Hello All!

I just wanted to post my success story to spread a little positive vibe throughout the forum. I had a concussion in July 2010 due to a waterlogged soccerball to the right side of my head. I initially suffered 3 weeks of vertigo that caused complete insomnia during that period. After that, the symptoms morphed into a continuous throbbing headache when lying down (aka still not getting any sleep at this point because of the noise in my head) as well as Occipital Neuralgia. I also struggled with Major Depression due to the concussion which I had never before had to deal with in my life. I tried MANY drugs but there were none that overly helpful at all. In the latter few weeks of dealing with the symptoms I did find Omega Fish Oil (Brain) did help give my brain a boost. I was given Zyprexa for 1 month near the end of my concussion struggles to regulate my sleep cycle again. This may be helpful to those of you who cannot sleep at night but I caution the use of this drug. It will make you sleep for 14 hours a night, but at least the brain has time to heal. Now, 6 months later I am off all drugs, have gone back to the gym (able to do 40 minutes cardio), and will return to college in the fall. I have no more post-concussion symptoms. There were times where I thought life just was not worth living, but please listen when I say it WILL get better and you WILL recover. Keep on truckin'. Let me know if there are any questions regarding my recovery. I'd be happy to help! This was my third documented concussion and the only one I had symptoms with.

Cheers,

Carmell

You are very fortunate. Now, you just need to avoid concussion number 4. You brain is becoming sensitized to impact from each successive concussion. This is to be expected.

Be very careful to avoid risks to your head. Stay away from soccer fields.

When you return to college, I suggest you start with a lighter class load until you get settled into your academic efforts. You may find that you struggle under too much stress. Eat healthy and get good rest.

Mt third concussion was freshman year in college. I ended up needing to change my direction academically. No more pre-med/pre-dent. Changed to business.

Glad to know you feel well enough to get going again.

My best to you.

Thanks for the advice. School is a long way away, so I don't think I'll have too much trouble when the time comes. I have been feeling well for a while now. I do not plan to change course academically and will be taking a full load. I am definitely finished with soccer. I won't be playing the sport any more (it was more of just a one-time thing and I happened to be unlucky). My other 2 concussions happened when I was younger and had know ill-effects. I am hoping to live as close to normal life as possible. I will avoid future head injury at all costs though. Thanks for the advice!

Carmell

I suggest that between now and the beginning of classes, you do some intense study and reading as if you are cramming for finals. You need to determine how much stress your brain will handle. It is problematic to find your overload point after the last drop date. It can lead to some horrific grades.

I started second semester doing great. Even was doing OK after my high fever when I dropped Zoo101 ( I missed an important field trip). Then course work started to get intense and I collapsed. I got an A- in physics 1a and next semester got a C- in Physics 1b. I had always aced hard sciences.

Go to Lumosity and Posit Science and do as many free brain training programs as possible. Find your limits. Then you can be prepared to work within them.

Every concussion has residual problems. They just do not show up until the stress load hits critical mass. Some people can live a long life before hitting the critical mass stress load. Academic course work can often be a stress overload.

Hi carmell,
My name is Christine. I suffered 3 mild concussions, my last being January 2010 while playing basketball. I continued to work out on it, etc....long story short I didnt take good care of myslef and didnt stop playing until i physically couldnt move. My main symptoms were dizzy, fatigues, headache, etc. but my overall symptom that has yet to go away is head pressure. Its frontal and if I work out on it like the slightest bit it gets really bad and I get groggy, tired, and a headache. My eyes get all weird and hard to focus. I was wondering if you had experienced this head pressure at all. Its not a headache, but only leads to a headache if I over exert myself. I have been suffering from a depression for a while not bcs of this. Iwas in tip top shape not i havent been able to to anything for over a year. Let me know what you think. Thanks, CB

Hi Christine!

I did have this type of pressure. I was hit from the side of my head so I dealt with more of a "throbbing" migraine that would not go away. I did not exercise until this pressure left. It took about 5 months before that feeling went away and another before the throbbing allowed me to get proper sleep. You may want to consider that the depression is exacerbated by the concussion. This certainly happened in my case. Hang in there though, you WILL get better

Hi Christine,
I know that working out can sometimes be a bit addictive andn you seem to want to be in tip-top shape etc. but if the sort of workout that you do even slightly has such a bad effect on your brain, I would really listen to what that is telling you: You need to stop doing it, at least for a while.

It is really important to let your brain recover. That is the most important part of your health right now, rather than what you are working on in your workouts.

Your last concussion was this month!!! You don't need to be working out yet.

When you do start again, I found that high impact workouts did not feel good, so anything that involves jerky movements, e.g. like bastetball, even running - especially on a hard surface. On the other hand, I found that if I go to the gym and do stuff on machines, that involves smooth movements, not jerking my head around, then I can work out just fine. I didn't have a cardio-problem with working out. I had a jerking my head around problem. Once I stopped jerking my head around, working out was fine. So, cycling or cycle machine, cross-trainer, where your head is pretty much in one position, this stuff I didn't feel was doing me any harm.

Anyway, if you have to work out, I would definitely make sure that you can do so in a way that doesn't jerk your head around. If your workouts make you "get groggy, tired, and a headache", I think that you risk prolonging your symptoms or even making them worse.

All the best,
CS

thanks a lot man

thanks for posting your story online. if you get a chance, send me an email, i have some questions. thanks again. *edit*