That sounds horribly frustrating msRrio! I have it where i can't think of words and stutter a little when stressed or having a bad day but not like that.

I don't understand why doctors or people don't believe us or our symptoms but yet we all have the same ones! Each of us has our own unique grouping of issues but most of the main symptoms are very common. How can we all be making it up/exaggerating/lying?

Its obviously real.

CC

MsRrio,

You might ask your doctor for a prescription of an anti-seizure med. Neurontin (gabapentin) or some of the old standbys like phenobarbital or phenytoin (Dilantin). I was on both in high school (1971-2) and they settled my brain down. It sounds like your brain gets caught struggling and loses control of the timing processes needed to control a natural flow of information and speech.

The added stress of your son's struggles likely makes this brain stress much worse.

My best to you.

Ms rio,
I have major speech slurring and some stuttering or like a shaky voice when I get real nervous. Looks like it is normal for all of us. No worries. I know it is embarrassing though.

Thanks Mark. I'm interested in what you think of the other symptom that accompanies the stutter sometimes. It's a very strong pressure in the middle of my forehead, sort of down into my sinuses almost, like a strong painful pulling sensation.

Wondering if this is related or just concurrent pain from trying to process speech. Probably just coincidence?

You're right about stress. The week since the neuro psych day has been torturous and a very disheartening setback. I feel consistently worse than I did even at two months post injury. Month three and four have sucked.

Next appt to see GP is Friday, will bring up meds again. Will try to remember.

My speech therapist specializes in traumatic brain injury. When I first started the therapy, she said that I should expect to have more problems when I am stressed, tired, or under cognitive strain. Being relaxed, explaining something that I have said repeatedly (like how the injury happened) made my speech almost like it was before the accident.

I was really amazed at how much the speech therapy really helped. The breathing techniques and learning transitions from one syllable to another and easy onset of words made a huge difference. After a while I was able to self-correct. Now, unless I am exhausted or have not planned what I want to say, no one suspects that I ever had a stutter.

I wouldn't be concerned if the neurologist is not familiar with this, but your speech therapist says something different, I would look for a new speech therapist -- one with experience treating patients with TBI.

By the way, I found that "trying harder" almost always made the stuttering worse. Learning to relax and learning the techniques to deal with the aspects of speech I found difficult were key to getting past the stuttering.

These symptoms describe me perfectly! Does it get better? How long does it take?

Mbolin,

MsRio has not been around in quite some time. It took a while but she did improve.

One of the common problems with stuttering after a concussion is the more we stress out about the symptoms, the worse that symptom becomes. The brain gets overloaded with stress chemicals and goes haywire.

Many of us have learned relaxation skills to help our body and mind settle down so we can perform a little better. For me, it usually starts with taking a slow deep breath. Then, I rehearse what i want to say in mind. It helps but does not always solve the problem. It may just take time to heal.

My best to you.

Yep me too.

How do they not know this?

You overload a computer with work and it won't be very responsive will it?

To further the analogy, you drop your computer on the floor, and then overload it with work, it's going to be even less responsive

MsR,

I thought I was all done stuttering at one point then it reappeared. Now when stressed or overloaded it starts up again. Stressor is gone and stuttering is gone.

Happens all the time again so your doc as seems to be the case with many is clueless.

Bud