Hi Hattie,

I am really sorry to hear what you are going through.
I also have had a car crash and suffered post-concussion symptoms afterwards. Given that everyone is different genetically, our brains are different and the traumas suffered are different, it is remarkable that so many post-concussions symptoms are so similar and so easily recognisable by those of us unfortunate enough to suffer from them.

"Nauseous, dizzy and headachey" you say. This sounds all to familiar and though you might find the symptoms difficult to describe to those who haven't suffered from them. Those of us who have know exactly what you are talking about.

So: "Is it something physically wrong with the brain or not?"
Yes, it is. Definitely.

So if someone tells you that there is nothing physically wrong with your brain, perhaps what they ought to say is that there is nothing physical that could be detected with a brain scan i.e. with the resolution available with an MRI all your brain parts would look undamaged.

However, you cannot see individual neurons with an MRI, nor can you detect biochemical changes what can occur in a trauma. Psychology tests are done by psychologists and a psychologist will tend to give explanations of a patient's condition in terms of what they know i.e. they may give a psychological explanation or they may say that the symptoms likely have a neurophysiological or biochemical cause which is outside of their expertise.

I have had two sets of neuropsychology tests. The first was one year after the car crash and most of my results put me, like you, in a high percentile. Interestingly, the one that was not was my processing speed, interestingly also like you. I have just had the neuropsychology test redone (nearly three years after the accident) and my processing speed seems to have returned to normal. Hopefully you processing speed will also improve with time.

On reading: I didn't have much problem after my accident with reading normal text. However, I had experiences very similar to yours whenever I tried to read music. I play the piano, not very well. But after the accident I could play only about one page of music before it made "me feel so nauseous, dizzy and headachey that I just have to stop." I quote from your experience trying to read text. Mine were the same when I tried to read piano music.

As I do not read piano music very well and certainly not as easily as I can read text. I suppose the extra effort that my brain had to make was just too much for it. This too has greatly improved over the last 3 years. You are much younger than me, so it shouldn't take you so long.

All the best,
CS