[mavrick70004]

Im sorry for the long intro but i think it helps to vent and who knows even the smallest detail could help.

I hit the back of my head at work on Oct 4. i was under a piece of machinery and went to stand up and caught the back of my head ( little above my left ear) on the corner of the machine. i did not pass out or see stars or any of that. i rubbed my head and 20 min later completly forgot that it had even happened. Two days later i woke up and it felt like someone had hit me in the back of my head but i did not know why. i got sudden nausea and lightheadedness so i layed down and fell back asleep for about 2 hours. i woke up and felt fine so i got in the car and started driving to my parents house. middle of the freeway i got lightheaded and ( i know now ) got a anxiety attack. i made it to my gf's grandmas house and from there it went downhill. while there i almost passed out and almost threw up and probably had a couple more anxiety and panic attacks since i had no clue what was going on. At this point the thought of dying crossed my mind and in turn made my anxiety even worse, not to mention the fact that the people around me were secretly freaking out and i could tell. i finally made it to the car and we went to the ER. Just being in the ER made me feel much better and After blood work and a cat scan (told them i hit my head) the doctor told me i was healthy as a horse and it was probably due to the fact i was not getting enough sleep. Slept ALOT for the next week and then returned to work feeling much better ( DUH i had just slept the whole week haha) continued to work ( which involves me lifting heavy packages and im a hard worker so i break a sweat every night) and was feeling better day by day. That thursday i had a symptom relapse with extreme thirst ( figured i was dehydtrated) finished up work and went home to sleep. This is the day that i consider my "injury" date becasue after this all my symptoms came into effect. went back to the ER on friday with more blood work and i was still helathy, this time it was post concussion syndrome. At the beggining i was in bed with all the symptoms dizzy, nausea, headache, light and sound sensitive, could barely walk without feeling very unbalanced, stuffy foggy head, anxiety, panic attacks you name it i probably had it ( except vertigo never had that ). at this point it was just me my bed and my iphone, i think we all know where this lead haha. The cons of self-researching outweighed the pros, while researching i diagnosed myself with derealization ( the looking through thick glass, fishbowel over your head ). what i was feeling started making sense since i really thought i was going to die a couple times and have a history of small anxiety. I wish i never read that becuase the symptoms are so vague they can be linked to anytime you are feeling spacey or disconnected. as i read the symptoms i would ask myself "does this pencil seem real to me?" and then i would study the pencil ( while at the same time still feeling spaced out) and of course the answer is "No, actually it dosnt seem real" and then i would do that throughout the day to different situations and objects. so in a sense i believe i gave myself "dereaization" which stemed off the effects of a concussion. I was off work for about a month but they where very cool about it and becasue of my job position i have unlimited sick days so i actually got paid while i was at home the whole time, which i believe helped me tremendously. i was unable to drive and was completly dependent on other people ( which is somthing that is completly opposite of the kind of person in am ). Sounds very depressing so far right? well here comes the good parts. Since i was stuck at home researching it gave me the time to finally tur my attention to ME instead of everything else. I changed my eating habits and strengthened the way i look at the human body. eating healthy non-processed foods and juicing veggies and fruits became a daily thing and i started to look closer at eastern medicine since as most of us know western medicine wants to give you a pill to fix the symptoms and when you ask questions thay start with "why" there answer is they dont know and there is still so much they do not know about the human body. The dizzy, nausea, and sensitvity resolved on their own and slowly diminsihed.

One morning i was lying in bed and i took my gf's tempurpedic pillow after she went to work, i rested my head on it and with a big exhale my body completly relaxed and sunk into the mattress, at this time i had my first recovery. I heard and felt four small weird sounds in the back of my neck ( kind if like someone was crumpling paper) afer that it felt as if i was being rocked back and forth and then i got dizzy, all while lying down and my eyes closed. i knew it was somthing significant but i forced myself back to sleep. when i woke up everything looked different, lines were sharper and corners were more defined it seemed, it felt as if i was noticing small details and then also retaining the memory. even today i still remember the white paint chiping off a garage door which was green underneath, and the brunette hispanic lady who was driving the green or blue suv pass me as i was doing my daily walk. after this all i could do it ask why. what was in the neck that could have possibly caused this, i still have no answers, misaligned vertabrae maybe im not sure. looking back its hard to remember just how fuzzy and foggy i was but i know that it got a little bit better that day. nothing really changed to much for a couple weeks, got a better appetite possibly. I returned to work but ended up back in the ER from a pretty bad anxiety and panic attack, it was just too overwhelming and i started questing myself and looking back to when i was able to supervise my guys and do my paperwork all at the same time, then i started thinking about what a huge task it was just to do the paperwork portion and i threw myself into an anxiety attack. i was put on modified duty and was behind a desk for two weeks.

When you get better little by little it is VERY hard to notice your progress.
My current situation is a much better outlook. im driving myself around again, back to full work, rarely get headaches and again had a recovery a few days ago which is the main reason i came to this forum. I was suffering from a cold a few days prior and was almost done getting over it, i had a follow up with my PCP and told him the only symptom i had left was a constant foggy/spacey head feeling (derealization) and all the symptoms that i had written down to ask him about had gone away. he told me that the feeling will go away in time. for some reaosn that day i was extra spacey and i actually wondered how i managed to drive myself there and back home. i went to work after and this is when somthing happened, i was "floating" around work feeling VERY tired and VERY spacey and just wanted to close my eyes. Then out of nowhere i swallowed (sp?) and my right ear popped ( like when you in an airplane) and everything i heard was more full and clearer. immediatly following i got a bad earache for about two min. and i kept feeling as if somthin was coming out of my ear but there wasnt anything. over the next 2 hours my spacey feeling diminished greatly and my energy went up greatly. At this point i thought maybe inner ear problem? so i asked my PCP for a referall but he said he thought i didnt need to see a specialist and that i could have ETD and to take sudafed. SO thats where i am right now and am curious about other peoples thoughts and ideas. It feels like it takes 2x more energy for me to keep my eyes in focus and when i relax and let my eyes shift out of focus and just do the blank stare it makes my brain feel good haha if that makes sense. going to work helps me keep my mind off things and gives me things to focus and concentrate on, but there is always a lil somthin that feels "off" lingering in my head, hard to explain but i trust you guys know what feeling im talking about. So my brain is offically fried now after typing all that but it definelty felt good to type it all out. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know, im probably forgeting somthing but i need to sleep now

[vini]

welcome maverick

thanks for posting the inner ear can cause all sort of weird symptoms.

please do not take this as a criticism but many of us me inclusive find it hard to read large blocks of print. if you could break you posts up into spaced paragraphs

it helps some of us to understand thanks

[Mark in Idaho]

Maverick,

Welcome to NT. As vini said, long post are problematic for many of us. I pasted your post into MSWord and broke it up and was able to read most of it.

Your long post is a classic symptom of PCS as is getting long winded when talking. We tend to loose track of time and such and go on and on.

It sounds like you have a case of PCS. The ups and downs are a result of your over-doing it at work and such. Your neck needs to be looked at. An Upper Cervical Chiropractor will be helpful or a NUCCA or Atlas Orthagonal chiropractor to be specific. They are specialist in the highest cervical vertebra. They can go overboard with this but the basics of getting your Atlas and C-2 working is important.

A chiropractor who uses Activator techniques may also be helpful if you cannot find an Upper Cervical in your area.

You need to down load and read the TBI Survival Guide at http://www.drakecenter.com/file.axd?...vivalGuide.pdf or read it online at www.tbiguide.com

You will go Ah Ha as you recognize your symptoms. Your are ahead of the game with your nutrition. Add some B6 and B12, folate, omega-3's and the anti-oxidants to your diet. An injured brain needs lots of good nutrition.

And, continue to get good rest. That means you have pleasant dream. If you have stressful dreams, you will not benefit from the rest. Think of the 'after-glow' sleep guys are so maligned for.

Let us know how you are doing. After reading Dr Johnson's TBI Guide, you will hopefully be able to better explain your symptoms and struggles. Have your girlfriend read it too. Notify your employer of your condition and get a Work Comp claim started. Even if you never pursue it, get it started just in case you have long term symptoms.

And, relax, rest and don't get exited or anxious. It is counter-productive to recovery and counter to getting doctors to take you seriously. Your symptoms are normal. You are not going crazy. If you feel spacey, say to yourself, It is just the concussion. I need to get some rest.

My best to you.

[mavrick70004]

Had a bad experience yesterday at work and ended up in the ER room again. During work i started feeling really overwhelmed mentally and emotionally and i almost starting crying when i was telling my boss what i was feeling. He let me go home, and when i got home i just totally felt drained and just need to close my eyes and sleep. This was about 1130 or midnight. I woke up at about 230 with a severe racing mind, all i could think about was my job and it became so intense that i could not disginguish between me at home lying in bed with me and work supervising my work area. The two got intertwined and i was unable to seperate them. i was trying everything in order to bring myself back down to reality but my mind would not let me focus on anything except for why i could not seperate work and home and why i was feeling this way. I believe i then became derealized becuase i felt as if i had been removed from my situtation. we headed over to the ER because nothing i was doing was helping me to calm down. when i got there my pulse was in the 90-100's and i am unsure of my blood pressure, i was cold and felt shakey and felt disconnected. after talking to the nurse she told me a storry about that used to happen to her when she first started working in the ER and it was a type of anxiety. within two min my pulse was back down to 70's and i started feelign better but still very tired. The ER doctor perscribed me Ativan but i have not taken it yet. Today i still feel drained and think i might be getting another cold. i still have lingering feelings of being disconnected from my enviorment and others. Is anyone familiar with Ativan? Am i still anxious without realizing it?

[mavrick70004]

i also decided that i am going to pursure a workers comp. I am not completly satisfied with my kaiser insurance as i feel they are trying to fix everything as a seperate case, do this to deal with your anxiety, do this to to help with the spacey feeling.

when i injured my knee at work i had a doctor check up every week and if i did not feel better or have improvment they would keep doing the thereapy and would keep at the issue until it was resolved.

I am hoping they will do somthing similar with this PCS and they will understand that everything that is happening (especially emotionally) all stems from when i hit my head and even though my "physical" symptoms have resolved there still might be some mental and emotional trama that needs to be dealt with.

[July63]

Originally Posted by mavrick70004

Had a bad experience yesterday at work and ended up in the ER room again. During work i started feeling really overwhelmed mentally and emotionally and i almost starting crying when i was telling my boss what i was feeling. He let me go home, and when i got home i just totally felt drained and just need to close my eyes and sleep. This was about 1130 or midnight. I woke up at about 230 with a severe racing mind, all i could think about was my job and it became so intense that i could not disginguish between me at home lying in bed with me and work supervising my work area. The two got intertwined and i was unable to seperate them. i was trying everything in order to bring myself back down to reality but my mind would not let me focus on anything except for why i could not seperate work and home and why i was feeling this way. I believe i then became derealized becuase i felt as if i had been removed from my situtation. we headed over to the ER because nothing i was doing was helping me to calm down. when i got there my pulse was in the 90-100's and i am unsure of my blood pressure, i was cold and felt shakey and felt disconnected. after talking to the nurse she told me a storry about that used to happen to her when she first started working in the ER and it was a type of anxiety. within two min my pulse was back down to 70's and i started feelign better but still very tired. The ER doctor perscribed me Ativan but i have not taken it yet. Today i still feel drained and think i might be getting another cold. i still have lingering feelings of being disconnected from my enviorment and others. Is anyone familiar with Ativan? Am i still anxious without realizing it?

wow, I hope you feel better, have to say though, the big letters are hard for me to read. I know bad feelings, see my posts, I hope you are okay, Ativan to me just dumbs you down a little. I am on major sedatives and people wonder how I walk. Best advice is to get your mind off yourself (I can't do it myself but I try), if you can focus on something else, you will be better

[Mark in Idaho]

Maverick,

If you Kaiser experience is anything like my years of Kaiser and Post Concussion, you will do well to pursue other avenues. Kaiser's system is great for normal illnesses and injuries but fails miserably with PCS. Most health care systems do.

You need to find help specific to brain injury and concussion. Your state brain Injury Association may be a good resource. Check http://www.biausa.org/state-affiliates.htm

Before you get too far into a Worker's Comp claim, you should find a WC attorney who truly understands mTBI. The WC system can be problematic for the uninformed and unrepresented injured worker.

Check out www.tbilaw.com for a referral and good information.

Where do you live? Maybe I can do some research for you.

My best to you.

[mavrick70004]

Hey mark
I'll definitely look into it, right now I'm battling a Head cold I got from (I'm pretty sure) just running myself down at work and then I had my anxiety attack on Thursday, which I also believe could be due to the fact my brain and body were so tired ,that I currently feel horrible and o so very tired. If u wish to do some research that would be awesome since my head feels like a big congested water balloon haha. I live in California near san Francisco

Thanks
Jason

[Mark in Idaho]

Right off the bat, I found an attorney who might be a good resource. Check out http://www.brandilaw.com/CM/Cases/Co...onworkSite.asp

I have no personal experience or knowledge of this firm. They just came up with a google for concussion and San Francisco. Often, law firms are a good source of physician referrals. I can't tell if they do WComp law.

Here are some MD's who are expert witnesses regarding concussion. They may be good resources too. http://www.hg.org/medical-experts/Me...Concussion.asp

It's a start. Let me know how you do. USSF Medical School may be a good resource too. Medical schools often have interns and residents who are working on special projects that may include your needs.

My best to you.