New Member - Post Concussion Syndrome & coping
 

Hi,

I had a car accident 7 months ago, and hit my head on the steering wheel pretty hard. Because I did not lose consciousness, nor did I forget anything, and I passed the "bedside neuro" exam with no problem, the doctor at the ER basically said, "you hit your head, you're going to have some headaches. Take a few days off, should clear up in a few weeks." He gave me a list of things to watch for and sent me on my way.

Since then, I've had some of the worst headaches in my life, and after some of them, my vision has had some distortions. I've had all sorts of appointments & scans of brain & eyes & they can't detect anything irregular. I've had significant problems with light and sound sensitivity. Also "stimulus" sensitivity, like conversation too long, or "processing" sensitivity, if someone's trying to explain something unfamiliar to me.

I did experience some improvement, but for a shorter period than I had hoped for. I found my way to this site when I had what at first I thought was just a little relapse, but now after 2 weeks of hardly being able to work (if at all), I'm once again learning this may be a lot more of a long haul than I ever imagined. I thought I had mapped out pretty well the most high-risk triggers and how much work I could expect to get done at what "cost." Overall, I achieved maybe 70% productivity, but for like 2 months or less.

After interacting with TBI sufferers, I realize this is a very small amount of time, and that comparatively speaking my issues aren't nearly as bad as they might have been.

I'm self employed and having a hard time staying afloat. As an artist and author, a lot of my identity and the natural "positive feedback loop" of my brain correlates directly with my creative output. So it's hard for me to "just rest" and not work. I love my work.

I do have one specific question, and that's this: How much fish oil would be recommended to help with mTBI? I've seen it recommended, and I started taking some. It's 1000mg liquigels, taken 3x per day. I was wondering if a higher dosage might be appropriate for mTBI.

Thank you.

Hi ArtBrtain,

Just like you I was in a auto accident and had post concussion syndrome. It took me a full yr. to get over the concussion but I have noticed since the concussion my short term memory isn't that good.
In regards to sound and light you may be what is called photosensitive and audio sensitive now which means certain sounds and certain colors are firing up the neurons in your brain.
My advice to you is to see a neurologist or better yet a Epileptologist who specializes in both epilepsy and TBI. Have them do a special e.e.g on you where they will flash different color lights and make different sounds during the test and then they can see what sounds and colors are firing up the neurons in your brain and causing the problems.
Take my word the fish oil won't help you at all. Try taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day, the B12 helps calm the nerves down. Cut back on caffeine and do not use anything with nutra sweet in it like diet soda because the nutra sweet will fire up the neurons in the brain and that can cause a lot of headaches.
You may want to ask your Dr. if you can go to pain management for help. I had to go for a short time and the Dr. gave me special types of tests along with therapy to reduce the pain. A lot of the problem is do to the swelling of the brain and possible bleeding that happened. I wish you only the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hi, Sue:

Thanks for the response! Of course, I've already done most of that.

I have a neurologist, we've done as much as she'd recommend for now, she wants to wait & see before we do anything else, because it's "only" been 7 months since the accident. We've tried a few things for the headaches with mixed success and mostly side effects that were too hard to handle. We're trying something new as of this weekend. Currently combating the extreme drowsiness it's caused so far.

I'd been taking B12 for years before the accident, have been caffeine-free for over a decade, and have been avoiding sugar substitutes for even longer. I already had a therapist, even! So, I already had all of that as my norm long before my head hit the steering wheel.

I heard about various kinds of 'physical' therapy that might help, and I'm going to look into that.

Thanks for the response and saying hi! I wish you the best in your ongoing recovery.

Take care,


Angi

Headache remedy
 

Hi -

I just joined this group today and have not read through all responses.
In case you are still getting headaches, I highly recommend InflammoZYME -
it is a natural supplement that I get from the Medicine Store in Concord,
NH. I was in a car accident around the same time as you were and have PCS. I had horrible headaches until taking this supplement.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
I am off to an event tonight, but will be around some of tomorrow.
I am looking for good musician's ear plugs or whatever else this group recommends for noisy places. Good luck!!

:wave-hello: hello ArtBrain, welcome to neurotalk