Hi I just wanted some help on my situation. I played high school football in 2003-2004 and have no idea how many concussions I sustained. All I know is that it hurt to hit with my shoulders (shoulder tendonitis from swimming) so I hit with my head every time basically. Well, after practices some games I would just sit down dizzy and nauseas staring into space after hitting with my head so much. I finally had my season end in a game because on one of the hits I actually felt my brain vibrating inside my head and I fell on the ground and got blurry vision for 10 seconds. I felt completely out of it for 2 months after that hit.

I went on to try to play college football, stupidly. However, my head felt “soft” and would hurt very bad even after the most average of collisions. In the 2nd practice with helmets I fell down and threw up after contact with my helmet because I was so nauseas from the hitting.

Symptoms:
Now, I always feel a slight pressure in my head, and my head feels “soft”. I am 100x more likely to feel the pain of a hit to the head compared to what I used to be. My temples constantly ache and I rub on them all day to feel better. I also have a hard time just being in the moment. Its hard to explain, a beautiful scene in nature is hard for me to take in because I always feel a little “out of it”. I know I am not functioning at 100% anymore, probably more like 75%. I used to be a great writer and love to write papers eloquently, but after the concussions my writing was one of the worst things I did academically.

What I need help on is that I am afraid I may something such as hydrocephalus. What kind of a doctor should I make an appointment with to check this out? A neurologist? Also, check out traumatic brain encephalopathy. That is what I am a candidate for having, as it is caused by repeated subconcussive blows to the head. Boxers have it but don't display symptoms until 10 years after their career. I am 6 years out and I feel time is running out on taking preventative action before I start to lose my cognitive abilities. There has been studies in the national football league about players developing a tau protein build up in their brain after multiple concussions.

Where do I go from here? I have been looking into hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Money is not an issue, I don't think. I already started fish oil over 6 months ago to help out. If I want to go hbot, then I think I would just buy my own, as I read that 40-80 treatments are needed, and at $100-$200 a piece thats 4-$8,000. You can buy them for as little as $5,000.

My advice to anyone here: If you have had a head injury, please please please pick up meditation. I read Jon Kabat Zinn's “Wherever you go, there you are” and I have been meditating 30 minutes every morning for 5 months. It is one of the most beneficial things I have ever done. I feel so calm and relaxed after I meditate, so please give it a shot.

welcome dpf

sorry you are having problems, A neurologist I would suggest as your first port of call

best wishes

football,

I would suggest trying to contact Dr. Julian Bailes at University of West Virginia or Dr Cantu at Boston University Medical Center or Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz (Ph.D, not MD) at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


You can also contact the Sports Legacy Institute at http://www.sportsconcussions.org/Lew...sion-bill.html

You do sound like a candidate for CTE. According to Dr Gus at UNCCH, the average football player suffers 700 to 900 subconcussive impacts during a single season. They see CTE starting at 8 years post play. In your case, your threshold of injury was likely met long before you stopped playing.

It would be very interesting to see your brain mapped with qEEG. I bet your map is like mine with asymmetry and out of phase, low power etc, all over.

You likely just have a very sensitive brain like mine. I can get a concussed feeling turning my head quickly, as in saying 'NO.' I can't tolerate sea motions anymore. I used to be very resistant of sea motions. Now, I am almost the first to get sea sick.

I agree with your HBOT idea. It is worth a shot. Also nootropic supplements.

Get your B-12, folate, DHEA and testosterone levels checked.

The above doctors might be interested in following your case to see if anything helps.

As my neurologist said to me after seeing my brain map, "How do you function?"


I'm not just "Been there, done that." I am "There now, doing that."

My best to you.

btw, have you found all of the TBI Survival Guides to help you with daily living? If not, I can email you the files and links.

Regarding meditation, The targeted behavior is a more relaxed state with less reaction/over-reaction to daily stresses. A religious or philosophical change in view of the world around you can make a big difference.

hi DPF

Kundalini Yoga is something I have practiced for years before my injury,it has helped to control myself, and with my head aches also, it slows the thought process down, I often meditate on my posts before I write

welcome

Thanks for the response Vini and MiI !

Mark, how would you suggest I contact Dr Bailes, Cantu, or Guskiewicz? Just give them a ring?

What nootropic supplements do you recommend? Mucuna?

I have gotten a workup by an endocrinologist and nothing was showed. However, I developed SEVERE adrenal fatigue. Doctors don't really understand it at all, they just try to give you ssri's. My symptoms were exhaustion all day every day, unrefreshing sleep, heart palpitations all day every day from the smallest of stressors, etc. I have been 6 weeks into the best adrenal fatigue healer in the world, Dr. Lam, and have been feeling better physically than I have in the last 8 months. However, after coming to this site is it a revelation that my head injuries might be related to me developing adrenal fatigue (more susceptible to "feeling stressed" maybe?)

I would love the TBI survival guide, my email is miller13432(at)yahoo.com
(the (at) is supposed to be an @ but the site wont let me put it there)

I am thinking when it comes to nutrition that massive amounts of antioxidants such as vitamin C may help keep the brain clean and functioning? At least that is a hypothesis. I am still looking into the hbot but have not yet found a success storey. The poster "Mikeyy" used hbot in a post he said he was going to do 20 sessions. However, the next post he posted months later, as well as successive posts, never mentioned a positive/negative effect of it.

I meditate every day, but will definitely get into yoga Vini. Thank you for the support.

football,

You can google the drs and you will find them. Dr Gus is at the UNC Chapel Hill Sports Medicine and Training Department. he is the director. You can also do a phone book look up. I have a few links for you. There are two lectures that are worth the time to watch. I posted the links last week.

I will send you the doc file.

Re hormones. many endocrinologists use a broad range for acceptable levels. My doc likes me at the higher end of the range.

Make sure you are breathing all of the time when you are sleeping. Sleep apnea can cause the foggy days. I have Central Sleep Apnea. If I sleep on my side, my diaphragm stops pulling breaths until I partially wake and start breathing again.

My wife can tell that I will have a bad day if my breathing is irregular.

My most problematic symptoms are receiving information. I have very little immediate or short term visual or auditory memory. I can talk with mostly normal skills until I get stuck trying to find a word or I lose track (forget) of what I am saying. I know to avoid chaotic environments, etc.

Knowing how to explain some of my symptoms to others helps them understand and accommodate me better. To do this, first you need to catalog your symptoms. The TBI Guide will help you with this.

Gotta go get dinner. It is my 30 anniversary to a wife who has put up with my PCS for decades. Now that we both understand PCS better, she can see my symptoms back 30 years. The last ten have been the toughest. At least two of my three adult kids still put up with me.

My best to you.

I am interested what you found out about hyperbaric oxygen treatment: how many sessions and what pressure.

I am due to have HBOT next week and I have been told at least 20 sessions and close together, like two a day if possible. That is not feasible in my case so I am going to try 20 sessions over a period of 3 weeks and see if that does anything. But you said 40 - 80 treatments. Is that for your specific condition or just in general. I suppose the more the better within reason.

Let me know how you get on.

CS

Original Message Fragment:
Where do I go from here? I have been looking into hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Money is not an issue, I don't think. I already started fish oil over 6 months ago to help out. If I want to go hbot, then I think I would just buy my own, as I read that 40-80 treatments are needed, and at $100-$200 a piece thats 4-$8,000. You can buy them for as little as $5,000.

Hey Concussed Scientist!

You should definitely scour the internet as much as you can for good sources of information on hbot. I found from looking at a ton of sources that it seems to be the case that for head injuries the correct pressure is 2.0 for 1 hour, for at least 40 sessions. This has proven to help the brain by using SPECT imaging before and after hbot therapy which showed a healthier brain post hbot. There is also a study on going in the military about people getting exploding ied's (bombs) by their head and having severe traumatic head injuries and having disorders like depression for a year resolve with 40 hbot treatments.

However, I haven't really found much by the way of normal people on forums talking about hbot. I also haven't found if hbot would be good for traumatic brain encephalopathy, or if really anything would be good for tbe.

Hey DontPlayFootball,

I did find lots on HBOT. I think that it is definitely worth trying.
I believe that having the treatments close together is recommended. However, the nearest place to me only has sessions three times a week.
I think that 5 is more usual but I will have to go with what is available.
I hope that there is a HBOT treatment center somewhere near you, so that you can try it out if you want to.

CS

The SPECT and other images before and after a series of HBOT show increases in blood flow, likely from increased capillary growth/regeneration. I am very interested in seeing a study that tests with neuro-psych assessments before and after to show if there is a cognitive improvement.

From what I have found, those studies with the SPECT images are also the promoters of HBOT. A good double blind study is called for, especially if it is done by a neutral party and includes a neuro-psych assessment.

I am not knocking HBOT. I have been interested in its usefulness for PCS for a long time. I just have not found much definitive information to support its use for PCS.

The studies of severe TBI subjects showed a decrease in mortality but did not show an improvement in long term recovery levels.

Football,

You have misunderstood the blast injury study. You said <There is also a study on going in the military about people getting exploding ied's (bombs) by their head and having severe traumatic head injuries and having disorders like depression for a year resolve with 40 hbot treatments.>

The blast injuries were not by their heads. They were just in the vicinity of the IED when it exploded. The blast pressure wave can impact brains quite a distance away. 30 to 50 feet away and more is not uncommon and still suffer a blast concussion.

My daughter was subjected to a blast concussion and was quite a distance away. The Army policy is for the vehicles to be separated so that an IED will not impact two vehicles at the same time. The distance is something like 50 feet from the pictures I have seen. This distance does not do much to mitigate the blast pressure to the brain. The soldier is often uninjured from the blast except for the blast concussion.

Many soldiers die from the blast concussion without being hit by any shrapnel. The blast pressure can disrupt cell walls throughout the body without ever doing any noticeable injury.

Blast Concussion Syndrome can even be caused by being near a Abrams tank or Paladin artillery gun when it fires a projectile. The muzzle blast has dangerous pressure waves to quite a distance.