Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Concussion Syndrome For traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post concussion syndrome (PCS).


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Old 08-21-2014, 12:30 PM #1
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Default Do you think you are going to recover?

No, I don;t. I hope that I can get used to my situation and be able to live with it.
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Old 08-21-2014, 12:40 PM #2
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Originally Posted by sciencetoy View Post
No, I don;t. I hope that I can get used to my situation and be able to live with it.
No, not after 9 years since first insult to the head. I think I can be made more comfortable physically and mentally. But I will never be who I was. Scares me still to say that.

I was in the middle of Very successful career before I got sick, now I am on ssdi. Healthy as an ox now not so much.

But there are choices to make. I can go to the beach and take a walk and look at the water or sit home in the dark like ive been doing, eat more terrible food and have a heart attack in a year lol. I am hoping I do the former. will let you know later

bro, this thing is a monster and I have read your posts and know you are going through so much, I am always an ear to chew on if you need.
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Old 08-21-2014, 02:26 PM #3
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No. I don't think either that I will recover anymore . I will never be the same person again although it's been just 5 months as some might say. I know I still have time to recover but a part of me knows that that's it, I will have limitations forever and will always have residual effects left. This sucks but brain damages are almost always permanent although you might feel better with time, but never completely fine! Nearly every symptom will come creeping in when you will push yourself beyond your limit and this is the truth. You never actually recover from brain injuries and once you get this condition, there is no shaking it no matter what you do. The classic statement by doctors is true "you will have to learn to live with the symptoms for the test of your life"
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Old 08-21-2014, 04:08 PM #4
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No, been told will never be 100% again which devastated me, some days I feel okay about it and this is the new me, other times I cry, hopefully as time goes by i'll accept it as what else is there to do?

The whole brain damage thing scares me, I feel "mental" sometimes, used to be so quick with everything, now notes are everywhere and I still forget to look at them so I feel stupid, I know it's not true of course but I just feel it especially when I'm around others.

When someone is talking to me it's like my brain needs time to catch up with what they just said, often have to ask again.

I also do try to laugh things off if someone says I look so confused, I find if I can see humor in it instead of getting upset it's better.

I did notice a little difference a few months ago when my brain felt a little clearer. I have down days but i am a fighter so try to think positive
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Old 08-21-2014, 04:58 PM #5
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I am only 7 months in and have not given up hope yet... I am starting to but I have not given up hope that one day I will be able to go back to work at the same capacity that I was before and be the b**ch everyone loves
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The Start: MVA, t-boned, on 1-12-14 (my sons 5th birthday) and did not think anything of it.. my back hurt on site but everything else seemed ok. Lost about 10-12 hours from about 3 hours after the accident to the next day...Experienced terrible brain fog for over a month, plus intense headaches, nausea, dizziness, cognitive difficulties, disorientation, no short term memory, depression and just an overall hangover feeling daily.

Current Situation: I'm about 7 months in and my local neurologist has waived her white flag and therefore I am headed to Dallas to be seen (I have family there). The headaches are still daily. I have nausea, dizziness as well.

Drugs I have been on- Vicodin (off), Naproxen (off), proanolol (off), topamax (off), cataflam (off), Midrin (off), Flexeril (off) and now Namenda XR (off), Nortrptylin (off), Verapamil (off)

Therapy- Osteopath, Vestibular and balance therapy, fuzion/soft tissue massage, acupuncture

Drs- ER (no help), GP, Chiropractor, Neurologist and Osteopath
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Old 08-21-2014, 05:25 PM #6
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Default recovery is a marathon and not a sprint

I don't use the past tense word "recovered" for pcs. I say that I do live in recovery and in that I have regained much of who I was and what I had before the accident.

All of this who are afflicted with this eventually have to decide what we have to live with and work around, what is different, and how we are going to be in the world.

It's been said here before and I will say it again. You can live with a very full life with pcs. I have my issues. I am not always as fast as I was, my typing can be off, and the list goes on. None of what I have prevents me from living fully -- and I won't let it.

Hang in there and believe in your healing. Keep positive and do every thing you can to just reduce stress and be positive.

Take care

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[SIZE="1"]What happened. I was in a car accident 2-23-2013, and got a mild concussion from it. I had some time off for brain rest, got somewhat better, but slipped into PCS in March 2013.

Symptoms I had: dizziness, light and sound sensitivity, fatigue, tinitis, occasional headaches and migraines,

Symptoms as of 5--2013: poor sleep, tinitis, some confusion /short term memory blanks, balance. The other symptoms are mostly gone, but flare up if I OVERdo something.

Therapy I had: vestibular

3 months in: I could drive more and for longer distances. I felt like a younger, happier version of myself and I feel so blessed to have this feeling.

9 months in and I am working full time. I do get tired, and some sound and light sensitivity from time to time, but mostly I am over most of my symptoms.
I pray every day and I m praying for your recovery.

Over a year in: I can multi task (limited) and have humor in my life. But when I am tired, I am very tired.
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Old 08-21-2014, 05:45 PM #7
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No, I don't think I'll recover. After being at a completely symptom-free stage, all of my symptoms returned after a very minor bump. It's been almost a year - no improvement at all. I'm just hoping to get used to this and get at least some of my life back.
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2002 - hit my head on a washer door while doing laundry. Recovered in 24 hours (was 7 months pregnant at that time)
2005 (maybe 2006) - kitchen cabinet (it took me ~ 1 week to recover)
2009 - refrigerator shelf, recovered in 1 month
summer, 2011 - metal rail, the life-changing concussion. Black out for ~10 minutes, spent ~2weeks in bed (wasn't able to even use a bathroom by myself). Made a complete recovery in 2 months.
October, 2011 - washer door again. Recovered in 1 months.
March, 2012 - kitchen cabinet again. Suicidal depression. Was diagnosed with OCD. Severe anxiety. Was completely recovered in 4 months, celexa is a magical pill.

After that I managed to go almost 1.5 years without a concussion! Was at a completely symptom-free stage, started volunteering at my kids' school again. I was living a happy life. Then,

August, 2013 - fell down the stairs, broke my ankle badly (my surgeon said that he literally has never seen anything that bad ever before and he's been practicing for more than 20 years).
September, 2013 - my son was hugging me and we bumped into each other. Result - complete return of all of my symptoms., no improvement with time. Severe depression again.

7/7/2014 - hit my self on a metal shelf again while trying to clean.


I'm not clumsy. It's just the floor hates me, the tables and chairs are bullies and the wall gets in the way.
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Old 08-21-2014, 08:02 PM #8
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I don't believe that the brain can ever be 100% the same after TBI. However, most of you will make good recoveries and move on with your lives.

I know, when you're in the throes of dealing with a myriad of symptoms, that that can be hard to believe. To illustrate my point, I'd invite you to peruse my "friends" list. The majority of the TBI ones are no longer on NT, because they got better. Yeah!

I sometimes worry that the presence of "lifers," like myself, can have a depressing and distorting effect on newcomers. In fact, after a long hiatus, I struggled with the idea of returning: I didn't want to bring others down. My injury and difficult recovery are ATYPICAL - most of you ARE going to get better. Hang on.
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Old 08-21-2014, 08:17 PM #9
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My providers (doctors, PT, OT, therapist, all who specialize in brain injuries) keep telling me that they expect me to make a full recovery, and my rational side believes them, because most people with mTBI get better. But, for some reason I have a really hard time, especially the last few months, truly believing that, and I don't quite understand why. Normally I'm a very positive person who tries to see the best in things, and am generally have a positive attitude about how things will turn out. But PCS has driven that positive person away, and I can't seem to find him again.

Hockey, I appreciate what you said. I do think that part of my negativity about my recovery stems from seeing the horrible things that TBI can do to people on this board (but mostly the fact that I seem to simply not be getting much better!). I count myself lucky everyday that compared to many on this board my symptoms are mild. And while the presence of "lifers" skews much of what's posted on this board towards the extreme, I think you all also serve as an example of the resilience of the human spirit, and give hope that even if things don't get better, people can adapt.
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26 year-old PhD student in evolutionary biology, slipped on ice in Feb 2014 while clipping my fingernails and walking to save time (dumbest reason for PCS ever?). Initially just had headaches and didn't feel quite right, but a minor head bump 5 days later started a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Had trouble concentrating on reading/looking at screens

April 2014 - did exertion test, passed, started exercising and doing more, but didn't feel much better.

May 2014 - Went on backpacking trip OK'd by doctor, trip itself went fine, but felt worse a few days after getting back, more difficulty concentrating, worse headaches.

June 2014 - Bumped head on ceiling walking slowly down stairs, no immediate symptoms, but caused worsening headahces, more difficulty concentrating and looking at screens. Have not felt as good as I did before this since this bump.

December 2014 - after feeling relatively better I went xc skiing and fell but didn't hit my head (something my psychologist who specializes in brain injuries told me he hoped would happen so I saw it was OK), felt worse

Feb 2015 - back in grad school, light teaching load and some research, nowhere close to operating at my full capacity. Still have constant headaches, difficulty reading/looking at screens, mild anxiety and depression, and just not feeling like my normal sharp self.

Trying, but struggling, to believe that I'll get back to my old self, or at least get close.
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Old 08-21-2014, 08:45 PM #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey View Post
I don't believe that the brain can ever be 100% the same after TBI. However, most of you will make good recoveries and move on with your lives.

I know, when you're in the throes of dealing with a myriad of symptoms, that that can be hard to believe. To illustrate my point, I'd invite you to peruse my "friends" list. The majority of the TBI ones are no longer on NT, because they got better. Yeah!

I sometimes worry that the presence of "lifers," like myself, can have a depressing and distorting effect on newcomers. In fact, after a long hiatus, I struggled with the idea of returning: I didn't want to bring others down. My injury and difficult recovery are ATYPICAL - most of you ARE going to get better. Hang on.
The ones that are lifers like me, are thrilled you are on the board. And in fact, in some of the more distressing threads where people are hopeless after a month or six or even 19 months, we can give them some perspective of how much time they have left to make marked recovery.

And we can share our experience with the myriad medications and treatments we've had regarding personal efficacy and side effects for specific symptoms, and, although of course not universally applicable, are useful nonetheless.

we can prove to them that there is hope because with a stroke, ABI and TBI under the belt, I can still write a sentence like this previous one

AND we can stress the caution that is needed after a head injury, and being once a 19 year old male, I know how easily that caution can be thrown to the wind without proper warning.

And I find myself telling newbies at least once a week that it is unfortunately expected that their neuro just told them it's all in their head because their MRI is fine. and that MRIs will not pick up most concussions

... and the list goes on.

That's my two cents
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