Hi all,

New to the site. I sustained a sports related concussion about 7 weeks ago. Have been under doctors care now for 4 weeks, being closely monitored and going through full rest (no workouts, physical activity, etc.) I am clinically ADHD and prescribed adderall which I take daily. My question is, should I continue to take my meds, or put a stop to them and resume once fully recovered.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would choose doctor advice on this one. Be careful with meds and a head injury.

Peace and healing,

Jace

Sam,

We need far more information about your and your injury history to offer much help. How old are you ? How did the injury happen ? Are you a student ? What have the doctors suggested ? What are your symptoms ?

Mark,

I am a 25yr old student. Injury was sports related, happened 7 weeks ago, but did not start rest till 4 weeks ago (now on my 5th week). Doctors have said adderall is ok, and will have no ill effects but to monitor it because I know my ADHD best. Symptoms getting better with each week. Currently suffering w/ light dizzyness, mental fog (when not on adderall), light headaches brought on w/ long distance driving (over 1 hour), and physical exertion (if exercise past threshold).

Have gotten up to the point of light daily aerobic exercise IE: 20min of walking, or stationary bike. If overdone, headache will arise. Still trying to find, or build up a threshold there.

Hey Sam,

I have ADHD too. If you are able to do physical activity, then I would keep on taking your meds (at least until you talk to a doctor). I took mine even when I couldn't get out of bed every morning.

I had mild ADHD before the injury which I dealt with by being active and getting a lot of exercise. But now its really bad and continues to get worse. My thoughts race through my head constantly, i'm very antsy and can't get good sleep.

Its making my concussion symptoms which haven't improved in 5 months much worse to the point where all I can really do is lay down as thoughts continue to race through my head... It feels like my brain is sabotaging itself.

Anyway, I went on Strattera and found that it worked ok for about a week until it stopped working all together and now I'm worse off than before. Do you guys find stimulants (adderall etc) to be more helpful?

Sam,
The reason the doctor is telling you to listen to your body is because TBI's and PCS is near impossible to fully understand --the reason being, no two cases are the same. The symptoms I have, you may not - the treatment that helps me, may not you.

Telling you to listen to your body, is their way of trying to have you self-regulate... which can worsen your symptoms because the increased anxiety/ocd/stress of trying to figure out what works/what doesn't/what is making matters worse/what helps... increases brain stimulation, thus worsening your symptoms/intensity of symptoms.

I had mild ADHD before my TBI and after it became pretty severe. I originally could deal with it with exercise, later around 27y.o when I wasn't as active as I was in college, but still exercising regularly - they put me on a small dosage of Concerta. After my injury they changed me to Adderall. Post injury, I suffered from insomnia. Initially, I wondered if the adderall was contributing to that. Be cautious of the time of day you take it, also is it an XR or IR form you are taking. What are the milligrams? What does your daily diet look like?

As for the working out, and delayed onset of headache. It isn't in fact odd to have it delayed. For some, the onset of a headache or increased intensity of a headache with exercises is immediate, usually do to hormone secretions and/or blood pressure changes. However, it is common to have delayed onset of headache. The reason for this is the way your body is balancing hormones to return to "homeostasis" as well as some other possible contributions. I would ask, are you male or female? The hormone levels in males vs females varies, and changes with ovulation. The levels also change with exercise differently with males/females. Are you working out in the morning, afternoon or evening? What is your activity level post-workout? Are you going home and resting, are you starting homework, are you going to the mall, watching tv, etc. -- meaning, what is the brain stimulation post work-out? Also, are you listening to music/watching tv/talking while working out, or is it just you and aerobic exercise? Is it only aerobics you are doing, or are you adding in resistance training - such as, is the bike at general speed or are you adding resistance to it? Are you walking on flat ground or are you adding hills?