Concussion...now what to do...

Well Joker,

 I found myself in the same position two years ago. I too fooled myself into thinking I was ok. I raced thinking I would just take a easy. That was the second lie. It turned out very badly and I ended up dropping out.

In the end up doing more damage than good and that resulted in me being totally out of it for a year because I kept trying to come back before my body was perfectly healed.

There will always be other races. Don't mess with concussions and your head. You only have one. At least one that can think clearly.

Just take your MD's advice. My MD told me not to do anything and I didn't listen. I crashed during a Sprint race on the last turn. It wasn't a good idea to go into a 90 degree turn at 34kph. I took it wide hit the gravel and oversteered, my bike bucked me off and I landed back on the road. Stupid me got up after I came to and kept going with the race. I felt totally stunned and was bloodied. I had to stop on the run and throw up, which has never happened to me. In hindsight I'm stunned no one stopped me.

Two weeks later it hit me. I was getting dizzy all the time and the ringing in my ears never went away. I would take it easy for a week or two feel a little better then I would got for a little 1k run. After that I would be down for the count. I couldn't even walk up the stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out. This cycle continued for months.

I went for all sorts of tests and saw a specialist that said there was nothing I could do but take it easy. My brain would heal when it healed and I couldn't force it.  It took me months before I could work out again.

I'm totally respectful of head injuries now. This was my first concusion.

Moral of the story;

 Just take your MD's advice. I didn't and I paid for it.

Good luck!

For sure I did. I went out and bought a $210 Bell Top of the line helmet. I was using a cheap walmart special when I crashed and it never fit right.

Make sure your helmet fits right and you spend the $$ for a good one.