Here's how Traumatic Brain Injuries become chronic for many

Over 1.5 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury each year. On Wednesday (March 22) night, a new study found for many patients, the effects of that injury can last long after their treatment ends. Traumatic Brain Injuries, or TBIs, can lead to memory, mobility, mental health, and cognitive function struggles.

[@AprilWillis-c4o]

I am 30 years into a severe TBI. Happened on my wedding day. Groomsmen took off with me thrown over their shoulder (as a joke) and they dropped me straight onto the concrete. I have struggled this whole time. Depression, anxiety, severe headaches, pinched nerves, stenosis and arthritis of the cervical spine. I wonder sometimes what I would have been like had this not happened to me. I am mentally tired on the daily. Constant dizziness, nausea, and mental fog. Sometimes I think I am crazy because I am always having some kind of "issue". I am grateful that God saw fit for me to survive. I am blessed with a great husband, two wonderful kids, and family support. I pray for everyone on here! I understand your frustrations and hope we can all push through it!

[@urbnctrl]

Damn girl I am sorry to hear. My tinnitus and other complaints also came from such a unnecessary accident. I was filled with resentment and regret because of it. But my friends helped me realize - those accidents always happen for the most stupid reasons, it makes no sense trying to.make sense of it or to dwell on it and let it affect your mood. I hope you do find a way to lighten your symptoms. My tinnitus got better until I got into another accident a decade later and it came back full blast. ❤ youre not alone and there is a way to still enjoy life to the (!almost) fullest! bless you!

[@tinman1952]

Living with brain damage is a real suffering course because there is no escape, not even a moment's respite. It follows you everywhere like a shadow, even in your dreams where it takes the form of bizarre personifications and strange, broken landscapes.

[@neo8888i]

Ppl who don't have it don't understand. You can tell by how she tries to explain it to us "they uhhh have problems with how they solve problems".. which is true but its deeper than that. Our thoughts can not form too complex. They're like surface thoughts sometimes. Complex layered thoughts can get lost and not successfully get figured out because it's too much - it's over stimulation, in a negative way. ❤

[@jessicathrasher2692]

Okay, if you understand, who else does? I’m so happy I started looking this up! I was in a near fatal car accident, last year. I don’t look disabled but boy am I. No one sees how much struggle a day is in my life. I try hard to have good days. The best I can do is to not let my son have a bad day & for him not to know I’m having a bad day. There are some days he sees me cry & I handle that well. He’s a miracle. We should both be dead. He has fully recovered. I don’t think it’s possible I ever will.

[@EllaBella-76]

@neo8888i •Agreed ether my scan has suddenly just got heaps worse you know what I freaked out so much I told the Dr it's my brother you need to talk to I went for MRI originally brain injury 2016 was pretty obvious there was a huge problem (Swearing something I never did before became my first word and possibly will be my last one 😂)So my son was originally 6/7 he is 15 nearly 16 Years old he was very much accepting he still is sadly he had thought I would make a full recovery my Mum always said to me see how far you have come from the first day you became conscious I don't even know how long I was unconscious but I used to work in optics and now cognitively I am a mess in all honesty I kept telling my Dr this is not right my brain vision memory is worse like everything headaches etc I guess in the last 2/3 years I had fallen over backwards down the stairs and concussed myself -So I went eventually this MRI and spinal MRI two hours I fell asleep in there it took so long !Given my son said it would be fast less left to find ..🥴Sure is less left apparently now I have dementia,which is seriously like a punch 🤜🏻 in the stomach and freaked me out so much I told him less knowledge is more thank you tell my brother not me ..But my brain is feeling irritated tired stressed and just getting up and going anywhere is absolutely exhausting

[@Saint.questions]

Moderate tbi here 2013... brain bleed and skull fracture. Its so true. These things change you for a lifetine. I watch videos online made by and for clinicians and they tell each other "oh the person should be fine in two weeks" which is just a set up for disaster. There are no real supports for tbi, its an awful invisible disability because everyone assumes your fine. Stay in courage my fellow warrior's. We have survived 100% of our worse days so far.

[@urbnctrl]

Hey I might have the same issue - hit my head on the concrete after an accident resulting in a returning tinnitus that took years to heal from - second time having a concussion but want to check for brain bleed or fracture - im going to the doctor tomorrow - any advice on how to go about it?

[@jessicathrasher2692]

@@Saint.questions moderate symptoms? Bc a head bleed and a skull fracture is a serious TBI, I think.

[@kaygataki6163]

Major TBI 56 years ago. Concussion 8 years ago. Lifetime of emotional dysregulation, depression anxiety anger. Trouble with words. It just sucks.

[@casuallygame7670]

I fell down basement stairs at 3 years old, instantly started having rageful self harm fits where my mom would have to hold me until I pass out from energy loss., throughout growing up was labeled with bipolar,died, etc..had a lazy boy fall on my head 4 years ago. Emotional dysregulation, racing thoughts, brain fog, memory issues, can't form words sometimes, can't find the right words sometimes, and generally am always irritated or anxious. Lifelong TBI effects are worse than nightmares, and there's no escaping them.

[@felicitydeikos5250]

Can last for the rest of your life, take it from me from an 18 year oldcar injury.

[@taiweannoona1204]

Agreed. Its def con 1 everyday. It makes you literally so tired.❤

[@KatieArrambide]

My brother suffered from one a bit over a year ago. He is still recovering but doing well. TBI isn’t something anyone should suffer.

[@berliancahyadi279]

A mild TBI survivor here and mine was happened in 2013. It's very true that brain injury will last very very long or maybe i can say until the end of our life. My condition is far better than 1st year of having it but yeah, there's still some issues. My neurofatigue still showed up sometimes. 🥴

[@scubadiva666]

There are no minor TBIs!

[@revelacion3241]

i got a tbi 4 year ego and now ia worses i can t control my emotions i see alucinations and sometimes i have problems with colors sometimes i don t want go out because i feel im a danger driven or in any things i do

[@romeogamer6860]

@berliancahyadi279 What is your tbi incident

[@graciegracie]

Prioritize sleep, sleep twice a day if possible ​@revelacion3241 you're hallucinating because of sleep deprivation

[@taiweannoona1204]

It's so nice to read the comments. It reminds you that others share your struggles. That you're not as alone as you are made to feel each and every day. I wish you all strength and better times ahead.

[@revelacion3241]

yeah to read or heard all this help a lot when you have a tbi because in the normal world they don t get it about this they think we are normal people like them but not you can woke up one day happy other day like hell is weird of this

[@RoadRunnergarage8570]

TBI .. You only know it if you live it!!

[@rossshtyrkalo2085]

You're speaking my language

[@CTFPLUMBING2223]

Your 100% correct

[@BobFarley-x3g]

hit my head in a car accident and now i feel like 4 different puzzles trying to make a picture, especially anger, short temper and crazy anxiety.

[@biblical_unicorn]

I suffered a TBI at age 5 when the dog I was walking jumped off a retaining wall and I fell six feet and hit headfirst on concrete. I was never the same. I have experienced a lifetime of severe social and emotional dysregulation, sensory processing disorders, leaning disabilities, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders, and decades of being given a new mental health diagnosis every time I saw a new therapist because the thing was, I was never mentally ill. It was finally discovered at my 4th in-patient confinement (my first three were before age 21) the correlation between the TBI and why I couldn't keep myself in one piece for very long in life. This was later confirmed by a neuro doc and neuropsych that there was legit brain damage that gave me like dozens of traits of dozens of mental illnesses. I mean, before my meds, I was so out of control of myself...like walking around trying to do life as a teenager, a young adult, while contending with what manifested like I had OCD, ADHD, ASD, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, everything on the Cluster B tree, Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety, ODD, and the list probably goes on... I was trying to continue to move through life but I just really couldn't. Finally, they stopped trying to follow traditional patterns of medication for specific mental illnesses and started treating the traits. I'm on five or six medications now to essentially compensate for what's messed up in there and even though it took me almost three decades after the accident, I'm now stable on these meds and sober and have two master's degrees and a teaching career and a happy marriage and two precious daughters. Like it is crazy because in the late 80's when this happened to me, the fricking neuroscience hadn't even yet gotten advanced enough to have correlated this long-term damage with the injury bc they still bought into the whole neuroplasticity of child brains thing I think. Anyway, it happened. I cant go back and change it. I have to accept it as being what it is and do my best to live my best and understand that my best might not look like someone who is neurotypical and that's okay.

[@EdgarAllanGo]

God bless you. The medical gaslighting is unreal. You should never have experienced that incompetence. I’m sorry you went through that for so long.

[@peacelovejoyandhappiness]

Your story is intense. Thank you so much for having the wisdom, courage and strength to help others. You are doing God’s work.

[@ANT1714]

I think any brain injury will carry some form of partially permanent damage,I had recovered from a benzodiazepine brain injury it took about 5 years and the injury reactivated itself after I had panic attacks after a very stressful event,and the reason would be because the brain cells do not replenish themselves,they only grow out and try to heal around the damaged area… it is truly similar to death to live with this fatigue and 24/7 body anxiety and pain and all the other symptoms..

[@brittanykiser7988]

I have a chronic concussion on top of already complex mental health disorders. I flipped in my vehicle after being hit in sept 2022 and have been dealing with issues from a concussion and whiplash. My short term memory is by far my biggest issue has its constantly effected by my anxiety and episodes in bipolar disorder. My anxiety, my OCD and my ADHD blew up, and we (doctors and I) can not seem to regulate myself or find a pattern. Unfortunately because I'm high functioning as is, and still am, its hard to get a lot of doctors to listen or take me seriously. In all reality to an extent I feel as if I'm a different version of me as I have lost and gained qualities of my self. I'm hoping one day, I'll finally be able to find a comfortable place in my stability.

[@scubadiva666]

TBI survivor 1981 here; it was a severe intercranial head bleed + coma x 4 weeks. No one denies that the trauma happened, but I found many people wanted to erase me because I was-and have been-so inconvenient to have around. On an unrelated note, I found out I'm probably autistic; I was tested in two sessions and am waiting to hear back from the neuropsychologist.

[@KatinaLifeCoach4444]

This is what happened to my son he is a different person now😢 and I have been fighting for 11 years trying all different types of things to get him back to some type of normal I'm looking into different techniques that will help rewire his brain it is a difficult thing especially for a mother because he doesn't know wish you blessings peace and love❤❤❤❤

[@BigBlueGuy]

When I was 17, I was working under my pickup. Unfortunately one thing failed causing the whole back end to fall on my head. I think I'm doing pretty well being that I wasn't supposed to survive.

[@scubadiva666]

I wasn't either; I had an injury in 1981 that-had it happened a few years earlier-I probably wouldn't have survived at all. [Massive intercranial head bleed + coma x 4 weeks + multiple skeletal injuries]

[@BigBlueGuy]

@@scubadiva666 that's crazy! I'm glad you're still with us and here to share your story. Continue doing that, you never know who you may impact in a positive way. God has a plan for you

[@scubadiva666]

@@BigBlueGuy After I stabilized, I was transported to Gaylord hospital in Wallingford, CT, where I learned to walk again. There I met a guy whose med school had been interrupted by his TBI; he had been driving back from a hunting trip with his buddies. He was in the "death seat" [passenger seat] of the car; the car hit a patch of "black ice," his door opened and he rolled out: the car wheel rolled over his head. I lost touch with him because he had a very jealous girlfriend at the time, and I just figured it wasn't worth it.

[@BigBlueGuy]

@@scubadiva666 good choice! The less drama and stress the better. It sucks when people get the wrong idea? I have a friend who was hit by a pickup when he was crossing the road which caused him to have a TBI to. It really does change your life. However it's up to you to decide which way you want to take it

[@chelseachyannejessyyork]

Me here with a severe traumatic brain injury since i was 7 from a board falling on my head from about 8ft apparently i had forgotten everything for 3 days im 27 now and only remember about 10 days of march but very little definitely not the whole day i had forgotten i turned 27 in January about week ago😵‍💫yet none of that makes sense to myself 😅we'll always have to deal with the crap sadly

[@mcjs8640]

I am in the UK. I suffered a brain injury over 7 years ago. I am completely desperate from trying to live with severe cognitive and physical fatigue. It makes me not want to go on. I use all the management strategies etc. but the fatigue is so severe I am just existing rather than living. I have to rest my body and mind so much I can't do anything. I am so desperate. If anyone knows anything that can help, I would be very grateful.

[@_blew_a_fuse_7372]

Alpha lipoic acid heals the neurons look into it it's not a drug and it's safe

[@aphysique]

May God be wit you!!+ 🙏🏻 the struggle is real

[@_inveterate]

Sorry… I’ve lived with a TBI for almost 50 years. It’s rough. Have you tried neurofeeback?

[@rodrey]

I keep hearing and magic mushrooms i had a possitive experience

[@graciegracie]

This is not a replacement for a medical advice. Please consult your doctor. Citicoline, 1 ml every 2 days helped me have a clearer mind, carnivore diet(please consult your doctor for blood cholesterol concerns), sleeping twice a day, ~4 hours each time, reduced sugar intake, read books, sunlight exposure 20 min/day.

[@1961-v9k]

I had a traumatic brain injury back in March after an accident at work. I was in critical care and put into an induced coma for one week and in hospital for six weeks. It took me another six weeks to feel able to start and potter about my house. I’m left with loss of smell, which isn’t the worst thing in the world, but annoying, and my sequencing memory and attention memory has been a little affected. I’m now suffering from a bout of Vertigo, but unsure if that is related to my brain injury.

[@taiweannoona1204]

I have a lot of problems with sequencing. No one realizes the far reaching effects just this one thing alone has on every function, every day. You get lost in the steps of just preparing to leave home for the day or getting ready in the morning. This is my daily life, so I just wanted to let you know I hear you. I WISH the people around me understood and could help me strategize ways to get around it, but its so hard. Also affected is my concept of time. So I get lost often in a day. ❤

[@1961-v9k]

@@taiweannoona1204 ah, I totally understand you, and it’s lovely to hear from someone who is going through similar. What really annoys me, although I don’t let it show, is the silly things people say to you, like “ are you ok now” “have you got over your brain injury”. Then when I tell them I have memory problems or that exhaustion hits me like a brick wall, they say “we all forget from time to time” or “my memory is terrible” or “well we all get tired”. It makes me exasperated because most just don’t have a clue. Thanks for reaching out 👍🏼

[@lauriaktahi]

@@1961-v9k I totally relate to you both. Ive coped for 50 years now with systemic dysfunction. I also have vagus nerve damage. People have no clue what it's like. Vertigo is a symptom. But drs relate it to heart and blood, before brain...go figure

[@1961-v9k]

@@lauriaktahithank you, but my heart is absolutely fine. I’m an extremely fit, slim and athletic runner 👍🏼

[@motisingh845]

@@1961-v9k how r u brother... Did u recover completely?

[@MisterNiles]

I get no support. I can't get through the process of applying for disability. I have been encouraged to lie and pretend I have problems I don't have to make the process easier. I can't get through to them that I'll never get through the initial paperwork without hand holding. They won't listen. I seem okay. I am able to speak coherently. I can't pretend to have vertigo like the woman at the health department kept telling me. It took me awhile to get it. She just kept telling me I had vertigo and balance problems. I said: But I don't. She said: You have balance issues, you should start using a cane. It took me a long time to figure out that she was telling me to lie. I'm not going to do that. Just because my problems are difficult to see at first, I shouldn't be discarded, or be forced to commit fraud. I have a feeling I'm just going to keep getting worse and worse until I am forced to bow out.

[@rossshtyrkalo2085]

Glad I'm amongst friends.

[@scubadiva666]

Well, duh…the effects of TBI are long-lasting, and I lost at least 50 IQ points as a result of mine. I had a massive concussion as the result of a car crash in 1981: coma x 4 weeks, broken bones, physical therapy, and impaired speech. No way you're going to be "the same" after a major insult to the brain. Double whammy time: I was diagnosed with autism a few weeks ago. Yes, I can be worse.

[@Hallucinatory_Denial]

They're just figuring out this isn't an overnight thing ? Doubtful. Mine was 2006 and the Dr's knew then I would be affected for life. It staggers my broken mind to comprehend how little understanding some people without TBI's have for them. I'd say at least 50 points is accurate. Not to be conceited; I had genius level IQ before. High 140's. Now I get lost in the plots of uncomplicated, simple movies. I know our situation is a little different, but they say Elon Musk is on the spectrum. Empathize. Hopefully you can make it work for you.

[@atheistbewildered2987]

My performance IQ dropped 30 points. Verbal IQ dropped 20. I have problems with complex movements and I don’t know if this was pre or post TBIs

[@LadyPizzaCrust]

It’s so hard…I feel like I’m at my Whitts end…I need to find out what’s wrong with my brain

[@ToniaWold-ei2tj]

I am 33 years old am I have had TBI since birth have had 8 shunt surgery and I have had headaches and I am dealing with depression because of it 😢😢

[@AndrewB221]

It’s Hell 😔

[@AndrewB221]

I think tonight I’m taking a massive dose of Melatonin and praying not to wake up and face my dreams and Heaven and escape this nightmare

[@elysia3928]

​@@AndrewB221 how are you doing? is everything okay

[@milagros1650]

It’s hard to stay focus mature and organize sometimes memory lost and diffulty talking and expressing my needs I get overwhelmed and confuse with headaches migraines etc 😢

[@DIDisguise77]

I was recently diagnosed with TBI.

[@_inveterate]

I feel for you…

[@melissaklemm9976]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤its so tough. Notebook city. I have now started writing backwards what im reading. Lol crazy.

[@braininjurydiy]

Ah, duh, we the patient's have told you this for years, but don't listen to us or anything.

[@elliotthoward4738]

Tough to watch when you know all to well what they are talking about ptsd is like your shadow it goes where ever you go

[@lawrencebishton9071]

my friend so called joseph wilson says you have been very active lately why did you go from their to here. then i ask are tracking me he says no your being paranoid ? i eventually got my car smashed into by a private health and oil company i woke with my head being stitched up an nhs hospital in oxford i have not been same since the lock down when every one recieved grants for locking me down has i had worked for everything they are now granted the damage on my car does not match the injury the company van insurance from south east london (marker study) has not helped with the explanation of what has happened the police wont tell me as they say gdpr prohibits them yet my data is all over the telly and everyone seems to know my life well thats ok but now i am refusing the public to not know the nhs is a corporate company how? how is it a national health service if its corporate ?

[@docwatson1134]

I hurt my brain about four months ago. I slipped on the top step, fell back hit back of my head, blacked out, came to flat on my back bottom of a full flight of stairs. I think I bounced my head on every step. Whiplash, and a whole lot of impact injuries, top, sides, and back of my head. I was fortunate I didn't hit low enough on the back of my skull to damage vision centers. I can drive, and walk pretty well. It was only soft tissue damage, and the associated pain for the first 17 days. Then the head pain started, changing over time, here, or over here. Was awful for two months. Then the really substantial confusion and exhaustion started. Physically I'm improving, but the flat out exhaustion, it's real. I sleep 11 hours a day, at times any effort feels like too much. That is the current experience, I'm sure it will keep changing. The longterm outcome is unknowable. That much I have taken to heart, it's not over yet. And it could be a long while till it really is resolved.

[@_YohAsakura_]

Wanna know how I had mines? Random people had unhea!they obsession.

[@stuartjones6669]

My longcovid is very similar to TBI

[@komet8329]

I tbi when I'm 7 now I'm 34,last my 27 I'm suffer from my trauma after long term,so pain.. 😢, suicide feel to

[@tamaraterrymusic2656]

My son hit by a car riding a bike.

[@taiweannoona1204]

I'm so so sorry 😢❤

[@dfcvda]

2014 had my TBI and I still have Tinnitus

[@cameronbrown387]

Its a never ending

[@mahendrapatil1938]

Can tbi cause OCD sir

[@taiweannoona1204]

Yes. I've read studies that it does.❤

[@_blew_a_fuse_7372]

It will fade in time I had harm ocd so your not alone

[@dantegordon9746]

Thank you ❤

[@CIAO_MEINS]

Same location of where i got my first brain injury shortly after failing bootcamp

[@mydogsareneat]

Ya i definitely needed help i wouldn't have been able to do that cone toe thing for like a solid year at least

[@minoxidilbeardandhairprodu4598]

Can the neuralink fix it?

[@melissaklemm9976]

Yes they do. Im in OHIO

[@melissaklemm9976]

Yes❤

[@bensmith7212]

Some people turn gay some are sooo racist lol I just take it all in when I go to Abi resources

[@1conservativegrl]

Is that true that a person not racist at all can become racist out of the blue?

[@VernonRhem]

I thought that I br back in month boy was I wrong

[@barbaralavoie2642]

Yhe Concussion Fix Dr Cameron Marshall

[@taiweannoona1204]

Is this a helpful book you read?

[@fishybusinessco.8398]

How many peoples marriages have been ruined because of their injury

[@Goobert.001]

When I was about 7 or so I fell hard on my head on the cafeteria concrete floor while eating lunch, I told nobody that happened at brushed it off. Later I had a headache and had to sit down a little bit. A few years later when im 10 I fall on the hard armrest of a couch and feel dizzy and have a headache and told nobody or got any treatment and now i'm still alive at 20 years old and can anybody explained what happened to me? Did I just get lucky?

[@gilbertlopez8285]

It is great to know that I'm not the only person who can't figure out what the hell is going on with me. I'm 72 years old and I wish that what time I have left I could enjoy a somewhat normal life. What ever normal is.