Hello,

About 4 months ago, I fell down a flight of stairs which were made of cinderblock and was knocked out cold, hitting the front of my head which caused me to pass out completely. I remember falling and the feeling of hitting my head only. I don't know how long I was unconscious because I was alone, and after a while, someone found me, and I don't know who it was or if I was awake or not. I was totally delirious although talking, rambling as I understand, but eloquently so, and have little memory of the next six to eight hours, although I was taken by ambulance to the hospital for a CT scan to see if I had a fractured skull. I did not, so they took me out of the trauma unit. The hospital said I had a moderate concussion and treated it with ice. My head had a goose egg on it that was the size of an orange, so it was impossible to miss where I hit my head. I only barely remember being in the hospital or driving home (they said it was fine to drive home, which amazes me since I was severely mentally altered and dazed, like if you drank a few bottles of wine).

I went home and was intensely drowsy for days and days, and I couldn't think clearly at all. My concentration was horrible, so I could not read or follow the plot of a film. I felt out of it. No headaches or dizziness or anything else. I slept 16 hours a day for about a week, taking off work. I felt dull-witted.

Then I had to go back to work, and my work is cerebral and requires tons of thinking, and I had a hard time with it. Now, four months later, I feel very strange all the time mentally, and my thoughts feel like they're blank, and I am always out of it, and I lose track of time constantly, and I still cannot read because I space out, and I have stopped socializing because it's too complicated to follow conversation, and I still have trouble following the plot of a movie. I'm also still drowsy and sleep about 12 hours a night. I feel apathetic and stay home all of the time. I was going to go to Italy for a holiday but cancelled my trip because it sounded complicated and not like fun to me. I spent my holiday lying on the couch. I'm also staring into outer space a lot and having trouble not doing this. No headaches or dizziness.

I went to the neurologist, had a check-up, and the neurologist said I was fine and that I was depressed, which makes no sense since this started when I had the concussion, like that day. He put me on Celexa which didn't help even a little bit. That was two months ago. I want to quit it because it feels like I'm taking a sugar pill. No one told me about post-concussion syndrome either; I found it on Google and am wondering if that's what's going on.

I just feel stupid, really stupid, and really slow, and I normally am very sharp. I've been taking B-12 and fish oil but not seeing any change. Is there anything else I should be doing? Is this permanent? I can't do my job very well since it requires thinking, and I now feel like I'm demented or something. The thoughts just don't connect. Also, my time management used to be great but is now horrible, and I'm having trouble multi-tasking. I've tried drinking coffee too but that didn't help.

My husband says I no longer get jokes, and he is pretty worried about me. It's hard to do household things, like cook, which I'm good at but now they are very complicated and overwhelming. My job is teaching high school, so this is alarming. I don't know what to do but the neurologist is the only one here that my insurance covers, and he thought it was psychiatric even though he did not do any tests and I have no psychiatric history and this started with the concussion, literally that moment, I started to have these problems, and they subsided to a degree but not completely.

Sorry for your troubles. 4 months is nothing sorry to say. These injuries take time probably more than a year to see real improvements. You will have to find a way to manage your life till then, both on the recovery side and on the career side. It's a real test of faith on yourself and keeping on moving forward in the storm and taking as much pain as you can. We are all having similar struggles. It will go away one day that's a promise. Help yourself and don't fall.

Have you got your neck checked ? Also you should be taking more than just b12 and fishoil I think. Others will have better answers. Hang in there. Good luck

skygray,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your injury. My very first concussion was from falling down a flight of hardwood stairs. I did great until the landing, then thunk. Goose egg and all.

The struggles you describe are all classic Post Concussion Syndrome. It does not sound like you have any treatable symptoms since you are not having head aches or dizziness. The cognitive struggles just take time. Trying to push through will only cause fatigue and delay recovery. You need cognitive rest. Not sleep except you do need good sleep each night.

You need rest from mental challenges. You may need rest from auditory and visual stimulation. Most do. It sounds like you overload with visual and auditory stimulation, films, conversations etc. This is common and you need a break from it. A conversation with a single person in a quiet area is likely all you can tolerate.

So you can understand this, the brain has an important task at filtering your experience. With PCS, that filter is often not functioning and all stimulation passes to the brain and it is overloaded trying to process it. The only solution is to moderate that stimulation so the brain has time to heal.

It would be good to read the Vitamins sticky at the top. It has some good links to check out when you have time.

Please feel free to ask or tell us anything. We are here to help.

My best to you.

As an educator, there's no way to rest from mental challenges, but at least it's the summer. I'm glad to hear that this is normal. I started really wondering because the neurologist threw antidepressants at me, and when I was first in the hospital, no one mentioned any possibility of further problems. They said they were happy I had not fractured my skull, which they thought due to how seriously out of it I was. It seemed like once they noticed my skull was not fractured, they just ignored me and discharged me.


This is not my first concussion but my second. The first was mild, and I felt better by the next day. I was knocked out briefly that time by a piece of furniture being moved into a new house. I didn't go to the hospital until the next day due to headaches. They said I was fine and sent me home. I was tired that day, but the next day, I was 100%

The neurologist said I was just depressed, which is crazy because my life has otherwise never been better. I have felt easily overwhelmed though, which I think is why I don't want to go anywhere much. It's exhausting. I feel sensitive to things, more than usual, to stimulus around me. I have trouble driving because I feel more motion sensitive than usual. I also feel embarrassed because I lose track of what people are saying.

I forgot to mention! Not meant to be funny though… I've had serious memory problems as well, and so I am constantly struggling to find words, which as a teacher is not a good thing at all. I keep forgetting what I'm saying mid-sentence and what just happened earlier in the day. Just short-term memory stuff, but it's very, very obvious to me.

Thanks for your support. I'm glad to even found out about post-concussion syndrome and will take a look at the vitamins stuff, although I'm not a big fan of vitamins and don't tend to believe in many alternative treatments. I can't promise mental rest though because I teach, and you have to be mentally active constantly. I have 150 students next semester, from 8-3 every day, and at home, I grade non-stop.

What are good summer activities for mental relaxation?

Did I strain myself going back to work too soon too, I wonder? I think that may have been it. I was still very woozy and drowsy when I returned to work out of necessity, and I've had problems non-stop since then.

Hi, thanks for your help here. Neck checked for what and by who? I went to a neurologist. That was it. There was a CT scan in emergency 4 months ago, but I don't know what they looked at exactly. I haven't had any other tests except some blood tests. I don't have a follow-up with the neurologist, but since I'm part of a medical group, he wrote that I was depressed, so anything I request now will be said to be related to that (a nightmare situation to be in). So it's unlikely I will be able to get more help

What would the neck be checked for. I don't have any pain.

skygray,

First question. Where are you ? US, Canada, ??? Different countries' health care systems have different ways of dealing with concussions.

The word finding problems are common. I am not surprised you have them. many do.

Often, good activities are those that involve manual work. The hands can not move faster than an injured brain can tolerate. Handicrafts can be good. You want to stimulate good blood flow but not over challenge your cognitive functions.

The 'depressed' note in your medical record is negligent in my view. Do you have access to a Physiatrist (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) ? They are often connected with rehab hospitals and clinics. A Neuro Psychologist may be worthwhile, too. The rehab clinic or hospital often has those available. The NeuroPsych can help define your cognitive struggles and may be able to suggest help.

Did you read the Vitamins sticky at the top ?

Hi Skygray,

I'm sorry to hear you've joined the PCS ranks, but glad to see you on this forum. It's been tremendously helpful to me.

I understand the difficulties of trying to continue working in a mentally demanding job while coming to terms with your new PCS-enduring self. Unfortunately the two don't go together well. At all.

I can't speak for others, but for me any attempts at pushing through my symptoms to engage in family time, social engagements, work, etc., have always made things more difficult for me and my family. Following any mental/physical exertion there is a recovery that extends for days/weeks. During this, all my symptoms and depression intensify... I get angry easily at my family, feel as intelligent as a pumpkin squash, can't find words, require isolation from everyone, etc., etc. From this I've learned that pushing it simply is not worth the price that comes with it.

In the end, you have to be careful that you're not doing too much. After all, rest from mental exertion is likely a key component in recovery duration.

Good luck with everything.