Facts About Concussion and Brain Injury

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Please remember, we are not able to give medical or legal advice. If you have medical concerns, please consult your doctor. All posted comments are the views and opinions of the poster only.

My now 19 yr old daughter has suffered 5 severe concussions, one of which caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down; in sporting events. Over A 4 yr period. She now is recovered Drs. say. She is now however so aggressive & suicidal, that her Dr. put her on Paxil, after Prozac made her even worse. We have had to call 911 on her & received absolutely no help, as she is A Adult now & they said they cannot force her to go to the hospital unless she actually tries to kill herself. Isn't trying to stab herself & her Father A attempt? The police & Mental health tech told us we had to let her leave or we would be holding her against her will & we would get in trouble. The police allowed her to get into her car and peel away from home & we did not hear from her for days. I have been fighting to get her help & keep being told \\\" she is A adult & she has to get her own help\\\" How can she when she does not even realize her problem. I spent days weeks & hours on the phone looking for help & have gotten no where. She hates me now for trying to get her to get help. She told me yesterday she wished I was dead. If anyone reading this has or knows of help for us as parents I would GREATLY appreciate it. P.S. The very first ? by all the help lines & facilities I called wanted to know first about her insurance. WTH. I do not care what it costs, my daughter, honor roll student; needs help NOW!
Wow..... interesting. Two weeks ago I hit a tree after hydroplaning on 495 at 60 to 70 miles per hour. I thought I was fine-no physical injuries- but I was complaining all the first week of "not feeling like myself". On day 8 I lost consciousness a few times during the day very briefly but I found it very weird lol.. I went home and slept for sixteen hours. Then became very depressed and felt suicidal I seem to be recovering now but I am just now realising that I probably had a concussion.
Don't give up! Keep searching for the right doctor who will listen to you. It took me almost 2 years to find the right neurologist who figured out what was going on with me. I was rear end at stop light by a pick up truck going 55 miles an hour. I only lost consciousness for a few seconds but was totally dazed and confused and in pain. I never felt right and knew things were wrong. I couldn\'t focus, things were too loud and too bright, I would zone out, forgot to pay my bills, couldn\'t keep my old household routine. This basically destroyed my relationship with my husband, son and daughter. I got the \"you look fine\", you\'re lazy\", \"just do what your told\". Come to find out I have a mild TBI and I suffer from frontal-temporal seizures as well. I have been in cognitive therapy for my memory issues. I am a CPA with an MBA who would have thought I couldn\'t shop for groceries for a week or decide on a parking spot or forget to rinse shampoo out of my hair on a regular basis. Some of these things have gotten better but some have lingered. I will undoubtedly have the seizures for the rest of my life. On the upside, I am more outgoing and I tend to speak my mind and say how I feel. I used to be much more reserved. So, at least I did get a couple of pluses;) Good Luck to all and keep searching for that doctor who will listen.....he/she is out there!
I got in a car accident a year ago and suffered a grade 3 concussion with TBI. Recently, I'm constantly sad and thinking of suicide, even though I don't think I'd harm myself. Constantly noise in my head. I do not want to tell anyone because they will think I'm crazy, or make me get physchitraic evaluation. I'm a 44, gt rear ended whle stopped at red light by kd going 45mph.....any advice??? I get really sad when alone. And have increased my drinking
I am 28 and had my fifth concussion now since the age of 10, I notice my mind is clearer now then ever after this one and I suffered it by braking m left orbital against an aluminum dry rack on 5/3/13 I feel stronger rather than weaker after this one can anyone help me understand how or why that may be docs have no answers for me?
mine is massive tramatic brain damage. The mri shows black, the specialist yelled " this is huge". ummmn ya all the symptoms are correct here minus the big time frustration involved as i await to get better. 7.5 years of feeling like im all tied up in a ball.
im scared i have one. whacked the hell out of the front-top (frontal lobe?) of my skull standing up to quick. Banged it on a metal pipe.... (yeah, I know, right). Have a headache, stiff neck, feel kind of like i got a lean on sometimes, every now and again will space out doing math. Today it happened. Pupils normal, no bright lights. Should i see doctor and file workers comp claim? It happened there, but god, it is just plain clumsiness!
The trunk on my car has long been dreaded as dangerous... and I always warned even grown men to be careful. It is very heavy and just slams down... a 15 yr old Intrepid. Well I got clobbered directly on the top of my head towards the front.. the wind took it.. three days ago... and I am on blood thinners for DVT's. I called for someone quickly and thank God my neice heard me. I remember little after that... I thought my sister was with me for the rescue and in the trauma unit. I had tremors in my right arm and hand... and nausa.. pain and neck pain. Noise in my ears from ring to a motor running on low ..like a fan. Sounds are louder... and noise make me irritable. I just want to sleep... the ER nurses were more concern than the neurologist who said... I am not concern after less than two minutes. The hospital is a Trauma Center but truly has declined on the level of care by physicians and doing what should be done vs what is cost effective. This hospital has lost some great physician's in the process and I was not happy to find I was going there. I am making an appointment with a neurologist of my own hospital and be followed for my symptoms " not cost effective treatment".
My story is about my son and i am sharing it in the hopes that people read these stories and realize they are right they are not crazy!!! The brain is like any muscle if you injure it it needs to heal. If you don"t heal it it will protect it"s self by not working properly. I try to compare it to someone spraining their ankle then the next day running a 10 km marathon. my son's story about several concussions and his last that ended him in 2 psyc hospitals is quite long so I am posting a copy of the letter i am sending to the doctors that wouldn't listen. For those who want the whole story as told by myself are welcome to contact me at linda.hurren@hotmail.com My son is M Hurren I'm sure you have many patients over the course of a year so you may not remember him. He was 20 years old and admitted with Psychosis. April 2012. I advised you at the time my son had suffered a severe concussion but you disregarded this as impossible and diagnosed him with Pycosis or marijuana induced schizophrenia. I understand why you would have assumed this to be his condition as his behavior was matching symptoms but I am writing this to let you know my son had severe post concussion syndrome by over using his concussed brain his brain had reverted to a child like state. Things he would have been taught and would talk about when he was younger sounded strange coming from a 20 year old man. I have attached a copy of a letter that I wrote to explain what happened including all the head injury's he received as a child and what I did to survive this but all I ask is to at least look at head injury as being an option even if the head injury was in the recent past . No tests can show concussions so head injury history is important. I can't help but wonder how many women/ men are in care on medications when all they need is rest The medication made his symptoms worse as he did not need them. My son is on NO medications and is back to living his normal life. He has been back to work since Aug 1 2012. Other than not really having anyone to talk to about his ordeal, as people still have a hard time accepting a mistreated concussion could cause this state of mind, he has had no ill effects. I believe he would still be locked in a hospital environment if I had not removed him as the medications would have continued to have adverse effects. Respectively Linda Hurren
if your eyes hurt after a concussion,please try GUNNAR GAMING GLASSES... my daughter suffered a concussion and the lights at school really hurt her eyes..sold at best buy and will signifigantly reduce eye pain
I'm 23 and I had concussion when I was 16. I was playing football and some idiot kicked the football straight at my eye (by accident). I think first of all I was worse than I am now because I suffered from headaches for a few years afterwards, but now I don't seem to get them anymore. My memory was pretty bad for a while afterwards. I am better now but I haven't exactly got a fantastic memory on me! The main thing that really ticks me off is ever since I had the concussion I've had a tremor in my neck that makes my head move to the side. This worsens when trying to concentrate looking at someone or having my picture taken, definitely when I get nervous it always happens. Now I've read people saying they've had tremors and their neck moves from side to side but mine just seems to go 1 way - pulls to the left. I was told by a neurologist, after getting an MRI scan (because of my headaches) to start lifting weights to strengthen my neck muscles and ease my headaches and I've been doing that ever since. Maybe that has helped my headaches but my neck tremor is still present and I've been trying to read up on how to fix it because it really irritates me.
Im 28 and have a history of concussions but have not had one in about 6 years. Recently I have had a lot of issues of memory loss and for lack of a better term i feel dumb. I am in a high performance sales position now and this is becomming more and more a worry to me. Not sure if anyone else has dealt with this but it is worrysome.
I've had 17 concussions the past year, and i only went to go get my head checked out for the first one. i cant barely function anymore, its starting to get really hard to do anything anymore.... Chris Ray 18
I so appreciate this article. As a specialist working with communication, I was recently asked to evaluate a student in school with a "r" problem that wouldn't resolve. In listening to what his teacher reported...mumbling, disorganization, impulsivity...and a parent report that the child had been in a car accident... I was able to surmise that the concussion the child had sustained was now impacting his communication. While the communication challenges at hand were minor for this student, it makes sense to support as well as monitor progress in school.
I am 71 yr old woman and another car T-boned me and I woke up in the hospital. I was out about one hour. I had a broken pelvis and a few injuries. It took a while to recognize everybody. That was 4 mos ago and I am still confused. I am a lot better but wonder how long it will take to become normal. It\'s embarressing to realize I repeat myself.
I am currently suffering the effects of a concussion after being hit by a car on a bike. I strongly suggest seeing either a Craniosacral Therapist, Craniofascial Therapist, or Massage Therapist that specializes in EITHER Pfrimmer or Myofascial Release. This has helped greatly with my neck pain and immobility radiating down the side I was hit, but I am still having lack of bodily coordination. I\'ve been getting Reiki Treatments to deal with the traumatic shock and muscle tension, but I still have a long way to go before I can say I\'m normal again. Currently, I\'m searching for a Rolfer to help rehabilitate my arm...update to follow...-Rinna
I have had 2 concussions in 1 year and now I have so much head pain I can hardly bare it. Both times I lost conciousness. The first time I was 26 years old playing with my 2 year old son when he caught me off guard and tackled me so hard, I fell back and hit my head on my kitchen floor. I woke up when the EMT put me on the gurney and I can only remember bits and peices of the ride to the hospital and the stay. The second time I fell down the stairs. I dont know how I made it to the stairs because it was the middle of the night. My husband thinks that I may have been sleep walking. He said he hurd me scream and hurd several thuds. I dont remember any of that. All I remember was waking up on the floor. Since that last fall, I cant tilt my head to look up. I have a constant nausious headache, I cant think straigt, Im easily destracted, and I have this horrible pain on the base of my skall. I have had 2 MRI's but they show nothing. Im suppose to go see a nurologist but I cant find the time with 2 small boys. I dont have the time to rest. The pain has make me very depressed. All I want to do is to be the best mom to my boys and I feel as if im failing. I really need some help. -Alisha Johnson 27
I have been a 25 miler per day on bike, until car hit me. Crushed my helmet, small 4 cm gash, unconscious for 5-10 min, taken to hospital in ambulance, concussion and compression fracture at T-3. It has been 6 months and I have most of the same symptoms with some improvement: severe neck pain, fleeting headaches, rhombus pain both sides, feeling 'stunned' most of the time, lack of coordination, auto travel produces nystagma. Do well to ride 1-2 times per week max of 4.5 miles. Use treadmill 3 days per week, about 1.5 miles each. Exercise is extremely difficult! Will never be the same. :((
I had a mild concussion 2 years ago. I was rear ended. I had a torn ligament in the back of my neck and the whipping of my head caused the concussion. Among other symptoms, memory problems etc... I have notice that I don\'t seem to handle stress very well. I feel like flight or flight and the pressure of the stess is overwhelming. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I would really appreciate any input someone might have. Oh, I don\'t do it as much now, but I also will repeat words or actions when typing.
I had a concussion for about a month and a half before now and I just found out a few weeks ago. It isn't major, but because I took so long to diagnose it and start treating it, it is supposed to take longer to recover. The question on my mind is how much longer is it until I can get back to normal / will I get back to completely normal? I am getting recruited for college softball and have school I need to get back to, so I am a little worried. Thanks! Goodluck to everyone out there with a concussion :)
I had a pretty bad concussion two years ago when i was in the eighth grade. I was out of school for a week with a really bad black eye. When the swelling went down, the whole white of my eye was bright red. That went away. I fractured my skull right beside my eye. Ever since my concussion, i get sick after i eat. I don't throw up, but i experience nausea, i get really pale, and sometimes i get blotchy. When i finish eating, i can't look at anyone elses food or smell food, it discusts me. It usually starts out with tremors going through my body, starting in my stonach area, sometimes my legs go numb, and my heart feels fluttery. I've lost 16 pounds because of this and have never gained it back. Sometimes i get really bad acid reflux if i eat greasy food, but thats gets better when i take a few Tums. I also get really bad depression and cry a lot, lose my temper for no reason, and have trouble learning in school. I've had to pause a few times while writing this just because i forgot what i was going to say. If anyone knows a way to help with my nausea after eating, please let me know.
Can a concussion have long term affects? My daughter was hospitalized for a concussion at the age of 8 and is now 16, and has difficulty remembering things.Texas
I just got a concusion saturday I am just wondering, the doctor sent me omeand said get some rest, but my speech is the same and everythingi do is so much slower. My talking, writing anf typing. It takes me longer to remember things and I ger a bad taste in my mouth. I dont feel as tho i am gettig better. I get dizzy and so tired. Will this go away
Hi, I was rear ended in 2007 and have had a concussion and side effects of forgetfulness and just walking around feeling stunned. Finally a Doctor asked me if there was anything I wanted to ask, I said, "is there any help for me to improve?' He sent me to a Speech Therapist and she has come up with all sorts of ways for me to retain myself and has pointed me to a support group, that I will attend next week. Already I am feeling so much encouraged that I have a way to get some of the "old me" back. My Speech Therapist feels strongly that a person with a brain injury should not be let alone to figure out how to get better or retain oneself!! I am so glad God helped me get the right help. I advise all of you to get this type of help. God bless you all! Hang in there it will get better!! Margie S
thank you for your information my huspand has brian injury what kind of question can i ask the doctars when i will meet them i am very confuse
I have found adderall helped me a lot with my slowness and omega 3..Flax for women only .Ive heard coconut oil helps with dimentia so maybe TBI people should try it
wow!! thanks to all. I was at work and a box fell about 24ft and hit me on top of my head. I was diagnosed with a cervical neck sprain. I continued to work while going to physiotherapy, accupuncture, and massage for over 18 months. 28 months with symptoms of nausea, headaches, ringing in my ear, pain, numbness, confusion, cognitive problems, memory, strange decisions, and then completer exhaustion my GP diagnosed pain disorder and depression. I met the best Dr. in the world who said obviously you had a concussion and post concussion sydrome. I burst our crying as i thought i had lost my mind. since then she has sent me to pain clinics, to a brain injury clinic and although i still suffer many symptoms 4 years later i have worked on the loss of my life as i knew it, i know i am not imaging anything and now i am working on what to do with the rest of my life. God bless to all
I've had a TBI now for 2.5 years. Going to a doctor won't nessarly help most doctors are idiots. Most Doctors do not know what to do for TBI people and give you drugs you don't need and therapy that won't help. I would suggest hyperbaric chamber. It's said to help brain injuried people. Most MRI's and CAT's are negative but don't let that discourage you. Brain mapping is another method that really helps. I've found that going to youtube and looking John Byler has helped me termendously. He has six sessions that help explain what he has gone through. I'm slowly recoverying but still have a long way to go.
Get Dr. Daniel G.Amen's book Change Your Brain Change Your Life. He shows you in pictures using SPECT imaging about what happens to the brain. He has offices in California and Washington state.
thanks for the comments about somatoform, medical \"experts\" noted my husband has a mild TBI, he has no working memory pre or post accident, has ptsd and they tried to say he has picked up a somatoform disorder...symptoms are all brain injury and also consistent with hypoxia....it happens over time and is not instant so you may notice your husband/wife etc decline over time...the time peiod for healing they have given me keeps being extended they really dont have a clue..if you get a TBI read \"I\'ll carry the fork...\" its like being an outsider looking into your life...
Sometimes it is made worse by the providers..............and psychologists that do not have enough medical knowledge to help people get the treatment they need instead of giving them a mental illness they don't have............and performing a mental privacy rape............asking too many personal questions. Or at teaching hospitals............performing tests such as speech iq garbage when a patient has said no.....is strung out on drugs such as fentaynl morphine lortab and other drugs............or has gone with out pain meds for 09 hours.....they just want to use people as lab rats....
It appears the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is just as ignorant as most doctors, including those in the UK. The errors in this article are crucial. They (CDC&P) said Nobody who suffers a concussion ever recovers fully. They may recover from acute symptoms, dizziness, head aches, etc. but there will always be some residual damage or weakness in their brain. This was observed in the 1970’s by Dr Dorothy Gronwall in New Zealand. The symptoms may not be evident until there are other stressors to the brain but some underlying damage will remain. They also state Rarely will there be any evidence of a concussion or other mild Traumatic brain injury on a CT or MRI. The damage is just too microscopic to show up on these imaging technologies. Clinical diagnosis is the most important. Even when clinical diagnosis is negative for concussion, possible/probable concussion should be noted in the medical records. The patient’s self-reporting of stars, dizziness, confusion, or other symptoms after the head impact is enough for a diagnosis of concussion. Many patients get lost in the system because their possible/probable concussion was not noted in their medical records. This leads to later symptoms being dismissed, discounted, or attributed to other causation. This often leads to a diagnosis of somatoform disorder which can negatively impact the future health care of the patient. It is important for the treating facility to do a follow-up, either in person in a clinic or by phone call to determine if symptoms have later developed or returned. Relying on the patient to return to the clinic based on their own judgment is problematic. Research shows that minor bleeds become most evident at about 72 hours. An increase in symptoms during this time period can possibly justify a new imaging study.
i have read your comments and post and hopefully once i show these to my son he will try to get some therapy he was dropped from a over pass six years ago and was in a functional coma where he was catatonic but had the ability to speak and semi understand his surrondings but his whole personality changed once he woke up and from what i read here today i see it can be helped if you se somebody
I had a concussion about 13 years ago, my question for you is, am I fine now? I feel fine, most days
God has a funny way of getting our attention. I know what I have to do now. THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES.BEYOND THE dOCTORS THERE IS NEVER COMPINSATION FOR LOOSING YOUR LIFE AND STILL BEING ALIVE
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I HAVE HAD A BRAIN INJURY IN OCT 2007 AND WAS OUT FOR 3 DAYS STRAIGHT 4TH DAY CRAWLED TO THE BED STILL DIDNT NOT NO I WAS HIT ON HEAD UNTIL I WOKE UP AND LOOKED IN MIRROR AND THEN NOTICED DIDNT END UP IN HOSPITAL UNTIL MAYBE 6 OR 7 DAYS LATER CAN SOME ONE POINME ON WHAT TO DO ??? I HAVE NO INSURANCE AND ALWAYS GETTING HEAD ACHES MOOD SWINGS MY WIFE TELLS ME AND LOTTA OTHER SYMPTOMS AND VERY FORGETFUL ! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP IM 44 YEARS OLD AND VERY DEPRESSED AND CRY A LOT ABOUT THIS PLEASE HELP ALSO IF ANYONE CAN HELP PLEASE LET ME NO AND I WILL GIVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS I DONT HAVE NO CLUE ON WHAT TO DO AT ALL DAVE
I am amazed at this. I read up on concussions and learned what the symptoms are, and that it is crucial to get medical attention and rehab as soon as possible; yet, according to your comments, it is the same as with my good friend...dizzy, weak, unbalanced, nausea...and yet none of the Drs. seem concerned. They do not think there was a concussion sustained (rear-ended by a semi, no skid marks, and forced into a line of three more stopped vehicles); 150 stitches in the back of the head, with deep abrasion on forehead. But a concussion? Doubtful. So, what do you do? Pray. Pray for a competent Dr. to help you out. And believe in the Power of God--then live as a Witness to Him. God bless each of you with a healing. Judy, IN
thank for this l just go troht l problen with is consornig is my brain no body what is hapenig tu my son they said is depretion boooo please help me australia
Guy, I so know your situation as I was a student at Harvard and had an accident and was treated very similar. After five years of living with this, my conclusions are that the medical industry has no idea in general how to look at this, and honestly after going to one of the best rehab facilities in the world, they have no idea how to treat it.... seriously, they don't. They cannot prove anything by looking at exrays because to them it does not exist. When you look at the fact that anything that truly exists is made up of energy and matter. We are energy and it damages our brains, system, and energy flow. I was healed by a tremendous woman who healed her own daughter with TBI from a car accident. Please contact me at lcampbell@pvgasset.com and I can help you... trust me. Laura
This is all interesting. I live in UK and was rear-ended at high speed three years ago. I fatigue easily, even now, and have a lot of very irritating deficits such as clumsiness, forgetfulness, lack of concenration, lack of smell & taste, etc. I am 62 and accept that it's not as serious as if it had happened to me as a young man. There as been ongoing litigation, for relatively trivial money, maybe 100,000 sterling tops. But, having had an extensive series of tests which supported my claim, my lawsuit was stopped in its tracks then other day by our own Expert Medical Witness, a Professor of Neuropsychiatry at a London Unversity who examined me and then wrote the following report: "The first question to address is did the accident result in a brain injury. Using the standard parameters to make such an evaluation, namely the presence of unconsciousess, retrograde or post traumatic amnesia there is no evidence that he displays any problems in these domains. Neither was there a head injury sustained in the index event. These parameters clearly indicate that there was no head injury sustained and thus on this basis it is difficult to account for neurological type symptoms which he now presents with in terms of any brain injury sustained in the accident. The overwhelming evidence is that he did not sustain a brain injury." I had reported that after the crash I just sat in my seat completely dazed and seeing stars for anything from ten seconds to a minute, (I was on my own) but did not lose consciousness or memories of the event. I find it very frustrating. The inference is either that I am making it all up, or else that coincidental Ily with the week of the crash I developed a whole suite of idiopathic neurological problems. Apologies for ranting. Guy
i have a concussion. this article has helped me to understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for writting this. christy linnean james

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