Again, 15 yr old daughter, soccer GK, major blow to the side of the face with a shot, concussion suffered in October 2006. We have 2 doctors, a speech pathologist and a physical therapist working this concussion. One doctor says he doesn't think he'll ever clear her, another who says symptom free without meds for a week and he'll clear her. The "clear her" one is well known in the sports community (UMPC), the "not clear her" one works at a major rehab facility.

"Clear her" says light workouts OK now. Thinks it will help with recovery. She did work out with her team on Monday. Today (Thurs) the headache is back big time. BTW, headache is the only remaining symptom. Sleep better now due to Trazadone.

How does one deal with conflicting professionals. They have conference-called on the phone, so they know each other's stance.

Also, anyone ever been given neurontin for brain injury? How'd it work?

Thanks for all your help.

dang...i'm sorry to hear about her headaches.

can you get a third opinion?

my gut is saying...no more soccer until she has no symptoms. and then...the mom in me..well..i'd say no. the risks of permanent damage is so much greater with repeated injury.

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

Hi guys,
Looks like we are all going to be the experts on this topic soon. It is very frustrating getting different opinions from different doctors. My son had a head injury in wrestling FEb 17th. It has changed our lives trying to problem solve it. He is mostly dizzy, headaches daily, "in a fog" as he terms it and really strains to read. He is also light sensitive. He went back to school this week and is doing half days, it is like he ran a maration every day i pick him up. He is exhausted mostly. We realize we need alot of time to heal and sports now seem like a dream. He loves all his sports, 3 Varsity sports during year! This injury is alot of damage control. I hope ypur daughter gets better and gets her life back. I feel your frustration with the doctors. We have been to many. An MRI was normal they say but the neuro surgeon wants to have them sent to him because he said they may not know what to look for. I do not think he will be wrestling again next year. If he is able to exercise at all in the future I will be happy for him.