Hello All,

I’ve been reading these threads for quite a while and decided to contribute. As a sports player, I have had concussions on and off for as long as I can remember. Nothing was ever too serious. In 2003, I misplayed a fly ball and it came down right on my forehead above my eye, but the next day I hit a homerun. I got a concussion from a basketball thrown at my head at the beginning of May 2014. It was thrown pretty hard and I could tell this one was different than the others. Immediately I didn’t feel like myself. The next day at work, I felt slow. It felt as if my head was a balloon. My scanning wasn’t as sharp as normal. It was similar to the feeling you get when you are slightly intoxicated. A good example is when I was driving; I wouldn’t be able to take in as much of my surrounding as I am used to. In addition to that, my eyes would zone out frequently. My focus would get blurred, just for a few seconds, but it was still frustrating. I could remove myself from the blur by blinking, but it comes back frequently. I had slight headaches as well and also had ringing in my ears. I just didn’t feel normal. It was difficult as I sit in front of two computer monitors all day solving technical issues. When I walked, it felt like my head was heavy and bobbing along too. My balance was slightly off. I wasn’t falling down anywhere, but I wasn’t as assured as I should be on my feet. The pressure in my head was increased, I would swallow and feel the pressure reduce from my ears but it would never fully go away. My hearing would get better when I swallowed to reduce the pressure (noises would get louder). About a month after the symptoms didn’t go away, I went to see a neurologist. I didn’t think she was a great doctor (I told her I was left handed and she forgot that when giving me the neurological tests) but she told me I had PCS and prescribed me gabapentin (600mg/day). I’m not sure if it was the placebo effect or what, but I initially felt better when taking it. I went on vacation and took it with me. I was very scared about taking flights as the pressure in my head was noticeably increased. It was about 6 weeks after my concussion that I got on a plane. It wasn’t bad at all. I was visiting a foreign country for the first time and I was by myself. Hardly anyone spoke English and this exacerbated my conditions. I felt so out of place and was worried. It is a hard feeling to describe, but I just wasn’t able to think fast enough, leaving me less confident. However, when I finally got settled, I was much better. The vacation ended up being great and my symptoms were barely noticeable. Flash forward to three months after my initial injury. I have stopped taking the gabapentin because when I would miss a day, I would feel the same. I still have lingering effects of PCS. The main things that concern me are:
-slight ringing in ears (only notice it when I’m in complete silence)
-blurred vision (this happens occasionally and I can adjust, but I’d like this to go away)
-head pressure causing hearing problems (this is the worst)
The headaches rarely happen, and when they do they aren’t too bad. My balance is better and I’ve gotten back to playing basketball. I’m actually better than I was before the injury. This is more of a question for Mark, who seems to know what he’s talking about, why should I take gabapentin? As I said before, I didn’t really trust my doctor, and the pill bottle says it might cause dizziness. I already might be subject to dizziness, so why would I want to add something that could make it worse? Also, is it normal for my head pressure to be increased this long after the initial injury? Thanks a bunch -p