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Bakken Story

In August 2015 while testing my skill and traction at the race track I high-sided my BMW S1000RR and smashed my head on the track. By November I was back home and by December I was back at work as a Special Agent with Diplomatic Security in the U.S. Department of state. My doctor called me her miracle patient because even though PT was over, I worked daily to get stronger and better. As a former Marine, I have discipline, drive and I like to look and feel good. The other edge of that sward is that I am also a stubborn knuckle head. In spite of my effort, my condition deteriorated for years.



My Mad Max she broke me but I still love her


In 2019, I began to feel tired and ran slower and felt weaker every week. After blood tests, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease and was started on growth hormones. In November 2020 the bottom dropped out, and I could no longer run or exercise. Apparently, my condition had somehow driven my heart to create debilitating and chronic PVCs. After 4 months of failed interventions on my apparently otherwise healthy heart the doctors through up their hands, I was medicated, and sent on my way.


A year later, I felt worse than ever, was depressed and desperate. Fortunately, my PA turned me on to Functional Medicine and told me to stop being a ninny and get to work managing my own recovery. I found a Doctor of Functional Medicine, took a ton of tests, stopped drinking, and started rehabbing in new ways. Though I am not fixed, I do feel like a new man.


During this difficult history, not one doctor, PA, nurse, or PT told me or seemed to know, the big picture on what I should expect and what I needed to do to get healthy. I hear what you are saying, “Shame on me for not doing more for myself earlier,” and you are right. To solve this, I have started a Blog www.tbi4toughguys.com with the goal of gathering knowledge to build a checklist of information so Dumb-Dumbs like myself can avoid thousands of frustrating hours doing the wrong thing. Check us out and join my project if you like.


https://www.biausa.org/brain-injury/community/personal-stories/tell-your-story

Executive Summary of My Condition

Prior to my February 9 #functionalmedicine meeting with Dr John on my recovery from #braininjury, I sent him an Executive Summary of my condition, my latest test results, my diet and the discipline with which I followed his orders for the last 8 week period. I post it as an example of TBI recovery and great patient doctor communication.


Dr J

Booze: I stopped drinking 100% https://www.tbi4toughguys.com/blog


Exercise: I have been working out hard with heavier and heavier weights for the last two months.

  • · I do T25 legs at least 2 days a week

  • · I do chest and tris back and biceps one to two times a week depending on timing.

  • · I can do 7 dips, 6 dead hang pull ups and 40-50 pushups.

All of these are significant improvements.

Tens Machine: The Tens machine we bought did not come with the attachments we needed. We ordered the clamps but 6 weeks later we still didn’t have them. I have it up and running now. From what I have read this treatment can have a positive effect on easing spasticity but is usually coupled with some other physical therapy meant for the same ends. I think I can detect some improvement but it is probably a placebo effect at this point.

Vestibular exercise: 1 to 2 times a day and have seen a marked diminishment in my light headedness and balance problems. These are still issues but the level of debilitation that I feel is not a constant worry or distraction like before Gaze Therapy . Again, this treatment is usually coupled with some other physical therapy meant for the same ends.

Gait my left leg is still experiencing significant spasticity and my gait is still obviously hindered, especially when I get tired. When I concentrate, I can walk normal but it is never natural and always an effort. No matter how hard I practice, I can’t overcome the feeling that I am shambling along.

Supplements: I have been taking the supplements you prescribed religiously for 6 weeks now.

Diet

Fasting: I fast 16 and 8 every day.

Cognitive Ability: the sharpness of my brain has improved significantly in my estimation. It is obvious to me that my thoughts are nimbler and more complex. I can stay focused and work intelligently and stay organized, late into the afternoon. This is a great improvement on all accounts. I still have memory and concentration lapses. I am better but still need cognitive work.

  • · Breakfast: shake with, Wey protein, MCT powder an apple cabbage, one small yogurt and water.

  • · Lunch: brothy bean soup with carrots and peas, lean poultry, bean soup, fresh fruit, and a dry cabbage salad.

  • · Dinner: each dinner has a salad and some steamed or boiled vegetables and potatoes or rice

    • Most days lean poultry

    • Fish or lean red meat one day a week.

    • One day a week we have spaghetti or lasagna

I tracked everything for 6 weeks but got bored because it is always the same. Will send what I have tracked if you want it. Paradoxically, the more I eat the stupider I get and greasy food, bread, and pasta and sugar feel like poison that makes me tired, stupid, and slow. I weigh 200 lbs and this is up 8 lbs since we started. I look strong and dead sexy vs. fat but am steadily gaining weight. I will start limiting calories next week.

Endurance: I feel significantly better now than when we started working together but am still only a shadow of my former self. I get out of breath going up one flight of stairs. Surprisingly I can do the T 25 Lower Focus and only get a little out of breath. This may be because my movement is limited by my balance issues but I seem a bit stronger now.

Balance: Though my dizziness and balance issues are notably better, I still look like a tottering old man, when I get out of a car or get up from sitting for over 10 minutes. I eventually loosen up after walking a bit, but the spasticity never disappears, even when masked by my will and desire not to look like a broken old man. Standing for a long period has the exact same affect.

I cannot play catch or any sport the requires changing directions, laterally or backward without falling down.

Sleep and Bladder: I drink water until 1800 then stop. I still wake up every night about 0140 and 0320. Unless I have some large issue or project to mull over I can usually get back to sleep. If I take 3 ibuprofen, I can make it most of the way through the night without waking up. I never have to pee very much but the pressure is uncomfortable enough that I cant sleep through it.

Sex Drive: My sex drive is Zero. My sexual performance is Zero.


Goals:

  • I want to eliminate the spasticity in my leg or at least see progress.

  • I would like to regain enough endurance to do aerobic exercise for 20 minutes or so.

  • I would like to be able play agility type games like tennis or catch without falling down.

  • I would like to recover a bit of my sex drive and performance.

Conclusion:

I feel significantly better but want to reach for the next level of wellness. I am ready to start more complex and difficult rehabilitation work. I would like to consider supplementing testosterone since I assume my levels are still in the toilet.

 
 
 

Gaze Therapy Can Help With Dizziness

BLUF: The Vestibular System is often effected by brain injuries causing dizziness and instability. Gaze therapy is a proven method for TBIs to diminish disability associate with the vestibular system.



In my experience Gaze therapy is and effective treatment for dizziness associated with brain injury. A common debilitating symptom of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is dizziness and balance issues. For me every time I got out of a car or walked up a flight of stairs if felt lightheaded and unstable. As a hammer headed tough guy, I was always able to power through these episodes which would last about 10 minutes, but they were annoying and emotionally debilitating.


The difficulty telling this story and describing it to your doctor is that dizziness, unstable and lightheaded are descriptors that are subjective and differently defined in most people’s mind. When your doctor hears the words coming out of your mouth they can’t really know what you are describing without being inside your head.


To overcome this issue, I will try to thoroughly describe the symptoms that I felt. When I stand up for the first time after sitting for a while, my mind feels like it is no longer fully connected to or properly measuring my location in space. The descriptors that I use are; I felt lightheaded, my head was swimming, I was dizzy, or I felt unstable. These episodes struck me every time I got out of a car got up from my desk, walked up a flight of stair or preformed and equivalent level of exercise. Often, I would have to stabilize myself on a desk, a railing, or car door for a few seconds to get stable and get moving forward again. Now hopefully you can compare my condition to the way you are feeling to decide if anything I say applies to you.


In response to my dizziness complaint Dr Ratcliffe prescribed Gaze Stabilization Exercises therapy using a mobile App PhysiAPP. What it had me do was 15 minutes of exercise where I would focus my eyes on my thumb and move it back and for the up and down and in figure eights while I moved my head in the opposite direction. This finishes with me


walking in a straight line heal to toe across a room while I turn my head from side to side, keeping my eyes focused on an X that I have taped to my wall.


I felt the positive effect on this condition within a week. I was walking up the stairs at the office and I suddenly realized that if felt “normal.” What his meant to me was I was not dizzy not light headed and I did not need to focus on my balance as I moved. This positive effect remains but I it requires that I do the exercise twice a day for around 30 minutes total.


When this Treatment was prescribed my reaction was WTF is this and WTF is it doing. I have done a bit of research but doctor Ratcliffe explained it best. These exercises are strengthening the vestibular system by working and cleaning up the connections with between the sensors in your inner ear and your brain. I have discovered more complicated explanations but this one works for me.


I found substantial evidence on the web confirming that Gaze therapy is effective therapy for debilitating dizziness associated with TBI. In Vestibular Rehabilitation After Traumatic Brain Injury: Case Series https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26586860/. Four people with debilitating dizziness underwent Gaze therapy and three of them reported substantial improvement to their condition. Observation: although Gaze therapy was the focus of the study it was accompanied by group support, journal tracking, exercise and counseling. It would be hard for me to conclude that those aspects of the study did not have as much effect on the outcome as the Gaze therapy did.


Conclusion: My experience and scientific studies indicate that Gaze type vestibular stabilization exercises diminish dizziness and instability symptoms associated with TBI. That said they are likely only one part of a rehabilitation program and should be supplemented by other activities for maximum effect.

 
 
 
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