Today my concussed (Oct of 2006 soccer ball to the face injury, diagnosed PCS) daughter stayed home from school. Said she felt like she has the flu. This afternoon she says her teeth feel sensitive and it hurts her sinuses to breathe. This after doing a "light" workout (OK'ed by her neurologist) this past Monday. Does this make ANY sense?

I'm so very sorry to read about what's been happening with your daughter. I am still recovering from a concussion I sustained a couple of years ago. I didn't turn a light on one night when I was going downstairs to get a glass of water in middle of night and I slipped on the bottom step and slammed the back of my head into the edge of a door jam. Haven't quite been the same since.

I've read and been told so much conflicting information about post concussion syndrome. I guess that's why they call it a "syndrome". The symptoms and time limits to recovery vary so much from one individual to the other.

This might seem a weird question but do you think your daughter is anxious about being injured again? The reason I say that is that after my accident things changed dramatically for me and I became very scared of having another fall. It's taken me a long time to get over that fear.

It must have been a huge wack with the soccer ball for her to be hurt so badly. What sort of things have the speech and physical therapist been doing to help her?

Do you think that these new symptoms like the 'flu symtoms are connected to her brain injury? It concerns me that they may have missed something along the way.

I have no information about the Neurontin to share, I'm sorry.
I'm hoping that her new symptoms... like 'flu symptoms will turn out to be related to something else and that's she is feeling much better fast.

Oh, forgot something... a lot of post concussion symptoms can often be downplayed by others including professionals esp. if there's no clear sign of damage on tests. That's a big pain.

Lara,
Thanks for your post. Neurologist called from his home tonight and was very upset that she returned to the field. He told my wife he NEVER cleared her for even "light" workout. I know my daughter. She heard what she wanted to hear. Now the neurologist says NO activity, that we're starting from scratch and that there will never be a way to measure her first post-concussion tests against what she scores from here on out. She was given a pretty hard-core pain releif cocktail along with some sleep-inducing stuff for tonight. If she doesn't sleep tonight (after weeks of pretty dramatic improvement, that's what's killing me!) we have to take her to the emergency room. I will do whatever it takes to get her well. She's going to be completely withdrawn from school again on monday, after being allowed to increase her load to two classes per day. Pretty much lights out, NO physical activity and lots of anti-depressants until she has NO headaches. I have trained this exceptional soccer goalkeeper in the game she so loves. I know part of her motivation to return to the field is to please me. She pleases me WITHOUT soccer! I don't need it, I need her! She's such a beautiful girl. I love this girl, and I'm watching her struggle. It can't hurt me worse than it hurts her, but I'd take ALL of her pain to make her pain free. I'm so sad for her.

Hi spudbro,
I sent you a pm, but in case you see this first, I just wanted to mention something I thought of... This may be way off but I have read about people having what is called a Chiari malformation (CM1) and gone most of their lives without ever knowing they had it and without any symptoms until sustaining a head injury. Headaches are common with that.

http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/symptoms.htm

There is another user here called Lizard who might know more about that connection if she sees this post. I can't think of why she's having the teeth problems except that maybe nerves were damaged in her face when the original head injury occurred.

I'll keep your daughter in my thoughts.

Hey, Spudbro.

Lara PMed me about this thread, and I didn't see any mention of an MRI. If she hasn't had one, I would certainly get one, particularly since she's still having problems after all this time.

The condition Lara mentioned, Arnold-Chiari Malformation, which my son has, is usually a congenital malformation, and symptoms are often not present until an injury of some kind occurs. It's very common, for example, for it to be dx'ed after whiplash from a car accident. It can generally only be dx'ed from an MRI, so if she hasn't had one yet, that should be done to rule it out.

Good luck, and please let me know...

LIZARD

I read your post about your 15 year old having headaches and Im 17 and having the same problems. I hit my head on a locker at school on January 29 and have had the same headache for 7 weeks now. I have went to school about 7 days since then. I was told not to do anything stenuous, like exercise. I have 2 neurologist and my regular physicians. They thought it was a tension headache and then a migraine. I had to get a CT scan and a MRI. The results came back today from my MRI and I had a post dramatic concussion. One of my neurologist called me in something to take for the pain, but I dont sleep very well. Im dehydrated most of the time and have flu like symptoms. I get low fevers and nausea. I have the teeth problems too. Good luck to your daughter about getting better, I know what shes going through.

Hi TinyTalker,
I just wanted to say "Welcome" to the forums here and that it's good to meet you. I'm so sorry to read about your ongoing health issues. I really hope those symptoms start to fade very soon for you and that you can get back to doing the things that you used to before your concussion.
all the best,
Lara

In my case it means, in my room with short bouts on the computer, maybe 2 hours a day compared to a previous 8 or so. As time has gone on I've been able to do a little more reading, but mostly it's been a lot of meditation to get me into a relaxed state. And I'm not someone who was big on meditation. Sleeping. Lying quiet in the dark. Maybe 6 hours of television a week? some texting and a few phone calls a week. NO work. No listening to regular music.

So as I'm reading about the youth here with the PCS - it sounds like many are still going to school. This is a condition that effects our physical being, emotional being and cognitive being. All of them need rest. Serious Rest. The more you rest, the better you will be in the long run.

It's difficult cause each concussion manifests differently and because it is messing with your head, you aren't really sure what is going on.

REST, RELAXATION - No alcohol or caffeine. No work - no play.
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