[bearhawk57]

I have had 3 grade 3 concussions, that I can recall, as well as some others where I was not knocked out(to my knowledge). Two of these I received while playing football, within a matter of weeks of each other(about 3 weeks or less apart). The 3rd, and most recent was 2 years ago and I was out cold for a couple of minutes and went to the hospital almost a week later still presenting symptoms such as confusion/headaches.

I have always suspected I might have had some form of learning disability(such as ADHD or dylexia) but never really paid much attention to it. However the past few years, I have noticed it more and now doing research on it. I met with my doctor about it and most of the symptoms of ADHD I notice on a regular basis and the rest at least sometimes. I'm not sure if it may just be because I am more aware or that the symptoms of ADHD are occuring more often and more noticeable times.

A side from the ADHD related issues, I find I have a tougher time thinking of words or will not clearly pronounce some words(especially towards the end of the sentence or statement).

I am 26 years old, male and played football for about 7 years in total, offensive/defensive line and some fullback, so I took my share of poundings.

I would like to know if there has been any research done to see if there is a link between these two disorders and if there is anyway to find out if the two are linked. If so is there any hope that these effects can be reversed or improved?

Thanks, and any help/links is much appreciated.

AJ

[pepa]

Concussion and adhd can be related because concussion can affect the same area of the brain as adhd does, namely the frontal lobe.

This is where executive fonctionning(decision making, organisation,), attention (auditive, visual, divided,selective attention) take place.

You can be genetically predisposed (usually you would have one parent with the condition: but a lot of people are not diagnosed: adults often discover it when they recognise they have the same symptoms and Learning/social difficulty as their child who just received the diagnosis).

In my case i was a straight A student with no Learning difficulty whatsoever!But that has changed with my concussion sustained in a car accident: i now have adhd.

Indeed, I now have difficulty retaining new information, I fall in a daze when i read,if there are two stimulus at once it si very hard for me to concentrate (diminished divided attention)...etc

So to answer your question: concussion can cause adhd or worsened it.

You need a neuropsychologist to complete an evaluation to find out. They will relate your past history, your symptoms and will be able to make the link between the two by doing a torough evaluation.if its the case so at least you will understand whats is going on with your brain.

One good news is that as time passes (even after 2 years) , your condition can still improve with proper rest and living hygiene.You are young and the odds are on your side!

On the other hand any other concussion can really worsened your condition, for good.

you have only one brain...choose carefully the sport activities you want to practice because concussion are "cumulative": they add up to each other and once your brain has been concussed it is more fragile to get concussed again.

Good luck !

Pepa

[OwlinFL84]

I have ADHD (Inattentive type) and was receiving treatment for it prior to my injury. Now, the meds barely work! I find it very intriguing that in some of the academic papers I've read about PCS, doctors are prescribing ADHD medicines to help people with recovery. My Neuro talked to me about how my concussion was going to make my ADHD much, much worse. He said that before, my brain would have many choices to make and often it would make the seemingly wrong one for no apparent reason. This is why I am so easily distracted; it is a "wrong decision" to devote resources where they aren't needed. He said that my ADHD meds make the decisions happen faster, which causes the brain to make more correct decisions than wrong ones. As a result of my injury, though, the speed at which my brain operates is much slower, hence my ADHD will be heightened.

I found the explanation intriguing, and so far it is true.

[94MTM]

Hey, wondering if any of you guys have this happen to you to, at night when I'm trying to go to sleep it seems like my races just pumping out all kinds of ideas unrelated like switching from song to song while somewhat daydreaming and sometimes random words just pop up out of no where or like some type of dialogue that went on through the day, and through the day I'm on .5mg of ativan every 8 hours, could this be a case of what you guys are talking about I've never been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD by a doctor but my family friends and teachers have always believed so, before I was a daydreamer could daydream the whole day away now I can day dream but it's like from one thought to another and a lot randomness to it and a lot of times I'll ce back to that thought, interested to see what you guys have to say, thanks

[Mark in Idaho]

As one who would have easily been labeled ADD in school, I believe the label is abused. Between brain injuries, lifestyles, nutrition and environments, early childhood experiences (too much 3 to 6 second sound bites on Sesame Street and Electric Light Company), it is extremely difficult to diagnose ADD/ADHD properly. There are many symptoms of PCS that completely overlap ADD/ADHD.

I would suggest true volitional neuro-feedback to treat ADD/ADHD so you can separate it from PCS. Unfortunately, very few qEEG and neurofeedback clinicians analyze patients for brain injury causation of their symptoms.

Regarding ADD meds for PCS recovery. I get the idea that the ADD meds are not helping with recovery but are rather helping with the PCS symptoms as the brain tries to recover. Patients with PCS are annoying to their doctors and giving them ADD meds helps them with some symptoms so they are less of an impatient annoyance. The stimulating effect of ADD meds is in opposition to the needs of a recovering brain. The long term value or problem of ADD meds for PCS is not likely to be reported.

Most of my siblings have been on ADD meds at some time or another. I have chosen to use nutritional supplementation and found great benefit from it.