Post Concussion Syndrome or something more..?
 

Hi! This is my very first post here, I've read a lot, but I have some questions of my own.

A brief history on myself:
I'm 17. I've had 5 concussions. One each year for the past 5 years, basically. They've all been "mild" but they've all taken me a really long time to completely recover from. My fourth one took me about 14 months to fully get over.

I was hospitalized during concussion 3 and 4 for really bad migraines and was treated with DHE. That helped the pain going away for about a month, but it always seems to come right back.

During concussion 4, I was diagnosed with ADHD that was most likely derived from so many head traumas as well as being diagnosed with POTS.

This most recent concussion I got a little over a month ago, I was standing in the goal kicking balls out - I'm the manager for the school soccer team since I'm not allowed to play contact sports anymore - and someone shot the ball straight into my face. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that.

My headaches don't seem to be getting any better at all, I know it's only been a month, but they're pretty unbearable. I've seen several different neurologists and "concussion specialists" and I've tried all kinds of different medicines, but nothing seems to lessen the pain.

The first four of my concussions were all "sports-related" and they were all traumas to the back of my head, a couple of them giving me whip-lash as well. My headaches are generally more on the right side of my head, like right on my hairline in the front and near the bottom of the back of my head. I also occasionally will have a "shooting" pain go up the back of my head. These headaches are generally pretty on-going, I'll have times where I feel fine, but I'll have headaches still multiple times a day, and they're worsened when I try to do school work or read or anything like that. My neck hurts incredibly bad all the time. I feel like I've had whip-lash for the past two years or something, it's always really stiff and aches and it feels like it just needs to be popped, but it never pops. I also am super sensitive to sunlight. I can't be outside without sunglasses or else I get an awful headache, the glasses take a little bit of the edge off. I'm also nauseous quite often in addition to an ability to concentrate and remember minor things.

I've done as much "research" as I could, and I can't decide if I think this sounds like Occipital Neuralgia or just chronic migraines or Post-Concussive Syndrome or something totally different..

Please please please help! And sorry I wrote so much...

-Mack

Hi Mack, aside from the cause of the trauma - I have almost identical headaches. They were non relenting for about 1.5-2 months then I had several pharmacology steroid interventions as well as cervical blocks. chiro, accu etc.. The overall intensity to severe headaches and light sensitivity decreased for a period of time and now seems to be escalalting again. I always feel like I have a low level HA and then several moderate ones during the week that can be "controlled" with medication. I then have severe run for the dark\quiet place type headaches 3-7 times per month lasting between a few hours or until I wake the next morning.

I have neck trauma to muscles and discs. I certainly had whiplash from my accident and dx with concussion but most docs believe you need to be knocked out for any serious effects to become permanent.

it will be interesting what others have to offer as well. I notice when i have to work on a multi -faceted task that the headache will intensify or if I am in an environments where multiple conversations are taking place all at once within earshot of hearing the words being spoken. BTW - what does DHE and POTS stand for

Interesting! Have you gotten any diagnoses for your symptoms other than just typical migraines?

DHE stands for dihydroergotamine and it's an intravenous medication that is used to treat migraines.

POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and in a nutshell it's a dramatic increase of heart rate when the person is in an upright position.

mack,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. You situation sounds familiar. I managed the soccer team my junior year because I was not allowed any more contact sports either.

It sounds like you need some intense diagnostics of your neck, especially your upper neck. It is very possible to get a dislocation of C-1 (atlas) to occiput (skull). Most images will not show this. You need to have your head turned sharply to the left and right during the image to show the displacement.

If you have tender spots behind your ears, this is a good sign of this injury. You should be icing your neck frequently. You should also be practicing good neck posture, especially when you are relaxing or sleeping. A neck collar may be recommended. It takes 6 weeks minimum of proper posture for the soft tissue (ligaments) to strengthen.

You likely have other neck issues possibly as far down as T-2 or T-3. Do you get tingling in your hands and acid reflux/indigestion ?

I would not consider any of those concussions that resulted in hospitalization as mild. Concussions need to be graded by longer term symptoms rather than first presentation.

So, did your team have a good season ? My sophomore and junior year team was the best in the state of Connecticut during club play but our HS coach changed to an Italian for junior year and he did not know most of our team were going to be at a Portuguese bachelor party the night before our state tournament qualifying game. Even the best can't play hung-over. An undefeated season ended in a defeat in the state qualifier. And I had the honor of swimming for the balls that went into the polluted river next to our soccer field.

My best to you.

No, Infact I am still awaiting something more definite so that I know its getting treated properly. I have been told I should consider neck fusion at the t1 c7 layer but i want to really wait to see if the headaches get resolved as i am not sure if this could possibly add to that problem or not