I had a bad fall last weekend and lost consciousness for abou 15-20mins afterwards. The farm guy found me and apparently I called a bunch of people and somehow drove myself home. I’ve been feeling quite off over the weekend, mostly headaches, dizziness and unable to focus. I don’t think it was that bad on the scale of traumatic brain injuries, but not being able to function at the level I used to is very annoying, especially I’m in grad school and my schoolwork is really heavy. How long do these symptoms generally go away?? Anyone had similar experiences?
Get yourself to a doctor now. These are all signs of traumatic brain injury and they are going to persist for a long time.
i can’t believe no one in your world got you to the ER that day.
I am however hoping this is an April Fool’s post to get us all wound up. If it isn’t, you need to get medical help, and you need to surround yourself with people who have a better sense of emergency protocol.
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Please go to the ER or see your MD. Have them order you a CT scan. NOW. You may JUST have a concussion but maybe not. Go - please - just to be sure you are all right.
I did have a concussion (or three or four - rotten horse :mad:) and yes, you do feel a bit “off” and will have a headache accompanied by mild dizziness. Rest is helpful but I get a heavy school load, just don’t overdo. PLEASE go to ER.
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Go to ER. Get a doctor’s note to by you some time with school work. The main key to letting your brain heal, is to rest it. That means no TV, no reading, and no homework, but you need to make sure you don’t have a brain bleed that is adding pressure to your brain. People with concussions have very bad judgement so not shocked you drove home, and likely you told people you were fine. Unless you know what to look for, it can be hard to tell someone is truly injured from a head injury.
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Get to the doctor, then reach out to your academic adviser or the school’s disability resource people. While we all hope yours is not a permanent disability, they also can help with temporary accommodations.
It’s really important to find out if you have a slow bleed. Take care of yourself, and good luck.
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See a doctor like yesterday. Have the Dr write a note. Take the note to your adviser.
You don’t indicate if this was a riding accident or if you were wearing s helmet (and I certainly hope you were). You’ll need to replace your helmet if were wearing one. If you weren’t wearing one, please do so going forward. It may save your life.
I’ve had several concussions over the years, and not just from horseback riding accidents. Any concussion is a serious matter and requires medical evaluation. But I do remember being 19 or 20, visiting my grandparents in Nashville over winter break from college, it snowed, went “tubing” with some cousins in Percy Warner Parks on “Suicide Hill” (aptly named) and ran head first into a tree… Don’t remember getting up, walking to the car, or going back to my aunt and uncles were I was staying. I was knocked out cold for 5 minutes, but my cousins said I seemed fine when I came to - though I remember none of it. Please don’t be stupid like me, and go to a doctor or hospital to be checked out.
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Get thee to a doctor to be on the safe side. With an LOC for that long a period I can’t believe someone didn’t take you to the ER right away!
Concussion symptoms can last past for weeks and even months. And a lot of the time you won’t even realize that what you were experiencing is concussion related until you look at it in hindsight.
How quickly you recover depends to some extent on how good a patient you are. You need total brain rest and minimal stimulation - no reading, no TV, no computers, no laptops, no phones, no studying, no writing papers, no driving if you can help it, no stores with bright lights, no loud music…it sucks but honestly the more you stick to this protocol the more quickly you will recover.
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I am still having problems from a concussion I had in November 2000. It is nothing to play with or ignore.
Rebecca
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2014 for me. Life changing. And the time that you’re “out” has no bearing on the severity of the TBI.
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There is actually a lot of debate about whether total rest is helpful or not. There are so many things that are still not well understood - for example, the likelihood of developing post-concussion (or its severity, or its duration) seem not well related to the severity of the injury, or the immediate symptoms - but the science is moving forward every day.
I had one in 2014 and I have absolutely no memories starting about 2 weeks after the injury to about 4 months later. (I taught a university course that I don’t remember teaching - I didn’t believe a colleague who insisted I did until I found the notes on my computer). I still have some symptoms. My son had a catastrophic one in March 2016. He had to drop out of school for 18 months and fell into a severe depression. He is doing great now but still deals with it every day.
Im not trying to freak you out but I second, third, fourth everyone that you NEED to see a doctor- even more importantly, once any immediate concerns are dealt with, you need to get to a concussion clinic. There are a lot of really great resources out there - hope you can connect with some.
I hope you will be one of the lucky ones whose symptoms resolve quickly. If not, learning as much as you can will really help you to figure out the best path forward for you.
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I am in Ontario. A consortium of health care providers and hospitals pulled together concussion guidelines that are updated based on the most recent reliable (peer reviewed!) research. This may be a useful resource:
https://braininjuryguidelines.org/concussion/
Quick excerpt from the Initial Management Section:
[INDENT]The majority of patients will be discharged home; it should be noted that a person who remains symptomatic post mTBI should not drive for at least 24 hours.[SUP]3-6[/SUP] Even asymptomatic patients after 48 hours exhibited poorer vehicle control, especially when navigating curves suggesting that driving impairments may persist beyond when individuals with a concussion have returned to driving.[SUP]7[/SUP] Also, patients who did present symptoms compatible with a concussion/mTBI following a head trauma but who are completely asymptomatic by the time they are medically-assessed should be presumed to have sustained a concussion/mTBI and receive counselling as described below.
Although the majority of current treatments for concussion are in their infancy of development,[SUP]8[/SUP] there is preliminary evidence to support the effectiveness of active rehabilitation such as psychoeducational, psychological and cognitive interventions.[SUP]9-12[/SUP] The primary forms of treatment have traditionally included a recommendation for physical and cognitive rest until symptoms subside along with other interventions, such as education, coping techniques, support and reassurance, neurocognitive rehabilitation and antidepressants.[SUP]9,13[/SUP] However, the most recent world Sport-Related Concussion consensus statement indicated that there is currently insufficient evidence that prescribing complete rest achieves recovery by minimizing brain energy demands following concussion. It is recommended that after a brief period of rest during the acute phase (24–48 hours) post-injury, patients can be encouraged to become gradually and progressively more active while staying below their cognitive and physical symptom-exacerbation thresholds[SUP]13[/SUP] (see Appendix 2.6). This emphasizes an approach of “Activity as tolerated” (i.e., in a manner that does not result in a significant or prolonged exacerbation of symptoms). The potential benefit of integrating cognitive behavioral therapy to address thoughts and activities, with cognitive rehabilitation to address difficulties with cognitive abilities, such as attention and memory, has also been noted.[SUP]11,14[/SUP] Currently, there is limited evidence to support the use of pharmacotherapy.[SUP]13[/SUP]Medications that may mask worsening symptoms or confuse changes in mental status should be avoided in the early phases of recovery.[SUP]15[/SUP][/INDENT]
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December 2000 for me and the leftover symptoms are permanent. Definitely not something to ignore or play with in the initial stages.
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This is true.
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Also seconding that you should get yourself to a doctor - I had a riding accident in November 2009 where I hit the ground headfirst, and while it didn’t knock me unconscious (my trainer was with me almost instantly, so if I blacked out it was for a split second), I remember absolutely nothing from a few minutes before it until roughly an hour later.
I suffered damage to my short-term visual memory and I didn’t start feeling like my brain had actually made any significant progress at repairing itself until roughly a year and a half ago. I also walked away with a form of PTSD as a result of the accident which, while it’s largely under control now, was honestly debilitating for a significant portion of my teenage years. TBIs are not something that you want to play with by any stretch of the imagination.
I’d also second the statement that you should get yourself to a concussion clinic, not just a GP. I’m extremely lucky in that we have an excellent sports medicine practice in my hometown that is responsible for overseeing both our pro hockey and football teams, and they were the ones who oversaw my recovery for the ~six months following the accident (which would have been longer had I not been stable at that point). I wasn’t cleared to do anything until I’d taken the ImPACT test at several intervals and they were comfortable that things were progressing appropriately. It’s definitely not something to mess around with and you’ll be better off with people who keep up to date on concussion science.
Been there, done that! You need to get a CT immediately. Hitting the back of your head is less traumatic than hitting the front of you head but you still need to be checked out.
I was not on a horse, so no helmet, but was at the barn, alone. My memory of what exactly happened and for about 4 hours afterwards is gone from my memory. Piecing together stuff, it appears that I was standing on a stepstool and was putting one of my saddles on a top rack. I somehow lost my balance (vertigo?), fell backwards onto a concrete floor, bruising at the back of head and fractured some ribs. Somehow I drove home and my husband claims that when I entered the house, I kept saying “my head hurts.” He bundled me into a car and took me to the ER. I have no memory of any of this but started to rejoin the present as husband was driving me back to the house. For the entire night, I felt like my brain was rebooting. When I woke up the next morning, I knew the correct date, my current address and where I worked. Husband said my responses to the ER people were 5 years behind the times. Oh, the brain is a very strange place!
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It is so weird how memory loss from concussions happens. I remember accidentally dropping a stirrup and the horse spooking and bolting right afterward, seeing his spots going past my eyes (he was an Appy) as I came off. The next thing I remember was sitting up on the ground, horse nowhere in sight. No more holes in my memory until the next day. My fall was on a Sunday, and I had a large conference to attend and speak at the next day. During the conference, I asked my team member if she knew when we would give our presentations, and she told me I’d already done mine. I would have thought she was pulling my leg, but the conference participants all agreed I’d given my talk. I have some memories from that day, but large blanks as well.
That was my last concussion. I’d had a couple of bad ones before that, unavoidable stuff like car accidents. The problems definitely got worse with each one. Since then, I’ve been super careful and haven’t had any bad luck incidents (since some you just can’t avoid, no matter how careful you are). I’ve crashed my bike twice and got hit by a car while driving my pony once, and went flying all three times, but I was wearing a helmet for all those incidents, and I don’t think my head hit the ground anyway. All three times I landed on muddy grass and got no mud at all on my helmet, even though the rest of me was pretty dirty.
Rebecca
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OP - update, please? are you okay?
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I’ve been thinking the same thing all day… Hopefully the OP has been to a Dr. and is feeling better.
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This is worrying. Does anyone know how to reach the OP?
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Was hoping maybe I missed an update from earlier this week. Certainly hope the OP is okay and is on the mend.
Maybe its my age or my personality or both, but I honestly really do worry about posters like the OP or the horses in threads about bad injuries/illnesses, where the OP goes poof and doesn’t return.
Maybe the OP of this thread is just following Dr.'s orders to stay off the computer/smart phone in order to heal. That’s what I’m hoping anyway!
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