Hi Mike,

I was in Beijing 2 wks ago visiting the Beijing Tiantan PuHua Hospital regarding the use of stem cell for TBI, MS and Parkinson. We you in the hospital at that time?

Dr. Diane Roberts Stoler

You missed me by a week. I left on June 20th. Out of curiosity, what did you think if the place?

Mike

I'm glad I thought to look for support groups, I banged my head and had staples just about a month ago. The ER doctor didn't do any imaging, told me she didn't think there would be any concussion. Well THAT was wrong. Three days later after feeling somewhat OK I got severe severe dizziness, sleepiness, nausea...and I have vertigo already, I can tell you THAT dizziness was much worse than my usual. After I went back and got a clear CAT scan and a diagnosis of concussion I took two weeks off from school and felt better when I went back. Then after about a week the dizziness returned, the nausea, the headaches, anxiety, mood swings, forgetfulness, I was having panic attacks because I didn't understand how this could be happening..I was going through my final testing to be a nurse's assistant which involves some lifting and critical thinking and to be honest it was 3 days of hell. I just barely passed a course which should have been easy for me.
Now I've just finished yesterday and I looked around and saw that I had post concussion syndrome and that it takes time to go away. But my secret fear has been that I will never get better, in fact that I will just get worse and worse until I'm demented...not knowing much about what's happened to me. But I'm almost in tears here to see other people saying that yes others have had it and have fully recovered, even if I'm sincerely praying it doesn't take 2 years......BTW what do you do with yourself if you have to live this way for 2 years??

I've always wanted to post in this thread. Now, I think I can. I'm a 28 yr old male in good health. On May 27, 2011 I sustained a mTBI. I was trying to break up a fight and punched 3 times in the head. Immediate symptom was feeling very dizzy. For the rest of the day I felt dazed. Taken by ambulance to hospital. No imaging done.

The next day was when pcs hit full force. I had HORRIBLE fatigue. I slept the whole day. I was very nauseous. My vision was off (things appeared smaller as if I couldn't focus properly, which was by far my worse symptom). I didn't have bad headaches although they were present. No dizzyness, but I was always sleepy.

The next few days I had HORRIBLE insomnia. I woke up every 45 minutes of the night. On top of that I was always sleepy. I stayed in a dark room all day. Depression set in. I thought that my life would suck forever and I'd always have these symptoms.

I read Mark In Idaho's posts of how important nutrition and rest were in the healing process. I bought a high potency fish oil supp from GNC. I also took Vit. D and B 12 supps. I ate 4 whole eggs each day and one serving of pasta. Eggs have high levels of B12 and choline. Pasta contains high levels of folate i believe.

About 2.5 months I started to see recovery. My sleep came back just like that. My eyes also started to focus and I could see things the way I saw them before (my biggest relief). The fatigue also went away. Today I can lift weights, read for hours, play video games and not get any symptoms.

Btw guys, neuros and GPs are useless when it comes to mTBI. Mine did absolutely nothing but listen to my story and nod his head. He told me I'll be fine and 100 % better in no time.

Today I have almost no symptoms. However, I do notice every now and then I'll fumble when typing. Before the concussion, I was very good @ typing on a keyboard, rarely making mistakes. Sometimes I stumble over words when talking, although this is also rare. In addition, it has left a psychological scar on me that I don't think I'll ever be able to shake. Every now and then I worry about the fact that having a concussion puts you at a higher risk for alzheimer's and parkinsons.

I do believe that something good came from all this. The first few days I was very depressed. Lol I even cried a few times. I got on my knees and promised God that if he healed me, I would serve him until I died. Today, I feel as if I am back to my old self. And that promise haunts me constantly. Before, I lived a pretty carefree lifestyle. Today, I am a better Christian. I feel in my heart as if a divine power had something to do with my healing, (although most neurologists would disagree) .

My best to all of you.