Potential advice and help

[Hbenson182]

I had a head injury in April 2019 off a racehorse which left me in a induced coma for 10 days.

Over four years on I’m desperately struggling to improve my focus and ability to think clearly. I already was diagnosed with ADD and am dislexic so I take Ritalin for my ADD anyway. I’m also on venlaphaxin for depression but I was wondering if anyone could recommend anything that has helped clear their head space.

My ongoing symptoms are fatigue & brain fog. I struggle to academically learn and take in information but I’ve been made aware that you wouldn’t have any idea that I’ve had a traumatic brain injury. I’m now frustratingly trying to work out what direction to go in life at the age of 31. Physical exhaustion is far easier than metal exhaustion to cope with so I try to be as active as possible.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[Elecheetah]

Sad to read your post H. my TBI in 2021 was also equine related although slightly different to yours - are you still connected with horses ? One of the most motivational aims i had was to return to the equine world and I luckily have an inspirational friend who helped me get there. Are you in touch with the injured jockeys fund ? Another friend suggested the app Lumosity which is a mental agility game app which i do from time to time ( i am a bit lazy about it)

Also - My GP recommended ultra Omega -3 capsules which i take daily .

I hope some of this may be helpful and I wish you well you are so young and have lots of life ahead of you - seems you just need to find the key !

Very best wishes

[Hbenson182 in reply to Elecheetah]

Thank you very much sorry to hear about your injury in 2021.

Yes I am back with horses as it’s the one thing I know I can do. But like you said they definitely have helped my recovery. The IJF have been very helpful I’ve done all my rehab at Oaksey.

I will have a look at luminosity and omega thank you .

[DTBI]

I had a TBI back in 2014 and at the time I was successful Chartered Insurance Broker. It took me 4yrs to reconstruct my brain as well as I could & I opened a new brokerage that was fine to start with, but the growth & complexity caused my brain to start tapping to the extent I had to sell it to my well known employee. I now exercise my brain with Lumosity each morning & I add Wordle games & Sudoku.

Ultimately I accept my brain can never be rebuilt to the standard it was so aside from walking & games of golf, I do a couple of gardening jobs a week as I have no problem with physical exercise, despite I’m 57yrs old. Good luck with adopting to the new you x

[Hbenson182 in reply to DTBI]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think it’s accepting that my brain will never be exactly like it was but learning to accept that. Like you said yourself physical exercise is fine it’s the mental part! Keep going yourself and thank you for your advice x

[Letsrock]

Hi, Sorry to hear about your accident.

Only advice I have is do not give up, do mental exercises three tines a day like puzzles, quizzes, eye movement exercises moving eyes up and down, left and right with eyes open 5 times each way and same again with eyes closed, then shake head left to right 5 times with eyes open then closed. Stand at side of road and watch cars go past keeping your eyes on them and then try keeping eyes still. You will get dizzy but try every day and within 1 week it should get better. Try exercises for stroke. They are very good at retraining the brain slowly. Use food for the brain like blueberries or Berries.

I went to physio on Tuesday and she made me relive the head injury as I had brain fog and it seems to be lifted and so far seems to have moved the brain fog xx.

Sometimes she said the brain is holding on to that moment and you need to relive it to get through it . You have to lie down and somebody with you and go through it again with that person saying you are alright you are safe to come out of the other side clearing the fog. It is not going to hurt you anyway, physically?

All the best and keep smiling.

[Hbenson182 in reply to Letsrock]

That’s fascinating I never thought of stroke exercises thank you.

I’m about to start somatic experience therapy for past trauma before the injury but he has said he wouldn’t be surprised if I had PTSD too so using this therapy should be helpful so thank you for that advice too.

[Letsrock in reply to Hbenson182]

Your welcome all the best.

[Teazymaid]

Hi and sorry to hear about your TBI .. Im 2.5 years past my accident and I’m still seeing an improvement from both physical and mentally .. I hurt my body and brain in the accident so it’s been a multi rehab for me .. I just kept doing as much as I could physically and mentally .. crashed of several occasions and succeeded improvements I never thought was possible to reach … even the brain is working at much greater speed , memory , brain fog etc is all improving .. I’m not sure my push yourself to crashing is a good move but to me it just made me more determined to achieve anything that I thought I could realistically do … read everyone’s advice and try anything that appeals to you .. good luck with the next step on this new journey with your new brain .. who knows what you will achieve sue x

[Hbenson182 in reply to Teazymaid]

Thank you for your reply and sorry to hear about your accident. I seem to take one step forward and 4 steps back but that’s only in the past year or so. I think you see improvements which are so small to start with as everything is a bonus but then it’s frustrating almost plateauing and you feel yourself going backwards. Being very impatient is my worst trait in my recovery as I’m also self critical. But it’s being patient with life!!

[Teazymaid in reply to Hbenson182]

Oh bless you .. I’m totally impatient with myself but I think it’s that that’s made me kick in owe bum repeatedly 😁 yeah some steps are very small but I try to remember how things were 12 months ago and it’s this that keeps me more positive .. sue x

[skydivesurvivor]

Very hard to accept the injury, 22 years on & still learning thins am no longer able to do! Find lots of support here! Likeminded survivors?!! All trying to rebuild themselves. Find a new/ safe social life. It is very frustrating, but know we all chat to imaginary texts for support!! Looked after mum for many years prior to her passing, she was my cater. Now soo many hours to fill, nothing other than coffee with friends in the morning. All the old day centres closed!! No social worker. Despite being told before they closed my case should I need them just call?!!

[sashaming1]

A Neurologist may have some ideas. Also

headway.org.uk/

[Leaf100]

Hi Hb

The things that I feel helped me the most were:

- seeing where I got stuck that was a challenge but not too hard, and working on that (kids computer games online, stirring... whatever...every small thing adds up)

- eating cold stuff (like frozen fruit) when my brain was on fire, though maybe you don't get that sensation

- zero alcohol

- GABA (an amino acid I won't try to spell, its gamma something or other, a neurtransmiter)

- Community Acupunture (This is affordable as several people are in a room in chairs and so they use the points in your head, arms, and legs - yes the ones in the head got rid of a layer of fog , and permenently). I am in Canada though when I looked online some communities in the UK also do it. What I asked for was help with insomnia and also mentioned the brain injury. and whatever they did, did it.

- Enough sleep and pacing (ie doing less)

2019 isn't that long ago in terms of injury and you are doing really well by the sounds of it, most of the healing happens in the 3 to 4 year period but it does continue improving after that - well, as long as you keep working on the list.

Oh! I just thought, have you had a visual assessment? There is such a thing as a neuro optometrist and they can see if your brain is processing visual info properly. If it isn't , this can make us tired. There are no standard treatments so many do their own and so you would have to go by word of mouth. (Yes, they do have exercises you can do to improve the situation though they do make a person feel really gross while they are doing them.)

Good luck to you , keep us posted.

Horses are lovely - I believe in the healing power present in entrainment. So it's great you can be around them.

Leaf

[Painting-girl]

Hi H, I always feel more muddly and find it particularly hard to organise and plan things in a sensible order, when my fatigue is creeping up on me. Half hour laying flat in a quiet room with or without a Mindfulness recording playing ( don't use any visualisation ones, only the ones based on breathing) makes a huge difference to the way I can function afterwards, sometimes only 5 or 10 minutes are enough for a decent brain reboot. The other thing is to outsource whatever you can to lists and diaries, and phone reminders, I function much better with lists of what I have to do next, it helps enormously ( I've often been without brain breaks lately, but this bit of Covid has pushed me back into using my old 'survival strategies' lately - still works!)Ritalin has been suggested as a treatment for fatigue after brain injury in summer Swedish research i noticed.

Anything you can get absorbed in and concentrate happily on for long periods is helpful, with me it was painting. Puzzles are fine but be aware that they will also be a brain drain at the wrong time. Better to have a ten minute nap.