Last night I believe I suffered a mild concussion

[IsntThatLife]

Last night I believe I suffered a mild concussion during a car accident. I remember encountering a slight ''floaty'' feeling that began as the car was turning over, and, while I was never blatantly disoriented, I felt that I had balance issues some minutes after getting out. I could walk ok but when I would stop I would sort of stumble slightly and have to catch myself. Even this morning I fell forward a little while crouching down to get something from the bottom shelf. Also, had trouble finding my class that I normally go to today, which was frustrating.

There was no pain during or immediately following the crash and my body is completely unharmed. I didn't hit my head. No neck or shoulder pain at any time. I got out of the car fine by rolling the window down and climbing out, but I felt light headed. I felt a mild throbbing headache but nothing really painful both today and last night some time after the crash. The most concerning thing to me is I still feel this really general.... oddness in my head. Like an odd pressure sensation. I was also irritable almost the whole day today and felt slightly nauseous, and had a lot of trouble doing things. I felt ''slow,'' and inattentive. I got my contact lens prescription way upped a couple hours before the crash and I'm not sure if that could be related.

My parents don't want to take me to the ER for financial reasons which really I'm fine with.

I want to know.... how long can I expect these symptoms to last? I really don't like this. Thanks for any help.

[scmom]

Well, you definitely sound like you suffered at least a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion syndrome. Your parents do not necessarily need to take you to the emergency room unless your symptoms worsen in the next hours....increasing nausea, lethargy, restlessness, but you should see a your regular MD soon and have them assess you. If you have worsening symptoms they should not delay in seeking help, this could indicate increasing swelling or a bleed. It is important you not be left alone during this initial period to watch for increasing symptoms. I am not a doctor so please call your local emergency room and explain your symptoms and have them advise you. They ofen have nurse hotlines to give advise. Please google, mild traumatic brain injury and concussion...this will help explain what happened to your brain with the force of the car's movement and your brain also being thrown about in your accident. You can also call your local brain injury association and ask for help. Your symptoms may last weeks to months and sometimes longer. You need to know what to expect and what it takes to heal. Most importantly, your brain needs rest and time. You need to especially protect yourself from further injury at this time. There is a host of information here and lots of support which you may find helpful as you deal with this insult to your brain and your sense of well being. God Bless.

[IsntThatLife]

Thank you, scmom. I guess I will tell my GP when I see him this week.

After some research I believe I have a concussion that's either grade 1 or 2 depending on the scale. It now have mild neck and shoulder pain that just won't go away, leading me to believe that it was whip lash that caused this concussion. I made the mistake of smoking a large amount of marijuana last night which makes it hard to separate the effects of the crash from the ''weed hangover.'' Even though my headache is completely gone now, I do feel something is... awry, with my perception. I hope it's not permanent brain damage, but some parts of my brain must be in some kind of recovery mode at this moment, because something is a little bit off. It's only been three days though, I guess, and my mom had a much more severe concussion a couple of months ago when she was rear-ended (and was in denial of her concussion) but went back to her old self in about a week.