FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This page has three sections:
Common
Questions About Concussion and Brain Injury
Question: Dear Dr. Diane,
I loved your book and it was most helpful. I'm living
with most of the symptoms of brain injury, including
fatigue, memory problems, headaches, light sensitivity,
mood swings, depression, low energy. I saw in your book
and on your website that certain foods and vitamins
can significantly impact my recovery. I want to know
is there anything that would help me feel better or
improve my life. Could you please write back ASAP? Thanks
ahead of time. Carol
Answer: Dear Carol,
Over the past 10 years, I have found that certain foods
and vitamins can really make a significant difference
in recovery. To obtain an optimum result for you, it
is important to know your specific needs, such as do
you have a cholesterol problem or are you diabetic,
etc..
In general the following would be helpful.
1) Eliminate all alcohol and wine.
2) Eliminate all sugar and sugar substitutes, instead
eat fruit with low sugar content.
3) Eat lots and lots of protein
4) Eat lots of vegetables
5) Drink plenty of water
For a more in-depth and personalized
recommendation of the types of foods, vitamins and their
amount, you can set up a consultation with me at 978-352-6349.
To see how my diet has helped other people, please read
the letters to me on the testimonial
page. With Warmest Regards,
Diane
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Question: Hi! I am still reading
your book. I know a little slowly, but I am trying to
absorb all that I can. My husband has been leery about
discontinuing your diet. He reads it every day, (sometimes
2 or 3 times). He feels desperate to get better. I do
not want to discontinue everything. I think the vitamins,
magnesium, etc., and no sugar he should stay with, as
well as no ice cream. He alsowants to keep carbs at
a bare minimum, if any. Could you tell me about cereal
and bread please? Thanks, Cindy
Answer: Dear Cindy,
Grains, such as corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, rice
all can be made into alcohol. All of these grains in
the brain are converted to glucose. Thus, eating them,
to the brain is like drinking a high concentration of
glucose. Now the brain needs glucose and amino acids
to function. But as you know if you eat too much sugar
at first you feel great, but then you get fatigued and
foggy. Like after a few drinks. This is the same when
a person with a brain injury eats too much grains.
My suggestion, if your husband needs
some carbohydrates to increase his quantity of legumes,
such as black bean soup, lentils, soy products and soy
cereal. He can have more fruits. You can balance his
diet with legumes, nuts, fruits and various vegetables.
I would never suggest that he not have a balanced diet.
I hope this has helped.
Dr. Diane
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Question: What are some of the
danger signs in children?
Answer: Your child should
be taken to the hospital emergency department immediately
if she has had a fall or blow to the head and won't
stop crying; can't be comforted; won't eat, or has any
of the signs listed above. Vomiting once or twice is
more common in children and may not be the danger sign
that it is in an adult. Call your pediatrician if you
notice: irritability; change in eating or sleeping patterns;
lack of interest at play; loss of balance; change in
performance at school; fatigue.
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Question: What are the symptoms
of a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
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Question: What is Post Concussive
Syndrome?
Answer: It is a clustering
of symptoms that may appear immediately after injury.
Often these symptoms, get
better with time, usually in 6 weeks following injury.
However, they can continue. If they do and are causing
problems in your daily living, Coping
with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury can help
you.
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Question: Since my brain injury, I struggle
each day just to do the ordinary things I used to do.
I'm afraid and I don't know what's ahead. Will I get
better?
Answer: Every brain injury
is different. With time most people recover from their
injuries. However, recovery depends on the severity
of injury, the part of the brain injured, your age,
and how healthy you were before injury. Medical and
psychological help is available to help you cope with
the challenges and uncertainties of living with brain
injury.
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Question: Is treatment available?
Whom should I contact in my local area?
Answer: Treatment is available
to help in dealing with the effects of brain injury.
Brain injury can be life-changing and presents new physical
and psychological challenges. Loss or change in former
abilities brings fear and uncertainty. My book, Coping
with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, can help
you understand your injury and direct you to qualified
health-care providers. Consult The Brain Injury Resource
Network on this website for referrals, or contact the
Brain Injury Association (BIA) national helpline (1-800-444-6443).
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Question: My family member has
a brain injury. What do I do?
Answer: If you notice a family
member or a friend has long-term symptoms of brain injury,
talk to them and their doctor about getting help. Coping
with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury deals with
the causes and effects of brain injury and offers practical
suggestions for coping with the problem.
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Question: What are some tips
for recovery?
Answer: The brain heals slowly,
given rest and time. But there are some things you can
do to speed up the healing process: get plenty of rest;
gradually resume your normal activities; avoid activities
that could result in re-injury to the brain; ask your
doctor for help in dealing with your injury; avoid alcohol
and unnecessary drugs; talk with your employer about
adjusting your work conditions; and if you have difficulty
remembering things, write them down. Above all, be patient
with yourself.
Questions
by e-mail
Question: How long should I
expect to suffer headaches from the concussion?
Answer: Have you been diagnosed
with a concussion? Have you seen a physician? If you
have a concussion, in general the symptoms will go away
in 6 weeks. If they continue, you are experiencing what
is called Post Concussive Syndrome. My book goes into
extensive detail about it.
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Question: If I were to have
a bruise on the brain, can medication dissolve this,
without surgery?
Answer: If you bruise your
brain, rest, water, higher protein diet can help. Medication
is used for specific symptoms.
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Question: Are there any lasting
side effects from a concussion?
Answer: Maybe. Once you have
a concussion, the symptoms from the next brain injury
(concussion) will be more intense. Please take care
of yourself.
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Question: How long does it usually
take to get back to "normal"?
Answer: It depends on whether
you've had other injuries to your brain.
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Question: Hello, my name is
Trina and I'm writing a school report. What is a Stroke?
I was wondering if you could answer
this question."Is there ever going to be a treatment
about strokes?" If you have time to respond, I
would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Answer: Dear Trina, I'd be
more than glad to help you. You did not say what age
you are or the level of education. I will try and explain
about stroke. A Stroke is often called a Brain Attack
or Ischemic Stroke. Blood is supplied to the brain through
veins and arteries. A stroke can be from 2 different
causes. Either when the blood supply is blocked off
because of a blood clot in the blood supply to the brain
thus depriving the brain of blood. This is called an
Embolic Stroke. Another cause is when there is a bleed
called a hemorrhage in the brain. This is called a Thrombotic
Stroke.
Once the brain has been injured this
is called a brain injury. On my web site is a list of
all the various symptoms from a brain injury regardless
if it is from a Stroke or from an outside force. That
is called a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. A stroke
is called an acquired brain injury since it is not caused
from an outside force. Regardless of the cause the symptoms
are all the same.
My book Coping
with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury does
explain how to treat every single symptom of a brain
injury, this includes a stroke. So to answer your question,
yes you can treat a stroke and often very effectively
if given proper treatment. Depending where you live
your local library should have a copy of my book. If
not, you can always purchase it on my web site. I hope
this has helped. Let me know how the report turned out
and your grade. If I can be of any further help let
me know.
With Warmest Regards,
Dr. Diane Roberts Stoler, Ed.D.
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Question:
I have been recently diagnosed with MTBI. I've been
living with lightheadedness, nightly sleep disturbances,
irritability, depression, etc, etc, for the past 3 years.
My question is: What are the effects of alcohol on a
person with a brain injury and where can I find detailed
information? I had a drinking episode before I was diagnosed
and DO NOT REMEMBER a thing. I have never had this happen
to me before. Could it be related to my illness? I would
greatly appreciate any information you can provide.
Thanks.
Answer: Alcohol is not good
for brain injury. Have you read my book? It is clearly
stated. As for your symptoms these too are addressed
in my book. To help with your symptoms, you have to
eliminate all food that converts to sugar in the brain,
that includes alcohol. The foods you need to eliminate
are the following:
All wheat, rye, oat or rice products--flour,
cereals, pasta, bread. Increase your proteins with nuts,
eggs, meat, fish, legumes, soy products. Eat fruits
and vegetables. If you are diabetic, then you may have
to eat more fruits or vegetables. The higher protein
diet, the better you'll be. As for your irritability
and moods, Beta Blockers are your best bet. You need
to have your primary care physician or neurologist prescribe
them for you. Try the diet for two weeks, if you don't
see a difference in your symptoms, go back to your present
diet. Regardless, alcohol is definitely not good for
a person with a brain injury.
As for your loss of memory, this is
part of the diagnosis of brain injury. Otherwise you
would have been diagnosed as just having a concussion.
With Warm Regards,
Dr. Diane
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Question: I had a concussion
2 weeks ago in an auto accident. The MRI shows a hemorrhage
on the left outer surface of my brain. No fluid built
up yet. I was just released from the hospital, however,
am having headaches and am extremely tired. Doctor has
advised to take Tylenol for the headaches and to take
it easy. Is there anything else I can do to speed up
my recovery. I am having another MRI on Monday.
I am 31 years old and am very athletic.
Answer: It is extremely important
at this stage of your healing to rest. Think of a wounded
animal who goes into their cave to heal. Initially that
is when they rest, then they exercise. As part of my
clinical practice I work with professional athletes
and even they take time off.
Be prepared that in the next few weeks
you may experience more symptoms. Remember all of these
symptoms can be treated or compensated for and you can
and will eventually resume an active life again. However,
once an injury of this type happens to the brain, the
next injury is exponential. You need to keep a record
of this brain injury.
If you choose not to rest, the recovery
is longer and you can possibly have more long term symptoms.
Now rest doesn't mean you have to stay in bed all day.
It means common sense. Take a walk, not run and listen
to your body. Walking in the water is also helpful,
however if you feel fatigued pace yourself.
Eat a higher protein diet and eliminate
all forms of sugar, except fruit. This means eliminate
wheat, oats, rye, rice, and potatoes, pasta, and cereal.
Increase legumes, nuts, soy products, eggs, (whites
if high cholesterol), meats, fish and seafood. Eat lots
of vegetables and fruits.
Please write back in a couple of weeks
and let me know how you're doing.
With Warmest Regards,
Dr. Diane
Transcript
of Chat Sessions
VHL Family Alliance
Online Chat: Getting Over Brain Surgery
A Chat with Diane Roberts Stoler, January 23, 2000.
Chatter: Did you have headaches before
and after? A lot of the people I'm in touch with still
have headaches after surgery.
Dr. Stoler: I never had headaches
before this happened, except when I had a high fever.
I had no sign that this was going on, other than lassitude.
After the brain surgery I had three
distinct types of headaches: One was the icepick headache,
one that feels like someone is taking a hot metal poker
and shoving it into your brain. It's a very localized
headache. The second was the pressure headache from
the brain surgery where you just feel general pressure.
And the last was the "headache that's not a headache"
atypical migraines with blurred vision, slurred speech,
and weakness on one side of the body. You do get an
aura before it, but there's no real headache. For four
years it was diagnosed as "sensory motor seizures".
These are usually caused by brain surgery (opening the
skull) or whiplash (closed skull injury).
Chatter: Did you have any memory loss?
Dr. Stoler: Yes, I had various types
of memory loss. There's retrograde (loss of memory before
the accident), then after the surgery, then short-term
memory loss, and finally what I call "swiss cheese"
memory loss.
Retrograde: I do not remember the accident.
I passed out two miles before the accident. I remember
getting woozy, but nothing after that. We think of memory
only as cognitive memory, but our cells and muscles
also remember. That's called muscular or body or cell
memory. I have no cognitive memory of the accident.
I am a health psychologist,
a consultant in clinical hypnosis, and I did age regression
to see if I could remember anything about the accident.
I have only little snippets of cognitive memory about
the accident. However I had a mild fascial release from
muscular pain, and from that release I had flash-backs
from the accident. But what I still have somewhere is
sensory memory. So when I hear sounds like a car crashing,
my body reacts. Events in the past that I can only remember
portions of, that's the swiss cheese effect. I can't
remember all of it, and no clues help me. For example,
my husband says we were at a party. I can remember being
there, but I can't remember what happened, no matter
how many clues he gives me.
Then there's the short-term memory.
A higher-protein diet can help memory loss.
Chatter: What about motion sickness.
Do you now experience motion sickness?
Dr. Stoler: I did, but no longer, thanks
to a wonderful man, Dr. Igor Burdenko of Lexington,
Massachusetts (http://www.burdenko.com).
If you have balance problems, or motion problems, balance
or gait, Dr. Burdenko has revolutionized water and land
therapy. I credit him for my ability to ride a bike
again, to dance, to stand on one foot, and to walk normally
rather than like a drunken sailor. I used to stagger
and fall down and then I couldn't get up. Now I ride
my bike and do hikes.
Chatter: Did you have these symptoms
right after the brain surgery?
Dr. Stoler: Yes, I had them for four
years! Then the psychiatrist (MD rehab doctor) said
to me, "Lady, you are probably brain damaged and
you are probably not going to get better. You need to
go to a psychotherapist and learn how to cope with your
brain damage." By luck or fate I met a woman at
my local health club who told me about Dr. Burdenko.
She assured me he would help me. He's the one who helped
skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Oksana Baiul. Chatter:
How? Dr. Stoler: You go to the doctor and request
physical therapy/water therapy. It is covered under
most health insurances. I recommend it to all my patients.
Chatter: You ride a bike without nausea?
I never got my balance back after surgery.
Dr. Stoler: Yes, without nausea.
Try water therapy. I do not go on roller-coasters or
certain rides, and at the Omni theater there are certain
effects that will cause me to get nauseous. Another
suggestion for nausea is ginger tea. Take fresh ginger
root. Do not peel it. Slice it in thin slices and boil
it up with a pinch of salt, then strain it and drink
it with a teaspoon of honey. This will help the nausea.
Do this whenever you are feeling the symptoms. At a
sushi bar you can get sliced ginger, or you can get
ginger candy, but with memory problems you don't want
to do sugar.
For memory problems, you want to eliminate
all sugar from your diet except those from fruits. And
that includes things that convert to sugar in the body
like rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, all the heavy carbohydrates.
Questions
about Stroke/Aneurysm
Dear Doctor Diane,
My Aunt Pauline was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
Can it be prevented and how would I know I might have
it.
Thanks for being there.
Stephanie
Dear Stephanie,
A brain aneurysm, which is a form of a stroke called
a Hemorrhagic Stroke, can not be prevented like a Ischemic
stroke, which is caused from a blood being cut off from
the brain. In your aunt situation, there was some form
of bulging like a thin balloon then breaks. The causes
can be from injury, infection or inherited.
If you are concern about having one, you might want
to discuss with your primary care doctor about having
a MRI. As for any warning signs, the classic symptom
is " the worst headache of your life'! Other signs
include: headache, blurred or double vision, neck pain,
sensitivity light and lethargy.
Prior to my own aneurysm, I never had any headaches,
rather only periods of extreme lethargy. I hope this
has helped.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate
to write or call me for a consult.
Warmest Regards,
Dr. Diane
Excerpts from
On-line Chat-The Health Network, December 27th, 1999.
kath_1967 asks: My nephew has had
nightmares ever since his car accident. What can be
done to help him overcome his sleeping problems?
Dr. Diane: If he is having nightmares, this could be
the result of trauma. An event only becomes traumatic
when you don't get the right kind of support. You should
go to a psychologist trained in post traumatic stress
disorder. You can call the American Psychological Organization
and get a referral for your state.
karent3 asks: What do trauma psychologists
mean when they use the term "coping mechanisms"?
Dr.Diane: When you were a child, you learned one way
to react to events. It may not be the best way to handle
things in later situations in life, however. Coping
mechanisms are learning a variety of new ways of interacting
with people that are both helpful and healthful in any
given situation. For example, if you are feeling very
anxious, learning ways of relaxing is a coping mechanism.
hiply9_9 asks: I've been working with
a trauma psychologist, but I just don't feel comfortable
with her. Should I seek someone else? Dr. Diane:
Yes, you should talk to her about your concern. The
first rule of good therapy is to ask yourself if it
is healthful. If you are not finding it is helping you,
then you should find someone else. Most therapists will
want to help you if things are not going well. If they
can't talk about it, then interview other therapists.
Transcript of
Discovery Health-Online Conference held on September
29, 1999 with Dr. Diane Roberts Stoler
MODERATOR: From her own experience,
training and extensive research, Dr. Stoler co-authored,
with Barbara Albers Hill, a reference book on brain
trauma -- Coping with Mild
Traumatic Brain Injury: A Guide to Living
with the Challenges Associated with Concussion/Brain
Injury. It is the first reference book that applies
to all aspects of brain trauma, including concussion,
stroke and brain tumor. Please join us as we welcome
Dr. Diane Stoler. Diane Stoler: Happy to be here.
I welcome all questions and hope that I can give insight,
inspiration and hope to people with brain injuries.
James Jacks: If you have a head injury,
does that mean you have injured your brain? Diane
Stoler: Not necessarily. Not all head injuries are brain
injuries; not all brain injuries are head injuries.
You can hit your head and crack your skull but that
does not mean you have injured your brain. You can have
whiplash where you do not crack your skull or hit your
head and have a brain injury. That is why the term "head
injuryä is no longer used; instead ãbrain
injuryä is used. It refers to the symptoms that
people suffer from.
lydjim: Do strokes and aneurysms count
as brain injuries? Diane Stoler: Yes, when we
are talking about brain injury we are talking about
anything you were not born with ö that is not a
congenital birth defect. Any injury that is developmental,
that is acquired after birth -- and that would include
strokes and aneurysms.
lydjim: When your doctor said your
injury was mild, how did he describe mild? Diane
Stoler: The biggest misunderstanding is when the terms
"mild", "moderate" and "severe"
are used to refer to brain injury. In all other areas
of life, these terms mean the level of severity. When
it relates to brain injury, it only means the length
of time a person is unconscious.For mild it's from not
being unconscious to being unconscious up to one hour.
That is all it means. It does not tell the consequences
of the injury or the level of severity of the injuries.
fyr151: Where can I get information
on pediatric TBI? Diane Stoler: On pediatric Traumatic
Brain Injury or TBI, you can refer to my book. An injury
to the brain has certain symptoms including fatigue,
headaches, sleep disturbances, and dizziness. The symptoms
you see in a child are explained in my book. The symptoms
relate to both children and adults.
Rob Wilson: What gender and age group
have the highest risk of brain injury? Diane Stoler:
Males ages 14-24 are the highest risk, followed by infants
and the elderly. Males are two times as likely as females
to sustain mild TBI due to differences in risk exposure
and lifestyle. My own son has had three concussions.
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