Author Topic: CTE from football  (Read 1105 times)

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Offline Anxiety35

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CTE from football
« on: January 29, 2019, 10:25:08 AM »
Hi everyone,

We're hearing cases of how severe CTE is for football players and other people who have suffered multiple head traumas in sports or just in life.

Question for those who are medically in the know. How long do you have to play football to exhibit symptoms of possible CTE? I understand that CTE can't be diagnosed until after death, but the symptoms are there. We hear a lot about NFL players but what about many of us who played only little league and high school?

Reason I ask is that I played football from a young age all through high school. I was reckless and I am sure I suffered concussions. I was knocked out a few times also. I read about the symptoms and I feel as if I have many of the symptoms as well.

Impulsive behavior
Depression or apathy
Suicidal thoughts
Short-term memory loss
Emotional instability
Irritability
Aggression

The older I get, the more these symptoms become pronounced. My wife is concerned. I've never been violent or physically aggressive towards her or our children. 

Offline Destiny Of Chaos

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2019, 10:43:25 AM »
I'm not in the medical field...but I'd hazard to guess that it's not a matter of how long you played, but what kind of hits you took.

You should seek professional help for your own piece of mind.

Offline PetFish

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2019, 04:23:20 PM »
I'm going to rant a bit first:

People need to stop focusing on just football.  CTE can occur for many reasons and activities.  Some people are more prone to it than others and I've seen plays on TV, hockey in this case, where someone just got shoved into the boards and hitting their shoulder, no head-whip or impact or anything, and they get a concussion.

It's so bad in soccer that now they're thinking about outlawing headers below a certain age but that never gets talked about.

Boxing is another big one and even more risky since the entire sport is based on punching someone's lights out, where you can get nearly knocked out several times, go down, stagger to your feet, and then keep taking head shots.

/rant

As for your condition, like DoC said, talk to a professional and not just your family doctor, get a referral to a specialist and go from there.  Good luck.

Online TAC

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2019, 07:36:55 PM »
A35, I'd get to a doctor ASAP. Sounds like you already know.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Stadler

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2019, 07:46:03 PM »
I'm going to rant a bit first:

People need to stop focusing on just football.  CTE can occur for many reasons and activities.  Some people are more prone to it than others and I've seen plays on TV, hockey in this case, where someone just got shoved into the boards and hitting their shoulder, no head-whip or impact or anything, and they get a concussion.

It's so bad in soccer that now they're thinking about outlawing headers below a certain age but that never gets talked about.

Boxing is another big one and even more risky since the entire sport is based on punching someone's lights out, where you can get nearly knocked out several times, go down, stagger to your feet, and then keep taking head shots.

/rant

As for your condition, like DoC said, talk to a professional and not just your family doctor, get a referral to a specialist and go from there.  Good luck.

Hockey too; I went in last weekend to buy a helmet for my kid (she's 17, well, 18 this weekend) and the kid - I think he was trying to be cool and "make a sale", but still - said "you came to the right guy: I've had four concussions already and so I've had to learn every thing there is to know about helmets".   Well, duh; your brain doesn't know the difference between a "football concussion" or a "hockey concussion". 

I've had three that I know of (two sports, one car accident) and I worry about that, though I haven't experienced any symptoms yet.

Offline PowerSlave

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2019, 08:00:27 PM »
I'm far from being an expert on this, but I've often wondered if head injuries have had a hand in some of my depression issues over the years. I discussed one of the three major events that led to my being diagnosed with PTSD a few months ago in the P/R forum, but I also had three major concussions by the age of 11. None of them were from playing sports, but I have to agree with others that say that the focus needs to be broader than simply playing football.

When I was 2 years old I was jumping up and down on the couch in our living room and took a header into a coffee table. When I was 8 years old I got mowed down by a larger kid during recess at school and bashed my head on some concrete. The third concussion is the grand masterpiece of stupidity...

In 7th grade, me and a couple of my friends thought that it was the height of hilarity to moon the school bus every day after school. I had a short detention that day, so my buddies waited for me to get out. If we hurried up we'd be able to get in our usual position, drop our trousers and perform our daily ritual. Our spot was a street over from the school at the end of an alley that led to a couple of my friend's houses.

We had to cut through a yard neighboring the school to get to the next street, then cross the street to get to the end of the alley. By the time we got through the yard and to the street we could see the school bus turning the corner to come our way, meaning that we had very little time to cross the street and assume the position to show our school allegiance.

Pause for a moment and please try to picture this. I was 11 years old and I hadn't hit puberty/growth spurt, yet. I was a sweaty little fat fucker that could run the 40 yard dash in about 10 minutes flat. Needless to say, I was lagging way behind my companions. They all had crossed the street by the time I had reached the edge of it.

While all of our attention was on the school bus that was coming from one direction, a vintage 1950's Ford truck was speeding towards us from the opposite direction with one of the neighborhood stoners at the wheel. I got about two steps out into the road when I glanced left to see a ton (or so) of ancient detroit iron just about to plow me down. I ended up bashing through the radiator with my left knee, and breaking out the passenger side headlight with my cranium. The entire school ended up calling me "Bumper Surfer" for the next couple of years.

Stupid stories of my youth aside, many of my depression symptoms are the same as yours. But I do have some very different factors as well. As someone else already mentioned, you should immidiately seek some professional help. The people that deal with this aren't judgemental, and I've almost always found that they're willing to take all the necessary steps to help someone get back on a positive path. It's not always an easy thing to take that initial step, or to stay committed when it comes to this kind of health issue, but there will come a point in time that you'll be glad that you did.

Best Wishes!!!
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Offline Anxiety35

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2019, 01:15:32 PM »
Thanks for all the input.

Out of her concern, my wife was the one who brought it to my attention and noticed that I may have signs. I need to state that we have no problems at home, our marriage is good, and everything else is in a good place. I do take a 10mg pill for anxiety/depression every day but that's the only prescription I have. I asked my wife if I'm an ass and she said no. That's a good thing. I don't want to be that grumpy old man who everybody wants to avoid.

Read this article about how CTE affects the individual. It's about Tommy Nobis, former Atlanta Falcons linebacker. Notice how he was in the last decade or so of his life. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25876093/bu-cte-center-says-tommy-nobis-had-most-severe-form-cte

Here is a quote in case you don't want to read the whole thing:
"The family tried to avoid chaotic or noisy situations, but Nobis would become increasingly rattled in public. There were restaurants he couldn't return to because of his outbursts; he got out of a car at a bank drive-thru to yell at the teller for taking too long with the customer in front of him.
"It became embarrassing," Jackoniski said. "But it was scary, too. Toward the end my brother removed all the guns from his house, thankfully. I don't know if he ever threatened to use a gun, but my brother had enough insight to do that."


I don't want to be like that towards my wife, kids, or if the time comes my grandchildren.

I plan on speaking with a medical professional.

Offline TempusVox

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2019, 09:11:12 PM »
As an OG around these parts, I worry about it quite often. Especially as I see the subtle changes that could signal normal aging; or possibly something else. I played D1 football in college. I played linebacker. The hits we took, and the collisions we endured from the punishment we enforced, was like being in a serious auto accident- nearly every Saturday, for 4 years. My body has significantly aged faster because of the injuries I suffered. My knees are practically worthless. The meniscus nearly all gone now in both of them. I've been putting replacement surgery off now for several years. Apparently, I also suffered a break to my ilium (hip bone) in college that I never knew about. I can recall now when it was injured. I could barely function for about 4 weeks after it happened. My hip hurt to even move during that time, much less walk; but I didn't do anything about it. Years later, when osteoarthritis invaded the lumbar region of my spine (another result from football, no doubt) I had Xrays taken and my doctor asked me, "Has anyone ever told you, that you at one time broke your back?" Um, no. Broken fingers, broken collar bone, torn rotator cuff- all combined, mean that I now live in some type of near constant pain of some kind.

But, I worry most about CTE. Four years ago, I had a pinky twitch that wouldn't stop. I saw several specialists; had various inconclsuive nerve tests; and was finally referred to an ancient neurologist who didn't really examine me- but listened to my pinky story and said rather nonchalantly, ''You have Parkinsons Disease. But it's the early stages. You have about 20 years or so before it gets bad." WTF? I was 51 at the time. The pinky twitch eventually went away after about 3 or 4 months. My family doctor says it could have been a nerve impingement, or Parkinson's. Who knows? Not very comforting. I worry maybe it's CTE.

When I was in college, I know for sure I had 5 concussions. I had one in a game against UCLA that was so bad that the following Wednesday, I was tooling to class when I was stopped by a friend of mine who asked where I was heading? "To class", I told him. He pointed out that I was all the way across campus. I didn't have any classes anywhere near there. Scary stuff.

But, beyond the known concussions that were medically diagnosed, we used to try to get our own "bell rung" in practice. Nearly every day. Young, ignorant of the facts, and invincible, we didn't think we'd had a good practice unless we walked off the field with the buzz from delivering a massive hit, and getting up and walking away. Science knows now that those acts of testosterone fueled bravado resulted in at the very least, micro concussions.

I often wonder, will my body outlast my brain due to the head trauma I endured? As I get older, I wonder more and more. I hope not.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2019, 07:35:56 AM »
I don't want to be that grumpy old man who everybody wants to avoid.


You rang? :)

Offline rumborak

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2019, 08:58:59 AM »
It's so bad in soccer that now they're thinking about outlawing headers below a certain age but that never gets talked about.

If you are into MLS soccer, that is reasonably widely known, and to my knowledge it has already been implemented.
In terms of occurrence, it's Hockey > American Football > Soccer, if I remember correctly.
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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2019, 01:03:54 PM »
A35, I'd get to a doctor ASAP. Sounds like you already know.

This. Go to a doc, get the requisite tests done. At least you'll have a baseline from now, and over time, you can compare future scans if your symptoms persist or get worse (hopefully not).
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Offline PetFish

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Re: CTE from football
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2019, 11:40:30 PM »
If you are into MLS soccer, that is reasonably widely known, and to my knowledge it has already been implemented.
In terms of occurrence, it's Hockey > American Football > Soccer, if I remember correctly.

Ugh, don't even get me started on hockey, I game I grew up playing and loving but now I mostly hate.

It's just "hey, we know about head injuries, but we'll allow players to beat the crap out of each other with repeated head shots" but if someone falls on their face or gets hit with a puck in the head then it's "oh no, how can we make the game safer".  At least back in the day (pre-1990s) we knew very little about concussions but now we understand how dangerous they are and the game still allows fighting not to mention hostility and bullying and overall more violence for some reason.