Exchange of experience on

mild traumatic brain injury after concussion

This homepage concerns symptoms after concussion with a duration of more than 3 months. Also called mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), post-concussion syndrome, post commotio or commotio cerebri sequal. Some whiplash injuries are also a concussion injury.

This homepage was initiated by two Danish women, who got injured in 2004 and 2005. We knew each other on beforehand. As the condition went on and greatly affected our lifes, we were surprised that it was so hard to get information. So we made this website.

So far this homepage is mostly in Danish. But if you want to ask about our experiences - this includes our network of 30 patients - then write to: hjerne@mail.tele.dk . You can also advertise for a "companion" with whom you can discuss details in your own language. We have Swedish and Norwegian readers.

Recommendable links (in English):
  http://www.headinjury.com/
  http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/mildheadinjury.html

And a debate forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html

/Therese, Copenhagen

Click here to see an animation of a brain suffering a concussion

A description to those who have not themselves experienced a long term concussion:

 

The course of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) varies a lot. The average and more severe cases change your life dramatically, often resulting in long sick leaves.                   

This is the terms of a long lasting MTBI injury:

• One experiences various symptoms including headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea etc.. It is exhausting in the long run; and if not always, then most of the time one must struggle to overcome the symptoms.

• The brain can tolerate less - in terms of light, sounds, stress, alcohol and other strains. For the patient suffering from a severe concussion sensitivity to sound and light can be compared to what you feel in your brain when your teeth shiver or a tormenting sound appears terribly disturbing to the brain .

• The psychologically greatest strain, however, is that one cannot concentrate for long and is obliged to rest a lot. One often runs out of steam. This can be compared to a mobile phone with a lousy battery: When it functions it can do almost all the usual things, but it cannot work for very long before it needs recharging.

• Unfortunately you can relatively easily exhaust the brain and the fatigue threshold is very low. The condition is complicated by your normal desire to be active. Being understimulated the patient feels like doing more than is good for the brain. When the brain has become exhausted you practically collapse with fatigue. The fact that the signs of overdoing is delayed causes an even greater confusion. At first you get small signs of fatigue. A MTBI patient must be extremely attentive to these signs and take a break; often many times during the day.

• It is hard to cope with these new conditions of life. Your  functioning is much impaired, when you gets punished for doing quite ordinary things. The great fatigue makes one feel confined !  Except for the times when the pains cause so great torment that you care less about anything else. You get a deeper understanding for prisoners in solitary confinement and victims of
torture !

• It is a strain on the nerves that no one can say how long it takes to get well; and that you cannot trust irreversible improvement. Relapses often follow on the heels of good periods and improvement. The relapses may last for days, weeks, sometimes months!

• It is the more traumatic that other people find it difficult to understand how impairing this condition is ( which is natural enough - it takes time for also the person afflicted to actually understand what is going on ). It is difficult to explain to one's surroundings - particularly if they only see you when your batteries have just been recharged !  It is difficult because the patient often have difficulties declining other people's expectations.
 

Patients can be more or less afflicted:

1)  Totally bedridden ,suffering from endless headaches, incapable of speaking more than two syllables and with light and sounds     strongly irritating one's brain.

2)  Capable of working 3 hours a day but with frequent breaks and spending much of the day on resting.

3)  Able to live an almost normal life and only now and then feel very tired and suffer from headaches.

And all imaginable variations of the case. 
 

Thanks to Dot for oversættelse :-)

siden 25. november 2007