New Member - Severe Head Injury
 

Hi,

I'm a 28 year old male from India. I suffered a head injury in last week of December, thanks to fog and a badly made speed bump.

Some of this information is second hand since I only came to my senses about 10 days back. I woke up after the injury quite incoherent. Was admitted in the ICU for about 4 days. I've severe concussion. I spent about 2 weeks not in my right mind. Telling my mom to switch-off the doctors (i think that came because I had recently seen the show 'Westworld', which is about Robots).

I'm on this forum since I often suffer from anxiety, especially in the mornings, and start freaking out. I spend almost the entire day feeling dazed, confused and feeling like I'm high on something. I'd like to know if this goes away.

I start feeling relatively normal at only about 8-9 PM. (Right now it's 3 PM and I'm only half sure that i'm posting in the right place on the forum)

My old memories are all fine. Last 2-3 years of memories had got all messed up but quite a bit has returned and more seems to be coming back gradually.

I'd love if someone who's been through this could find time to talk to me.

Thank you!

Apoorv.

Hello ap rv: Thanks for introducing yourself. Welcome to NeuroTalk. :welcome_sign: May the time you spend here be of benefit. :Grin-Nod: The forum you want to post in will probably be the TBI & Post Concussion forum:

https://www.neurotalk.org/forum92/

:Good-Luck: ;)

Hi ap_vr,

Welcome to the forum! Just like you I had a severe concussion a few yrs. ago and I had to see a neurologist to have the matter taken care of. If you haven't seen a neurologist you should have your family Dr. refer you to see one.
What's going on is the brain is bruised and there may be some swelling this in turn can cause a lot of problems. I had to go to Pain Management for awhile to get things back to normal.

If I may ask do you ever feel confused like you don't know what's happened and then feel really tired and want to sleep? If you do you may have had a seizure. I've had epilepsy for 45 yrs. and these are the first signs that a person has had a seizure but I hope I'm wrong. Try taking vitamin B12 once a day that help calm the nerves down. I wish you only the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thanks Sue!
 

Hi Sue,

So i replied to your comment once and then can't find it. I hope this isn't due to the confusion i face every morning.

I haven't had any seizures thankfully, and as a precaution the doctor prescribed anti-epilepsy pills.

I was taken care of by a neurological surgeon when I was in the ICU and I've consulted a neurologist post coming to my senses 2 weeks post the first one.

Thank you so much for the VitaminB12 suggestions. The anxiety is really really bad in the mornings, though it goes away by late afternoon.

I also feel like I'm drugged or drunken, through the day, till about 8-9 PM. Did that happen to you and did it go away? If it did, then how long did you have to deal with it?

Thank you so much for the support

Apoorv.

Hi Apoorv,

You asked if I felt tired or dragged down after the concussion and the answer is yes, all I wanted to do is sleep. What can also be causing this for you is the seizure med you are taking, that can make many people tired and feel depressed. If I may ask what seizure med are you taking. I've tried at least 10 or more different seizure meds so I know the side effects of a lot of them. If you do decide to take vitamin B12 take 1000 mcg. once a day for the adult dosage. Also stay away from nutra sweet or anything that is like nutra sweet because they have found that causes more electrical activity to go on in the brain which in turn can cause both anxiety and seizure problems for many people. Cut back on the carbs and starch foods and eat foods high in fat and believe it or not that will help the anxiety also.
Before I forget to tell you I felt tired and dragged out for almost a yr. but I had Post Concussion Syndrome and that's what caused a lot of the problem.
I'm glad to hear you have seen a neurosurgeon. You may want to ask the Dr. to do a follow up fMRI (functional MRI) that will show even more detail than a regular MRI. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Anxiety and Lightheadedness
 

Hi Sue,

I don't really feel tired, more lightheaded and not clear in my thinking.

I was on this anti-seizure med called Levipil earlier, but yesterday the doctor changed it to Eptoin.

The anxiety is still there but I'm not feeling lightheaded today. Not sure if this is just a coincidence or effect of the medicine.

I'll get a follow-up CT scan in a week or so I think.

Thank you!
Apoorv,

Hi Apoorv,

It could be the med that is making you feel light headed but I know I had a hard time with my memory, and concentrating after the concussion it took me about a full yr. until I was back to normal but I had brain surgery for epilepsy before this happened and I'm sure that caused a lot of the problems also.
Try and keep track on a calendar of when you feel light headed, often that can happen when hormones are changing each month and when there's a low pressure in the weather.
Another thing that has been a great help to me is the medical marijuana CBD oil it calms the nerves, stops the headaches and my seizures. It has done wonders and all I do is use it as a mouth spray and squirt it once a day into my mouth. If you are interested in that check out the web page healthy hemp oil.
I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You,

Sue

Anxiety
 

Hi Sue,

I think all my other problems are aggravated by really bad anxiety. My lightheadedness is much better than before.

The doctor changed my anti-seizure meds and stopped the anti-depressants.

The anxiety doesn't come and go, or get triggered. It automatically starts a few minutes after I wake up and lasts almost all day. its becoming quite unbearable.

I get a 2-3 hours relief in the evening before it starts again before bed-time.

Did you experience anything similar?

Thanks again!

Hi Apoorv,

I never had any of the problems like you mentioned lasting so long, it would usually come in the afternoon or early morning and then stop after
about an hour.
You may want to go in for a sleep study to see what's going on and have an e.e.g. and e.k.g. done all at the same time. I can't help but wonder if you are having seizures in your sleep which in turn can cause the anxiety sometimes.
Try cutting back on the caffeine and any foods with carbs or starch in them and see if that helps. I wish you only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue

Withdrawal
 

Hi Sue,

Sorry for bugging you again about this. I remember most parts of my life before the accident now, with a few bits mixing here and there. But I'm still struggling with remembering my days now.

As for the anxiety, I think stopping my anti-depressants might be causing withdrawal. Were you ever on this pill called Oleanz {might also be called Zyprexa (Olanzapine) }

Could you tell me if you ever had withdrawal symptoms and how long it took for your memory to get back to normal?

Thank you!