minor concussion

[Graceissufficient]

I had a bad fall - headlong down 13 (!) steps, severely wrecking a wrist, breaking 2 ribs and then banging my forehead three times on the tiled floor.

Memory loss of about 5 hours, no loss of consciousness but repetitive question on a few minute loop for several hours, no brain bleed on the scan.

Hospital was not very interested in the concussion. As others have said, no one warned me new symptoms would develop or how overwhelming it could be. A sheet of paper with a link to Headway and its helpline would have been a Godsend, in A&E and in the Fracture Clinic - by the time I was an outpatient there I was stammering, dizzy and in a wheelchair, shaking and with a badly jarred neck - but any mention of concussion was brushed away with "we're orthopaedics".

One symptom, which I have had 3 times, is when my underlying brain goes into a kind of meltdown, under stress or more precisely, when high stress stops. I shake violently, can barely walk, my blood pressure soars and I weep uncontrollably.

It happened when the hospital physios mafe me climb a staircase - I melted down at the top. It happened after the wrist plaster came off, and after a rushed tube journey.

I assume these are common, ?? but I was not warned.

Under stress, especially on medical appointments, I begin to stammer again.

i take a stick and sunglasses on the tube - the very bright lights and shaking motion are hated by my subconscious brain. It has been 10 weeks and is slowly improving, but lurking.

I am writing this to say thankyou for Headway, the best document I found online - after 10 weeks of worry.

And also in case it helps anyone in future to hear their symptoms described.

[BadSkater]

Hi sounds like PCS. I'm 11 months in, it get better slowly but I still have memory issues. Get referred to neurology by your GP. There was some great info by somebody on here PinkVision but he's taken it offline.

[WonderingWanda]

hi Graceissufficient and welcome to the forum. It’s frightening how little information we are given isn’t it? It wasn’t until I paid to see a concussion specialist that anyone had ever even examined me neurologically. That was 7 months after my injury and about a year ago now. I remember crying on the way home because I had finally been seen and someone understood my symptoms and could explain what was happening.

The need for speech and language therapy was milder for me as only I noticed how hard word finding was but I could disguise it. If you are stammering then you would definitely benefit. The sense of overwhelming emotion is worse when tired or stressed. In fact all symptoms are worse when stressed or tired.

You are in the right place and there is a good deal of support on here for all kinds of practical things so do stay k around and let us know how you get on.

[Ideogram]

Sorry you're in this position. The support in A&E is rubbish tbh. You can always call Headway and ask to speak to a nurse if you like. I have similar issues with bright lights so always carry dark glasses. Vestibular physio might help you at some point with dealing with things like the motion of the Tube.

See if there's a brain injury/minor head injury rehab unit near you (Headway might help you find out); they don't exist everywhere but your GP may well not be aware of them even if you do. Get referred as soon as possible as you'll have a wait. I'm having vestibular physio through mine and they also offer other support eg advice on managing fatigue and going back to work.

Fatigue tends to exacerbate symptoms

(whether that's light sensitivity or memory) and stress exacerbates fatigue, so definitely do what you can to minimise both - I know that's easier said than done, but time off work if possible (get a fit note from your GP), extra sleep and rest time, creating a calming environment with less light and noise at home (or ear plugs and glasses outside), and doing things that actively help you relax - hot baths, head massage, sitting quietly outside in nature, meditation videos or just calming classical music - whatever works for you - may help a bit.

Obviously I can't speak for your individual symptoms but it really did get better than it felt in the early days, especially when I got used to managing my symptoms, learnt how to tell everything/everyone else to back off, and did more things at my pace (where possible - I won't pretend it's always perfect!). Best of luck.

[Teazymaid]

welcome to this group and all our wonky brains .. you will get support ,help and advice on dealing concussion Sue 🙂

[James1984]

Hi Grace. I'm sorry to hear about your fall, I hope you get better soon. With regards to a link to Headway being available in a & e and the fracture ward, I think the most appropriate place to start would be in the brain injury ward. The fact you've had a concussion that is causing you issues means you need to see a specialist doctor, a neurologist. This would be the responsibility of the hospital, and if they haven't then you need to follow this up with them immediately.

James.

Hi, Graceissufficient. I apologise if I was a bit hasty, your exactly right that there needs to be more information in a&e and the fractures ward. I will try to post some information in the hospitals in my area.

[Leaf100]

Hi Grace,

Most docs don't know a heck of a lot about head injuries.

It's them - not you.

Talk to Headway about where to go for a more helpful assessment.

If inflammation was involved, the chemicals that are made by the body to deal with that, also melt the tails of neurons - so you can get worse at the 3 or so month mark and not know why. (Look up axonal shearing.)

Generally you need a neuro psychologist or preferably neuro psychiatrist (or a team that has both) to give you a diagnosis that will stand when you need it. (Don't react to the 'psychiatrist' thing - a neuro psychiatrist is an MD, a psychiatrist, and a brain doc - so when they say your symptoms are from a brain injury they are the final word - no one else can tell you it's something else. And some of them will try.)

It's sadly not at all unusual for ER docs to treat just what they see that is obvious and forget the rest, and then when you have concussion later someone else tries to say you didn't have it.

At 10 weeks your injury is still fresh. There are symptoms you are having you are not fully aware of. When your brain gets tired or overwhelmed by too many inputs it does things to try to cope - that may mean having tremors or crying or being irritable, having issues with language - all sorts - depends on the part of the brain injured. In your case that would be where you hit your head on the tile and on the direct opposite side of your head where your brain likely hit the skull - and then inside because you have boney bits inside your head. That's the most likely , anyway.

Keep a log of your experiences and try to note what was going on around them - music playing, visually stimulating things, weather changing, whether you slept, ate, etc etc.

Also speak to Headway about where you might try for some treatment. Rest is also your best friend, and learning coping strategies so you don't get too tired. (This is a fatiguing journey.)

Unfortunately a lot of gp's don't know much about this and we have to find things for ourselves and hope we can enlist their support.

They also may want to rule out things like epilepsy etc etc - just part of their due diligence.

Keep us posted.

Leaf