Hello everyone, as mentioned in the title this is my first post here, and therefore I should provide some background information regarding myself, in addition to the circumstances that lead me to sustaining a TBI less than seven days ago (Wednesday 11th of January 2017).

Firstly, as disclosed in the title, I'm 20 years of age, which speaking in terms of brain injuries should be the time when I shouldn't have to worry extensively about a brain injury - given that for teens and young adults, the recovery time for an injury of this nature is far less on average compared to those in later adulthood. Although this is usually the case, I feel like I have a significant reason to worry, primarily due to the fact that I'm currently halfway through my second year at University (in the UK), which means I am expected to fulfill serious academic demands; at the moment I feel as if I'm unable to satisfy them. Conversely, I have already been diagnosed with anxiety and depression during my mid-teenage years, in addition to Asperger syndrome and dyspraxia during childhood.

Secondly, the circumstances surrounding my concussion are somewhat slightly odd compared to the more average ones discussed on this board. I'll try to explain it the best I can. Some context - I am part of a dark ages reenactment society at university (Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, etc), which has given me the wonderful opportunity to engage with my passion for history, and more importantly, meet some of my closest friends. Twice a week we hold combat training sessions, where we hone weapon technique and work on other aspects such as tactics and teamwork - usually on Wednesday and on Saturday. Now that the context is out of the way, let me get into the chronology of the incident itself. This took place on the Wednesday session of last week, and it began slightly differently from usual - given I had appointments with councilors over a period of a couple of hours that same afternoon, I was in fact at least more than an hour late to training, which at that point had been going for quite a while. I'm feeling a little rusty, which is usual after periods of inactivity, seeing as we had all just returned from a three-week-long Christmas break, and this was therefore the first training session in almost a month. I practiced on the weapon I'm the most proficient with for half an hour, which is the spear - no issues at all, apart fro m a slightly slowed response time. I then switched to a weapon that I would say that I'm semi-competent with, which is the sword and shield. Though I know and can apply the basics and a number of slightly more trickier techniques, I'm still relatively new to it. It is here where the incident occurs. So, after a brief moment of pause to discuss what we'd like to hone in today's session, my sparring partner and I begin to spar as per usual. Only this time round, we start to get a bit overconfident, leading to us overexposing ourselves in order to see if we can score a hit on the other in as short a time as possible. After a few rounds, we begin to get even more competitive, as we realize that this is taking quite a while. I then get the confidence to take the risk of moving in to attack my opponent's right side, which was slightly exposed. He then proceeds to do the same, only for this attack to miss the right side of my torso and hit the back of my head instead. I would like to stress here that there was no loss of consciousness, neither was there any sort of wounding or visible blood loss involved - and that thankfully the sword blades involved are blunt . Adrenaline kicked in, and at the time it felt like nothing more than a slight bump to the head - I felt okay to spar for a few more minutes, then we proceeded to stop the session early and take the equipment back to the storage facility (which is the basement of my house).

For a few hours afterwards, the adrenaline masked the symptoms I am currently feeling, and as a result I did not feel them until later the same evening. It was not until Friday afternoon I consulted a doctor, which I did so after my councilor urged me to do so during our appointment. I was advised to rest and take painkillers for a short while (1-2 weeks) and return to activities once I felt better. After doing 'research' (I use that term loosely, seeing as there was tons of contradicting information on the internet), I began to feel extremely worried about the long-term implications. Against what my body was telling me, I also went to an exam yesterday morning, where I was sustained by pure adrenaline. I'll list the symptoms as to give an overview as to what I'm experiencing at the moment:

• Headaches
• Memory issues (i.e. remembering information related to my course - semantic memory). Yet my episodic memory is still okay, which I'm grateful for. Things are quite foggy - would I have to relearn everything?
• Stumbling/difficulty keeping balanced. Coordination is rather off too.
• Depression and anxiety - as mentioned earlier, I already suffer with these issues. I'm unsure whether it is the injury or the resulting stress that is making these worse.
• Nausea - I vomited for the first time a few hours ago. It wasn't much, but it is still worrying.
• Fear - I'm frightened about what is going to happen next. All I would like to do at the moment is return home to my family, but that would involve a 12 hour bus journey; to which I frankly don't have the energy to do at the moment.
• Fatigue - I'm having to take breaks more than usual.

The severity of these symptoms has been fluctuating wildly, in a fashion I could best describe as a yo-yo sort of effect.

Following the incident, I only left my home three times, to see my councilor and consult a doctor, both of which are situated on campus - my accommodation, which I share with six of my close friends, is on the street right outside of the entrance to campus. The third occasion was to do a two-hour exam that was vital to completing a module on my degree program.

From the information I've read both on the internet and in leaflets provided to me by my doctor, these issues should sort themselves out in either 7-10 days, or somewhere in the region of a week to a few months. I'm not feeling confident about this, so I've asked my councilor to take me to the nearest hospital (or rather A&E) to get a second opinion, and possibly a scan.

It doesn't help that I watched a Louis Theroux documentary about dementia and the implications it has on both the people living with it, and those who care for them - It only made me feel more anxious.

Anyhow, I am indeed very sorry for the long post, and I do hope that I can find some solace and support here. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

VincentH,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

I made it through you post. I would usually be unable to read such a long paragraph. You put a lot of detail in.

You need to understand, you are very early in the recover timetable. 85% of concussions see recovery within 6 weeks with no special treatment.

My first impression. You have no memory issues. Your ability to recall inconsequential detail shows your memory is doing fine, even outstanding.

You are intelligent and a high achiever. This is the kiss of death to concussions because even the slightest symptom becomes a monster symptom.

Your anxiety seems to be in full force, even to the point of some OCD like symptoms. This makes even slight concussion symptoms much worse.

You have done too much online research about concussions. That is not helpful to your condition. It causes anxiety in many. Some of your research was faulty or misunderstood. "which speaking in terms of brain injuries should be the time when I shouldn't have to worry extensively about a brain injury - given that for teens and young adults, the recovery time for an injury of this nature is far less on average compared to those in later adulthood."

Age does not impact recovery time as much as it impacts completeness of recovery as age related brain deterioration mixes with injury caused symptoms. Everybody at every age should be concerned so as to reduce risk of a head injury. Unfortunately, the youthful "I am invincible" thought pattern puts many youth and young adults at risk.

Vomiting 6 days after your injury strongly suggests the vomiting is anxiety related. When vomiting is a symptom of a head injury, the nausea and vomiting happens close to the time of injury and decreases from that point. It does not increase 6 days later.

I am concerned that a hit to the back of the head has caused a subtle neck injury that is manifesting with symptoms that overlap a concussion. I suggest icing your neck and being cautious about your head and neck posture when resting or sleeping.

You need to keep your mind active with low stress activities that do not include doing any online research about concussions or head injuries. Anxiety can make a very minor symptom into a major symptom. In some, these minor symptoms pre-existed the concussion but were 'looked for' after reading about concussion. It is amazing how we disregard existing symptoms until a trauma causes us to look for symptoms because a doctor asked about that specific symptom or we read about that symptom online.

Anxiety can easily impact memory/recall, especially information needed for an exam. Anxiety disrupts focus. Learning to reduce anxiety can make a big difference in ability to focus and recall.

One of the symptoms you listed was stumbling/coordination. This is a primary symptom of dyspraxia. Other symptoms you mention are also symptoms of dyspraxia. Aspergers also throws a monkey wrench into the whole scheme of things. Add depression and anxiety and you have the perfects storm. So, stay off the internet, avoid thinking about concussions by keeping your mind busy, maybe take up a mid-evil oriented craft of knitting, crocheting and sewing to keep your hands and mind occupied. Maybe you can try to make some costumes. Stay away from any risks like sparring. And start living your life while avoiding stressful situations.

Read the Vitamins sticky at the top for ideas about nutrition and things to avoid. Make some notes so you do not have to go online to review the information. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol.

You will do much better if you give yourself a break.

My best to you.

7 days is nothing time wise for recovery.

I suspect that like a broken bone you will heal.

Consider a helmet, your head is pretty valuable.

Bud

Thanks Mark and Bud for the advice, It really has put things into perspective. Now that I've calmed down a bit, I can really see how the stress and anxiety made some of my symptoms feel a lot worse than they perhaps were in reality.

I also went to A&E yesterday afternoon and had a check up from the neurologist, and they've reassured me everything should be fine as long as I relax and don't put too much pressure on myself to recover.

Just to let things take their course, and hopefully in a few weeks it should be fine. It's been a learning experience to say the least. My semantic memory is slowly starting to get better.

Researching everything has always been a habit of mine, and while at times like these can be beneficial it also has the tendency to make things a lot worse. Web MD has been known to make people with the common cold believe they have the bubonic plague after all!

I'm taking time off sparring for a while, and when I fell well enough to return I'll make sure to wear my helmet to every session. I already wear mine during shows, so I might as well do so during training.

I've also remembered this time to break the post up into smaller paragraphs this time, so it should be far more easier to follow than the OP.

I'm also thankful that medical science has advanced vastly since the middle ages - otherwise I'd have had a hand drill being wound into my head.

Vincent,

Please stop trying to measure things like your semantic memory. It will only cause anxiety. There are many things besides a concussion that can influence memory functions, especially quality of sleep. Poor or disrupted sleep can make somebody who has never suffered a head injury perform like they are half brain dead.

If you are so easily impacted by a simple concussion, many of us would suggest you reconsider sparring at all. You have an education you need to complete.

I guess you're right. Trying to measure things that really cannot be measured (i.e semantic memory) only serves to make my anxiety worse, which in the grand scheme of things isn't good at all.

It's always been a habit of mine, that is trying to measure or rationalize things that really can't be reasoned with - only that it made things seem worse than they actually are. I keep reminding myself that recovery takes time, and that the more I stress about it, the longer it's going to take.

Now that I think of it, I would say the memory issue is mainly down to the anxiety, and that I'm just going to let things take their course. I've always been a bit of the worrying type. But sometimes the best solution is to surrender myself to the circumstances and just to focus on what is important.

I'm going to take a while off sparring, and return to it when I feel well enough to do so. While I've always felt the need to measure things or quantify them into numbers, I can't exactly do that with my health.