Adult Life after a Traumatic Brain Injury

Hi, @emmawalling1992. Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I believe you are exactly right that you have found people like yourself who can relate to things such as emotions like anger after a TBI, to seeing themselves change after an injury and feeling isolated sometimes.

I'd also like you to meet @hopeful33250.

It sounds like you've done some memory testing. Wondering what other medical tests or treatments you've experienced since your head injury?

I fell a year ago and hit my face/head on a very heavy glass door then hit concrete when I fell to the ground. I hit with such force (I stumbled about 10 feet before hitting) that I broke my neck and tore ligaments on the side of my neck. I was knocked out for at least 30 minutes. Along with the typical memory loss and all other weird things the biggest issue is my blood pressure it is extremely high. I am currently on 8 pills a day, 3 different ones, nothing is helping. It's more common than unusual to wake in the morning with it being 221/139. My head hurts on the side I fell on and no one is saying the BP issue is in any way connected to the TBI. I never had BP this crazy high before I fell. Any one else out there have this issue. My Primary Dr. wanted me to go to Mayo in Rochester, but I do not have the funds to travel there, and no one to go with me.

Hi, @sadivari - that sounds like an extremely painful fall.

I moved your post here to this discussion of adult life after traumatic brain injury (TBI) so you can speak to others who have had a TBI. Some members here have had a TBI for a short time, and some have been living with a TBI for years. I think their collective wisdom will be helpful. They may have ideas on why your blood pressure might have gotten so high after your fall or have common experiences to share.

sadivari - Is the highest blood pressure reading occurring when you awaken, or at another time of day or following a certain activity? Or does it stay about the same all day?

I take three pills before bed around midnight. It's not uncommon around 5:00 a.m. to have head pain wake me. Or something touches me and I get startled and wake up in a panic. Especially if something touches my face. My BP that time of night and also when I wake up is usually over 200, or in the 190's. Today my high was 213/112 at 11:37 a.m. at 4:32 it dropped to 125/70 (this is more unusual then the higher number) it's combined with either a fever of 100.4 - 100.7 or like all day yesterday just severe chills. Yesterday I was unable to get off the couch I felt awful. First reading was 171/98 @ 9:25 a.m. later in the day it was 214/103 at 9:56 p.m. after taking 9 BP pills...very frustrating as I do have an aneurysm I'm concerned about. I do take a photo of each reading if not the doctors would not believe this is happening. No issues like this before the brain injury. No one will address that. I keep getting excuses. I really am afraid of a stroke.

Hi there. Adult life is different after a brain injury, and even worse from a Traumatic Brain Injury. In my case, it took me a full year to really think I will be ok. I wasn't really ok but I knew I was getting better, so I gained that as a good thing. Two years is a short time. Think about your kids, they grew better & better every year, and so will you. Find the good times/days/event and write them down on a calendar. A journal works too, but I did a calendar to keep my "notes" small. Then it becomes easy to see and remember those good times. It also made it easier to forget what was in my way. If/when I needed my wife to be something I always did, it sucked for sure, but it made me help her in the "task". For instance, when she was done, I took the bill & check into the envelope, put on a stamp, wrote my home address on the "from" line. Making sure that task was done. After a few times of that, those small tasks became my tasks again. Don't think that time is a problem, use it as an ally. Give yourself a pat on the back everytime you finished any task or chore. Your brain recovers daily as long as you believe in yourself and never stop. But it takes so much energy. Be nice to yourself. You will continue to recover in your favor.

Hello...I fully understand that you are losing hope...I had hope for the past year. and just gave up all hope today. Waiting to finally see a Neurologist who is suppose to have run a concussion clinic I went very prepared. I wrote a brief description of what happened because my ability to communicate is all screwed up. I am a young 74 with zero age related health issues. I had a severe concussion where I slammed my face into a heavy glass door then hit the concrete... so hard that I broke my neck at the C-3 level. Whiplash and torn ligaments > I was unconscious for 30-59 minutes. It's been over a year and since that day my blood pressure is out of control. Im taking 9 BP pills a day and on any given day my BP rockets up well over 200....I waited month so see the Neurologist and brought everything in order of tests, reports, scans and a list of symptoms... the man looked at nothing. He said he has never heard of erratic or high blood pressure from a TBI....Honestly??? My primary doctor wanted me to go to Mayo in Rochester. I can not do that as my husband listens to the doctors and says it's all Psychosomatic. I can produce to these doctors what Mayo has online that it is a secondary problem and a serious one. ..I have a small aneurysm that appeared in 22' so I am afraid of having a stroke. I also have body temperature changes, either a fever or I'm freezing. My head feels like it's going to explode the pain is no plain headache. I even have a dent on my forehead and yet they still say it's nothing.....I don't want to end up in some nursing home in a few years because the people are just ignoring me. It's very frustrating. How can a man who is suppose to be an expert in his field say he's never heard of erratic blood pressure being connected to a TBI....It's all over the internet, and I only look at the Mayo Clinic site or the National institute of Health , a government agency....they are killing me slowly and I just don't understand what they have to gain by not being honest......So you are not alone..Is it because we are women??