dizziness and confusion even after 4 years
 

Hello everybody. My age is 26 and 4 years ago, during a stupid dunk brawl I got hit on the back of my head by a stone very hardly.(I am not that bad guy but unfortunately got involved :( ) Did not lose consciousness. There was cut in scalp and two stitches were done and no skull fracture. There was a bump which lasted for almost 4 months and gradually reduced to normalcy. From then on, Whenever any slight pressure is applied on back of my head like while sleeping, or when i lay back watching TV and also if i RUN or exercize i get CONFUSION and DIZZINESS (but no Head ACHE) It lasts for ONE or TWO days and then I will be normal again. Although it is getting improved and not as bad as it was initially but its 4 years and still i am not 100% . Last year I went for CT scan and doctor told everything is fine and gave Aceclofenac tablets for dizziness. Now I am not getting DIZZINESS frequently but I am still having trouble. I am a software engineer and feeling very hard and troublesome during those ON days. I never sleep on back of my head since It triggers DIZZINESS and CONFUSION, I can sleep only sideways due to which I am getting Chest pain. I am really depressed living like this. Still how many years I may have to live like this?? anyone with similar experience please suggest something...THANKS FOR READING MY PAIN....

Hi Robert,

I wish I had good news for you. I also experienced a concussion over 2 years ago and have similar symptoms that are worsened by exercise or any increase in blood pressure.

My guess is that my brain is still injured and extremely sensitive to increases in intracranial pressure. I do not know how to get around it and feel my brain may never recover.

If your symptoms are improving over time then that is better than nothing. So keep it up. Mine have stayed much the same after 2 years.

I have been to countless specialists and have not received any useful treatment yet. Rather than worrying about it and hoping for a full recovery I have been taking steps to manage my symptoms and move on with life. The less I think about it the better.

Read the stickies for useful information on rest and recovery. There are good people here to help.

Take care,

Halfnelson

Thanks Halfnelson for your reply :)

Sorry for what has happened to you. I am sure you will get better.

Actually I can manage symptoms well but sometimes I become too sad because of the problem I am facing.

I read few threads and yeah, there are lot of good people here.
I hope people here will make me stronger.

Thanks,

Robert

What scans did you have at the time of the incident? Perhaps you have a nerve that might have been pinched, or moved even so slightly, and is being affected by increased inter-cranial pressure that occurs during exercise or when lying on the back of your head. I would definitely recommend seeing a physician and get scans done be sure to request they be compared to the original scans(if you had any). Or quite possibly and maybe more likely, you have a build up of scar tissue. The Occipital Lobe is the portion of the brain at the rear, and is responsible for visual processing. What could be happening is you are becoming dizzy because this is affected and the confusion could be due to the inability to accurately see your surroundings(common with some people who have eye problems). These are the main things this lobe performs, local orientation, spatial-frequency and colors.

During these times, do you have any problems with depth perception or distinguishing colors? For instance, before running your shirt is bright red but during/after it is more of a lighter shade or faded or any other difference(other than that caused by sweat)?

I'm a software engineer, also, so I understand how troubling it can be to deal with these brain issues. I had my 9th TBI in 2004, and it was the final straw.

Almost 10 years later, I am just about back to being mostly functional on a daily basis. I still have a number of issues, but they're all manageable. They are more irritating than anything else, so long as I can manage them effectively.

Sleep is critical. And also to keep taking care of yourself in as many ways as possible. Don't lose hope. The road to brain injury recovery can be a long one, but we can get there.

The hardest thing is losing patience. I find it helpful to look for what is good in my life and focus on that, take the pressure off... and figure out different ways of doing things I need to do.

As an engineer, that probably comes second nature to you -- think of it as engineering your recovery, and keep going. Get good rest, eat right, and don't let worry derail you.

Best of luck.

Thanks a lot bearhawk57 for answering :)

You got me partially wrong. Actually I do not have any problems regarding vision. It is absolutely fine.

My problem is that I am feeling CONFUSED, my reaction rates are very slow for atleast two days after some pressure is applied on back of my head. I can feel My thinking process becoming very very slow. Even to talk to a receptionist I need to think a lot to get my words. Hope u got my point. After that it becomes normal for few days until I do excersize or something like that.

After the incident, two stitches were made and Docter prescribed few tablets and NO scans were done. I thought it will be normal in few weeks. But problem persisted till now.

I met a neurologist last year, he did CT scan and told there are no clots and problem might be due to nerves in the scalp. He prescribed Aceclofenac Sustained Release tablets. I used them for a month or so and I started to feel better.

Now its not as worse as it was 3 years back. I am getting them less frequently but problem is still there.

Is there any specific treatment for problem I am facing?? and medicines which would help me??


I will meet a physician this week. But any of your advices are highly appreciable.

THANKS again.

Thanks a lot :)

Glad to know that you got better.

Did you face similar problems as what I am undergoing??
If yes what made you normal. Any surgery or just tablets??
Did you follow any food restrictions as well??


Now, Are you able to do physical work also??

THANKS again.

I understood you didnt mention vision problems, just didnt do a good enough job explaining correlation and where i was going with it. However, the reaction time is based of subconscious peripheral visual cues. Also, even though you do not notice any visual issues, the confusion can be caused by it. As far as treatments, it would depend what the physician says and the severity of the underlying problem. If it is related to inter-cranial pressure, an (200-400mg) ibuprofen an hour before running might help. Of course, the doctor will be able to tell you more accurately, as he has completed medical school I am only premedical, and can advise further scans(again request on for comparison to a normal/ or previous scan).

Do you suffer times at the end of the sentence where you forget what word you are saying or say the end of the sentence you are thinking of next? This happens to me a lot, just curious if others are having it too.

Just to reiterate, even though you dont notice anything wrong with eye sight, there could be a misfire in the interpretation or other functions of the visual cortex and occipital lobe

Thanks for detailed explanation. Do I have to use ibuprofen every time I run??
Will it only manage symptoms? then how to cure it?

and No I dont forget like that...I keep thinking for a simple answer for little too much time.. to put it in a simple way, I behave like a computer with 56MB RAM, whose RAM earlier used to be 512MB.... slower than what actually I am.....Now please dont say that things like this never happen. I am experiencing and suffering from long time.

I found out these lines from some other thread and these describe my problem perfectly. here they are:

"I get stuck trying to find a simple word. I might know what I want to say but can't get the word to my lips. This has never happened to me before as often as it happens now. "

That is my problem exactly.

waiting for your advice,

THANKS