Brain injury

In 2003 I had back to back concussions.  The second one knocked me out for about >10 minutes.  Since then I have had severe migraines, blackouts, dizziness, weekness, and periods of confussion.  I have had a negative ct, mri, and eeg, although my dr. hasn't ruled out seizures. Latley the confussion has become worse. I get lost, I don't reconize things that should be familiar, speech becomes slurred, and I lose chunks of time.  I have been recently started on ritalin to help w/ my thinking, and memory, i have not noticed a difference except It gives me extra energy.  Is there anything I can do to help get rid of these symtoms (symptoms)?  Can my brain return to pre- injury functioning even after 3 years? Thank you

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.
Post-concussive syndrome can be a frusterating and challenging problem.  When the brain is injured by a concussion that causes loss of consciousness, it is theorized that axons (like electricial wires in the brain) are sheared and result in dysfunction of multiple areas of the brain without overt structural damage(like would show up on MRI).  This dysfunction can lead to personality changes, memory loss, confusion, headaches and sometimes seizures.  
   When an EEG is negative, this only means you were not having a seizure at the time of the test.  You need to have an EEG while you are having your "loss of time" symptoms.  This will likely require you be admitted to an epilepsy monitoring unit for 3-5 days, with continous EEG (available at major medical centers).  
Ritalin can improve energy, but can also make headaches worse.  Due to the severity of migraines in many concussion patients, I would recommend a migraine preventative medication such as elavil, nadolol, topamax, verapamil etc.
    After a severe concussion it often takes a team approach between neurologist, psychiatrist and physical/occupational therapist to make the optimum improvement.
   I hope this has been helpful.

[vega1318]

Sounds like you took a beating to your brain...  it won't ever be completely the same, but you can retrain yourself to do things better.   It's called cognitive rehabilitation, you should look into it in your area.   Also, some herbal medications, such as Ginkgo biloba, have been helpful in people with traumatic brain injuries, etc.  -- helps them be more focused, "clear headed."  There's one particular product, Ginkgold, that sells a specific extract of Ginkgo that's been studied well.  Perhaps, you should try it.