Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

Does Magtein help with mood and temper issues related to Concussion and CTE? It is further complicated by a Diagnosis of PTSD from a mentally abusive spouse. Any other ideas to improve life?

Hello @willow11 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You, understandably, sound frustrated with your situation. In case it is helpful as you explore this condition, I wanted to share some information about typical symptoms and also care options:

- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20370921

Aside from your symptoms you shared, you also mentioned an abusive situation at home which should not be overlooked. Are you still living with your spouse?

No, with the help of my friends I escaped him in 2013. It was sad that he was an expert gaslighter and poisoned my Sisters against me. They did not give me refuge, when I tried to leave the first time, and after I left they assisted my spouse. It was probably because I didn’t tell them about it. And my parents that knew, had passed away.

No Magtein just contains Magnesium-L.
My GP recommended 400mg Magnesium and 400mg of B2 (Riboflavin), because it had shown in Medical Journals to help people with migraines. It helped with my regular all day concussion head aches, but the Magnesium Oxide I started with, was doing other things, I didn’t need (it is regularly prescribe for constipation which was not my problem). On reading up on the different Magnesium supplements I found that Magnesium - L-Threonate was the only Magnesium that passed the blood brain barrier and I knew that was what I needed. I couldn’t find it in my local Pharmacy, but noticed that Magtein contained it as a main ingredient, so I began taking that after looking at its clinical trials online which seemed favorable and the fact that it had gone through trials was good news.

Before the Concussion I went to a UCBerkely free Psych clinic and was diagnosed there with PTSD from my abusive husband that I had left. After the diagnosis, they used rapid eye movement to help during my fear episodes and it worked great.

However, after the concussion and the vestibular issues began I was unable to successfully use the rapid eye movement to control my fear episodes. That was coupled with an new abusive boss that took advantage of my delicate state and fired me for the Workers Compensation Concussion injury I sustained at work.

Entering the Workers Compensation Injury meant it was almost impossible to get the care I needed. It was delayed and I had to fight for the care that I needed.

I understand that Businesses can not afford to care for their injured workers and they buy Workers Comp Insurance. However, the Insurance can’t make money by caring for the employees, so it is routine to deny the doctors request for care. It is a flawed system. It was hard with the Concussion and my PTSD past issues to fight for care. That stress brought on Aphasia, so I went to and paid for a Stanford Neurologist-ophthalmologist who confirmed my vestibular problems and recommended Vestibular Therapy and Speach Therapy.

Vestibular Therapy helped immensely and I was able to drive safely again and walked out with strategies to cope on my bad days.

The Speach Therapist helped me find ways to cope when stressed with my inability to speak and was identify things that I didn’t know that I had lost like my math skills (I was an advanced math student in school and now could not do my multiplication or complex equations anymore)

She was continuing to help me identify issues I didn’t know I had lost, till examined and was helping to identify ways for me to cope, but again Workers Compensation denied care and I was cut short in my therapy.

It is now 5 years later after the accident and my Workers Compensation Case has been stalled and is still open. It is sad, because my care was delayed which is slowing my recovery and possibly means I will not fully recover because of the delay. It is also sad that they probably have lost a lot of money fighting to deny and it would have been cheaper for them, and a better outcome for me if they had given me the care I needed after the concussion.

Amanda, I am worried about CTE, because I now am showing new symptoms of sad moods, Aggressive Emotions, and Anxiety. I used to be known as a very happy person and was able to climb in my Career. I was a Project Manager and able to succeed at all I tried, but when I try to get employed, I find my self yelling inappropriately at my boss and making it difficult to hold a job. I am sure that the trying to get appropriate care from a flawed Workers Compensation System, has contributed to the concussion damage. I am not really clinically depressed, but often have uncontrolled Anxiety that keeps me withdrawing to cry often.

One more note on Frustration. I would love Mayo Clinic Care for my issues. My problems are that I now have trouble getting employed because of my condition and my age.
The Concussion and my resulting symptoms came about from a Work injury placing me in the nightmare of Workers Compensation. I do have Medicare and medical insurance but they will not pay if the injury occurred at work. It is supposed to fall under Workers Compensation, but they only know how to deny requests for Care. They can not afford to cover things like a concussion. I miss my short term memory and those times when my Cognitive thinking makes it hard to solve or even work on my everyday problems. If there is a solution that you know of to obtain proper care, please let me know.