I just saw this on my Facebook feed. Haven’t listened yet.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/168580/729142-12-jennie-brannigan-interview
Great interview - very genuine. Sounds like she is using it as a good learning experience and is going to come out a better person because.of it. Good for her!
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Glad you posted this, I haven’t listened yet either but I want it for easy finding!
Did she explain what happened?
Adderall? She said the medical records are online on FEI? I think…some of it’s hard to understand since she’s on the phone.
I didnt get to listen to all of it.
I was trying to listen to it in my car. Much clearer listening on my phone. Says she was on meds after falling multiple times within a short amount of time, didn’t know it was illegal.
I am not sure we will every know the “truth” with what happened on the actual drugs, but the lessons she said she learned were very good ones. She talked a lot about how she was selfish before and focusing on winning, and this has put life more into perspective for her, that she is defined as more than just what place she gets on the weekends. It has been nice to see her recognize her behind-the-scenes people and give the ride on Cambalda to someone else.
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In her FEI hearing statement, Jennie made some very frank statements about living with the lingering effects of concussion. There’s undoubtedly a much larger conversation to be had about that in the equestrian world. I applaud her for her openness.
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Wondering something. Would it be safe to say that alpine skiing (and ski jumping), snowboarding, and equestrian are the Olympic sports with the most risk for traumatic brain injuries?
Wonder about the cycling events? When they fall, they typically fall from height and at speed.
According to this list: http://www.aans.org/Patients/Neurosu…ed-Head-Injury Horse sports make the top 20, but are well below cycling, football, etc. Of course the more interesting question is what proportion of athletes in any given sport get a head injury, as I imagine the total number of equestrians is far below most of the other sports listed.
So adderall is used to help with post concussion? Wouldn’t someone struggling after concussion be better off slowing what they do, rather than masking the side effects with a drug? Can any of the psychotherapists on here chime in?
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Freestyle skiing for sure. The aerials skiers (some of whom are gymnasts who can’t really ski) rack up an alarming number of concussions. A gold medalist a few quads back talked about having nine - NINE! - concussions in the previous year. A Canadian skier sued her federation over the lax return-to-play policies.
Trampoline - an obscure subset of gymnastics - would also make your list as most falls are from trauma-center criteria heights. Same goes for diving.
Rugby and boxing, too. Rugby has done a lot to address the issue but it’s still rugby and therefore heads are at risk.
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(I’m a neuroscientist and Occupational Therapist who occasionally treats individuals post-concussion)
Concussion treatment is very complex and new evidence strongly suggests that ‘rest’ is ok very short term, but harmful if longer than a few days. People with Post-concussion syndrome have been dealing with persistant and difficult to treat symptoms for an extended period of time - sometimes years.
Use of amphetamines / Ritalin / Adderall is actually not uncommon, but solid evidence for effectiveness is lacking - mostly prescribed for persistant fatigue and disruption of concentration. I do occasionally have clients taking them short term, usually as a last resort. While concussion recovery can be short term (6-8 weeks), recurrent concussions in a short time period, or a more severe concussion can lead to persistant and very disruptive symptoms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3359788/
- Article discusses methylphenidate (Ritalin)
Again, no conclusive solid evidence, but can be used in addition to other rehabilitation strategies.
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To add to the above post, I have chronic migraine that was initially triggered post my second TBI and gazillionth concussion, and has been going on for 15 years. My neurologist has mentioned Adderall as a potential treatment. I haven’t tried it yet though. Currently I am, funnily, on an antidepressant which IS helping, the first prophylactic that ever has. So I can see this mix of meds for post-concussive syndrome (she was also on Wellbutrin based on the interview).
one of the issues I have is that while I used to have a photographic memory, now I am…sporadic. I still have a very good memory for some things, like random factiods about stuff and a huge amount of professional knowledge, but yesterday forgot my husband was going out of town this AM even though he told me last week. This is normal for me. Concussions do weird things. But I can see where a focus drug may help.
i still have a somewhat photographic memory but it is like someone deleted half the photos and I don’t recall they ever existed.
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I didn’t know doctors used Adderall for post-concussion. That’s super interesting and it explains a lot about why a group of eventers would have that prescription (alas).
In addition to the freestyle snowboarders and skiers, who have some pretty scary injuries, I would be thinking sports like luge and skeleton would have a fair number of concussions, but it turns out that ice hockey and soccer are very high.
Yes. There has been a really interesting (and heartbreaking) series of articles published lately from the players’ perspective by some pro-level hockey athletes. Takes some time but worth the read.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/nick-boynton-everythings-not-ok
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/nhl-daniel-carcillo-steve-montador-video
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/ken-dryden-its-time-for-action
I deeply hope that we can prevent struggle like this from affecting athletes in our own sport.
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Holy shit. @Marigold thank you for posting that. The first article…where it talks about how one eye works faster than the other…I didn’t know that was a related issue. The last time I went to get my eyes checked, last spring, they do that test where you say when you see a blinking light, when my left eye was up to the test machine, I literally couldn’t see anything out of my left eye, At all. I failed the test dramatically and they had to redo it while I literally held my right eye shut. I could just see the side of the machine out of my right eye when I had both open. This has to be part of the equation and I will ask about it next time I go to my neuro as the article says there are some exercises that can help rebalance it.
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My left eye muscles apparently have issues after multiple concussions, one was when I was kicked in the head on the left side (had a helmet on). I have had migraines for years, on the left side. It was only found last year when I wanted to try contacts for the first time. I went back about a week later and told my optometrist how they were great for distance, but I couldn’t see or read anything close up at all. I then told her I don’t understand how people can wear them, I thought this was odd but a normal part of contacts. Which I realize was SO not logical, but I seriously thought it was the contacts and not me. She said that is NOT normal, did more testing, and essentially the muscles in my eye were spasm like and didn’t turn in. I did a bunch of eye retraining stuff, which has helped a lot. I still don’t like wearing contacts if I need to read anything. My eye muscles work well with me being conscious of the problem when I’m awake and full of energy, but when I’m tired I now realize I have trouble focusing on things close up. All from concussions!
You know who else suffers from those eye/sight/neuro issues after falls?
Horses.
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