5 weeks ago i had a bad dirt bike accident. apparently i was knocked out for about five minutes having a seizure the whole time.
luckily i didnt break any bones, my shoulder still isnt healed, but it coulda been worse.
my head is definately not back to normal yet and it looks like its gonna be a long road.
it has been very difficult transitioning, i have been a fitness freak for a year and a half, i would lift weights 5 times a week, and do cardio at least 5 times a week. extremely active. im used to just going out and having tons of fun, mountain bikes, dirt bikes, running, working out.
everybody i seem to talk to that has had a concussion usually seems like theirs was minor, like they got over it in a week or a couple days.
its nice that i found this site, although it is kinda scary reading some of the stories that mention symptoms lasting over a year or more.
i dont know if theres really any good questions that i can ask right now, but ill let you know what im going through and you can comment if you want.

i can definately tell my brain isnt as quick as it used to be
i am very unmotivated to do anything
tired a lot, could be from habits, i know the more one sits around the lazier they get
headaches havent been an issue, havent really had any
dizziness not so much, sometimes when i stand up, but thats always been an issue for me, i think cuz im so tall, im 6' 7"
sometimes it seems human interaction can help a lot, sitting around by myself all day sucks, extremely
im just not the person i used to be.

it would be so cool to find a support group in real life, ive done a little searching but it seems that there probably isnt too many out there. however if anybody knows anything, im in the sacramento area, let me know

thanks everybody, i hope this post doesnt look totally stupid.

adamphillips,

There is an neuropsychologist, I think in Roseville or Rocklin who has a lot to say about concussion on his web site. You could try googling qEEG and concussion, maybe you can find his web site.

Your most important consideration is going to be avoiding another concussion. Second Impact Syndrome and Multiple Impact Syndrome will be life changing to your active life. As if your life has not already been changed.

Have you downloaded and printed out Dr Johnson's TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com. It will be a big help while you look for support. UC Davis Medical center may have a brain injury rehab department that can direct you to a support group.

Check out http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...DygeQKm6Rv_JIw

It is like most brain injury support groups in that it is more focused on those who were comatose and lost motor function. You will still have many share struggles. My wife and I attend one here in Boise. I am the only one with Post Concussion Syndrome. But I fit in real well.

You will likely find others who can benefit from your participation.

Regarding you injury, Did you bust your helmet? I have a friend who busted his full helmet at Hollister RVA. He busted up his face and knee but did not lose consciousness. He had a head on with another rider. The other guy did not make it. The other guy dodged the wrong direction and they met.

I used to ride when I was young but my wife is not comfortable with me riding since we got married 30 years ago. Too many horror stories.

Let us know how you are doing. There is lots of experience on this forum.

My best to you.

thanks mark, i see u everywhere on this forum, your a good guy.

in my accident my helmet actually didnt break. the paramedics did cut off my pants and jersey which i wasnt too happy about. and UC davis med center is the hospital i ended up at, i guess they wanted to get me in a helicopter, they were telling my brother i wasnt gonna survive the ambulance ride, but for some reason i got the ambulance.

and by the way, i heard good things about hollister, i was looking forward to going there this summer, along with a bunch of other places.

i have a question. is a concussion the same thing as TBI?

im finally gonna go to my first appointment with a nuerologist on 6/7 monday. so ill get to see what he has to say

TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury is the catch all term. Concussion is often referred to as a mTBI, mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Any brain injury caused by traumatic physical forces against the brain is a TBI.

Post Concussion Syndrome is persistent concussion symptoms that last beyond any "reasonable" time after the concussion. I know this sounds odd, but again this definition thing gets in the way of considering the symptoms.

Don't get caught up with definitions. You have a cluster of symptoms related to a concussion. You need to work with your individual symptoms, not the cluster of symptoms. The medical industry tries to categorize everything. Concussion is very difficult to categorize. Each person's brain reacts with its own mix of symptoms.

As I said, you will have much in common with those with seriously disabling brain injuries, just at a different intensity.

One of the symptoms of concussion to be aware of is 'mental ridgidity' or rigidity of thinking. This manifests as a tendency to be obsessive about a way of thinking about an issue. You will need to learn to pick your battles. Most are not worth the effort that this mental rigidity tends to cause.

When you see the neuro, don't expect too much. The brain heals slowly and never heals completely. There is still plenty of life to live after a serious concussion. You will just need to be a bit more cautious and accommodating with yourself and others.

A messed up shoulder is like a brain injury. You may get lots of shoulder function back but will have to be good to your shoulder for a long time. I know because I have torn both rotator cuffs. My ortho told me the odds of fixing a minor tear in a rotator cuff with surgery. One third do better, one third do the same and one third do worse after rotator cuff surgery.

I chose to wait and slowly rehab and let my shoulder heal. It took a couple of years but now my shoulders are in good shape if I do not over work them.

Regarding helicopter rides, they can be very expensive. My friend rode with the other person and they tried to bill him. He could have driven himself to Valley Med in San Jose. At least a ground ambulance does not put you into bankruptcy.

Here in Idaho, we pay a small annual premium for air ambulance coverage. We spend a lot of time 120 miles from a decent hospital so air ambulance coverage is very worthwhile.

So, were you riding at the park south of Aerojet? Hollister Hills SVRA has some great terrain.

I am from the old days when we could ride the fire roads and trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 200 cc Bultaco or Husky machines were the big guns back then. Now, you guys get to ride machines with explosive power curves.

We rode to develop skills to get into the back country of the Sierras to go deer hunting. Lots of rock crawling and slow ascents/descents.

Here in Idaho, we have thousands of square miles of open country to ride. It is a family sport with moms and even the young girls riding to keep up with dad.

I have 120 miles of old logging roads behind my cabin that I putter around on with a quad. I am not an adrenaline junkie since a bad brain injury in 1965. I'd like to find an old Honda Fat Cat if I can convince my wife. Then I could do some low impact single track riding.

Let me know how your neuro appt goes.

My best to you.

ya thats right where i was, up there around folsom and el dorado hills, its called prarie city, you might recall, or maybe thats a newer name for it.

im pretty new to riding, i finally decided to get into it, my brother has done it for years.

so i bought an 06 yamaha 450, 4 stroke and this was really my first time taking it anywhere besides riding it on this really cramped 40 acres with trees everywhere.

so the plan was to just take it easy and get a feel for the bike.

there was this little hill that u could jump up, kinda like a table top. on one side it was about 15 to 20 feet up with about 3 trails going up.

on top there was about 20 feet of flat ground.

and the other side was about 5 feet down to a big flat open area.

so it is easy to come up to the back, catch a little air from the little 5 foot hill and then ride across the top and choose your path down. i did that once and i wanted to do it again

the problem was i went too fast the second time. i think what screwed me up is im used to riding mountain bikes, and when u want to jump those, u pretty much go as fast as u can, now its not like i was in fourth gear full throttle. i was probably in second, just cruisin, ya know just tryin to go a little faster and get some air.

im pretty sure what happened is i flew too far across the top, maybe half way across or a little more, and didnt have time to adjust and choose a way down the big hill.

all i really remember is my bike off to my right side, and i know thats true cuz my brothers wife saw my flying down she said me and the bike were side by side.so ya what i remember is going through the air next to my bike, looking down about 15 feet thinking this is not cool, this is gonna hurt, i dont wanna do this right now. and i woke up about 24 hours later.

it was a really bad injury, but whats funny to me is it was such a small mistake. i think to myself, man if i could just go back in time and do it again, my life would be so much better right now.

Yeh,

I've driven past Prairie City many times. I have family that live in Folson/El Dorado Hills area. I take Grant Line Road as a short cut to 99 south. Looks like a hot and dry place to ride.

Big difference between a mountain bike and motocross. Those little mistakes can bite hard. I was racing down an asphalt street and hit a small patch of sand. Lights out, nobody home for a few days.

That was 1965. I was picking sand out of my face for years. Still have bone scar bump on my forehead.

If you watch the pros ride jumps and such, they use power from the bottom of the jump and power up and over. I don't see them race up to the jump.

A 450 is lots of machine to ride. Glad it didn't land on you.

i live in fairfield and 3 months ago i was in an accident that completely totaled my car. was driving drunk. I wasnt wearing seatbelt and airbag went off. i didnt know anything had happened till cops arrived. didnt know id even got in accident till next day when i was in the drunk tank in jail and my jaw and face was hurting and my body was sore. thought i was just pulled over. anyways 3 months later( 2 days ago) i was boxing my friend and got hit in the side of the head. didnt think anything of it. guaranteed if wouldnt have had concussion 3 months earlier there would have been no problem. i wasnt that phased. anyways i had another concussion. lot less bad but still sucked last night. all im saying is u have to be way more careful now for who knows how long because its wayyy easier to get a concussion again. im guessin ull start feeling back to normal. just know u can get another one easy. ur sounds worse than mine but ya a big part of the laziness would be sitting around alot more. u get lazier and lazier. i know from myself. anyways all summed up. its easy to get another concussion. something u coulda done with no problem before

hi, i have a good friend that slipped on the ice in february and hit her head. after going in the house, she couldn't figure out why her hands were bleeding. she had scraped them on the sidewalk. luckily, her kids were there and took her to the e.r. she had a concussion and to this day, still isn't herself. suffers from a lot of what you're feeling, no energy, no motivation, feeling lazy lazy lazy. not as sharp as she used to be. and overall, just not herself. her doctors say that sometimes, it just takes time (and lots of it) to get back to normal. but i know she's frustrated as you must be. i hope things start to turn around for you soon.

stevo009,

Multiple Impact Syndrome is a life long condition. The deadly form of Second Impact Syndrome may be time related to the previous concussion but I would not bet my brain on it.

If you box and have boxed for some time, you are likely in the full throes of Multiple Impact Syndrome. Research shows that multiple minor impacts to the head over a short period of time can be worse than one severe impact. Boxing and header drills in soccer are both very dangerous.

I hope your collision was a single vehicle collision. I have too many brain injured friends who were hit by a drunk driver.

brainfreeze, have you downloaded and printed out the TBI Survival Guide for your friend. It is at www.tbiguide.com Dr Johnson is just on the other side of the pond from Wisconsin in Traverse City, MI.

well i went and saw the neurologist, he is a nice guy and stuff but his main concern was the seizure i had. i guess its his major concern to try and make sure i dont have another one.

he said i cant drive for 6 months, which i wouldve just shrugged off, except i let my mom come with me to the appt, and thats who i live with so that makes things kind of difficult.

the thing is nobody else, including the neurologist that treated me at the hospital ever mentioned anything about that. and my primary care physician didnt even want to send me to a neurologist, i basically had to ask him multiple times and he finally said ok.

so anyways im not too happy. i had the EEG test today which measures brain waves and is supposed to be able to tell if your at risk for more seizures, the stupid thing is they have to send it off to have somebody interpret the results. and they dont even want to follow up with me for another four months, they basically told me no matter what the test results say there's nothing they can do anyways, they dont even want to have an appt to talk about what the test said.

so i dont really get it, the doctors main concern is the seizures, yet either way there is nothing he can do about trying to prevent me from having another seizure.

i dont see why even waste the time in having the EEG if it doesnt do anything. i asked them when i get reevaluated will i take another one, they said no.