Hi,
First time ever writing. Two months ago got a nasty concussion. Head slammed on concreate for the first time ever in 15 years riding a piece of wood with four wheels. Discombobulated rolled around in a daze and later went to hospital for x-ray. Felt fine for that night and x-ray and cat scan were straight. Took a day off work and went into work on tuesday this happened on a sunday. Over the next couple of days I started getting foggy anxiety, nauscious, disllusion, confusion and slurring my speech . I was even having hallucinations about a week after. I was so messed up and dont know if it was the contusion stress or concussion. Its like it took me forever to recognize what I was looking at and I was in a terrible fuzzy nightmare. I was scared to talk to people and didnt even know I was slurring my speech. I had to take a week in a half off work. My boss told me I was fine and her problems are much worse and like everyone else at the job tried to make me feel like a wimp and idiot. These guys don't know the bones Ive broken and stuff ive been through, why would I lie about my damn brain hurting. I wouldnt wish this on anyone. Ive been with the company over four years but switched location of where I work and got a concussion two weeks after I started on the new contract at the new sight. Being able to perform my job and get thru these last two months was by the grace of god anybody else on the planet would of thru in the towll it was insane. This started on the wednesday following my injury. I should of never went back to work, but im a dad and me my pheonsei and kid are paycheck to paycheck as it is shes in shchool to be a nurse and he's four. I am now two months post concussion and things have been rocky but about after the three week point I have been noticing slight improvemment everyday. I have this one symptom though thats like a tingling numbness in my face that radiates all around, and some occasional headaches. I am trying to take it easy and havnt been skating or exercising since everyone insists Im doing fine and all the right things but it's been such a war. I just need money or time to be able to lay up and heal but I cant get that. You guys are so lucky that dont have to think or work or earn I feel like if I just layed up I would have been fine by now. The hardest part with any injury is how fast the world seems to move along without you. But one thing I did notice on the bright side is the will and drive to live. I will never ever take this life for granted I have been writing down everything that pops into my head and am writing a book about my life. I will come back and beat this and help heal all of you. You really value life and understand what matters when your on the verge of losing everything and Ive been dangling off that cliff and gottta get back. Im lost at times and found at times. Confusion has its cost helplessly hoping this will strengthing me along lifes beutiful struggle

We are all gonna shine thru this madness

You're a tough cookie!

A brain injuries are so hard. First the symptoms are terrible, but since they're largely invisible a lot of ignorant clods will treat you like a lazy, whimp.

I really admire your fighting spirit and I hope that you can turn some of that toward getting yourself some care. Most family doctors know squat about TBI. It's not something that you just "get over."

As you've been searching the fourm, you've probably seen that there are a lot of treatments and medications from speech therapy to B12 to QEEG that might ease your symptoms and maximize your recovery. I can't remember, have you even seen a neurologist?

Given that you fell, has anyone considered that the tingling might be neurolgical injury from whiplash?

I now it's difficult to meet family and financial responsibilities and still get the rest that is so crucial in the aftermath of a concussion. Sleep whenever you can and get medical help - you're worth it!

Cheers

Hockey- Good thought on the whiplash.

I know that i was a lot younger when it happened. But whiplash took
some time from my life when I was very young. And it took a long
time to feel better.

Then started the TBI incidents.

Donna

please see link
http://www.utahinjurylawblog.com/200...aumatic_1.html
so pleased you held it together, I tried my best but a TBI is not something you can just get over ,we went from happy to train wreck , employers just want to cover there butts for the most part and until someone find,s them self,s disabled with a brain injury that others view as madness or laziness it,s just something they cannot understand, when a bit of your brain is damaged or missing it is gone, would they expect some one with one arm to still be able to juggle , this board is shared by pcs and tbi people

thanks for the offer to heal us all

welcome

Hi!

Welcome to this site. As others were saying, there is a lot of information posted here that can help point you in the right direction. I hit my head almost a week before I saw my general doc, and she sent me to a neurologist right away.

I agree with everyone else, that it's really difficult for people to see PCS or other brain injuries. People for the most part really don't get it. Until I found this place, I was feeling really lost and frustrated.

Can you try to apply for any sort of disability and be able to get by? Good luck seeing a neuro and getting through this!

Hardtimes,

You do not mention where you live, what state, etc. There are resources available that depend on your location. What kind of diagnostics have you had? Have you had a CT scan since your original hospital x-ray? A concussion can show negative on an immediate x-ray but show up with problems hours to days later.

Also, help us out by using paragraph spacing. Many of us have very difficult times following from line to line. It took me forever to read your post. The best is a line space after four lines of comments.

As others have said, family practice and other Primary care Physicians are useless with concussion. Even neurologists are prone to misunderstand concussion.

Check with your local/state Brain Injury Association for a referral to a good concussion doctor.

Put the skateboard away. Hang it on the wall as a momento or such. You brain will not tolerate another bump. Even the best helmets will not protect a brain that has been previously concussed. Second impact syndrome is brutal and can last a lifetime. I am proof of that.

Let us know what's up.

Feel your pain dude. My brain's been mush for the past 3 months, just finally coming out of the haze. Didn't even realize how out of it I was. Don't even really remember the first month and a half after my injury.

Hang in there, make sure you get plenty of rest, and try not to stress. Brain injury is hard to deal with, but try to hang in there.

If you haven't seen a neurologist, you might want to try to get an appointment. If there is a hospital in your area that specializes in in brain injuries, that'd be a good place to check out.

Good luck. Hang in there!

I had a frontal concussion in 2005. I hit my left temple, knocked out completely. I woke up foggy. Over the next three days the fogginess got worse and I became very very paranoid with anxiety. And, soon after I became sick with atypical depression. My muscles were felt heavy throughout my entire body (leaden paralysis), I was extremely fatigued, and I basically became bedridden. I was observably irritable, I lost all pleasure and interest in everything I loved. Anyways, depression can cause so many bodily problems, its unreal. I can tell you this, if your always tired, having sleep disturbances, chronic headaches, anxiety, appetite changes, get an MAOI. It will put you back to normal. I've been on about 20 antidepressants, the newer ones, and none of them worked for me. MAOI's are for treatment resistant depression, but doctors are reluctant to prescribe them due to dietary restrictions. Now they have the Emsam patch, which doesn't require dietary restrictions. And, there's a medication called moclobemide, that you can get over the internet. There's no dietary restrictions on it. It's not approved in the US. It's effective at 750 mg. I was on it yesterday and I felt phenomenal. Depression is common after a brain injury. And when I say depression I mean depression that is due to biological disruptions, not reactive depression like after the death of a loved one. Reactive depression is just a mood and doesn't really carry severe physical bodily problems. If you happen to need the MAOI, please read up on it, because they have interactions.....You could also try the SSRI's (prozac) first as well, but don't forget the MAOI. Good luck with everything....