First welcome to the group. It can be heartbreaking when this happens to your child, no matter how it happened. From what you said about bleeding sounds like they have done mri's and other testing. It can also be exhausting and isolating for you. My hubby spent 10 yrs under the care of a psyce Dr for ptsd, he has improved a lot since the beginning thankfully. He was a vet in Vietnam. So understand what ptsd can do, and it can be caused by many reasons. They say a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Plus you have tbi issues, they can be involved, and take time to figure out all things. This is hard, but necessary to consider all possible treatments and damages. Took a few med changes just to find the one that suited my hubbys ptsd alone. Behaviour changes with a tbi can happen and with memory. This wont help you now, but time often helps in many ways. Have you got support for yourself to get through this? I am sorry, sometimes life isnt as we want, and the path isnt easy. Hopefully your son's Drs are keeping you informed of everything, can they suggest ways to control his mood swings for you?

I hear and feel your pain.. I suffer a similar one.. i can relate to most of what you say and my son presents fairly identical to yours by the sounds of it.. mine is now 25 injured in an accident in 2009. we found little assistance anywhere in the past two and a half years.. we dont fit into any category.. we have suffered greatly. i say we.. as it is we as a family who are suffering.. I love my son and i hate the behaviours.. we have to be strong.. i hate the thoughts i have had snce this happend.. i hate that he is alone and i am terrified of his future.. I am still heartbroken and emtionally exhausted even when their are forward steps. Every day is a new day.. and thoughts can change your world.. i wrote a long long reply and deleted it.. people are worse off and i feel afraid to share for fear of hearing worse.. but yours is so similar I just want you to now that I understand. I dont have advice on where to go or what assistance there is but I do now that you need to keep yourself sane.. time out.. refresh.. therapy .. massage what ever it takes.. i would like to hear more and will follow this topic.. I have not spoken out before either.. I do know there are support groups for carers.. and im told they are really very helful.. im afraid yet to go though.. Have you looked around for these groups.

So sorry you and he have to go through this. My son had a severe TBI in Feb. He was in a rehab hospital nd hasgotten amazing help evenhere at home. I fer what the future will bring be cause he blurts out what ever he thinks. We can go through it together here it is safeand non judgementl. there are other private groups that are geared more specifically toproblems

Thank you for the responses. We have also not been able to find good help either. He does not fit this program or that is all we hear. My son is barely compliant when it comes to taking meds. I think he is in denial. But I nag and nag then finally he will take them. One of the biggest issues is really not even with him it is with other people. They do not get how sick he is because he looks ok, so they are quick to judge. They want to believe that he is just a drug addict. Funny thing is he never was doing any kind of drug before his TBI. So I find myself correcting and educating people on a daily basis. Some will understand and others think that I am looking for excuses. He has lost all of his high school friends, they say it is too hard for them to see him so different. Personally if they cant take him as he is then they are not true friends anyways. But it has left him with just crappy ones.
And regarding the mri test...he has had probably 20 CT scans, so yes we have a very good diagnosis. Even someone who does not know how to read CT scans would notice his bleed areas.
I wish that I could find somewhere to send him to get the proper help. But without insurance it is near impossible.
WE have a doctor appointment today and I am going to ask the doctor to maybe take a more quicker approach to his treatment. He tends to want to prescribe meds at the lowest dose and go very slow. But my son will not try for very long if he feels they are not working. He gives up way too soon. So maybe if he (doctor) hits him with a bigger hammer so to speak it will be better.
We will see later today.

Thanks again.

About a month after my sister's injury she started having anger outbursts and paranoia. It was so odd to see it happen because she had been so pleasant before that. A friend of my brother told us about neurofeedback and how it helped her with her TBI. Within weeks of starting treatment my sister's outbursts and paranoia were gone. Whether coincidence or a result of the treatments we'll never know for sure, but I feel it was the neurofeedback that made the difference.

Also regarding insurance, has your son been uninsured for 6 months? If so, he is probably eligible for the federal program for those with pre-existing conditions (see link below). My sister was uninsured when she became ill...we were able to get her insured within 2 months of her discharge from the hospital. It has been great to have insurance, over medi-cal, but it really hasn't helped much with getting her the rehabilitation she needs...sure she's gotten some PT and OT, but not enough to make any difference...she didn't just twist her knee...she has a BI and needs a lot more intensive program (sorry, just venting). It seems very few insurance policies provide the kind of coverage for rehab services a BI survivor really needs to improve.
http://pcip.ca.gov/Home/default.aspx

MY son had a doctors appt this afternoon. He upped his depakote to 750 mg 2 times per day (for mood swings). Personally I do not think that this is doing a thing for him. Son is also not happy that he has to continue with this medication. I doubt he will even try to take it. Kinda am feeling that doctor is done with treating my son. He is getting less and less interested in him case. Son does not want to go to him any longer but he really has no choice since he is on county medical assistance program. Not sure what to do......I am very frustrated with son and his medical care or really lack thereof !

I am guessing you have had more than one appt with just you and Dr to discuss your concerns and what help you need to cope. It is so important to care for you too. Maybe we all should get a tattoo on our foreheads so people can see something. It is part of the frustration of a tbi. No wounds to see unless there are scars in view. But it sure sorts out who your friends really are. As you see, we can join in and support each other here very well and with understanding. Know your not alone.