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I have a brain injury [video]

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Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#61

Post by kayodelycaon »

dvt wrote: post #18
ttul wrote: post #17

I had a brain injury a few years ago and I literally am not the same person. Be careful with your head, folks. It’s really easy to permanently change your existence.

My regards, and this is purely out of curiosity so feel free to ignore if I'm overstepping -- how are you "not the same person?" Can you tell what you "should" be like? Did you previously enjoy certain things that you don't anymore? Hoping you get better.

Not the parent commenter, but I have had a complete change of self.

After my psychotic break and starting treatment for bipolar, I was a shell of a person. I had the opportunity to become anyone I wanted to be. I picked what I thought my best traits were from my last self and started on a journey of self discovery.

I vaguely remember my previous self and he had completely different motivations. The only similarities I recognize are things I decided to keep.

To keep this bit brief, my interests changed in ways I didn’t expect. My previous self would never have shamelessly written pornography.

My previous self used to care what people thought of him. I don’t. I only care about the consequences of how people see me. This doesn’t make a sociopath because I do care about how people feel. I want to communicate effectively. I try to tailor my actions so other people feel I am listening and that I care, because I do. My previous self wasn’t so explicitly and logically calculating about relationships.

My previous self was brutally honest. I try to be kind when confrontation or blunt honesty is necessary.

Overall, my maturity increased by about 20 years in the last 3 years. My previous self is a person I’m not fond of.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#62

Post by CJ153 »

IMO, UNC's Dr. Bob Dennis' and Dr. Mark Tommerdahl's inventions are the most exciting and in my own experience have proven invaluable with mTBI. I use the ICES PEMF M1 and the Brain Gauge (both available directly from the inventors at https://fluxhealth.co and they have a nice community forum) and had excellent results.

A study using ICES PEMF and measuring efficacy using the Brain Gauge (as far as I am aware, it's the only tool out there that can accurately detect mTBI) https://downloads.corticalmetrics.com/pub/corticalmetrics_ma...

A list of links from Dr. Bob Dennis on this topic: https://forum.fluxhealth.co/t/closed-head-injury-epilepsy-an...

More research links on the Brain Gauge and how it works https://www.corticalmetrics.com/publications

I hope this information helps others.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#63

Post by kayodelycaon »

l8nite wrote: post #56
dvt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My regards, and this is purely out of curiosity so feel free to ignore if I'm overstepping -- how are you "not the same person?" Can you tell what you "should" be like? Did you previously enjoy certain things that you don't anymore? Hoping you get better.

I’m not the parent, but I had a moment where I physically felt something “break” in my brain (stress related), and ever since then I haven’t been the same person. The feeling is hard to articulate, but I no longer connect to my feelings or thoughts in the ways I had been accustomed to. My new behaviors and patterns are somewhat destructive to the life I was building prior to my “break,” and it’s incredibly maddening…

Interesting. I had a four month long psychotic break. It started mid-August 2018 when I physically felt something snap in my brain. (See my reply to the same comment)

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#64

Post by johnisgood »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #61
dvt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My regards, and this is purely out of curiosity so feel free to ignore if I'm overstepping -- how are you "not the same person?" Can you tell what you "should" be like? Did you previously enjoy certain things that you don't anymore? Hoping you get better.

Not the parent commenter, but I have had a complete change of self. After my psychotic break and starting treatment for bipolar, I was a shell of a person. I had the opportunity to become anyone I wanted to be. I picked what I thought my best traits were from my last self and started on a journey of self discovery. I vaguely remember my previous self and he had completely different motivations. The only similarities…

My change was profound, but the cause for it is pretty simple. I was in love with a girl and I tried to be with her but she did not even reply to me. I started thinking about how this happened and how I could have avoided it, I started thinking about in what ways she has changed me for the better... From here I just sort of became a "better" person. Honesty, loyalty, not making promises I cannot keep, and so forth... In some ways being a manipulative prick paid me off more, but I do not mind, I am sticking to who I am now.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#66

Post by SpikeDad »

difosfor wrote: post #31

A big metal Christmas street ornament installation fell on my head and shoulder as a rode my bike on the street underneath. Briefly on a ventilator. Thankfully can't remember that or the week after personally and mostly recovered over the following weeks, months and years. Kind of like a logarithmic curve; fast at first and then ever slower. From what I was told, that's generally the case and there isn't really anyth…

Such an inspiring story. Glad to hear you're recovering your life.

However I have to say that you are lucky. I doubt the majority of employers would be so kind and accommodating nor would work colleagues be as supportive.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#67

Post by taxicabjesus »

pcarolan wrote: post #11
throwaway_12122 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to Mayo after a stroke. I was (am?) a fairly high iq person, national merit scholarship, 99.8%tile SAT scores, etc. Degree in mathematics, compsci. I had a stroke in my 30s, and it was thankfully mild (slight dysarthria that went away in a month) but I'm certain it impacted my intelligence and ability to concentrate. I can't focus/concentrate for long sessions anymore. I used to be able study without problem u…

Anecdotally I've heard hyperbaric chambers can help: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/hyperbaric-oxyge... I have no idea and wouldn't claim this is true for you in your situation though. My partner has brain cancer and I wish I'd tried this earlier.

Anecdotally I've heard that oxygen is toxic at higher-than-atmospheric pressure. Your link does mention oxygen toxicity, but I didn't notice any discussion of the antidote.

I wrote a blog post, which I intend to submit for fact-checking some day: https://www.taxiwars.org/2021/06/folly-medical-hyperventilat...

After posting that I figured out how the antidote for oxygen toxicity got memory-holed. It was in the 1950's, and ... there was a little protest, circa 1959, saying the new guidelines weren't so great for carbon monoxide poisoning.

My email address is in my profile, drop a line with a link to this comment and I'll provide more references.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#68

Post by Noumenon72 »

difosfor wrote: post #31

A big metal Christmas street ornament installation fell on my head and shoulder as a rode my bike on the street underneath. Briefly on a ventilator. Thankfully can't remember that or the week after personally and mostly recovered over the following weeks, months and years. Kind of like a logarithmic curve; fast at first and then ever slower. From what I was told, that's generally the case and there isn't really anyth…

How long has it been since the incident? How do friends tactfully tell you your IQ has dropped, and would you rather they hadn't?

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#69

Post by ttul »

dvt wrote: post #18
ttul wrote: post #17

I had a brain injury a few years ago and I literally am not the same person. Be careful with your head, folks. It’s really easy to permanently change your existence.

My regards, and this is purely out of curiosity so feel free to ignore if I'm overstepping -- how are you "not the same person?" Can you tell what you "should" be like? Did you previously enjoy certain things that you don't anymore? Hoping you get better.

I just dimly remember being sharper and faster previously. It’s hard to pin down the precise changes more than that. Work is harder. Focusing is harder.

Re: I have a brain injury [video]

#70

Post by nyokodo »

forgatmigej wrote: post #43
verytrivial wrote: post #12

I concussed myself (because yes, I was at fault) trying to swing on some monkey bars during an evening involving some rather excellent (hard) cider in Bristol. I felt ... "wrong"? ... for maybe two or three months afterwards. Just never at ease. Forgetful. A bit confused and detached. I didn't even realize the fall was the cause until long after the hangover went away, but the hangover .. sort of didn't go away. Unti…

Sorry to hear that. I've had a few concussions, too, and there is definitely a psychological component. I found myself thinking "Is how I reacted to stimuli X because of the concussions, or due to a flaw in my character?" One day I realized that I am who I am; no A/B test can be done for my life with and without concussions. Causal inference can't be done by comparing experiences pre and post concussion. At most, it…

> One day I realized that I am who I am

Quite right. You don’t even need a concussion to have this quandary. Low blood sugar, lacking sleep, too much/little caffeine, stressful day, etc, all affect how I react but in all cases it was me albeit not at my best.

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