Physical recovery

[Ninaneurons]

First time writing here. Please be gentle. I suffered a TBI some 5 months ago , and to be fair after reading some stories here I feel I am "lucky "genuinely. I have made significant physical progress during this time , but mentally I seem to be experiencing more problems now than when first discharged from hospital, which is mightily frustrating !!!is this commonplace amongst fellow sufferers?

[Kirk5w7]

Hi Nina and welcome.

Yes, I would say that's perfectly normal.

Once the rosiness of recovering and being so well wears off, the reality sets in and your mood dips. But be reassured that you will bounce back but as you've maybe read already, it tends to be a rollercoaster ride. This forum is a great place to post and gain reassurance. The Headway helpline is a great help too.

Come back as often as you need to, someone is usually around.

Take care,

Janet x

[Ninaneurons in reply to Kirk5w7]

Thank you, very much for taking the time to reply to me . That in itself is a great tonic . It is reassuringly comforting to know that there's a forum like this. Thank you again🙂

[StrawberryCream]

Hi Nina. Great that you've joined us. Have you had neuro psychology testing done to check what areas of your brain have been damaged and the cognitive difficulties that you have?? Initially after discharge I think we are often in a state of euphoria that we have survived and fatigue often means we aren't yet doing much of the day to day managing life stuff. It is not unusual that you only begin to realize these difficulties several months on when you start to try and do more daily living activities. The physical limitation are so apparent at the outset.

[Ninaneurons in reply to StrawberryCream]

Hello and thank you for your reply. I have had several appointments at my local BI unit, which have helped enormously, and I'm aware I may experience many peaks and troughs throughout my recovery . I just hadn't expected the frequency nor the ferocity of such debilitating mental issues. I'm beginning to lose my thread here , apologies,

[DTBI]

It took me a couple of years to repair my brain after my TBI. Luckily, aside from my skull I didn't suffer any physical damage. It is frustrating, but I do recommend you focus on brain activities on a daily basis. Good luck with it.

[jayne_h]

Hi

My mum had symptoms at home after getting out of hospital that no one noticed when she was in hospital. We went to the GP and I called headway for advice who were great. Everyone is different and so too is each injury.

I hope you feel better soon

J

[Hidden]

Hi there!

Welcome! I felt exactly the same and didn't come on for well over a year after the accident thinking that I wasn't "bad enough", but symptoms just kept getting worse and thought I was going mad.

Coming on here you realise just how many people are facing the same problems, and finding people that understand can be a life saver. I've since come and gone a few times over the last few years (re-joined the forum about 3 times!) - good group! Good decision to join!

I have spent hours (days!) reading old posts on here, have a meander through them, can almost guarantee you'll start to breath more easily again!

See you soon!

[Ninaneurons in reply to Hidden]

Blimey ! Reading your response, are you sure you're not me 🤣🤣🤣you sound so familiar and yes it's a life saver having the ability to share ones problems on such a wonderful forum. Comedy and music 😁😁

[keeley24]

For me while in hospital I had to go through physio to be able to walk again. That seemed to be my only problem. Managed to get back walking in few week as it was my balance I needed to improve. Back home the problem was short term memory which is common. Things like turning oven off, flushing toilet and locking door I'd forget. Over time it has improved a lot. I have been lucky as it hasn't effected me as much as it does most people. My balance is still rubbish mainly due to it not effecting me much now. I can't balance on one leg for more than a few seconds. It is something I could practice but never need to do forget to try.

[jentwistle]

Hi Nina, I felt exactly the same in that I made a good recovery quickly and felt so so lucky because i was. It's been 8 months for me now and I've noticed that I'm less motivated and get really irritated and wound up easily and sometimes just feel a bit down. Sometimes I think I'm just imagining it though because I feel okay physically apart from the odd headache, so in my mind there's nothing wrong with my brain so maybe it's just me?! Sorry for going on a bit, it's just nice to get things off your chest! X

[Ninaneurons in reply to jentwistle]

One of the most difficult things that I find is , articulating how I actually feel , which in turn just excarebates the problem, your message describes perfectly my problems and how I feel. Thank you😊

It does feel good to "off load "too . I'm beginning to recognise the benefits of this forum 😊😊

[jentwistle]

Yeah I understand, sometimes people ask what's wrong and you just can't explain. It is such a great forum I don't mean to be nosy but can I ask how you got your tbi?

[Ninaneurons in reply to jentwistle]

By all means ask, I love talking about it🤣 I fell off my bicycle whilst out on a group ride, fortuitously a paramedic was riding with us at the time and assisted the ambulance crew back to the hospital for me . To say I'm grateful to this chap is somewhat an understatement