So, I got concussed Tuesday. My experiences, and others can add theirs.

[Captain Hindsight]

I had a few in HS. One sent me to the hospital as I was playing basketball and hit a brick wall behind a woefully inadequate gym mat. I woke up with my dad, my coach and one of my friends looking very concerned. Don't remember much beyond feeling very dizzy and woozy for a few days.

 

The one that scares me the most, I was returning a punt in practice and got smacked good. I didnt come out of practice, drove home and went to bed and I have no recollection of that. Lot of things could have gone wrong there  

[fergie's ire]

30 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

That's because if you have a brain bleed, you could die.  Once you're cleared with a CT, they recommend sleep.

Yeah back when I was a kid getting regular concussions in the 70s, the protocol was you were not allowed to sleep.  You needed to stay awake and have your pupils checked every hour or so.  I would have horrible headaches and get super sleepy.  I just wanted to go to sleep but couldn't.  they were monitoring for signs of a brain bleed and concerns I would slip into a coma.  That's what we had to do BEFORE CT scans.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Went Skiing ⛷️ outside of Syracuse 

woke up some time later on a sled 🛷 being pulled by the Medics 

Spent the night in the hospital 

 

🏥 

Headache and bump on the side of my head. 
 

40 years later and I still can’t remember how I got hurt 

[sunshynman]

I went flying from a jetski when it stopped (shallow water) and I didn't. I had concussion symptoms for over a year with the first couple months afterwards being bad. It would hurt to touch the top back of my head for a year as well. I'm lucky I didn't snap my neck that day.

[CountDorkula]

2 minutes ago, Beast said:

I’m pretty sure posters here won’t be rushing to this thread if they experience head trauma to get the opinions of Dr.SlimShady’sSpaceForce, Dr. Captain Hindsight or even rewatch Youngblood to see if Dr. Derek Sutton has any advice on head trauma.  It will be OK.

Speak for yourself, I get all my life advice from TBD.

[Xerx]

17 years ago, I attended a friends wedding 5 hour drive from home

 

After leaving the day after, I got back into the town I lived in, about two lights from my exit, my girlfriends was with me in my car (now my wife), we had been travelling with a few of my other friends in another car, we had lost them on the highway at some point through some traffic. As I was sitting at the red light, I looked up in the mirror and saw a car weaving in traffic, I thought it was them trying to catch up before we got home. This was my last memory of that evening, everything else from that night is from what others have told me happened. 

 

My car was struck in the left rear by that weaving car, it was a drunk driving in the middle of a street race, the impact sent me forward, crushed my right shoulder on the steering wheel, my head ricochet off the windshield and through the driver side window, my car spun through the intersection.   My friends who had been following behind, came onto the scene, saw the car that struck mine on fire in the center median, they pulled the driver from his burning car, after getting him out. They noticed a man stumbling in the street, face covered in blood. They immediately realized it was me. Tried to get me taken care of, I was unaware of whom they where and was very agitated and tried to fight them off me. 

 

Fire/Ambulance/Police arrived on the scene, paramedics concerned about my well being. could not get me into the ambulance as I tried to fight anyone who came near me. They asked my girlfriend if she could try, this worked and I hoped onto the gurney and was sent to the hospital (Thankfully my wife did not suffer any injuries)

 

At the hospital, I remained an unruly fellow, trying to fight Doctors and Nurses all the same, I was restrained and cuffed to the gurney at the hospital. Doctor recounted telling my wife, that he had never wanted to punch anyone before but was an inch from doing it to me (holding his fingers apart in the air)

 

I awoke from this monster I had become around 3 in the morning, lucid, calm and back to my normal self. I was immediately released from the hospital. This became an issue later on as I probably should not have released at this time, but they also didn't want me around anymore.

 

This person I was during this is someone I don't recognize or proud of. Thankful I don't have actual memories of being like this in any way. 

 

I remember little of the next few days, I remember going to my car to get personal belongings and not much else.

 

I spent the next 3-4 months in a constant battle of being tired, dizzy, nauseous.  Was unable to work, play the sports I had always loved (hockey/baseball)

 

Living on the 6th floor of my building, I would try and go down and get the mail during the day, was unable to walk the 6 flights of stairs down or up without a break halfway, I slowly got better, stayed with symptoms for years. Even to this day, 17 years later, things that never used to bother me cause me to get dizzy and nauseous (strobe lights, anything that spins quickly) 

 

I've had other setbacks through the years, bump my head a little too firmly and I can easily be dizzy and it'll take me a day or two to feel better

 

 

 

 

[Captain Hindsight]

1 minute ago, CountDorkula said:

Speak for yourself, I get all my life advice from TBD.

[Freddie's Dead]

10 minutes ago, Beast said:

I’m pretty sure posters here won’t be rushing to this thread if they experience head trauma to get the opinions of Dr.SlimShady’sSpaceForce, Dr. Captain Hindsight or even rewatch Youngblood to see if Dr. Derek Sutton has any advice on head trauma.  It will be OK.

 

Dr. Sutton, at your service:

 

[The Red King]

2 minutes ago, Bills2022 said:

 

Great, put it in some non-football forum for people who think it is smart to talk about concussions in a forum.  Brain injuries are serious stuff.  They aren't internet forum material.  You see a doctor.  Then you do what they tell you to do.  

 

 

From the OP...

 

Quote

Let me tell you where I'm at.  Tuesday was bad.  I ended up in the ER.

 

Not asking the forum to diagnose and treat me in any way.  Already being treated professionally, by the ER initially and my doctor on follow-up.  To be clear, I am not getting medical advise for my concussion from this thread.

 

Quote

So, what is the point of this post and why is it separate?  I want to get other members' experiences.  How their concussions affected them and how much time it took for them to recover.  I also want this to be a precautionary tale to anyone who gets concussed in the future, to look at these posts and not rush themselves back so that they don't risk additional injury.  Finally, I want this post and additional replies to put NFL concussions in perspective.  Sometimes it's hard to see how concussions can truly impact players, not just short-term, but long term as well.

 

And this is why I posted this, to bring awareness.  Not just to the seriousness, but in how symptoms can vary wildly and bring awareness.  It's one thing to say a player or really anyone can have a concussion.  It's another to lay out what that means.  On that note, thank you everyone for the replies thus far.  It's honestly eye-opening just to see the vastly different range of symptoms and experiences.

[BuffaloBill]

11 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

Speak for yourself, I get all my life advice from TBD.

 

 

Have thoughts followed our financial advice and deposited your life savings into the account #’s you have been given?  Stop procrastinating - we will handle your money better than you do. #turnitover

[DrPJax]

1 hour ago, The Red King said:

So I fell on Tuesday and cracked my head on the corner of the wall.  This post applies to more then just Tua's concussion, it applies to Trent Edwards and everyone else players or otherwise.  That's why I made a separate post.  Anyone else out there that got a concussion can add their experiences as well.

 

Let me tell you where I'm at.  Tuesday was bad.  I ended up in the ER.  I was dizzy, with double vision.  When I got home, I was stuck in bed.  Now Wednesday I felt a lot better.  My head was mostly better.  I was fine in bed or in my chair and just a little fuzzy when I got up and moving.  I could move around with pretty much no difficulty.  I figured things were recovering quickly.  On Thursday I felt much the same, no better, no worse.  Then I woke up today.  My head is swimming.  Things are not as bad as Tuesday but they are worse then the last two days.  I need to be careful when I get up and move around.  That's when I discovered I'm not alright and it's going to be some time before I am.  I can't imagine what this is like for football players who are rushed back into playing.  Tua is, of course, the worst example but this applies to anyone who is concussed.

 

So, what is the point of this post and why is it separate?  I want to get other members' experiences.  How their concussions affected them and how much time it took for them to recover.  I also want this to be a precautionary tale to anyone who gets concussed in the future, to look at these posts and not rush themselves back so that they don't risk additional injury.  Finally, I want this post and additional replies to put NFL concussions in perspective.  Sometimes it's hard to see how concussions can truly impact players, not just short-term, but long term as well.

 

So TBD members who have suffered concussions, I want to hear your stories as well...

So sorry to hear of your accident and head trauma.  Take care , wising you a full recovery and hope it comes asap. Very serious injuries with delayed and prolonged effects. Hope it all clears so you can enjoy this Bills season. 

[elijah]

1 hour ago, LeGOATski said:

I've been told that's the one thing you're not supposed to do if you suspect a concussion

I forget the exact reasoning, but doctors have backed away from telling you not to sleep. Something about puking in your sleep maybe? My most recent concussion I was actually advised to sleep. 

 

I’ve had more than a few concussions from football and other things. My worst one I was probably 8 or 9 and it was quite an awful experience. Just a nauseating migraine and constant puking. Due to the combination of the severity of the concussion and age at the time, I don’t really remember it too clearly. I do remember the pain was severe, I was puking a whole lot, spent the entire night at the hospital getting cat scans and what not.

 

Then I had like 2-3 minor concussions where the symptoms were seemingly gone, or just ‘rub some dirt on it’ type symptoms and I was pissed that I was getting held out of football for what to me seemed like nothing more than minor headaches. 

 

And then the last one had seemed minor at the time, I got dizzy during a hit during football and stayed down on the field for an extra second and they were starting to get more proactive so I get held out of football. At the time I was pissed and wanted to be playing, but looking back at it I started struggling with school pretty bad. I was always a very smart kid but that concussion in the same time period I went from naturally grasping concepts at the time I learned it, to having to study and review things many times over sometimes to actually understand. It was 10th grade of high school so maybe it had a correlation to the subject matter itself just getting harder. But Chemistry class specifically, the day of my concussion and moving forward no matter how hard I tried I just could not understand or study enough to learn it. It was a bad feeling going from a very smart and natural kid to someone who couldn’t learn something even with the extra effort. 

[The Red King]

2 minutes ago, elijah said:

I forget the exact reasoning, but doctors have backed away from telling you not to sleep. Something about puking in your sleep maybe? My most recent concussion I was actually advised to sleep. 

 

I’ve had more than a few concussions from football and other things. My worst one I was probably 8 or 9 and it was quite an awful experience. Just a nauseating migraine and constant puking. Due to the combination of the severity of the concussion and age at the time, I don’t really remember it too clearly. I do remember the pain was severe, I was puking a whole lot, spent the entire night at the hospital getting cat scans and what not.

 

Then I had like 2-3 minor concussions where the symptoms were seemingly gone, or just ‘rub some dirt on it’ type symptoms and I was pissed that I was getting held out of football for what to me seemed like nothing more than minor headaches. 

 

And then the last one had seemed minor at the time, I got dizzy during a hit during football and stayed down on the field for an extra second and they were starting to get more proactive so I get held out of football. At the time I was pissed and wanted to be playing, but looking back at it I started struggling with school pretty bad. I was always a very smart kid but that concussion in the same time period I went from naturally grasping concepts at the time I learned it, to having to study and review things many times over sometimes to actually understand. It was 10th grade of high school so maybe it had a correlation to the subject matter itself just getting harder. But Chemistry class specifically, the day of my concussion and moving forward no matter how hard I tried I just could not understand or study enough to learn it. It was a bad feeling going from a very smart and natural kid to someone who couldn’t learn something even with the extra effort. 

 

Is this something you're still struggling with?

[Augie]

2 hours ago, The Red King said:

So I fell on Tuesday and cracked my head on the corner of the wall.  This post applies to more then just Tua's concussion, it applies to Trent Edwards and everyone else players or otherwise.  That's why I made a separate post.  Anyone else out there that got a concussion can add their experiences as well.

 

Let me tell you where I'm at.  Tuesday was bad.  I ended up in the ER.  I was dizzy, with double vision.  When I got home, I was stuck in bed.  Now Wednesday I felt a lot better.  My head was mostly better.  I was fine in bed or in my chair and just a little fuzzy when I got up and moving.  I could move around with pretty much no difficulty.  I figured things were recovering quickly.  On Thursday I felt much the same, no better, no worse.  Then I woke up today.  My head is swimming.  Things are not as bad as Tuesday but they are worse then the last two days.  I need to be careful when I get up and move around.  That's when I discovered I'm not alright and it's going to be some time before I am.  I can't imagine what this is like for football players who are rushed back into playing.  Tua is, of course, the worst example but this applies to anyone who is concussed.

 

So, what is the point of this post and why is it separate?  I want to get other members' experiences.  How their concussions affected them and how much time it took for them to recover.  I also want this to be a precautionary tale to anyone who gets concussed in the future, to look at these posts and not rush themselves back so that they don't risk additional injury.  Finally, I want this post and additional replies to put NFL concussions in perspective.  Sometimes it's hard to see how concussions can truly impact players, not just short-term, but long term as well.

 

So TBD members who have suffered concussions, I want to hear your stories as well...

 

I believe what you are describing is actually back spasms, from what I’ve heard lately. Be careful, once you get them once, they are more likely to come back, possibly four days later at work. 

[Simon]

I played organized ball well into my 30s; I've been lit up too many times to count. 

No gongowning ishuez so var dough....

[TH3]

Blew up ski racing...I did not notice and effects till I went to work on monday and was unable to do anything...

[Wacka]

Any brain trauma can cause dizziness later. Had a stroke in 2014.  Since then, If I look up for a while, like looking up in the trees in a forest, I get dizzy.  If i look straight ahead,I am immediately fine.  Never happens when I drive. Neurologist said it was from the stroke and avoid looking up if I can

[stevewin]

I've told this story before

 

When I was in HS, at basketball practice on a Sat morning, I was running full speed for a loose ball and smashed my face into someone's skull, shattering my nose (concussion 1).  People there said I was out on my feet - and slowly fell backwards like a tree and smashed the back of my head on the floor (concussion 2).  (I heard later) In the immediate moments while I was lying there on my back blacked out, people mostly were just staring wtf.  One of my friends got down by me and heard choking, and turned my on my side and a river of blood came flowing out my nose and mouth.  The people there said it was the craziest and grossest thing they had ever seen.

 

I was out for a few minutes.  When I started to come to, things were very foggy and hazy.  The first thing that popped into my head was my Mom always said when were were kids, if you are ever hurt, tell them the name of our family doctor.  So I groggily just start repeating "Hassenfratz, Hassenfratz" over and over.  At that point I'm sure they thought I had suffered brain damage 😛 

 

By the time the ambulance came I was fully awake.  I will never forget in the ambulance, while I felt awake and 'clear-headed' - there were times I couldn't remember the most basic things while I was having conversation with the EMTs who were asking me questions .  It was a very weird feeling.

 

This was a time before cell phones.  My Dad was out hunting, my Mom was Christmas shopping, and my brother was out some where.  I stat on a stretcher in a hallway in the hospital for what felt like hours.  Eventually my brother came home, checked the messages, and called Eastern Hills Mall where my Mom was shopping.  They paged her over the PA. (it's crazy how we lived before cell phones)

 

Later that evening in the hospital I was laying in bed, and this doctor suddenly comes rushing in, wearing a tuxedo (he was at a Christmas party, and my uncle, who was head of internal medicine at the hospital called him in).  He looks me over, turns to my Mom and says "One of his pupils is bigger than the other - he may have bleeding pressure on his brain and we may need to operate"  I will never forget the look on my Mom's face as she turned white as a sheet.  At that point I was more worried about her health than mine.  It turns out one of my pupils is naturally bigger than the other (who knew)

 

One other thing I will never forget from that experience - the following Mon evening in the hospital, I was coming back to my room from a test or scan, and the MNF game was on the TV.  The guy in the other bed says to me "They shot John Lennon, man".  I will never forget the exact way he said it and the pain in his voice for as long as I live.

 

I was back to school by the end of the week.  They put my nose back together, but this was a time before all the concussion awareness and I never was evaluated for anything neurological.  I had bad headaches for a while after and initially saw some doctors - but eventually that can become a whole rabbit hole (the more you think about having a headache the more you will probably have one) so soon afterwards I just decided to just not focus on it and get on with my life.  I think I still have headaches a lot of the time, but like I said I've just conditioned myself to not think about them.  Every once in a while when I can't remember something I wonder if it is just natural aging forgetfulness or if it is related to my brain being scrambled - but at this point there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

[frostbitmic]

I had one about three years ago.

 

For the first six months or so I had room spins/vertigo when I laid down. It's gradually gone away but once in awhile out of the blue I'll get it again.

 

I also for some reason had balance issues in the shower where I had to hold onto the walls. No dizziness, just seriously off balance more than I normally am. Every once in awhile I get that again out of nowhere.

 

Concussions suck.

[0017]

I was snowboarding and fell back on my head very much like Tua’s first head injury (I wasn’t wearing a helmet like a idiot!) I immediately felt dizzy and confused, after about 10 min I got up and kept heading down the mountain. I felt nauseous for about 2 hours, after that I was fine no other symptoms by the end of the day I almost forgot it happened.