you finding your artsy side! I have been thinking about expanding my horizons here as well. Part of this coming from having to come up with a number of inexpensive, creative Christmas gifts!Take care now!!!

Coming up on month 7 of recovery. I am still dealing with fatigue and difficulty with organizing, planning, math, prioritization, etc. My dizziness has largely gone away. I've been diving into photography and continuing to write more and more. This has been the positive change, and what I put my "good" energy into.

My family has finally come around to believing that PCS is real. It was my impression (and no one will admit to it) that my family thought I was faking my symptoms in order to avoid responsibility. Well, seeing my slow recovery has changed their perception.

Being religious about my bedtime routine is so important. I am glad that I adopted the strategies listed on this site and others so early after my accident. Good restful sleep is the only thing that helps me.

I pray for you all frequently. May you find peace and happiness despite your limitations.

We are not limited! We are otherwise abled. I have gained more from my injury than I ever lost. Yes it was painful, hard, frustrating. Once I accepted where I was I could see what had been before me all the time. I just was to busy to see it.

What do you mean by "Accepted where I was" ?

To me, that means accepting my current level of function and dysfunction. Denying and fighting against our limitations only adds stress. Accepting them can give us a place to stand to start to move forward.

For example, I know that my memory skills are dismal. I accept that and use other ways to move forward that do not depend on good memory skills. I also must avoid audio stimulation. I wear ear plugs or just avoid the noisy environments.

Well it has been many many months since I've updated but not for lack of having anything to say. I am 15 months post accident and still having many difficulties. Reading is a problem, listening to conversation is a challenge, math is a non-starter. Sleep remains the single focus of every day, since it dictates how I will be the next. I am on medical leave from work, and don't anticipate being able to return. I simply can't perform what is asked of me in a timely and accurate manner, and certainly not without great expense to my well-being.

I have not returned to graduate school and I do not thing that I will ever.

I had no idea that I'd be writing the things that I am writing

I am hopeful, though, and I continue to pray for all of you.

Hi Owlin I have been lurking on this forum for at least 3 months now. In 10 days i will be 5 months into my recovery from a very severe frontal/temporal lobe, coup counter coup concussion. Your situation and symptoms are very similar to mine.

The same night of my concussion i started feeling very different like a different person. The next morning i couldn't even get out of bed and all of my cognitive deficits kicked in. For 2 weeks i would sleep for like 18 hours a day and would hardly have any appetite. It was almost impossible for me to do any daily activities and it still is to some degree.

The next 3 months i would wake up around 9 am, stay up for 3 hours then sleep for about 2 hours in the afternoon. The whole time i would still get about 10 hours of sleep at night. Now almost five months in i don't have to sleep in the afternoon and i still get about 10 hours of sleep a night.

From the beginning of my concussion until now i have had terrible short term memory loss. I am barely able to remember from one day to the next. My attention span is terrible. I can barely retain what i read, hear or watch. If i listen to a new song i have to listen to it 10 times or more before i can even recite half of the lyrics.

The day after my concussion the way i see things visually changed drastically. And to this day i have seen little to no improvement in that aspect. my world still doesn't look the same as before. Its like my perception isn't as clear as before and i can't take in all of my surroundings the same way. From what I've read its as if i'm experiencing chronic derealization or depersonalization because it is 24/7 and never stops.

I can still Speak fine with little to no impediments but my fluency and energy for speech is way worse. Sometimes it feels like a struggle just to speak. I stumble on words and get tongue tied way more often now kind of like a very minor stutter every so often. I struggle to remember words and i have many spelling errors and typo's now.

I have gotten far weaker emotionally from damage to my frontal lobes as I've cried about 20 times or more since my concussion. The crying happens far less frequently at this point but still happens if i smoke more than 2 or 3 hits of marijuana in succession.

Before my concussion i was a heavy marijuana smoker and could smoke 20 pipe bowls a day or more easily. Now the marijuana seems to exacerbate my emotional and cognitive symptoms. But i still smoke because it helps me grade where i am in my recovery as the more tolerance i build to it the more i know i am getting back to being like my old self again. One positive effect the marijuana does have for me is it makes me think and converse very deeply and universally about my cognitive deficits to the point where i can actually feel myself making progress in very minute increments.

Anyways i just replied to you because i can totally relate to your situation and i think i am going to be in the same place as you at the 15 month mark because i don't see much hope for a full recovery at the 1 year mark.

By the way if i didn't have spell check on my computer this post would be full of typo's.

God Bless all of you in your recoveries. I never knew something like this could happen to me.

Eli456,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Many would suggest that you will heal better without the marijuana. Studies show it delays healing and effects the proper function of the immune system. There is also a strong link between marijuana use and cognitive impairment.

On the plus side, smoke enough and you will be less concerned if you ever recover.

Yes i am aware of the hazards Mark. I guess the main reason i use it is because right now i'm trying to cling to whatever i can do that makes me feel like my old self.

**

I'm not trying to promote marijuana or push it on others but i don't think it should be overlooked or discredited as a good source of natural medicine to alleviate various ailments whether they be mental or physical.

And from what i understand the cannabinoids in marijuana promote healthy myelin growth. **

I can't post links yet but i have some good videos and articles on the subject.

I guess you have all the answers. Smoke on.....