went to see my neurologist and he said to treat it like a regular concussion. So I am currently at home on my 5th day of cognitive rest and I'm still having some pretty intense symptoms including dizziness, nausea, and trouble focusing. I know it is my fault for going out and drinking, but I am hoping for the best after this incident. All I can hope for is that my current concussion does not bring about the year long struggle that my previous concussion brought about. Since it was not as hard of a hit, I am thinking this may be true, but because I know alcohol can make the severity of a concussion worse and I have had multiple concussions in the past, I am very worried. Could anyone explain to me just how much worse my use of alcohol could potentially make my concussion this time? In others words, am I doomed and in for another year of dealing with severe post concussion syndrome?

Sup Tommy. I'm into my 10th month dealing with PCS that was caused by a concussion made much worse by alcohol use. My biggest advice is to absolutely NOT drink any more alcohol till you are a definite 100% better. That is all.

I'm sorry I can't help predict if your concussion recovery would last a year again. I'm sure others here will be more helpful with that. It basically comes down to avoiding the things that made your last recovery so long.

Tommy,

Nobody can say if the alcohol will make your recovery worse. What can be said is that you need to learn to moderate your drinking. The previously concussed brain responds differently to alcohol. To a concussed brain, alcohol is poison.

Getting drunk is definitely not good. Getting buzzed is seriously questionable. An occasional drink is OK. You should aim for staying below .04 BAC, half the legal limit for driving.

Getting drunk can be similar to suffering another concussion, only its damage to the brain is different.

I would give up the drinking to be frank. Drinking is not good for a non injured brain. For an injured brain it's terrible. To have the best chance of a good recovery, you need to get your brain to a point where it is symptom free, the longer you can avoid your triggers, the quicker your brain will recover when in this state. Push it, and you'll suffer set backs which can last weeks or months. I've been there many times.

Being sensible about avoiding triggers with pcs and having a positive attitude helps the most. And not hitting your head again helps too!