I am a lifelong concussion suffer looking for help with the symptoms; I didn’t know that there was a long term issue with concussions until the talk about athletes having one being an problem and I have not found any information on non-sports related concussion like mine and I would be willing to be involved in a study if that would help or travel to a specialist if I could find a good one that showed promising results.
Has anyone heard of real help with the symptoms with a path to cure them?
thanks

Chapo,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. You have asked a very broad question.

As one who has lived with Post Concussion Syndrome for more that 40 years, there are no simple answers. Each symptom is treated individually. There are no cures.

Tell us about your symptoms and someone will have some suggestions for living with them.

There is not really any difference from sports concussions and other concussions. They are still injuries to the brain and each one is different.

So, let us know how we can help.

My best to you.

Thanks Mark,

Any ideas would be very helpful on ways to slow any of the changes form PCS

With having the symptoms for so long, none are debilitating, I have learned to live with them but some seem to be getting worse, the symptoms started with headaches about age 5, most mild but nothing gets rid of them, Excedrin Migraine takes the edge off better than prescription drugs do, they are getting a little better as time goes by.

The memory loss is spotty, there are things that pop up from a long ago as clear as day and yet yesterday is a blur as well as the walking to the next room with no idea why I am there. I did see a psychologist and he asked simple questions like where I was and what color the sky is a 5 minute test and with that concluded that I have no memory loss issues.

The issue of concentration is also getting worse, I was thinking it was adult on set ADD, I have not had time to look into it to verify if it is or not.

The vision thing ,my wife calls my 50 year old stroke victim look, was thought of as a food allegers until reading the description that others have the same sensation of staring past people / things and having to shack it off, this has been getting more common and not associated with food

I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in eliminatory school now I wonder if there is something more to it like a symptom of PCS.

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Thank You

Chapo,

It sounds like you had the same lack of information I and my family had until I was 16.

I doubt you are purely dyslexic. I have many dyslexic characteristics, too. I attribute them to my PCS.

You need to understand the basics of memory. There are three kinds. Immediate memory is the walking into the next room with no memory. Short term would be remembering what you had for breakfast this morning. Long term is memory of things from yesterday or before. It sounds like your long term memory is fine but you struggle with short term and immediate memory.

Memory also has different types. There sensory memories such as taste, smell, touch, visual, and auditory memory. Some of these are very short, even just a half second. There is also thinking memory, the memory of your thoughts as you try to move forward and do something with those thoughts. Some say all sensory memories are very short by many comment otherwise.

The third issue with memory is focus and distractability. The ability to focus to grasp and store the memory is important, especially for those of us with PCS. We tend to be easily distracted.

The staring past people could be a absence seizure like event. It also can be a simple lack of focus or over-focus on a distraction. The important thing for your wife to watch is how long do they last and how much effort it takes to break your stare. Then, she should ask you what you were thinking or looking at. This will help you figure out what is happening.

Do you do anything to help your brain be resistant to stress and traumas? Nutrition is a big part of my routine. Without my vitamin and other supplements, my wife sees me become an annoyed space cadet.

I use plain aspirin and Tylenol combined for my worst head aches. They work great in combination. My doctor taught me to combine them. I do not use Excedrine because it has caffeine. Excedrine is aspirin and Tylenol plus the caffeine.

Fortunately, my headaches come in waves. I may have them daily for a few months then be free of them for months. The slightest jarring of my head will bring them back. I just got free of them after a October to April wave of head aches. I bumped my head in October.

The psychologist did an odd memory test. The standard in the Mini Mental Status Exam. Even the MMSE is often improperly done and misinterpreted.

btw, How old are you? What kind of work environment have you worked in?

More later.

My best to you.

I'm glad I found this forum. I feel like I've been suffering for years in silence. Since more news has been out about ex football players with PCS I think I may have stumbled upon something that has plagued me for more than 25 yrs. I am 42. Played Football (contact)since first grade through college. Can remember getting my "bell rung" all the time in grade school as we were taught to lead with our helmets. I have been knocked unconcious at least 7 times that I can remember, not all of which were football related but am positive that my estimate of playing with a concussion or before healed and reinjuring had to have occurred more than 40x in HS and college alone. I now deal with uncontrollable fatigue. I work, come home then sleep through till morning, feeling completely unrested. I have dealt with severe depression since HS and tried to commit suicide once as a junior. I feel like I have a mental disorder. I'll be ok then I will fly off the handle, even getting violent at times. I have complete lapses in memory. Losses of complete conversations which causes many home and work problems. If it happened on the phone, my wife tells me to look at my phone, and sure enough, the day before we will have had a text or phone conversation that I can't or can barely remember. I have been on every antidepressant and have experience extrapyrmidal (sp?) symptoms with every one. To this day I have uncontrolled teeth clenching and have been off the last one for at least 4 mos. I hate life. I wake up exhausted and stay that way. I have shut my family, wife and 4 kids completely out for fear of hurting them and just don't know what to do. I have other health problems also, sleep apnea (cpap everytime I lay down), kidney disease for the last 15 years, Htn, hyperparathyroidism, gout, arthritis from all the wear and tear from football, polycythemia, recurrent deep vein thrombosis bilaterally as well as superficial blood clots from extended home health driving and the list goes on. I just want some sense of normalcy in my life, whatever that is. It's been so long since I have felt it I must have been in Jr High. If anyone can give me the 411 on this stuff, anything to at least help the fatigue, I believe life could be worth living. As it stands, my wife grudgingly stands beside me, my kids hate me and I hate myself. I find no pleasure in my vocation as a therapist any longer and if I didn't have a 16 yo waiting for a kidney transplant himself after 33 surgeries already, I think I would have already given in. PLEASE, if you have any ideas to help make my life bearable, I would be forever in your gratitude. God Bless...

I have PCS due to being violently assaulted on the job by a demented patient. It's been 3 months since the attack but my employer has been relentless in her phone calls. I have a meeting Tuesday to discuss returning July 16th. I'm not ready as my symptoms are still as bad as they were back in April.

What should I tell her? There's no way of knowing how long this will take. Sometimes I just want to quit to get her off my back.

Is there anyway of knowing if this will be long term or not?


Kelly