yea we got all the results back on tuesday when we went in for the appointment.

Soccer14,

Regardless of how well you recover from a functional standpoint, you should never put your brain at risk again.

mhr4 said:
<But like I said, there is a slight chance your brain could heal enough to allow you to play soccer again. But the probability of this happening is so slim that I wouldn't count on it.>

There is no way to test your brain and determine if it is up to a level that will allow you to risk another concussion. All of the neuro-psych tests currently in use do not give any indication of whether your brain can handle a physical trauma.

There are no medical tests either.

If you had access to a 6 Tesla MRI, a good neuro-radiologist would always be able to tell you had a brain injury. Unfortunately 6 Tesla MRI's are only used in research. They are rare and too expensive for routine medical use.

The most important thing is to plan to live a long and abundant life. As mhr4 said, you can do that without playing contact or other risky sports.

I was told in 1972 to never play contact sports again. I never did. But still, I had the unfortunate mild concussions that have worsened my condition.

As mhr4 said, there are other sports. After having to quit soccer, I started running cross-country and track. I was immediately the fastest distance runner in my high school. The soccer had kept me in shape to run distances. I ended up being one of the best in the State of Connecticut.

Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented me from being State champion. I would have set a state record in the two mile as I had run a 9:12 2 mile in practice. My coach and I had our sights set on the Olympics in 1978. Shoulder troubles caused me to end my running career. Good thing too, cuz Prez Jimmy Carter pulled the US team from the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.

So, take care of your brain and be open to other areas of enjoyment in your life. If you want a great way to compete and get a scholarship to college, find a fitness club that understand conditioning for Rowing. Ergo rowing machines have scoring meters and you could win a college scholarship with just your Ergo score.

Rowing, otherwise known as Crew is an exciting and competitive sport. My son went to Nationals in Philadelphia and his school's girls went to NCAA nationals in Atlanta and did quite well. None of the women had rowed before getting to college.

Check out this site. http://www.row2k.com/results/
Scroll down and you will see the Ergometer competitions.

Maybe your most local University has a Rowing program. Running is also a great sport but rowing is a team event with great scholarship potential, especially for women, since the Universities need to give out scholarships for the women so they can do the same for the men. It is known as NCAA Title IX.

Have your mom read these posts. She may have some questions we can help with.

My best to you.

OMG, Soccer! Your story is almost identical to my daughter's! When she was 14 she went for a rebound in basketball, got tripped, hit her head against the floor and then a fellow player fell on top of her head, giving her another impact. Then, three weeks later, a classmate was retrieving his full backpack from on top of the lockers and accidentally hit her in the head.

I'm going to cut and paste from another entry what helped her, but I first must reiterate what others have told you above, and that is to avoid all contact sports until at least all of your symptoms have cleared up. As a mom, I knew how devastating this can be, as I saw what my daughter went through, but it's crucial to your recovery. Your brain is now sensitized and even a small impact that would have been benign before your injury can set you back.

That being said, find some extracurricular activity other than sport into which you can channel your energies. For her it was chorus. Yeah, it's not cool like sports, and that was a big adjustment for her, but she has developed a true passion for it and has amassed a great group of friends.

Anyway, this is what helped her:

(1) EFFEXOR -- Technically an antidepressant, but in small doses helps to re-establish nerve pathways in the brain (She first used Elavil, but Effexor has fewer side effects); (2) ACUPUNCTURE; (3) OSTEOPATHY; and (4) HOMEOPATHY.
She didn't do all of these concurrently; for example, when #2 didn't seem to help any more she moved on to a practitioner who combined #'s 3 and 4.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

I'm sorry, but I have to agree with everyone here. You really have to stop the sports and rest. It sucks, I really hate missing things and feeling cut off. It's hard for me to even get up and go to church on Sundays!

I have a great family and support system, and they make it possible for me to get the rest I need and not feel so sad most of the time. It's tough though, and I'm still taking 10mg of Amitryptyline every night.

I can't wait for some sense of normalcy, but I feel confident that life will never be the same. :-(

i think the same thing they say it can get better but i still thinks its never going to be totally the same like before the injury. an Im on amytriptyline too i started on 25 mg but i moved up to 50 and will be on 75 mg soon. How long does it usually take to work? ive been on it for almost 2 weeks now but i havent really noticed a difference.i have started working out with a trainer some and its going well im up to level 3 now (it goes up to level 5 at the highest intensity) so its good. maybe ill be ready for basketball when it starts in a couple months. even if not games maybe some drills at practice. i hope so may be starting half days of school soon actually excited to go back.

I have only been on 10mg of amytriptyline since I've been taking it. I am allowed to take up to 30 mg, but I don't like how I feel if I take too much. I take it to help me stay asleep longer at night. I feel like it helps me keep a handle on my anxiety and depression too.

If I take more than 10mg, I have trouble with vivid dreams and nightmares. It's hard to stay asleep after waking from one of those. Maybe you should ask your doc more about your dosage. When do you take it? Does it make you tired?

I worry about you not getting the rest you need to help yourself heal. I can't imagine working out at high levels. Even my low level basic yoga makes my head hurt after. If you don't allow yourself to get the rest you need, you may not only slow your healing, but you might cause permanent damage.

I know you are excited to get back into things, but you really have to look at the big picture. You seem like you are younger, and it would be a shame for you to have more long-term damage than you need.

I really do understand how you feel, but be careful!

Soccer14,

What kind of improvements/changes are you expecting from the amytriptyline?

From my understanding, it is a low dose that is used for concussion to reduce the headache and depression associated with concussion.
Maybe somebody else knows more.

I would not suggest getting into basketball this season. As I said before, the IMPACT test is a poor predictor of tolerance to another concussion.

Its primary use appears to be to determine if an athlete has recovered "enough" to not be an additional threat to his/her own safety due to balance, coordination, perception, reaction, judgment, and the measurable cognitive issues.

Just because a athlete is aware enough to not present a danger to him/herself, does not mean that his/her brain is able to tolerate another concussion or even a mild bump to the head.

A neurosurgeon made a comment last night on a Nightline segment discussing the long term effects of concussion on athletes. He brought up the grossly underestimated effect of sub-concussion impacts. The research shows that many football players who have never suffered a career ending concussion go on to have the same disabling conditions in their later years (40 to 50's) as those who had diagnosed concussions. Read the article at
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/rese...8838451&page=1
The important part staerts at the bottom of the first page and follows onto the second page. Dr. Bennet Omalu has done extensive research into this issue.

The most important comment is in the middle of page 2:
<Omalu said that scientific papers have suggested that as few as three major head impacts can result in the abnormalities.

"One individual may just have one major impact to the head. Another individual may have two, another individual may have 1,000 before they will develop this disease," Omalu said.

In the absence of any title for his discovery, he called the disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. He wrote up his findings and sent them to the prestigious academic journal Neurosurgery. >

Soccer14, your next head trauma is to be avoided at all costs.

As mhr4 said, find an activity that does not put your brain at risk

Do the research by reading the Nightline article. Share this information with your mother, coach, and trainer.

Here is another article worth reading:
http://www.ubortho.buffalo.edu/concu...20syndrome.pdf

It is not as conservative as many would prefer but it discusses a wide range of the issues.

I agree with all the others.

And if you try to do anything with basketball. Why don't you look into helping coach a group of younger kids. This would be something that would benefit both them and you. I also think you would enjoy this.

It isn't the same as playing but you could really enjoy watching them become good players.

I also like the idea of you finding a extracurricular activity.

Donna

I wish coaches, particularly those who work with minors, would be more responsible about concussion.

Firstly, there’s the whole prevention thing. I used to coach a few sports, including hockey. At the first practice I would check the helmet of every kid on the team.

Even though I warned the parents in advance that I conducted an equipment inspection, it was usual to find over half the children wearing helmets that were improperly fitted.

Some of the dads would get really steamed because I wouldn’t let their kid on the ice until I’d personally fixed their helmet with my trusty screwdriver. The really scary part was that these youngsters had been playing three or four years before they ran into me. That’s unacceptable.

Secondly, coaches need to know just how serious concussion is. That needs to go beyond identification and first aid on the court, field or ice. As Mark always emphasizes, the cumulative effect of head injuries can be devastating. Coaches need to understand this and make decisions, no matter how immediately unpopular, that are in the best interest of their young athletes. Soccer, to be frank, if I knew your history, I would have never let you play on one of my teams: you’re just too important.

My daughter started on Amitriptyline (Elavil) but had better success with Effexor XR.