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


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Old 07-06-2015, 10:14 AM #1
Laupala Laupala is offline
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Default New concussion book: The Ghost in My Brain

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of a new concussion book called "The Ghost in my Brain: How a concussion stole my life and how the new science of brain plasticity helped me get it back" by Clark Elliott, PhD, a professor of artificial intelligence. He suffered a relatively minor concussion from a car accident that left him with symptoms as bad as I've heard about for 8 years, until he started seeing 2 professionals, a developmental optometrist who gave him a series of glasses over the course of a few years, and a cognitive psychologist who gave him a progression of brain puzzles.

He now considers himself essentially fully recovered, after 8 years of truly debilitating symptoms. Aside from being a very hopeful story, this book is a fascinatingly detailed portrayal of how the mind works, and how things can go wrong after a concussion. It also has a very clear explanation of the science and reasoning behind prism and other corrective lenses, and goes through in detail how his doctor prescribed them. As someone who has had prism lenses prescribed (without much benefit), it the diagnostic tests and attention to detail of his doctor in prescribing his series of glasses was well above and beyond what I experienced.

Worth a read or listen if you're interested.
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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 07-26-2015, 10:54 PM #2
donniedarko donniedarko is offline
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I have been reading up on prism glasses and I really want to go see a neuro-opthalmologist to get checked out, but it seems they're rather rare. Surprisingly couldn't find one in my area, and I live in Austin, TX which is a well known big city.
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March 2009: Concussion from a tree branch falling on head, all symptoms cleared up by 8-month mark. Started having head and hand tremors in 2013, which may had been caused by this concussion.

February 2015: Slammed head into a heavy dining table light, another concussion.

Current symptoms: Constant headaches that are mostly localized to the right side, head pressure, head sensitivity, moderate fatigue, fractured sleep, anxiety, mood swings, tremors, mild dizziness caused by head movement at times, neck pain, fullness in right ear, mild blurry vision

Symptoms that went away: Light/noise sensitivity, nausea, severe fatigue, moderate blurry vision, tinnitus

Current meds: Tramadol
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Old 07-26-2015, 11:19 PM #3
Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
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Look for a behavioral optometrist. You may find help there. Google behavioral optometrist Austin. You'll find plenty.
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Old 07-27-2015, 08:41 AM #4
"Starr" "Starr" is offline
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My prism glasses are the closest thing I've had to an improvement in 3.5 years. Just got them in January and since I put them on, I no longer need a cane to get around and keep me from falling. Now if I take them off, all improvements are lost and my balance and gait are all messed up again.

My eye doc says the benefits should "hold" for a while after removal, but so far, not for me. So, I just try to remember to always have them on, unless I'm asleep.

Now if I could just kick this flu... being feverish for 6 days in this heat and humidity is brutal.
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Old 07-29-2015, 09:53 AM #5
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Where did you get the audio book, I cannot read for long periods and love audiobooks, did you use an app of some sort?

I am currently listening to the concussion crisis, which is interesting in its own way
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PCS since 07/14 Symptoms: Vision(double,tracking, contrasts) Headache, Motion sensitivity, Psych issues, low stress tolerance, minor tinitus, sensitivity to noise and light, sleep issues.
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Old 07-29-2015, 09:54 AM #6
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Forget I asked! Found it.
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PCS since 07/14 Symptoms: Vision(double,tracking, contrasts) Headache, Motion sensitivity, Psych issues, low stress tolerance, minor tinitus, sensitivity to noise and light, sleep issues.
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Old 07-29-2015, 10:44 AM #7
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I use audible, they have an app for your phone that's really easy to use. I've also used iTunes for a couple audiobooks, but audible's app is way better.
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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 07-29-2015, 11:38 AM #8
injuredbutrecoverin injuredbutrecoverin is offline
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is anyone thinking of giving those clinicians a try (the ones described in the book) or do you guys think that this is a one off case and they are just milking this now for publicity?
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Old 07-30-2015, 06:23 PM #9
Blairzo Blairzo is offline
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Hi folks, I was injured in 2004. I saw neuro ophthalmologist and had botulinum injected into eye muscles and got prism. It helped with the double vision enough for me to get to legally drive!
I still struggle with night driving, I cannot cope in snow or heavy rain as my left eye follows whatever is 'shiniest or moving fastest' in those circumstances I can wear an eye patch.
I struggle with balance in places where there are crowds of moving people especially, geometric patterns on the floor and uneven surfaces.
I see them whenever my normal optician measures the deviation is more than 20 and the I can get injections again.
It makes life interesting though 😉👍
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