The single blow that really can change your life.
"Every time I turn on the news these days, it seems like there is
another athlete coming forward with major mental health issues linked to
a history of concussions—so many so that as of this week there are now
more than 1,000 former NFL players suing the league for inadequate
post-concussion care. Many of these concussions have caused former pro
athletes to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a
degenerative brain disease marked by depression, dementia, and other
Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.
Interestingly, 13 former NFL players—some living and some
deceased—have opted to donate their brains to science, in order to allow
researchers to study CTE and the impact of repetitive head trauma. One
in particular, “Iron Mike” Webster, a star in the 70s, suffered
depression and dementia, before dying at the age of 50 in 2002. A close
look at his brain revealed damage the equivalent of “25,000 car
crashes” after a 25-year career. Sadly, the effects of CTE have proven
so grave that many of these 13 donors died by either suicide or erratic
behavior-induced accidents.
While most of us aren’t subjected to repeated blows to the head,
accidents do happen—something all too familiar to me. In 2007 I suffered
a concussion after a visit to the emergency room for an eye abrasion
which was exceedingly painful. The young intern asked if I wanted
something for the pain and although I told him I didn’t take drugs, he
never-the-less slipped me some samples of two pain meds—a Motrin and
Percocet—that he said would help relieve my discomfort, but to make sure
and take them with food.
He then sent me on my way. I was staying with my closest friends in
my hometown of West Hartford, Connecticut at the time. When I returned
to my friends’ home, my eye was still so excruciatingly painful—whether
it was open or closed—that I begrudgingly took the meds with some
crackers before bed. I was in such discomfort that I didn’t bother
reading about Motrin or Percocet. Motrin would have been bad enough, it
is very caustic to the lining of the stomach, but Percocet—well, that
turned out to be a potent narcotic-like med.
What I remember next is that I went to bed but got up in the middle
of the night to use the bathroom. I remember feeling dizzy, woozy, and
fainted—hitting my head on the sink in the bathroom. But somehow I
managed to stumble back across the hall—where sometime later my friends
found me sitting in a yoga position in front of the bedroom door. They
quickly sat down with me, assessed the situation and knew I had severely
bumped my head because there was blood all over the place. When I got
up, I looked in the mirror and sure enough, I had a major cut down my
forehead and when I smiled, I actually burst out laughing (I apparently
was still high on the Percocet) because several of my front teeth had
broken in half.
Needless to say, at 4 am we went back to the Emergency Room and I got
ten stitches on my forehead, but not before the staff questioned me
intensely regarding the “real” situation behind my eye abrasion in the
first place. (They suspected, I guess, that I had suffered some type of
domestic abuse. By that time the Percocet was wearing off and I was
beginning to get upset!)
In the months following, I started having major trouble sleeping,
suffered from anxiety and even experienced some kind of post-traumatic
stress. This made me wonder about the magnitude of my fall, and as I’ve
always done with my health, I started looking for answers. I poured over
books and studies on the subject, tried various tests and products and
met with both traditional and alternative experts. In doing so, it has
become my opinion that concussions are simply not taken seriously
enough.
What I wish I knew then that I know now:
An MRI is not the answer. Although helpful in
identifying other serious concerns (i.e. skull fracture, hematoma, and
contusion), traditional structural tests such as CT, MRI, and EEG are
not useful in identifying the effects of a concussion as it is a
metabolic rather than structural injury. A neuro-cognitive test like the
ImPACT Test can provide a thorough evaluation. But, it’s important to
act quickly—the ImPACT test should be administered within the first
24-72 hours. Find a local provider at
www.impacttest.com.
What I did do that helped:
1. I saw several soft tissue experts that specialized in myofascial
release. I especially benefited from the hiatal hernia adjustment I
received and cranial sacral work.
2. I used L-tryptophan mid-day and before bed for calming and mood
stabilization. As the precursor to serotonin, it also helped to
alleviate insomnia. I used 50-100 mg of 5-HTP (which is one step
biochemically away from serotonin) and sometimes straight
tryptophan—500-4,000 mg divided throughout the afternoon and evening. In
my case, the tryptophan helped me the most.
3. For anxiety, I took GABA, an amino acid precursor for dopamine
that helps to reduce anxiety and stress—600-3000 mg per day at different
times than the L-tryptophan.
4. I used
Ultra H-3 twice
daily between meals (morning and afternoon) to maintain my emotional
equilibrium throughout the day. The bilberry ingredient helps to
strengthen the walls of blood vessels and act as a potent
anti-inflammatory while the ginkgo biloba is well regarded to aid
restricted circulation throughout the body and can penetrate the
blood-brain barrier."
-Edge On Health, Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman
