17 yr old w/ PCS
 

hi as a 17 year old. i have suffered through what is called post concussion syndrome for almost two years now. after being in a car accident my freshman year, i didn't start showing symptoms until about 10 months in the beginning of my sophomore year. now that the doctors have figured out what exactly is wrong with me and started treated me, i have been going to chiropractic therapy for about 11 months now. but i'm still having trouble coping and hanging in there just waiting for this to finally be over so i can get back to my normal life. does anyone have any ideas of what i can do to maybe help make this a little bit easier or any ideas of things i can do to help myself with this "syndrome" Any help is very much appreciated. thank you :)

Healthy living
 

The best thing you can do now is to try to live a healthy lifestyle. No alcohol, good sleep, no partying, minimize stress, minimize the risk of a second impact, good nutrition, vitamin supplements, especially those designed for stress.

You might want to get your hormone levels checked. At your age, hormones systems are still changing. A brain injury can effect how your body regulates hormones. Your brain is going through an intense period of maturing. It needs you to help it grow and mature despite your past trauma.

The care you give your brain now will pay off for the rest of your life. There are parts of the brain that only grow and mature during the 10 to 25 year old years. If your brain is struggling to deal with the head injury, it can be too taxed to do the maturing that you need it to do.

I know two people who had serious neurological issues during the teen years and are dealing with 30 year old brains that have left them with under-developed judgment and other maturity issues.

hi
 

hi kayb

sorry you are dealing with this, all, what mark has suggested is good advice but please don,t for one moment consider this will be a life limiting event , tchi chi is also good in a group because you can just follow the movements and do not have to recite, do things you like take up a new hobby any kind of art is good, if you have exams coming up talk with your doc about a time extension, perhaps ? this in most cases will pass, but you may need to give yourself time to heal, not always easy , when you are considered walking wounded , so to speak

welcome

thanks so much for both your comments. they're all excellent ideas. and i'll give it all a shot. but vini, you said something about "tchi chi". can you explain a little more what exactly that is.


all of your help is greatly appreciated to the both of you. you have no idea how good it feels to have someone who can help you and give you advice on things like this when all else just feels kind of lost..but anyway thanks again :)

any other ideas are greatly appreciated as well.

hi kay
 

hi kay

sorry spell,t it wrong we do tai chi at a head injury group I attend I think it can help on many levels spacial awareness being one ,but also if like me and with more severe injury you can loss your ability to follow sequences it can help with this also, please see link , there are many classes held all over the place I think

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/what.html

I know exactly what you're going through, I was 12 when I had my car accident, I suffered all through school, with kids making fun of me becuase I got hit by a truck, I was have extreme outbursts, screaming at them.

My teachers just thought it was disapline problem, when I kept telling them it was from the accident......they thought I was making it up. I couldn't remember how to do simple things, so I had to re-learn all over again.

I finally got sent to an alternative school for emotionally challenged...not metally. there is a difference. And it helped me graduated on time, they did one on one schooling, and they let you work at your pace.

The biggest problem I had was I would get the homework done, put it in my book and forget it was there and was too late to turn it in. or I would need more time to comprehend what I was reading.

So don't worry I'm 20 now, went through school, graduated, I now work at a plasma center, and have found effective coping skills to become an active adult.

Hi Kay and welcome to NT!

It always makes me sad to hear of a young person having to battle PCS.

My fellow members of the brain boo boo club have provided you with all sorts of useful information. I applaud you for trying to learn about your condition. As brain injury patients often have to advocate for treatment, it’s important that you have a good understanding of your injury and your options. Some excellent sources for further reading include: the Brain Injury Association of America www.biausa.org; www.tbiguide.com and our own TBI forum here on NT http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html If reading gives you headaches, there are a number of excellent TBI videos on You Tube. (Who knew it wasn’t just idiots surfing on cars?)

In addition to what the others have said, I would encourage you to make sure that you are getting all the extra help and consideration you need at school. At present you are battling a disability and you are entitled to the help. To that end, you might consider having a neuro-psychological examination.

The neuro-psych is series of tests (oral, written, motor skill, spatial, etc…) that will reveal how your brain is actually functioning. A neuro-psych can be invaluable for establishing your claim to academic assistance. Equally importantly, it can help target any cognitive therapy you might choose to pursue.

You are young and there is every hope that you will make a good recovery. As everyone has told you, it is important to rest. It might also be helpful to keep track of things that aggravate your symptoms so you can avoid them. For example, when exercising I have to keep my heart rate below a certain level or my headache goes ballistic. It is not uncommon for PCS patients to find bright lights, noise, and heat troublesome.

Cheers

There are therapies you can do that have been demonstrated in studies to assist in rehabilitating brain injuries. I encourage you to research into these with your parents.

The first therapy is Neurofeedback. Traditional neurofeedback, which has been around since the 1970's, has been shown to improve symptoms by 80% in studies. The LENS neurofeedback system, which is an advanced form of neurofeedback, has a much higher success rate, and it is currently being investigated as a treatement modality for Iraqi/Afghanastan war veterens who incured TBI's. The caveat to neurofeedback is to make sure you find someone who has experience treating brain injuries.

The second therapy is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). It has been studied before with mixed results and more studies need to be done to verify its effectiveness. This is currently being studied at The University of Utah School of Medicine for treatment of TBI. They are speculating that this assists in the repair of damaged tissue via neural stem cells and also activates idiling neurons that aren't receiving adequate blood supply. If you live in the area, you may want to contact them for participation.

Nootropics, to include oxiracetam, aniracetam and pararacetam, have been shown in studies to improve cognitive ability in people with head injuries. You can get them online from supplement companies. Another drug that has been studied with some success is cerebrolysin.

The fourth therapy would be any form of meditation. Meditation has been shown in SPECT scans to increase blood flow to the brain, especially the frontal cortex.

The fifth therapy is Vision Therapy. If you are having vision problems, you may want to look into this as a therapy.

There are also others, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Chiropractic manipulation, and cranial sacral therapy, but that have been anecdotally shown to be beneficial. However, there still needs to be more research done on these.

Be careful with medication because researchers are now speculating that medication, such as anti depressants and stimulants, can actually be harmful to an injured brain in the long term, and current studies are underway to investigate this. So, if you are on medication, or your doctor wants to put you on any, you may want to discuss with him the possible risks associated with these.

Of course, as others have mentioned, diet, exercise, vitamins/minerals, and hormones are all important as well.

The good news is that your brain is young and as a result, you should have not problem rehabilitating it using one of the methods described above. Rest and a low stress enviroment are very important, but if you haven't improved after 6 months post injury, you need to enroll in a treatment program.

Good luck.