Hello everybody!

Well, here is my story:

My first concussion was in December, 2002. I hit my head on a dryer door, fell on a floor, didn't loose conscience, spent the 24 hours sleeping, was fine after tnat.

Second and third concussions happend three and four years later (2005 and 2006) Got all "standart" symptoms - headaches, foggy brain feeling, felt lightheaded and like life isn't worth living. However, I was perfectly fine within a month in both cases, no setbacks, no reminders of concussions.

My forth and the most horrible ( for me) concussion happened in June, 2011. Hit my head on a metal rail, was unconscious for a few minutes. I spent the whole summer recovering, was completly fine by September, absolutly symptom-free. And that's whn it has begun...

I get all of my symptoms back every time I hit my head, even when it's a situation when a normal person will rub his/her head and forget about it in 10 minutes - I have to spend2-3 weeks recovering, which I'm doing righg now.

Hit my head on a kitchen cabinet 5 days ago.
Symptoms: light-headed, noise-sensetivity, foggy feeling, headache, troubles concentrating, feel like I have a huge hangover and I don't drink alcohole anymore...

What I'm taking:
- B12, 5000 mg a day
- vinpocetine for my memory and Cognitive function
- d3
- glycine for insomnia ( works amazingly)
- omega-3

Question: We have a family vacation we've been waiting for a long time planned in te beginning of April. What else can I do to make sure I'll be fine by that time? To reschedule it is not an option....

Thanks!

Marina,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Wow, you have a concussion history that rivals mine.

You sounds like you are suffering from a common condition.

Multiple Impact Syndrome is a condition where the cumulative effects of multiple concussions combined with sub-concussive impacts leave the brain very sensitive to any impacts, even very minor impacts that result in symptoms of a more severe concussion. This can even leave the person with a sensitivity to simple stressors such as an illness/fever, emotional stress, environmental stresses/pollutions, nutritional stresses, and exhaustion.

You appear to be almost as hypersensitive as I am. I can't shake my head 'No.'

You will likely have a similar recovery period as your previous bumps. You could improve your rate of recovery by adding to your supplement regimen. You may be overdoing the B-12. 5000 mcgs is a huge dose. 500mcgs might be adequate. A blood level of 1000 pgms/mL is optimal. You may need folic acid and the rest of the B vitamins, too. A B-50 or B-100 would be good. Balancing B vitamins is good.

You may also have some slight balance and visual/spacial awareness dysfunctions. This is not uncommon for someone with Multiple Impact Syndrome (MIS).

The partial solution to the latter is to learn to be more deliberate with your movements. Most people tend to move with a sub-conscious level of care. Those of us with prior concussions and especially MIS need to learn to stop and think before making many of our usual moves. Over time, this can become a new subconscious level of care. It becomes just a slower movement initiation style with a greater awareness of our surroundings.

For me, I really need to take extra care because I have very poor short term and immediate visual memory. I can need to duck under something and look down at the last minute and have already forget it was there and bump my head into it. Ouch. Instead, I have to stay focused that the overhead obstacle is there.

When you go on vacation, try to get your family to help you with obstacles. A vacation is a stressful time with lots of opportunities to bump your head. The stresses can be positive or negative to cause concussion symptoms.

These same stresses can combine with the MIS to cause a struggle with depression. Those "like life isn't worth living" feelings need to be taken seriously if they persist. There is a difference between being frustrated and tired of the symptoms and actually feeling "like life isn't worth living." There is help available that should be sought. I have been there and know the anguish the depression can cause.

Extra rest and respite from the chaos and stress of family will also help with your recovery. It will help if you learn to understand the stressors around you. It will become a valuable life skill.

My best to you.

Thank you, Mark!

It's evening and I can't concentrate and write a long post. I will reply in details tomorrow.

Mark,

Thanks for your response! It helps a lot to know that someone in this world going through the same thing and understands your misery...

Well, I've never been depressed in this life. I always was a happy wife and a mother of 2 (7 and 9 years old). Even this feeling that "life isn't worth living" disappears in direct correlation with my symptoms improvment. Or at least it used to be that way...

Now I'm just panicing... Is it the way my life is going to be? Each, even very minor bump will result in having to spend in bed 2-3 weeks? I can't afford this... Right now I'm struggling with even helping my kids with their homework...And my husband, who is a trained medical professional, is loosing his patience already, even he is trying to hide it from me, I can see it.

Is there any way to make my brain less sensetive? I don't see it.... I will try
to be more carefull from now on and, I guess, that's all I can do.

As for the supplements - I will switch to B complex, send my husband to the vitamin store today...will post my progress if any....

Please excuse my mistakes, it's really diffcult to concentrate...

Don't worry about your "mistakes" - we all get it because we all make them too.

Take it easy and rest. The more rest you get and the less stress you put your brain through - like helping your kids with their homework - than the more likely you will improve faster. When your brain is struggling, that might be a sign that you just need to rest.

Do be extra careful about not hitting your head anymore.

I've been dealing with PCS for 19 months. Mark's been dealing with it for years. Every head injury is different. And they say they are cumulative - so next time you hit your head it might take a lot longer than 2-3 weeks to recover from it, so take it easy.

Don't worry about your husband losing his patience. Especially if he's trying to hide it from you - that most likely means he knows it's not rational for him to do so, but it's also a very natural human response to additional stress. It's very difficult for people to be caretakers.

Rest as much as possible until you feel symptom free. Exercise as much as possible as long as you don't feel symptoms. Obviously you'll need to find your own balance between these two things that are opposites and figure out a way to do stuff you have to do around the house - but try to figure out a way to reduce what you have to do around the house.

ie: I'm a neat-freak and dishes on the counter drives me nuts. But putting them away is going to make me worse cognitively, so I leave them on the counter. It's a constant choice between feeling upset that they are there or letting it go because I'm healing from a brain injury.

Going on that vacation might make you worse. So you might not be able to go. Your husband can go without you if canceling is not an option. The health and overall functioning of your brain is WAY more important than a vacation that can't be canceled, not matter what. (I wish someone had told me that after my head injury. A Dr. approved me to go on my planned vacation and staying at home may have actually been the better choice for my overall healing at the time.)

Hi Marina,

It sounds like at least part of what is stressing you out and making you anxious is that you feel like you're having trouble keeping up with your duties to your family. This is very understandable.

You might try educating your children (and your husband if necessary--not sure how much background he already has) on the type of injury you have and the ways in which it limits you. Mark usually has some good suggestions regarding material for educating family members. One thing I've seen him recommend is the youtube series "You Look Great!": Inside a TBI. I've watched this series and I think it does a really good job of introducing the layperson to mild TBI and spicing it up with video clips, illustrations, and such.

As much as we may want to help others right now, especially our family, there's only so much we can do. It's easier on us if both we and our family members can realize this.

Take care.

Pete

The link to the You Tube video series is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be

The TBI Survival Guise is also great and at www.tbiguide.com

The vitamin and supplement therapy takes weeks to months to see a real difference. It will come in slow increments. It is best to add stress reduction to it.

You may need to find a way to reinvent your life. The TBI Guide explains many of the symptoms so you can teach your kids about what is going on. It is very worthwhile to apply as m,any brain cells as you can to understanding you condition so you can explain it to others. With a good understanding, others can become more tolerant and supportive of your limits and needs.

I explain how my neurologist looked at the tracing of a AEP (Audio Evoked Potential) and commented to me, "You hear everything! How do you tolerate that?" He could tell that my brain was trying to process the full range of sounds rather than filter out the sounds that were not of value, like background noise, etc. My response was, "It is my biggest problem. I often use foam ear plugs."

When describing my memory dysfunctions, I explain that if I am driving and stop at a stop sign where the crossing traffic does not have to stop, the first thing I do is look to the left. I will notice where those cars are. Then, I will look to the right and notice where those cars are. Problem is that I have already forgotten where the cars from the left are. I have virtually no visual immediate or short term memory to remember where the traffic is around me.

As a result, I do not drive in congested traffic or on my bad days.

If you need some help with ways to explain your symptoms, post here and we can try to work out an explanation that others will understand.

Hope this helps.

My best to you.

Thank you all for your support!

One long post per day is my absolute limit, so I will reply to everyone tomorrow.

EsthersDoll, Mark, Pete,

Thank you so much for your support - means alot to me! I wish you all to be healthy and healed again!

Well, my husband is a health care provider (a physician assistant), currently working in ER. That means if you go to an ER with your concussion, he is the guy who is going to take care of you. Ironically, he had a lot of patients with concussions last month. So, he is educated good enough about my injury.

However, the problem is not about him being not-educated. The place he is currently working has a very bad working environment and working conditions are bad. And he is the person, who doesn't do well under stress... But the pay is excellent, so he can't find a new job, who will match even 80% of his paycheck, and we can't afford going lower than that....

And here comes me with my concussion.... More stress... Whenever I feel good, I take care of the whole houshold - payong bills, kds, school, etc., so he can concentrate on his job. I used to have my own business, whih I had to give up becuase simply didn't have time for anything else + it nearly impossile to run a business with my concussions history.

So, it's all complicated. Everything is on my husband's shoulders now... I'm afraid he is losing it... What's going to happen next - I have no idea...

About our vacation:

In addition to PCS, I suffer from aerophobia. Before my concussions, it was managable with pills and training, but, it's completely out of control now. Nothing helps and no force on this earth will make me to get on an airplane. So, we're driving this year.

I manage to be in a car as a passenger f I don'twatch traffic. And that's what I am going to do - just try to nap though the trip. And I already warned my kids that there is a possibility hat I will stay the entire vacation in our hotel room. They seem fine with it as long as I'm there.

My kids are my pride. They are young, but they've been very supportive, they always trying to show me that they care by keeping their voices down, bringing me something to drink... I'm blessed

Mark, i'll look through all links you provided - thank you so much!