What else could it be other than PCS?
 

I've had symptoms for a year. I get a little better every month, but a year? It's my 4th concussion, the others healed up quickly. It was a minor impact, rear-ended at a red light. I'm still far from recovered.

Is there anything else that could possibly be causing these problems besides PCS? Some other condition that was triggered? Evil magic?

I just can't believe this is still going on from such a small impact.

I mostly have mental fatigue now. I get severe light sensitivity (typing this with my eyes closed mostly), sometimes noise sensitivity, severe distractibility, headaches, and if I push it I get nausea. I can't think well when this happens, and its brought on by thinking, especially about new or complicated things.

I get a weird hard-to-describe feeling in my forehead/top of head when symptoms come on. Not quite a headache. The angle of my head makes a big difference in symptoms too, it can make them far far worse sometimes.


(tldr)Is there anything else that could possibly be causing these problems besides PCS?

There have been plenty of people on NT who did not experience recovery until well after a year. Many times, this happened when they finally accepted their injury and reduced activity, stress and over-stimulation in their lives.

If you have any unresolved subtle neck injuries, that is still worth your time, effort and discipline.

Soak,

I had a visit with my neuro Friday. I am 9.5 months

Soak,

Don't know what I did up above.

I had no idea my injury would be so durable and strange. The doc said I am not making it up which I was beginning to think I was.

It is weird how it goes...yesterday I felt reborn, today made yesterday seem ancient history.

Bud

Soak,

I think we are in same boat, Its been a year for my concussion still has most of the symptoms you have described. I experience setbacks multiple times when ever I push myself to do 20-25 hr/week of work and learnt a lesson that pushing does not help.

I wish you a fast recovery !

Get your Atlas bone checked
 

I discovered a treatment that is unlike any other for PCS. Its called Atlas Orthogonal. Google it. I found a dr in my state that does it, they are kind of hard to find. this technique was created by Dr. Roy Sweat. Its very specific, and non invasive, Upper cervical Drs. are trained in it. Ive been suffering for 4 years with all of the symptoms of PCS, from a car accident where I got whiplash.. but I have been seeing a Atlas Orthogonal dr now for about 3 months, and Im finally on the road to getting my life back. My Atlas and Axis vertebra were both shifted severely out of place and not ONE other dr ever said anything to me about it. My xrays showed it all. But only a dr who is looking for this specific problem will see it, whereas other doctors , pay no attention to it. PLEASE google it and check it out, it just might be your answer! Good luck and God bless.

At my university, a researcher is focusing on how neck treatments can help with pcs. She says she'll refer me to a clinic to be looked at. I will ask her if she has heard of that Atlas Orthogonal treatment.

...should I get a neurologist btw? I've been referred to a variety of specialists, including a psychologist and a physiatrist, an OT and a physiotherapist. Not a neurologist.

Neuros can be a crap shoot. Some will take interest and understand. Others are a complete waste of time. Rather than pinpoint Atlas Orthogonol, a more general term of "upper cervical chiro" may be better.

As it was already pointed out, check your neck with a specialized chiro.
It has helped me with some of my symptoms, at least don't have neck pain any more.

Also, check your ears/discuss symptoms with a good neurotologist (an advanced ENT doc). Looks like I had a fistula (a tear) in my left inner ear and had surgery to fix that recently. Also seem to have too much pressure in my ears currently contributing to my vestibular issues.

Hey Soak,

I'm about 9 months post concussion and my symptoms improved at a snails pace for the longest time, still getting sensitivities off and on to everything. About a week and a half ago I started taking a vitamin B complex with:

100mg of B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and
100 mcg of B12
folate
together with vitamin D tablets that have 25 mcg of vitamin D3
and a magnesium complex tablet that has 500 mg of Mg

and I have noticed a huge leap in improved symptoms. I am not constantly getting the dull constant pain/neuralgia that I was before and I found that as a result I'm able to finally focus and concentrate again, still not as good as before but definitely not as bad as just 2 weeks ago. My sleep has improved too since I don't have a constant dull pain/numbness keeping me awake at night.

Not sure if this is specific to me and my concussion or something that could be applied to concussion recovery as a whole but give it a shot. I know we have the vitamin sticky here as well. It's worth checking out!

I realize that other injuries could also be exacerbating symptoms, neck injuries and such, but this vitamin regimen has really helped me improve in only a week and a half.

Try it, see if it helps at all. I wish I had started taking these vitamins 9 months ago that's how I feel.

Hope the symptoms start improving faster soon for ya bud :)

Good for you.

Looks like you are taking a B-100 Complex. You will likely benefit from adding 1000 mcgs of B-12 (preferably methylcobalamin.)

25 mcgs of D3 sure sounds small. You could add substantially to that, too.

Thanks Mark, it's been an awful 9 months and finally feeling some improvement has felt like a blessing.

It is a B-100 complex vitamin. I'll try and see what they have for vitamin B12 on its own and a higher D3 concentration vitamin.

Has there been any research into low levels of these vitamins possibly causing susceptibility to PCS? Just a thought. It's something I've been trying to look into but without much luck.

Thanks for the reply Mark!

I recently had cervical MRI and it came back negative. Does it rule out the C1 C2 instability? One PT told me that X rays are more precise than an MRI in upper cervical problems. I am going to visit a chiro in singapore soon and he deals with upper cervical issues a lot. I hope to find some answers soon.

I doubt a cervical MRI will show the subtle injuries. They are more about vertebral alignment and mild soft tissue injury, stretching and strains. A chiro who uses gentle upper cervical techniques may be able to help. Due to the mechanism of your injury, I am skeptical as to whether you could have sustained an upper neck injury. You head did not flop or whiplash around.

Thanks for the reply, Mark. When I hit my head on the wall, I instantly felt numbness in my limbs and right side of my face. Though it went away in a few days I can't let go about thinking that the numbness probably meant some nerve problem in my neck. What do you think ? Also does an mri rule out soft tissue injury? What other subtle injury can it be ?

Till today when I travel in a car, I feel some discomfort deep inside below my skull upon big potholes. The MRI showing nothing to be honest was a disappointment to me I am so sick of this mysterious condition