Post concussion syndrome 10 month point - HELP!
 

Hi,
I'm new to neurotalk and I stumbled upon this forum when I was researching PCS. I suffered my original concussion approximately 10 months ago while playing hockey. I was hit in the head similar to the Sydney Crosby hit where I was blind sided. I fell back and my vision was slightly blurred for a moment but I continued playing and didn't think much of it at the time. I'm sure I've suffered many undiagnosed concussions through out my years of playing hockey but this is the first time that I've had problems after the original incident.

Foolishly, I continued to exercise multiple times per week and play hockey despite feeling extremely light headed to the point of almost passing out. As a hockey player it's normal to simply "suck it up" and play through the pain. As I now know I probably did more damage by doing so.

Most of my symptoms have gone with the exception of the dizziness and light headedness. It has only been within this past month that I have completely stopped working in order to focus on recovering. I've completely stopped all exercise because I can't do anything without becoming dizzy. I've tried extremely light walks for short periods of time and I still get dizzy from that.

I've been trying to cut down on anything that causes symptoms and have started to take vitamins everyday. Any advice on what I can do to help me recover is greatly appreciated! I'm only 22 and I want to get back to living a normal life! I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

Please help!

Welcome to the group! I'm sorry you're still having these issues but its good to hear you only have one main problem and it might be a treatable one! Have you looked into vestibular rehabilitation? Its physiotherapy specifically for dizziness. I have been having it for 5 weeks now and it is helping my dizziness.

The other thing that might help would be getting your eyes checked and not by a normal optometrist. There are others that can post links for you but if you search for NORA you can find an eye specialist in your area.

I'm sure others will be along with their advice. You've found a good group here!

Good luck to you
CC

Thanks! I'll definitely look into both of those! The dizziness seems to only appear when exercising but can sometimes develop into a headache.

I would say that you should avoid exercise altogether if it provokes your symptoms The key is doing the things that do not provoke symptoms and avoiding the things that do.. You should hopefully get through it, you have age on your side! Like yourself, I exercised 3 weeks after injury and now I am appriaching 4 months with pcs, I had dizzyness in the gym anda whole host of terrible symptoms after the dizzyness. After having lots of headaches, and head pressure, today I just have numbness in head instead. I hope I am on the road to recovery, and I hope you get there too.

Pca
 

I know exactly how you feel! I have passed the 1 year mark last month and don't know if I will have much improvement at this point.

don't give up jmsarge! Try to do little things that make you happy to push yourself just a little bit. From what I found out today and have heard and read before, it's very important that you not let psychological issues make you worse. It's amazing how many physical symptoms are actually psychological causes! My neurologist said today that any new or worsening problems in a concussion are usually psychological in nature. Not that that makes them any less troublesome but they can be and need to be treated differently. Maybe seeing a psychologist would help.


Sorry back to Alex V. If you get dizzy during exercise a sports physio therapist or vestibular therapist sounds like the way to go! You should notice improvement quickly with them too which is nice so you don't wonder if you're wasting your time and money. From what I heard today from my neurologist, rest at this late stage is probably not the answer and could make things worse by causing fatigue, depression, etc. I hope you find a good physio person that can help!

Good luck
CC

I took your advice and booked a vestibular rehab appointment. I have high hopes! Especially since the dizzy spells seem to be my main problem. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

I agree that it is difficult to stay positive when day after day you wake up feeling terrible. I've been forced to become lazy not by choice which is completely against my nature. I keep thinking about being healthy again and how much better I'll feel. Right now I can't even imagine being able to do a simple jog without symptoms.

It's tough! Just stay positive and be optimistic!

Good luck with the vestibular rehab! It doesn't work for everyone but is a good place to start. My vision is bad and dizziness so exercises with movement are a big problem. I can do some easy short time on recumbent bike though. Have you tried that? Not good to be inactive altogether if it can be avoided.

Let us know what the therapist says!

Good luck
CC

See a Neuro-Optometrist too!
 

I just wanted to put in my two cents and urge you to get your eyes checked by a neuro-optometrist. I've had four concussions in the last two years, the most recent one in November, and I have severe dizziness that makes it so I can't exercise or do a lot of other activities. I'd been doing vestibular rehab since October, but was not seeing a lot of progress. My frustrated physical therapist referred me to an optometrist, and it turns out that the big problem is with my eyes and I really need to do a totally different kind of rehab (though I may also need to do vestibular rehab afterwards as well). I should have seen a neuro-optometrist back in October!

It's great your signed up for vestibular therapy, but if you want to do everything you can to get well, see a neuro-optometrist too to get checked out. That way, you've covered all your bases! Also, remember that to get better, you really need to rest! When I first was off work and "resting", I still tried to do things around the house like scrub the baseboards and weed the garden. That is not resting! I ended up making my symptoms worse. Don't do that to yourself! Good luck!

I will look into having my eyes checked out. I'm willing to try anything that could help! I'm am tired of being unable to do things. I'm currently unable to walk or cycle at a low pace so I'm not sure what I can do in terms of exercise.

I've just been resting as much as possible lately. What exactly does the neuro-optometrist get you to do in terms of fixing your eye problems?

Alex,
We have similar symptoms it seems. My initial injury two a few years ago, but the reinjury that won't go away happened about a year ago. Anyway, I'm lightheaded a lot these days. Not so much with the headaches, but just lightheaded and slightly dizzy, though not really dizzy per se. Please let us know how this vestibular treatment works. I am also willing to do just about anything at this point that might help.

I also have severe dizziness and nausea since my PCS was diagnosed 7 months ago.

I run but have changed how I exercise so that I don't get my heart rate up too high. If I do, this triggers a lot of bad symptoms.

I have high hopes for the vestibular rehab. It seems to target all my symptoms. The dizziness, slight vertigo, trouble going into supermarkets, sensitivity to light. I'll keep you guys posted on the results!

Your trouble going into supermarkets is more likely due to visual overload. Supermarkets are by far the most visually over-stimulating environments that exist. Add the sounds and moving objects to track and you have a perfect storm for overload. Those with low ceilings are the worst. They cram even the lights into a small space.

I wear a hat in any store. It reduces most of the vertical peripheral vision distractions. Those that I still see are off in the distance.

The vestibular rehab may help take some of the load off your brain. Anything that does is worthwhile.

My best to you.

Cure for Dizziness - Epley Manoeuvre
 

Am new to this site - so excuse me if my post comes up twice as not quite sure how to do this!! But Alex I too am 10 months down the line and still have some post concussion symptoms cos i haven't rested enough. I have worked and worked through it at a highly pressurised job - long hours and deadlines with lots and lots of computer work. I have now have been told by my doctor to just stop and rest! Not a nice thing to have - my lingering symptoms are headaches, sensitivity to light and noise and not being as mentally quick as I was..

But I do have some advice for you - I got rid of my dizziness totally - which like yours was really bad about 4/5 months ago. A nurse performed the Epley manoeuvre on me. It's a drug and pain free solution and is performed as you lie down and involves a series of simple moves. Apparently many people who are hit on the head and get a concussion also get BPPV - Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. It's basically a disturbance of the inner ear that causes dizziness.

You can read about it on the internet - just google the procedure. I felt a bit foggy headed still after the treatment but the next day my dizziness was gone and hasn't returned. It felt miraculous!!:)



Best of luck.

That only works if you have BPPV and not all post concussion dizziness is caused by inner ear issues. I was really hopeful that this manoeuvre would solve my dizziness but it didn't. Its definitely worth looking into and having someone test you for but I didn't want you getting your hopes up.

Do you get dizzy when you roll over in bed? The Epley manoeuvre will fix that type of dizziness. Mine only happens with movement and the vestibular therapy is helping to retrain my brain that there's no reason to be dizzy and overreact.

Just some thoughts. Hope you are having a good day.

CC

My dizziness seems to be stimulated with exercise. I wake up everyday feeling very foggy. It's definitely something I'll look into. Anything that could help!