Loved one, mental health post concussion
 

Hi, I’m posting about my 21-year old D. She’s a college student with one certain concussion from a fall and other head impacts that she believes are multiple concussions.

Shes about 18 months past the last one and seems to be getting worse mental health problems. She has been very independent and didn’t want me involved with her medical treatments, which did include a brain injury doctor, chiropractor, some pt, and recommendations for eye therapy. ( was on a wait list during COVID, and then when they called, she didn’t go).

She still resists my involvement but is now calling me 10-15 times a day asking for help. When I go, she’ll back out of going to the ER or refuse to see me. It’s true - I’m not sure what they would do.

It’s brought up other issues she has with me and magnified them by 1000. I feel I do have to step in though now because she doesn’t seem to be able to function mentally. I’m concerned.

Symptoms she reports:anxiety, headaches, no appetite so weight loss, black outs, memory that comes and goes, sadness, disassociating. Highly emotionally dysregulated. Angry nearly all the time.

She’s in college and does drink heavily, smokes weed I believe and generally lives an unhealthy lifestyle, so I believe all of this is also keeping her symptomatic. She doesn’t believe it.

As a mom, I’m not sure what to do or where to start. Neuropsychologist? Other doctor? Er and let them direct us? Try to convince her to leave school? She’s very adversarial and volatile with me, which has never been the case. We are in Wisconsin. Any help or referrals are appreciated.
Thank you.

Welcome Michelemom. :Tip-Hat: Someone will be along.

Would she read email or texted links if you find info here and send them to her?
Reading or searching with keywords to find relavent posts and exploring the sticky threads here it might be most helpful.

Drinking, poor diet and trying to push thru are all negatives to healing.

There are a few past posts here suggesting hormonal changes can happen also..
The anger, irrational mood flips could be from that or she might be self medicating with more than drinking and weed...

If she won't work with you, you might need to intervene for her own health and safety.
School counselor?

hormone imbalance after concussion - Google Search


Talk to Your Doctor About Hormone Imbalance After Head Injury | Cognitive FX

Especially if she was not this angry before, the other issues you mention could be a part of it too.

Welcome.

Is she taking any medications? Antidepressants, pain pills, or migraine cocktails can cause severe symptoms when taken during a concussion (black outs, memory that comes and goes, sadness, disassociating).

The brain needs optimal conditions and optimal nutrition to heal. Alcohol will slow or stop the healing, and fuels pre-existing emotional distress which contributes to anger. High amounts of weed contribute to anxiety and fear, so those substances should be avoided.

The secondary impacts can trigger excessive inflammation and that inflammation causes symptoms. Anxiety and anger are also linked to brain inflammation. A lot of the foods we eat cause inflammation, which will hinder the healing and contribute to mental health issues, so it's important to stop eating inflammatory foods as part of the treatment plan. (see below).

College life puts a lot of stress on the brain. The lectures, homework, and busy environment is a lot of stimulation for the brain to process. Plus, her friends may be pressuring her to party with them. The brain needs rest from high-level intense cognition to heal. If the above lifestyle changes do not improve her condition, then consider bringing her home to a quiet environment.

Stop eating these inflammatory foods-
- Sugar/fructose/corn syrup
- Sugary drinks/soda
- Wheat/gluten
- Fast foods
- Processed foods
- Fried foods
- Refined carbohydrates
- Processed vegetable and seed oils (polyunsaturated fats) because they are harmful to the brain
- (Safflower oil, Canola oil, Sunflower oil, Corn oil, Soybean oil, Cottonseed oil)
- Trans fats (shortening, hydrogenated vegetable oils, margarine)

Eat this instead:
- Replace wheat with whole grains. (Paleo flour, quinoa flour, almond flour, coconut flour, chickpea flour, etc)
- Eat a moderate amount of protein
- Eat lots of vegetables and some fruit for the antioxidants
- Cook with lots of healthy saturated fats (animal fats, Coconut oil, Butter, Olive oil, Avocado oil) because fats are the building blocks of new brain cells
- Bone broth
- Eat cold water fatty fish for the Omega 3 DHA
- Eat organic foods because pesticides contribute to neurodegeneration