[GillianGillian]

I am a 36 year old female. I fell at work on November 22, 2011 and hit my head on the concrete factory floor. I blacked out and don’t have any memory for immediately after the fall.
I have been diagnosed with PCS and have been improving since.

I have problems stuttering and sometimes I use the wrong words, although that has been improving.

I am having problems with sequencial memory and struggle to do things I used to do without thinking, like making coffee, cooking, or other activities that require more than one step. I do the right things, but the wrong order. I’ll sometimes put my dog in his kennel for the night then give him food in the other room. I frequently go into a room and have no idea what I went there for. Because of this and my now very short attention span, I can’t drive.

I have always been a reader and I can’t read. I had to have a friend type in the security code for me to register for this site because I could not read the distorted letters or pick out words in the audio option.

I am writing because yesterday morning when I woke up I was totally disoriented. I had no idea what day it was, what month it was, I thought I was late for a job I had actually quit a few years ago. Every person has had a moment like this at some point, but the thing that concerns me is that this went on for an hour before I could orient myself. I went to bed with a terrible headache, but I don’t know that is related.

I’d like to know if this is common and I would be interested in things I can do to improve my memory problems.

[ginnie]

I would like to welcome you to Neuro talk. This is a good place to be when you are experiencing trouble with health. PCS Does have a dicussion, and there are others who will respond to you that have similar experiences. I know that this memory loss, is part of the condition. Please keep posting and there will be others to join in, that may be able to offer you some ideas. My neighbor is in therapy for cognative problems, and this may help you in the long run. Maybe your doctor can suggest a few things to while you try to recover. You will find some good people here and lots of commpassion. I hope you get some more responses soon. ginnie

[roadrunner63]

It all sounds pretty normal for PCS, especially since it's not been that long since your accident. I tend to feel disoriented when I've overdone things. Sounds like you need some rest; maybe aren't getting enough quality sleep (which can be difficult during PCS).

[Mark in Idaho]

GillianGillian,

Again, welcome to NeuroTalk. As ginnie said, there is lots of good experience and compassion here.

I have a lot of comments for you. I hope I do not overwhelm you. I tend to be that way.

First, I am so sorry for your injury. What you are experiencing is very common to many concussion victims. Even though you sense that you are making improvements slowly, you may be in for a long recovery. There is absolutely no way any doctor can predict how long it will take for you to recover. There is also no way any doctor can predict your level of recovery.

Because of this, a work place head injury can become very difficult. Work Comp can be a nightmare on top of the nightmare you are already experiencing. You need to find a good mTBI Work Comp attorney just to protect your WC rights. The WC system is stacked against the mTBI/PCS employee.

Check out www.tbilaw.com for a possible referral in your area. When you have a few brain cells working, read Gordon Johnson's TBI Law and Subtle Brain Injury sister site. It is full of excellent information and advice.

Next, download the TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com and print it out so you can slowly read it as you brain allows. If you can, print a second copy and give it to the person closest to you. You need an advocate with understanding of your symptoms.

When you have time and an ability to focus on your computer screen, it will be helpful to watch "with" that person closest to you, a YouTube video series by mTBI survivor John Byler called "You Look Great." Here is a link to the first of six segments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be All six take about an hour. Probably too long for you to watch in one sitting.

There are lots of ways we can help you deal with most of your symptoms. Reading is a common problem. Many do better with a piece of paper to hide the line below and even the line about the line that you are reading. Your brain is being overwhelmed with too many images/letters. Anything you can do to hide them will help.

I find it very difficult to read fiction or very descriptive writings. Too many concepts, adverbs, adjectives, and such to juggle in my memory. It is like the multi-step task.

Break multi-step tasks down into single steps. Think of baby steps. one little step at a time.

It will also help if you remove visual stimulation from your primary area of focus when you are relaxing. Maybe a single wall with a simple image or two. Try closing your eyes for a few minutes. The open them and look straight ahead. Do you feel disoriented by what you see? If so, you likely have too much visual stimulation.

The morning experience you had is also not uncommon. Sleep apnea is a common symptom with PCS. It will first manifest as stressful dreams. Then when you wake up, you will feel disoriented. You will also feel tired and very sleepy during the day. If this sounds like you and it happens frequently, ask your doctor or preferably your attorney about getting a sleep study done.

You appear to be ahead of the game already by my observation of your post. You kept your paragraphs short with a full line space between. This is an excellent work-around/accommodation for the visual scanning problems common with PCS.

btw, Word-finding is the layman term, anomia, aphasia or fluent aphasia are the clinical term for these types of problems.
Another problem is: Agnosia, the inability to name or remember recognizable persons or things is also common. It is the frustration of finding in your mind and/or speaking your best friend's name when you see her.

Think of it as if someone came in to your office and mixed up your files. Nothing is where you expect it to be. Welcome to the club.

Let us know about your biggest struggles. There is a lot of great support here. Also, if you tell us where you live, we may be able to direct you to good help.

And, don't worry about the typos. I spend more time correcting typos that I do writing the comment. Thank you spell check.

My best to you.

[GillianGillian]

Thank you all for your replies. It is helpful to hear from others dealing with some of the same issues. I found parts of that video useful in expressing some of what I am experiencing.

One more thing:
I was just reminded this evening that I had sustained a concussion back in 1996. I missed work for a month for it, but I don't remember what the symptoms were and I haven't thought about it in a long time. I never noticed any long-term problems from it. Neither my doctor nor my neurologist know about the concussion. Will the fact that I have had a concussion previously have an impact on my treatment?

Thanks again.

[Mark in Idaho]

A previous concussion should not impact your treatment. It will only effect your length of recovery and amount of recovery. It likely made this concussion worse by causing your brain to be much more sensitive to any impact. I suggest you not mention it unless asked because it may confuse some doctors, especially any doctor hired by WC.

[GillianGillian]

I appreciate your responses. Being able to draw on experiences of those who have dealt with similar issues is an invaluable resource.

Gillian

[SpaceCadet]

Sorry I'm a little late responding to this...but here we go.

I am a 36 year old female. I fell at work on November 22, 2011 and hit my head on the concrete factory floor. I blacked out and don’t have any memory for immediately after the fall.
I have been diagnosed with PCS and have been improving since.

So sorry to hear about your fall...but I'm glad you found us here at NeuroTalk. I was assaulted back in June and don't have any memory of the event. I was also diagnosed with PCS in September.

I have problems stuttering and sometimes I use the wrong words, although that has been improving.

I'm at 6 months post-injury and I still have this problem. It's gotten better, but I still have days where I struggle with it all day. It can be quite annoying and very embarrassing if your talking to somebody that isn't close to you or doesn't know what your going through.

I am having problems with sequencial memory and struggle to do things I used to do without thinking, like making coffee, cooking, or other activities that require more than one step. I do the right things, but the wrong order. I’ll sometimes put my dog in his kennel for the night then give him food in the other room. I frequently go into a room and have no idea what I went there for. Because of this and my now very short attention span, I can’t drive.

I have days and moments like this all the time. It gets better. I wasn't able to drive before, but now I'm able to...though I still have days that I don't feel like I'm capable.

I have always been a reader and I can’t read. I had to have a friend type in the security code for me to register for this site because I could not read the distorted letters or pick out words in the audio option.


Never a big reader, but I find it hard to read at times. The letters will either look distorted or the background will make the letters kind of invisible. Since my memory and cognitive problems are off I have a hard time following along. I'll forget the words as I read them.

I am writing because yesterday morning when I woke up I was totally disoriented. I had no idea what day it was, what month it was, I thought I was late for a job I had actually quit a few years ago. Every person has had a moment like this at some point, but the thing that concerns me is that this went on for an hour before I could orient myself. I went to bed with a terrible headache, but I don’t know that is related.

I posted about this about a week or so ago...but I've been waking up completely disoriented as well. I'll have to struggle to remember my son's name, my mom's name, etc. and I'll have to lay in bed sometimes for 30 minutes before it all comes back to me. It's still happening to this day. Have you had any other experiences like this since? They seem to be happening a lot for me since they started...very scary.

I’d like to know if this is common and I would be interested in things I can do to improve my memory problems.

I can't tell you for sure if it's a common problem...I'd imagine it is, as I've read about people having similar experiences...but I can tell you from my stand-point, I'm having very similar problems to you...so your not alone.

I wish you the best of luck with your recovery

[EsthersDoll]

Welcome to neurotalk!

Take good care of yourself and get lots of rest.

Try not to worry about the cognitive impairments that you are dealing with. (A lot of people think that worrying makes them worse, but I really think it's using the energy to worry that does it. In either case the result is the same.)

Get out of environments that overwhelm you or overstimulate you (like maybe the mall or something like that). Getting overloaded cognitively will most likely make your symptoms worse.

It will most likely all get better with some time.

[GillianGillian]

Nwsmith1984
Thank you for your response. I read these posts regularly because I am trying to understand what is happening to me and how I can compensate for the deficiencies that affect me most.

I can’t let go of reading. Thanks to the postings of the other members, I have started reading easier works that I have read before. I find that helps a lot with remembering what I just read. I am following Mark in Idaho’s theory in building up endurance and blocking out lines with an index card. I am also reading text with larger print.

What you describe is exactly what I have when I try to read. Sometimes the words just swim on the page. And if a sentence is too complicated I have no idea what I read leading up to it.

And by the way, Mark in Idaho, I appreciate your re-posting of long posts with spaces added. I literally cannot read them otherwise.

***

In regards to your question, I have not been so disoriented as then. Sometimes when I first get up I have to get my bearings, like you explain, but only for a few moments. But I had a different experience this morning, which I think is related.

I thought I was awake this morning when I was really asleep. I had a very vivid dream in which, at a certain point I realized I was only dreaming, but I could not force myself to open my eyes. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t make myself breathe.

When I did wake, it was in a panic and my head was pounding. I took my dog out, but I was too physically tired to get myself breakfast. I wasn’t breathing hard, and my lungs were not tight like an asthma problem, but I felt like I had no oxygen. It took me a few hours to recover. It was a scary experience.