Dealing with Post Concussion Symptoms One Year Later

Hi @fightingfibro0505,
I moved your discussion here to the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) support group (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi/) to help you connect with others who have experience with brain injury.

You describe more of your injury and symptoms in this discussion:
- Health seems to be deteriorating: CSS? Fibro related? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/health-seems-to-be-deteriorating/

Were you diagnosed and treated for a traumatic brain injury at the time of your fall? Did you work with a rehab team?

The type and duration of rehabilitation is different for everyone, depending on the severity of the brain injury and what part of the brain was injured.

Have you

Hi fighter
I had my 4th concussion on May 27. It took me awhile but I contacted a concussion specialist (neurologist) and begin speech therapy, cognitive therapy and physical therapy next week. For me all these therapies were necessary in the past and are necessary now to start recovery again. Do the work and your symptoms will improve but go slow and realize it won't happen in a week or two. Your frontal lobe injury will take time to heal
Be gentle with yourself. Friends and relatives will not understand what you are going through because you "look great". It will take time for you to understand that your brain injury has changed your life but time does heal. Give yourself that time.
Blessings to you!

Hi,

I never had a head ache resulting from crashig at 136 MPH, JOL used to extract me and was in coma two weeks.
I have recovered well and had a daily tutor for 228 weeks, Monday to Friday and recovery from brain injury is a slow process, it takes hard work, dedication and a tutor is paramount.
Just as I exercised my brain, I exercised my body because a healthy mind deserves a healthy body!

Current scientific consensus is that there is no consensus on the definitive recovery trajectory from a TBI. Much of the outcome depends on factors such as your overall health and prior level of functioning, the specific dynamics of the injury itself, and your personal constitution (e. g., your determination and willpower to move through this challenging set of injury-induced impairments). Use lots of self-compassion and disallow this life event to be bigger than you. Most of all, remember that your are designed to heal.

My moderate TBI was 30 years ago. I still have an irregular EEG for my left temporal (word finding) and basal frontal lobes (lost smell and taste grew back over 8 years). I still have issues finding and remembering words, especially numbers and peoples' names. Probably 80% of the recovery was in the first 1.5 years; the remaining took ~6 years. I had just completed my outline for my doctoral dissertation and went for a ride; I woke up in the ER with blood coming out of an ear. Being a scientist with a TBI is mixed in that we live in our brains, but we also know how to navigate them. Recovery from a TBI is brutal emotionally, both from ourselves and others. Be kind to yourself and know that healing occurs, but is a slow stairstep process. New learning, hobbies, and all the rehab steps are important to rewiring.

I have had 4 major accidents that were major head injuries plus a few other things and never went to a doctor. At age 68 ( all this while in my early 20’s.)
My problem has not been diagnosed yet but have had depression for over 30 years and I’m not good at making decisions that are essential and important. Seems like I lack the cognitive part of that. Is it too late diagnosis?

That’s encouraging to know!!

@holinka2, that's a good question to ask your doctor. I found this information:
https://www.asnr.org/patientinfo/conditions/tbi.shtml#:~:text=Long%20after%20the%20injury%2C%20MRI,many%20years%20after%20an%20injury.
"Long after the injury, MRI as well as CT may demonstrate brain atrophy, which results when dead or injured brain tissue is reabsorbed following TBI. Because injured brain tissue may not completely recover following TBI, changes due to TBI may be detectable many years after an injury."

Have you considered getting an opinion with a neurologist specializing in TBI?

Nm

It isn't too late, and it is good to get an evaluation by a neurologist. After a TBI we often have therapy for tools to get around any limitations we might have. Some tools come just with getting older, such as lists to remember things. I have trouble remembering words, so I tell my brain to get back to me when it finds them. One is never to old to learn new things (I'm 69).