Problems after flying?
 

I was recovering pretty well from my brain injury I sustained back in August until recently. I flew to St. Croix, and within an hour after landing had one of the worst migraines I've ever experienced. Since that initial attack about 2.5 weeks ago, I've been crippled by dizziness, migraines, mood swings, memory problems, fatigue, tremors and eyes that shake. I've had all these symptoms before, but most had gone away until the flight.

My neurologist says that it's complicated migraines associated with the head injury and likely that the changes in pressure from flying triggered it.

Have any of you experienced this??

I'm to the point were I'm contemplating going back out on short term disability from work so that I don't damage my professional reputation anymore and give myself time to heal.

Dr Dorothy Gronwall documented how PCS subjects were sensitive to an altitude of 8,000 feet back in the 1970's. It cause a marked difference in memory and other cognitive abilities.

I have problem flying due to the over-stimulation. I need to sit up front and on the aisle so that I have minimal visual impacts. Otherwise, my brain gets overwhelmed with all of the seat backs and heads in front of me.

The standard cabin altitude in pressurized commercial aircraft is 8,000 feet. Unpressurized aircraft can fly as high as 12,000 feet or even 14,000 feet for short durations. Some island hoppers are unpressurized.

Jayhybrid,

I flew 2 days after my initial concussion. It was like my head was going to explode when we took off and landed. I'm not sure how it affected my physically, but it definitely hurt.

Flying
 

Hi, when I have fly to a different time zone I have used my black box, focused on a magazine or whatever and slept - i.e. avoided as much stimulation as possible. Also sat by the window and if day light kept my sun glasses on.

Also kept to my dayly routine as much as possible.

I keep to my original time as well - might sound crazy to you but it works really well i,e. New Zealand is 2-3 hours ahead of Queensland Australia and I simply didn't adjust my watch - so whatever you are arranging to do away simply convert your appointments to your watch time and it saves having to go through the tiredness of changing rest times and sleeping - works really well for me - drives my husband nuts bur saves me a lot of grief!

Lynlee

I attribute 99% of my problems on my flights 3 days after my concussion, prior to my flight I felt fine, the morning after my flight I awoke with my symptoms :(

Well I guess I feel sorta lucky.

I just went on an airplane six days ago. At the very end my head hurt for a small amount of time (sharp pain, then that weird wet feeling again on my scalp) but it didn't stick around for a while and definitely wasn't the worse headache I had. Although it did attribute to these little headaches that occur at night now, but I expect them to fade.

Any better now?
 

Hello,

Have you gotten better? I took a flight two months after my concussion. Since then, I have been feeling horrible for 2.5 months. I feel so miserable and doubg if I get back to normal.

I doubt that flying increases PCS symptoms chronically, your increase is probably coincidental roundone. hang in there, time is the best healer.

Now that I think about it, I didn't start feeling really horrible until after my flight, which was about 4 days after my concussion. In fact I felt just fine until after my flight. Could this have cause/exacerbated my symptoms? What could have caused this? Can Oxygen treatments potentially revese this?

Flying and PCS
 

Five year and counting, multiple episodes of PCS problems. Flew in 3 days ago on a long overseas flight, felt fine until a few hours ago: dizziness & tension headaches after taking a semi-brisk 45-minute walk. In a stressful household with an Alzheimer's father & irritable caregiver mother. Staying positive, away from beach-cities boozing and wondering if this will ever subside.