Adult Life after a Traumatic Brain Injury

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, @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 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, @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?

FINALLY! People like myself!
Hello!
I have suffered a very serious TBI about 4 years ago (wow, has it really been that long!?) I was injured by a few men while living at my worst possible way of living. So I blame myself for being in that awful environment and blame myself for being so young on these streets thinking no one would hurt me! Fast forward to now it doesn’t matter why, how, or any of that…I still got this dang TBI tho…and had to return the the town where everyone remembered the old Emma, and she’s sadly gone from this injury. I finally tonight googled TBI and found this written by you guys. And as much bad stuff as I read…it placed this huge smile on my face. Because there’s no one that understands how I didn’t mean to but have some how changed completely into a different person only you guys seem to know anymore. I used to LOVEEEE 24/7 being around people, friends,anyone! Now I sit at home, mostly in my room alone. I suffer from anger that is just from no where and will scream at anyone “ STOP BREATHING SO LOUD!” Knowing damn well they can’t help it. And as for memory…that it’s almost most annoying because the doctors give me these memory tests that I pass but that’s not the type of memory I have problems with. If someone says do you remember so-and-so and I was just with that person yesterday…doesn’t matter..I still can’t tell you who that is because names don’t ring a bell in my head unless I say that name like every day a bunch of times type of interaction i mostly can’t tell you who that person is by the name you are giving me. That’s super annoying.
So here I am back at “ home” and that’s why I stay in my room..I was one of those loved people that everyone likes to be around and I don’t want to change that, which lets be real..it would…with my TBI, your TBI. WITH TBI! Only a very few people can deal with me anymore..and I know they don’t understand me, but they still love and deal with me so I’m crazy thankful. But to finally read entries written by people who are just like me, that has brought a genuine joy to me. A feeling that I don’t feel for myself too very often anymore so thank you!

I remember the loss of inhibition from my head injury. Let me know if I am misreading your message. Some is waiting for the brain to heal, but setting new habits helps. When things would happen, I would work on waiting a few seconds before reacting. Even things like a person asking you a question, because you are retraining your brain. It takes time to reset, but worked for me. Talking with a therapist that specializes in head injuries would be good because there are likely other tools.
A couple of months after my accident a friend and I drove to a national park. A woman stopped her car in the middle of the lane. Instead of waiting for her to move, I drove around her (I wouldn't have done this pre-injury). No incoming cars, but it was a double yellow lane. So, the parks police stopped me and gave me a ticket for illegal passing. He was showing off to an understudy and was very condescending. I mailed in the check and ticket, but did call his supervisor and suggested he talk to visitors in a more respectful way. They lost the check and didn't contact me, instead a Federal Marshall called me from Salt Lake a few months later and said they is a warrant for my arrest. We talked, and I sent in a new check and made sure it was cashed. Another problem with head injuries is some people treat you differently. I'd never been treated like a bimbo before. I hope you have a good support network, because most folk don't realize what level of hell one lives in with a head injury.

I have had several severe head injuries since the age of six. I seem to remember all the injuries, but as of two years ago when the van almost crushed my head, I have lost all inhibition, Like I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. Who I am. I feel as if I am the tip of the needle to the record of life. Nothing is real anymore. Is there any help out there.

Regarding stripped emotional filters, give yourself time and space to recover. If the world is crowding in on you then find escapes into books, TV, music, exercise, or wherever you feel safe. If someone is confrontational (a low bar with TBIs) then back off rather than engaging. Find people or TBI counselors that you can talk with about what you are going through.

My filters are all in place. The emotional filters took 1.5 years, and corresponded to completing my dissertation and graduating with a PhD. I realized that I was beating up on myself for not doing well enough, and it didn't hit me (so to speak) that I accomplished a lot under difficult conditions. To recover from TBIs takes a lot of mental, physical, and emotional work and one doesn't always see how hard it is until it is in the rearview mirror.
The only lasting damage from my TBI was minor balance (damage to left inner ear), possibly slightly suppressed smell and taste (olfactory bulbs), and some aphasia: finding and remembering words and numbers. Considering that I wrote papers as a research scientist, it isn't bad enough to limit me. The longest recovery was driving and tasting beef, getting back to 100% on driving took about 8 years because I could see the subtle differences between before and after. Driving is surprisingly complicated, juggling a lot of info and stimuli at the same time.

Hi, @kayabbott - I'm sorry to hear people at work were calling you "drame bamaged" and "brain dead" 31 years ago or so after your moderate TBI. It's understandable you felt gut-punched each time this occurred. Kudos to you for telling a person who was saying things like this to you that you were going to contact HR.

I recall you said your TBI recovery took 8-10 years. Do you feel like your emotional filters are back now? If so, how long did it take for this to happen? Do you have any other suggestions for relating to others when you feel like your emotional filters are stripped after a TBI?

My emotional filters were stripped after my moderate TBI 31 years ago (took a few years to rewire my left temporal and basal frontal lobes). I withdrew from people because I was vulnerable. I wasn't in a relationship, but a few bullies and clueless people at work would joke about me being brain damaged, or called me "drame bamaged" and "brain dead". Each time I felt like I was gut punched. It stopped after a year when I told the bully I was going to contact HR. I was able to get caught up on work and finished my PhD during that year (so I wasn't much fun to be around anyway). Amazing what we can accomplish even when we are a few neurons short of a full deck.