Hello everyone. I have never been on any forums before; this is all new to me. I am a 50 year old man, generally fit and active.
On Sunday the 9th April this year I was involved in a road accident when cycling, the car did not see me. I do appreciate how lucky I am to be able to post this today. I woke up in the ambulance, by best description of what happened is fuzzy. My helmet probably saved me.
I was CT scanned and kept in hospital overnight. I was reassessed the following week as my symptoms were still making me scared. I have been to my GP and told time will sort this.
I know everyone will be different, and I am asking, properly out of frustration, if anyone has had similar ongoing systems.
I am sleeping 10-12 hours at night and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I am very sensitive to bright light and loud noise. I feel sea sick if I walk or move my head to quick. My concentration is not good and my memory is not good.
I felt I was making progress between week 2 and 3 but I seem to have stopped progressing. I don’t understand the NHS online advice. What should I be doing to help myself, or is it just time?
Thanks for reading
20 Replies
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Welcome. You are only 4 weeks on from your head injury. If you had broken your leg, would you expect it to be healed now? Would you expect to be able to do everything you did before? The brain is a very complex organ and it takes time to recover. It is recovering whilst you are sleeping for so long. All the symptoms you describe are normal. Just rest all you can, eat healthily and it won't be long before you start to see a good improvement but don't rush things.
Hi, the symptoms you are describing will be familiar to most people on the forum. They are some of the symptoms my husband experiences after hit his head in a car crash. He had a cleat CT scan but that does not mean he isn't injured. You sound to me as if you are describing Post Concussion Syndrome, which my husband has. How long this will continue to affect you cannot be predicted as each individual case is unique. I suggest you keep talking to your GP. The tiredness is certainly normal, the other symptoms are common too. Mindfulness / meditation has helped my husband. So time and rest are key.
Someone at the hospital should have prepared you for the after-effects of a brain injury (looks like PCS......Post Concussion Syndrome, the effects of which can last for many months).
All your symptoms are 'normal' in the circumstances JM. Please stay around to get the measure of how others cope, and how there's no actual time frame for recovery. Welcome to our ever-increasing family ! Cat x
Meant to say...............sleep as much as you need at this very early stage. It's scientifically proven that brain injuries heal more swiftly whilst sleeping, and your brain instinctively knows that. So craving sleep isn't a negative issue ; get as much as possible for the next few weeks 'til you feel able to wean yourself onto more agreeable hours ! x
I to was a cyclist hit head on with a car. This was nearly 18 years ago.
It is waaayyy to early to prodict an outcome yet. Alough your symptoms seem very familiar.
I could tell you that you may be left with these permanently or they may all resolve within a few months or a year.
Either way I could be right.....or wrong.
Seek as much help as you can. This forum may point you in ways to go with more up to date knowledge. First I presume you are in contact with Headway...If not you should be.
Not a great deal of help I know..If and when I think of anymore I will post.
As others have said, brain takes time to recover. I'm assuming that they didn't find any bleeds or what not? In which case generally you should be on the upper end of recovery.
Rest does help as the brain is doing more at the moment. There is a temptation to rush back, this said for myself doing physical stuff such as slowly getting back on the bike helped.
Hi JMcB, Glad you found this group. My nephew, also an active person when he had his injuries, found it very hard to do what his brain needed most early on -- for him to do close to nothing. It is good in that sense that you feel like sleeping a lot!
We tend to be wired for action and so the advice to quiet the brain for recovery feels counterintuitive. Mindfulness really helped my nephew. It was something that he could actively learn and yet it accomplished healing stillness of the brain and better overall well- being.
Your words could be my words after the accident I had-a gate hit me on the head. It does not seem to matter whether one has bleeding on the brain or not. A brain injury is a brain injury.
Since then I developed what they called 'Post Concussion Syndrome'-as Cat has already mentioned. It manifests itself as Chronic migraines/headaches, balance issues, working memory issues etc etc. As others have said the brain is a 'very' complex organ and takes a much longer time to heal than anything else. Even though the scan may be 'normal', that does not mean that there are no after effects from your 'brain injury'. The important thing to remember is that you are not alone -speak to your GP and Headway, get to see a neurologist (there are things that can support you with the symptoms) and most importantly stay in touch on this site. It is an invaluable source of support.
Hi there. Sorry to hear about your accident. I would echo what Exhaustedwife says though. Try to be patient and your body will find normality even if that is a kind of new normality. Every one of us that has had a brain injury experiences similar symptoms to you so its not unusual. Although everyone is different and recovery times vary you can and will get through this. x.
Hi there lots of lovely advice from every just a little thing worth checking. ..my husband was also hit by a car and suffered the same dizziness you have described the doctors just said it was part and parcel of the injury but eventually we saw a good doctor who referred him to a physiotherapist who told him he had bpv which is where the tiny stones in the ear are knocked out of place. It was easily fixed just by maneuvering the head by the physio..might be worth enquiring to see if this is the case for you.
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x
lots of lovely advice from every just a little thing worth checking. ..my husband was also hit by a car and suffered the same dizziness you have described the doctors just said it was part and parcel of the injury but eventually we saw a good doctor who referred him to a physiotherapist who told him he had bpv which is where the tiny stones in the ear are knocked out of place. It was easily fixed just by maneuvering the head by the physio..might be worth enquiring to see if this is the case for you. 
Can't advise enough to join a BI group 
Feeling at a dead end.
New and very lucky to be alive
Close friends wife in coma after suffering TBI's in Car Crash 
New on here. Life after a SAH
