Living with Traumatic Brain Injury

I am a writer who experienced a bad concussion from an auto accident and have been battling post concussion syndrome. For months I suffered with severe headaches, total fatigue, short term memory loss, episodes of confusion–unbelievable depression and mood swings— you name it!!!

I am a former female free lance journalist who spent one year in war torn Bosnia ducking bullets from snipers and lived to tell the tale in a book that was published with high reviews. I was also very productive cracker jack public relations media specialist known for thinking out of the box and doing ten projects at the same time. Let me tell you that this concussion brought me to my knees.

It has been a long nightmare. I had post concussion syndrome so bad that I could not even comprehend a paragraph of written words on the page much less write one. Also I could not do more than one thing at a time. In the morning feeding the cats and getting dressed became a mission in itself. I have made improvements of course. Sometimes just when I feel I am headed back into the swing of things, I fall back a couple of back. The post concussion syndrome depression has stayed with me to some extent. I do not have medical insurance so I am limited as far as seeing doctors— then again i do not think there is much they can really do for this type of injury.

I am writing today just to share some of the things that have been helped bring me around. I do not believe in anti-depressants for me. Perhaps for some people it is the right decision. In my case, I ate the best and most healthy “brain” foods– lots of protein- salmon- fruits and veggies nuts seeds- fish oil pills. Most of these foods can be googled. Staying as physically active as possible is also key. Walk as much as you can— Rest as much as you can. I also swin when I can. Mild B vitamins help.

Get out with friends as often as possible. Friends are everything. I also find vitamin D sunlamp helps me in winter to make sure I was getting plenty of D. On top of all this I recently got hold of some oxygen from a friend. I take a hit of 1.5 liter pure o2 whenever I feel exhausted brainwise, mood and body. The O2 has helped bring stamina back to my brain (clearer, stronger focused positive thinking)— it also lifts my mood and depression I am looking into taking some hyperbaric oxygen treatments at low 1.3 or 1.5 pressure. I think there is something to the O2!