I've Been Educated

[dsgsr]

Went to the TBI clinic at Togus VA Hospital in Togus,Maine on the 15th. Referral from my VA PCP Dr.Grimes. (Little back ground) 1985 Car accident while on duty (Army Reserves) Hit head twice in windshield, don't remember impact. Saw car coming at me but don't remember anything until few Min's after the accident. Had concussion for 1.5 months after. Have had minor headaches in the area of trauma since. Last few yrs. they have gotten worse with moments of sever pain. Not often, maybe couple times a month. Have lost all taste, my smeller is messed up. Very forgetful, once in a while a little dizzy.

TBI Doctor tells me it's all do to my drinking beer. I don't have TBI. TBI is at it's worst when incident happens and only gets better from there. You don't have problems later in life.

I hope you all feel as Educated as I do??????????

David

[timetowinarace]

Unfortunatly, this still happens. I was hoping things were changing, but the are not. Took 13 yrs for my diagnoses, was told many times head injury could not cause my problems.

Educate yourself.

TBI Guide-free

[dsgsr]

Unfortunatly, this still happens. I was hoping things were changing, but the are not. Took 13 yrs for my diagnoses, was told many times head injury could not cause my problems.

Educate yourself.

TBI Guide-free

Thank you for the link, Good reading. I can't remember much of what I read, but it is good at the time:)

[lugnut]

I had the same "diagnosis" at Togus last summer--no real testing, just the BS, then blame it on drinking booze. I haven't drank in 30 years, but my headaches and dizziness, and the moments of losing the subject material, not to mention the short term memory loss stuff are probably not TBI residuals. Go figure. I am now in the Tampabay area and my PCP is sending me for testing next month at the TBI unit in Tampa VA. So I will keep it posted here when I get some results. I suffer a lot from depression also that my psyc Dr. seems to think is a result of the fall I suffered in the military. My claim is reopened and is still in Togus. I guess I have to "wait and see" what transpires.

Lugnut AKA Buddy

[timetowinarace]

I had the same "diagnosis" at Togus last summer--no real testing, just the BS, then blame it on drinking booze. I haven't drank in 30 years, but my headaches and dizziness, and the moments of losing the subject material, not to mention the short term memory loss stuff are probably not TBI residuals. Go figure. I am now in the Tampabay area and my PCP is sending me for testing next month at the TBI unit in Tampa VA. So I will keep it posted here when I get some results. I suffer a lot from depression also that my psyc Dr. seems to think is a result of the fall I suffered in the military. My claim is reopened and is still in Togus. I guess I have to "wait and see" what transpires.

Lugnut AKA Buddy

Good luck. Location seems to matter for TBI asessments so maybe they will do it right this time. Depression and anxiaty are both common with TBI.

My main misdiagnoses was depression depending on what kind of doc I was seeing through the years. The medical doctors all said depression and sent me to psychs who said no mental health issues and they sent me to medical doctors. I went round and round like that for years. I finally gave up on the TBI and filed claim for depression. The psychiatrist at C&P had actually read my file and suspected TBI and requested testing. VARO denied depression claim cause examiner stated it was caused by TBI in service, no tests were done and TBI claim was not re-opened. Thankfully the Doc had told me what I needed and I got testing done privatley.

In other words, don't give up.

[john999]

When asked by VA doctors about drinking alcohol just say "NO".

[dsgsr]

When asked by VA doctors about drinking alcohol just say "NO".

They did their home work. I noticed, ever since the referral was made, at every VA appt. I had they would ask me how much I drank. Some would ask if it was out of control. I'm too forgetful to lie, when you tell'em something you gotta remember. Plus it's easy to tell with lab work. May be thats something I should bring up to the VA. I didn't start drinking until 8-10yrs. after the accident. I started because of pain and depression, Is there a rating for that:)

Thanks,

David