Less senses - any remedies?

Trying not to make this rant too negative but it feels like my head injury has taken away every sensual aspect of my life and I feel less of a person. From hearing and seeing fully to sense of touch, smell and taste. It all feels numbed and it's difficult to remain happy like this. I keep on making myself remember what it was like to be an attentative, bright young person, motivated to succeed by strong emotions. Much of that seems to be gone and the rest of my life will be a mere shadow of what I once was. Hopefully some of you will relate.? Is it just depression?

[cat3]

I think most of us here will relate to that exact description, 'A shadow of what I once was'. I know I do.

You're younger than most though, so that prospect is bound to have more impact. But you're only 4 months post-injury so hardly allowed enough time even for concussion after-effects to fade. Also, your youth means that, depending on the nature of your injury, you've every chance of recovery.

See what the neuro has to say ; your prognosis might be better than you suspect. Keep us updated. Cat x

[Hidden in reply to cat3]

Wow, this was a real great reply. Thank you. Perhaps I should be more patient too. I'm seeing the neuro next week so not long!

[cat3 in reply to Hidden]

Next week ? That's really good (took 12 months for me to be seen by a neuro). Let us know how it goes won't you. xx 😉

[Hidden in reply to cat3]

Sure thing.

[moo196]

Morning.... I can relate to your post.

Took me well over a year to find any enthusiasm or any sense of "happy".

Keep putting yourself in situations where you might find it (for me that was joining a group of people to discuss travel). I came away wondering what this new feeling was and later realised it was happy.

Best kind to yourself and take heart from some encouraging people here.

Good luck!

[keeley24]

I think loss on some senses is common. I think my hearing and smell has gone down since BI. Neither was great before but they seem slightly worse now. My sight has always been short sighted even with glasses to point I can only just see far enough to drive with glasses so that was a worry after BI. Luckily my sight is still the same so I can still drive.

[NightBird]

I've found that stimulants help bring back that vanished "sense of being alive". They're a bit of an extreme solution, with their side effects, and the NHS is paranoid about prescribing them. I would try all the non-drug treatments first.

Be careful not to talk about your emotions too much to the neuro. That's the pathway to a psych diagnosis, especially if your injury doesn't show up on the MRI.

[sealiphone]

You're in the early days and as others have said time literally does heal and some if not all symptoms improve over time.

It's very normal to feel emotional following a brain injury and loss of self is the hardest part, this is bound to be overpowering at the moment but a lot of this could be stress related and could settle down.

However depression is very common, one it can upset the chemical balance in the brain or it's due to the traumatic psychological event.

Many TBIs don't take antidepressants however they are not prescribed unless there is no other alternative, it's pretty obvious really, trails are done on 'normal' population studies.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is probably more likely than drugs, trust the specialist you'll see next week.

Corny but true, time is a great healer.