[floridaorange]

Anyone here have any first or second hand experience with CTE?

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain condition that's thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion. It's particularly associated with contact sports, such as boxing or American football. Most of the available studies are based on ex-athletes.

[gilberjj]

I've had several concussions, all in my middle school and high school years. Skiing, dirt biking and football incidents. I have never noticed any lingering effects. Actually, when I was growing up, we commonly said things like "get your bell rung" and a bunch of other idioms. Looking back, those were likely concussions. I remember playing football and have a really hard hit and then "coming to" several plays later. Again, no lingering effects that I'm aware of.
My best friend however had fewer concussions than me, but he had a bad one and claims that he's never been the same cognitively. He's still smart AF though.

[e90335e36m3]

I have a TBI (from a blow to the head) that's not CTE, which I can in my unlicensed unprofessional medical opinion could liken to CTE, but which does not officially have those symptoms. That said, my neurologist said once you have a TBI there's not much you can do about it or its symptoms and the onset of new issues later on could be attributable to it. So it's more about controlling external factors to mitigate whatever developments / issues materialize internally.

[Darth One]

Hopefully no one here has firsthand experience…dont you need to be dead before they can diagnose you with CTE?

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by Darth One

Hopefully no one here has firsthand experience…dont you need to be dead before they can diagnose you with CTE?

No they can scan your brain nowadays and tell you...

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...e-died-n821601

I have a lot of 2nd hand experience, but it's super rare to meet anyone else who has had a similar experience.

[OkieSnuffBox]

No CTE, but I did have a pretty dramatic concussion from a motorcycle wreck at a track day.

I was unconscious long enough laying face down on the ground they stopped session. I went to the doctor the next day and they made me sign a release to not leave in an ambulance to go to the ER.

Post-concussion syndrome is TERRIBLE. I was taking 3000 mgs of Ibuprofen and an anti-psychotic to help control the insane migraines I had for a few months after the wreck.

Think laying on the floor in the fetal position, crying your eyes out just wishing for it to stop.

It was literally that bad.

[Maynard]

Used to ba a main gig, now kind of a sideline for me. Hope this isn't too wonky for the OT.

Concussion is VERY different from CTE. Concussion is the least severe form of TBI, with most recovering fully (like a sprained joint, with immediate but temporary effects that sometimes are long term or permanent, and sometimes cause damage that shows up as early wear or decline). CTE is a condition resulting from long term exposure to traumatic stress, and does not always involve concussion. I've never seen anyone who had NO concussions but still developed CTE, but it is common to hear histories where people don't recall many (like football linebackers, where they might get their bell rung a few times a season, but they are taking huge g-force shocks at almost every scrimmage). Any jarring blow or sudden accel/decel of the head, followed by significant alteration in mental status signifies a concussion. Does not need loss of consciousness, but it does require significant physical jarring - if you get loopy from other things it isn't good, but it isn't concussion either (like drugs, anoxia/choking, circulatory arrest).

The absolutely most important thing to know about concussions is that for a period of several days after one, you are much more susceptible to Second Impact Syndrome - this is usually triggered by a second blow, but can sometimes be metabolic (heatstroke/exertion). Once it hits, your brain rapidly swells up inside your skull and basically crushes itself to death (or severe brain damage, if you are 'lucky' enough to be right near a really good trauma service). This is why they now have concussion protocols in sports - there is a painfully long list of atheletes whos careers ended in a wheelchair or a pine box from this; mostly amateurs or highschool/college level so it usually only makes the local papers - kinda bums people out to talk about that football star who is now a drooling vegetable. Another reason to go see the docs is that there is also a good chance that if you are hit hard enough to lose consciousness, you could have an internal bleed - won't show any more symptoms than a concussion (so often none or easily ignored - you get up and feel fine, or just a little woozy) but over the next few hours you build up pressure while you get real tired. This is why they used to tell people not to go to sleep for 24 hours - so they could monitor for signs of this kind of collapse and surgically rescue you (avoiding sleep does NOT help recovery in any way, actually helps). Now they have really great scanners, so if you take a concussion, go get a head scan. Odds are you are wasting your money, but don't bet what you can't lose (I don't have firm #'s on the mechanical half of this equation, but think of it as about 100 times MORE likely than a crank hub failure on a modded s55; 20 times more likely if you go by the guys who sell the fixit kits for that).

If you have any lasting symptoms beyond a day or two, go see a specialist - new therapy protocols (reduced stim and activity, sometimes drugs) can dramatically speed up recovery. I've seen people who pushed themselves to stay fully active who dragged it out for years, and then had full recoveries once they got with a program. And if you notice that the same kind of hit is giving you increasingly bad symptoms, or that lighter and lighter hits are causing that same 'bell rung' feeling, then you really need to change your lifestyle. That is the equivalent of the last warning - like seeing all those shiny metallic glitter bits on your oil filter that tell you you are only a short time from throwing
a rod thru the block. I forget his name, but one of the hockey 'enforcers' gave an interview where he said s/t like 'when I started, you couldn't knock me out with a 2x4, now I get woozy when somebody skates by me too fast.