I fell and hit the back left of my head right before the Superbowl in February. I had a CT scan and doctors appointments after and all was well they just said i had PCS and will recover. my PCS came about 10 days after the fall

the first month and a half sucked:
-dizzy
-fatigued
-anxiety like no other
-flashing light in my peripheral vision (really annoying and scary
-just overall mental fog

around the 2 month mark i felt great or at least that's what i thought. On the 2 month mark I decided to go out and party the night away like im used to doing on the weekends. im 26 and have been partying for years. I ended up staying up until 4am and drinking around 18 beers and doing cocaine and smoking marijuana.....VERY stupid i know.

2 days later after the binge my PCS came back x10 and this was exactly a month ago tonight. The last couple days Ive been feeling better but the last 3 weeks since my bender Ive had the worst fatigue and dizziness and when i walk it feels like my legs are wobbly and wanna go in other directions. i feel i set myself back a month at least

how bad did i set myself back partying like that? i can honestly say if i didn't party last month it would be my 3 month mark next weekend and i think i would be 100% but right now i feel like im 75%

and does anyone else get the wobbly leg sensation? its the worst when your feet and knees feel like they wanna give out

Your partying days are over. Even just alcohol will cause you serious trouble. You need to spend some serious time detoxing. Vitamin supplements will help. B-12 (500 to 1000 mcgs), a B-50 or B-100 complex, Omega's, a strong multi-vitamin like GNC Mega brand and healthy eating. No caffeine, no alcohol or drugs, no MSG or artificial sweeteners (No diet Coke or Pepsi Zero, etc). It will take your brain a few weeks to start to get toxin free.

You also need to slow down your life. No late nights. You need good quality sleep with a quiet day time environment.

And, throw out the calendar for tracking your symptoms. You can be symptoms free for a month and just a little stressor can set you back to the beginning.

Most important, you need to start making decisions that take this experience into account. I was extremely luck when in 1971, I suffered my third concussion and started having more serious symptoms. My neurologist advised me to never drink alcohol. I tried drinking small amounts a few times. Once I had a large beer at a pizza restaurant. The next day I was a total mess. My brother called and noticed my struggles. He called later and asked if I was hung-over because I sounded very hung-over to him. I had consumed about 20 to 24 ounces of beer.

That was the last time I ever consumed alcohol.

You need to consider the same issue. Research shows that a single serving is not a serious problem.

My best to you.

Welcome to NT.

I agree with Mark. You need to take your recovery seriously. You'll need to be very good to your brain from now on. Start by getting on a good vitamin regimen. That will help detoxify your brain. Just like Mark said, your partying days are over. I thought everything was cool a month or two after the injury, so I went back to drinking heavily. That was the biggest mistake I've ever made...and now I'm at 10 months, still paying for that month of partying. I would stay away from anything that will negatively impact your recovery. That would be more than one serving of caffeine per day, too much sugar, alcohol and especially drugs.

Get plenty of rest. When I say rest, I mean total rest (little to no TV, no video games, limited computer time, etc.)...but don't sit around in a dark room doing nothing all day everyday. You will need a good mix of mild stimulation and total rest. It will take you awhile to find the right formula to keep your symptoms at bay.

Good luck and be good to your brain. You only get one of them.

Nick

There is no real way to know how far you may have set back your recovery. Just like there is no real way to know how long anyone's recovery will take in the first place, sans partying. (I've been recovering for more than 21 months now...)

I agree with Mark and Nick... you don't want to have to deal with a two year (or longer) recovery, and I don't think you want to make yourself worse either.

Much luck!

Dear God... no one told me anything about concussions, nor did I really think they were a big deal. On 12/4, I was drinking, got in the shower, slipped, and got a concussion. The next day, symptoms were apparent. I was taken to the ER where I got an MRI but I was told I was fine- "just a concussion". I took two days off of school. Friday morning, I got hit in the face with a basketball. Symptoms reappeared. I went home. By 2 o' clock, I was plastered. I passed out before five. Saturday, I got drunk again. Same goes for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... I've only drunk a little today. I feel, as one could imagine, horrendous. I have been not only perpetually hungover (exacerbation due to concussion), but I have recently found that alcohol interacts badly with Lamictal, of which I take a daily dose of 50mg. The drunkenness is aggravated by the Lamictal, and supposedly worsens it by tenfold, as well as the alcohol having an effect on the "high" of Lamictal.

I don't even know anymore. Right now I am utterly exhausted, confused, experiencing heart palpitations, and a strong lack of coordination and focus. There's no way for me to know if symptoms are reoccurring, because what I'm experiencing could be due to several other things, such as overall lack of sobriety, the necessity for my dosage to be increased or medication to be changed or just stopped altogether, relentless hangovers, poor sleep, etc.

Don't call me stupid. Just tell me what I need to do to get better.

hell,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

First thing, STOP DRINKING. Alcohol and concussion are a horrible mix. You will never heal getting drunk.

Why are you taking the Lamictal? Do you have a seizure disorder?

Any doctor treating someone with a seizure disorder should have told his patients to stay away from alcohol regardless of which or any drugs prescribed.

Tell us more about your symptoms and we can offer more help.

Have you been icing your head and/or upper neck at all? It would be a good idea. A zip lock baggy with 1 part rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol and three parts water will freeze into a moldable ice pack. 15 minutes on, 30 minutes off, repeat as often as possible, especially when your head aches.

Getting drunk with a concussion will not get you much support or sympathy here. Concussion can cause a hang-over from a very small amount of alcohol.

Sorry you had to find out the hard way about alcohol, I was in the same boat as you, I was drinking when i got my concusion but had no idea, I mistakenly drank a couple days later and then that weekend along with smoking marijuana

that was almost 3 months ago and im still suffering from a constant head pressure that i fear might be permanent and i have severe insomnia along with all the other glorious symptoms of pcs

do yourself a favor and give up on the alcohol for awhile, I was a heavy drinker, drinking heavily practically every weekend for the last 4 years, looking back on it the only thing drinking ever did was cause me problems and now I have to deal with this terrible ailment with no known time frame of when I might get any relief

I don't mean to go on an anti booze rant im just trying to help ya out, I been down that partying path and look where it got me, in retrospect it totally wasn't worth it but you can't change the past, however you can decide your own future

good luck with your recovery

you guys seem to have had alot worse injuries than me though. i simply hit my head and didnt need hospitalization. as i post this im feeling much better

i think in 1 month ill be 100%

im not letting this summer suck for me and i plan to go back to drinking at a lower rate in June. If i feel good and dont feel bad the next day im basically back to normal

ive been pushing myself with exercise and other things and its the way to go. i noticed if you sit around and sulk about it your condition doesnt go away. trust me i had bad days but they are getting better

I am afraid that with your plans your summer will really suck for you. Pushing yourself, drugs, alcohol, they will catch up with you if you really have PCS / TBI. Perhaps you are too messed up to realize it at this time. Hopefully you come to your senses... Reread your first post about how the partying affected you.

Just an FYI - I didn't require hospitalization either. I am now nearing ten weeks and I am just now able to get through a day without a screaming headache.... I had several weeks like this though, and then I would have terrible setbacks....

give yourself a few months, or you may damage your brain to the point where you never truly recover.

Ask yourself. would it be worse for a summer to suck, or your entire lifetime.

Your choice man.