How long have any or each of you had Post Concussion Syndrome?

Here is why I am asking

If I were working...now on Worker's Comp

I would work an eight hour day

well, the district I work for informed me that after I use up my sick bank

I had over 200 days and they are now taking 5 hours a day from that bank

that at some point they will start charging me $220.00 a day for being out

really I have worked for them 13 years...and I am so upset by this, because with all the therapy I have tried I am still having most of my symptoms and I may get a breather for 5 to 7 hours in the later day....

so just let me know if you would how long you have been "temporarily disabled" due to post concussion syndrome

thank you

PS I am a 64 year old female...it is not a sports injury

Hi Judy,
I think the conventional wisdom is that most people suffer from PCS for 3-6 months. I had my worst symptoms for about 6 months but certain symptoms have lingered for two years. It sounds like you might need to contact someone in you HR department about disability leave.
Concussedlawyer

I think my signature still gives the dates of my injury. I was getting a lot better over late spring/summer of 2011 and then had a terrible relapse in early August, which was induced by too much computer time. So, it's been 16 months since my original injury and over 9 months since my relapse. I'm still unable to work more than a few hours per week, and almost all of my activities are still quite restricted as a result of my condition. I've been improving very gradually since around mid-February.

I am a speech therapist on a junior high campus...way too noisey especially with my super sensitivity to noise, and when my short term memory is not in gear. Plus alas I work in special ed classrooms doing lessons with autistic and aspergers and cognitively impaired students throughout the week..when I am not doing pull out sessions or testing or attending IEPs or writing reports

he HR dept in conjunction with payroll shared the news with me. So I am going to look into earlier than I wanted retirement.

thanks for your response...I wish my symptoms would decreayour respse...so I could drive...but anything I do gives me a headache or vertigo or head buzzing

again thanks for your response

My accident was 1-17-2011. I ended up missing the rest of the spring semester (I am a teacher). I was beginning to improve over the summer with some medication changes and vision therapy.

I tried to go back part time in a one-to-one setting (instead of whole-group instruction) at the beginning of this year, but after several months it became apparent that that was still too much, at least in the particular setting of my school. So I've been off again since January 2012.

I am definitely much better than I was last year, but I still have lots of ups and downs, and certain stressful situations are still a lot for me to handle. I think I would still have a pretty hard time in a classroom, so I'm not in a big rush to get back there until I have more of my cognitive processing speed and multi-tasking skills back, and I think those will be some of the last things to show up.

Definitely talk to your HR department. It might also be helpful to see if you can consult a physiatrist in addition to your workers comp doctor. They are doctors who specialize in rehabilitation.

thank you for your reply

some people say to it should be gone, and the drs seem perplexed. I guess I will take whatever comes my way. And I am glad I found this site

Thank you. I am going to read your alternate blog, and learn about psychiatrists (spelling). The HR dept...I may email her...but also if I can meet with the retirement people for the state of california....to find out my options.

I am just pleased to know I am not alone in this disabling place.

Just Judy,

It is very difficult to suggest even conventional wisdom has a clue. For those who do not achieve a spontaneous recovery in the first 6 weeks or so, the time line has a tendency to have a greater chance of a long recovery. The long the subject has continuing symptoms, the greater the likelihood of a very long and more incomplete recovery. Unfortunately, your age works against you. Age age issue starts working against us starting in the 40's.

I think you are heading in the right direction with a possible early retirement.

Have you used up all of your Calif Sate Disability?

Calif has lousy WC attorney fee restrictions that make it difficult to get good legal representation for a head injury case such as yours. Banking on a good WC settlement is a challenge in Calif. Thank Ahnold.

If you were to take retirement, you can spend your energy learning skills for living with PCS. There are many skills you will need to learn so that age related deterioration will be kept to a minimum. As someone with skills with people with disabilities, you probably understand how much can be achieved with work-around skills and accommodations.

On the positive side, learning the ins and outs of living with PCS will give you great skills at understanding the needs of those with head injuries. If your training is like what I have observed locally, the special ed and other skills that are taught miss the needs of the concussed student. The concussed student does not fit into any of the norms that get addressed by most special ed systems.

The struggles with processing and memory that do not align with intellect are pretty much unique to mTBI. There are some overlaps with autism spectrum in some cases. But, the unique ways we struggle with our environments and need to accomplish tasks is different because it has changed for us. We have prior experiences that cause us to notice the differences and sometimes a frustrating desire to get back to the old us.

So, as you struggle to move ahead, try to look at the many skills you can learn to benefit not only yourself but many others around you.

My struggles with mTBI started when I was in the 4th grade. I only had one teacher who understood my struggles of all the teachers since that grade. I have seen the same with parents of injured children here. We are the invisible wounded. You could be a life changer for others like us.

btw, Eowyn mentioned a physiatrist. They can be found in the yellow pages under Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. They are often affiliated with a rehab hospital or clinic. Have you had any diagnostic work done on your upper neck? Upper neck injuries can magnify Post Concussion Symptoms. Any head injury includes an upper neck component but most doctors neglect to check.

My best to you.

whoa you have been through so much, and you seem to have it all together.

I think I need to think about past injuries. I was a passenger in an accident about 20 years ago and suffered severe whiplash...never thought about it in terms of this accident

well, in June I see a head and neck doctor...

glad you are out there...just having people to read about them and their efforts and energy to get past this is so helpful

Hi Judy,

The accident I was in that caused me to sustain a concussion that I'm still recovering from was about 22 months ago.

I was unable to work at all for over a year. After I started working, I could only work 12 hours a week, I did three four hour shifts on MWF and took Tues and Thur off to recover. I had that shift for about four months and then increased working four hours every weekday.

Before the accident, I worked an average of about 60 hours a week. I had one full time job, two regular part-time jobs and one irregular part-time job and a lot of freelance opportunities. So, working part-time with limited capacity is very degrading for me on many levels - I love my job, my personal sense of accomplishment is wrapped up in my career and so is my self-esteem.

But I have to start somewhere and do the best I can! I'm still hopeful for a much better recovery!

It took me more than 6 months to acclimate to working only 20 hours a week. But I'm about to increase my hours to 25 hours a week!

I feel very lucky that my employer has been willing to work with me to help me to recover to working full time. All of my part time jobs are waiting for me to return too.