Concussion...is this typical?

[fourcatmom]

So DD's concussion was on 12/11. She is still having problems. She is able to go longer without headaches and/or problems and just when I think she might be healed - she has a bad day. We saw the dr. last week and she said she was almost there but since she was still having symptoms she didn't release her to full activity. She did tell her she could go to the barn and ride at a walk with the horse. Nothing more then a walk. She didn't want her head in any kind of swift movement. In talking to the barn manager he said he thought she really needed to work on her posture because he felt that she shouldn't be so prone to her head jarring back and forth and that if her posture was straight her whole body who take the jolt and not just her head.

 

Anyways, so she went last Tuesday and worked for about an hour and then rode/walked with the horse. She got off after a short time and I asked her if she was feeling okay. She told me she had started to fall asleep - her eyes were closing as she was walking on the horse. So, she is now not even allowed to walk. She can go and hang out with her friends but the time is limited and no riding what so ever. She told me on Friday she felt "normal". She had a great weekend. And then, she had some minor headaches yesterday and then today woke up at 9:30 in the morning. Tired and not right and with a headache, more intense today. Laid down at 12:30 and slept for 4.5 hours. Woke up at 5pm and went back to bed at 11pm.

 

Is this really normal for almost two months later? She is resting and following dr.'s orders and the doctor said her symptoms have been mild enough to warrant trying some activity. She had been doing well with school but then today she was unable to do anything.

 

Is there a point where to would seek additional testing or is pointless in that scans wont show any information? How long does this go on for. I suspected the headaches to continue for awhile but the tiredness seems extreme to me. Falling asleep on a horse? Why would she be that tired? She gave me no sign prior to that, that she was tired.

 

On Friday she looked better and seemed more alert and healthy then I had seen in a while. Today, back to how she looked in December. You can see it in her face that she is not right. What happened? The only thing we did over the weekend is that we went to a movie. We had gotten tickets for Christmas and had been waiting to take them to see Catching Fire. We sat in the way back and I checked in with her through out the movie to make sure she was okay, no headaches. Ate snacks and seemed fine. Everything was good until I took her out Monday afternoon to go buy some jeans and then the headache came on. Today, back to lying in the dark. Could the movie have done this to her?

[fourcatmom]

Anybody? I was hoping for peace of mind before I went to bed.

[Unicorn.]

I don't have a lot of experience w/ concussions, but I would say, no.  What tests did they do initially, and has she had any since?  I think I would call a neurologist and get some more tests done.  Most people I know who have had concussions are back to normal much sooner, and don't have the lingering issues. 

[fourcatmom]

They never did any tests. I did email the doctor just now. She saw her on the 23rd of January. I just read an article about Concussion fatigue. Maybe it's just a build up from activity and then she hits bottom and rests and recovers and will be better tomorrow.

[Annabel Lee]

Michele,

My teenager got a concussion in an auto accident and was at "level 0" for an entire month, no relief.  We were told it could take up to 6 months for everything to get back to normal.  We were warned over & over to be strict in following Dr.'s orders, and that included very limited TV/screen viewing, and no physical activity.  The Dr. told us that the brain is trying to heal but if you use the newly healed parts (for lack of better words) too soon, it will go right back and this can cause long-term problems if you don't rest enough & just let it heal.  After that first month without improvement, we saw a chiropractor.  The x-rays taken by the chiro showed different views than ones ordered by conventional Dr.'s; they revealed that my child's vertebrae was putting pressure on the brain stem.  Within a week of beginning chiropractic treatment, the headaches went from constant pain level 8-9 to 0-2.  Symptoms were up & down for another month, and gone completely by the end of month 3.  I'm not suggesting your child has the same thing going on & needs chiro, just sharing that it can take a lot of time to heal properly & fully.

ETA: I hope she gets well soon!  It really is NO fun limiting activity so much, and worrisome for mom, too. :grouphug:

 

[trulycrabby]

DS19 had a concussion, and had days like you describe for at least eight months after the injury, perhaps longer. The brain seems to go along fine until it reaches its limits and/or it gets tired, then boom, it decompensates and has to take a break for awhile, like a partial shutdown. As long as the neuro seems to think she is progressing and healing, and you feel he is giving her good care, then I would just take those bad days in stride.

 

One thing you could do, it keep a daily journal and record quality and quanity of her sleep, activity level, whether it's a good or bad day and then describe why it's a good or bad day. Also record her moods. If her bad days don't decrease in number in the next six months, then you need to bring it back up with the neuro.

[torikei]

My son had a concussion. It was severe. He was throwing up, didn't know his name, lost most reading skills, etc. it was six months before he was normal. He wore a helmet for all of baseball--not just batting. The other teams' coaches kept trying to take it off and our whole team would scream "no". I do wish we had seen a specialist but the current info about concussions was not available at that point. The sleepiness lasted the longest of all the symptoms I believe. Good luck and God bless. I know this time is difficult. The concussion was one of the hardest times of our lives. My other son just broke his back and the concussion was scarier and more difficult. That says a lot.

[BlsdMama]

I would say it isn't average but can be normal, meaning the average person who gets a concussion isn't going to deal with all this, however, that doesn't change her situation. You could always get a second opinion.

 

I know when DS went in to be evaluated for working memory problems that they asked about previous head injuries or past concussions. So I know they can cause long term issues but there is just no telling how one brain heals and another doesn't.

[fourcatmom]

Thank you. She had another hard day today but did take another nap mid day so that is good. She says she feels completely worn out again. We do record her symptoms and days and she  has a symptom chart that she does every so often where she rates her symptoms from 1-6. Her score was well over 30 back in December, 5 when we went in on the 23rd of January and a 17 today.

 

The doctor said to keep her appointment next week to re-evaluate. At  least she knows what is going on.

[Catwoman]

Have you considered having her evaluated by a different specialist, just to be on the safe side?

 

I'm absolutely no expert on concussions, but I think that I would get a second opinion because your dd is still not back to normal. It will probably turn out that her current doctor is correct and is doing all the right things, but in your situation, I would want that second opinion just to ease my mind and to reassure me that my child was getting the best possible care.

 

I hope she feels much better very soon! :grouphug:

[Jeannie in NJ]

my dd had 2 concussions within a week of each other back in July.  She watched no tv, no movies and no computer .  We had her seeing a sports medicine dr at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia but she was not getting better.  Then we found out that Jefferson Hospital in Philly opened up a Concussion Center in Dec so we took her there.  They told us that new research is going into treating concussions and a lot of it is just trying different things to see what works.  They put her on supplements, B2, B12, CoQ10 and Magnesium Threonate.  It seems to be helping.  She can now watch tv and has gone to some movies and just seems to be doing better.

[Starr]

Her activity level seems high to me. It's hard to think how much brain power goes into our lives. We tend to think we haven't done much based on physical endurance. Her symptoms are telling her it's been too much. My understanding is that the brain has to heal and if you push too hard it takes longer to heal. I've had a couple of friends with head injuries who went to TBI clinics. Is a specialist working with her? This can take many, many months.   :grouphug:

[fourcatmom]

Her activity level seems high to me. It's hard to think how much brain power goes into our lives. We tend to think we haven't done much based on physical endurance. Her symptoms are telling her it's been too much. My understanding is that the brain has to heal and if you push too hard it takes longer to heal. I've had a couple of friends with head injuries who went to TBI clinics. Is a specialist working with her? This can take many, many months.   :grouphug:

 

Your right. I think she is doing too much. I guess it's like being sick, you start to feel better and you want to go out and do things and be back to normal but then you try and relapse because your not quite there yet.

 

I told her last night that she will not be able to ride/walk anymore and started limiting her screen time again. I am going to have to get tough again. She started to feel better so I loosed the reins and that was a mistake although even the Dr. supported her riding/walking with the horse again. Sometimes I feel like you have to let them try to see where they are at. She also asked me last night if she could postpone school again and make up work over the summer.

[Joanne]

Yes, normal and expected for head trauma.

 

I know because I saw a Doctor about my own dizziness, disorientation, and headaches. My accident was 10/15 and I was still having problems in December. Doctor told me that it is considered "normal" for up to a year!

 

Google "post concussion" syndrome.

[RanchGirl]

I agree that it sounds like she is doing too much.  Each symptom is a sign that she needs more brain rest.  My son had a concussion and it took 6 months of limited activities to heal (and we were still extra-cautious for another 6 months after that).  He basically missed an entire season of travel basketball because he would be symptom-free for 2 weeks, go to practice, get a headache, and be back to no activity for another 2 weeks.  Rinse and repeat. 

 

I sympathize, and I remember how hard it was to take him out of his activities, miss his sports, and go light on school work during that timeframe.  But it was the smartest thing we did because it allowed his brain to heal.  You really have to take the symptoms seriously.