Where to start
 

Hi all,

Hope you don't mind me posting on here, looking for some advice. Long story will try to keep it short. Basically I fell down a very steep flight of stairs when on holiday. On the way down I kept my head off the stairs but the back of my neck (with the pointy bit between the shoulder blades (technical description :D ) is) slammed about 20 steps on the way down until my foot and arm stopped my progress. I was sore for a few days with a broken toe and bruised arm, but I didn't think much about it. I remember feeling quite tired that afternoon but thats about it.

The next few days went by no problems, then about a week later, all of a sudden I couldn't move and felt like I'd been hit by a virus, really bad headache, stupid dizzy and worst of all, loud tinnitus like after a rock concert - a constant sizzling noise/white noise/high pitched.

I went to see the doctors and they thought I might have MS as it runs in my family. However I went and had an MRI, by now about a month had passed, and I was clear for MS and no signs of any problems with my brain, upper neck. I was referred to physio for suspected soft tissue damage.

OK so that was a year ago, and I'm still dizzy, but not like vertigo is supposed to be, more like a visual disturbance, difficult to keep my eyes open, difficult to focus my eyes, and I don't like bright lights. Am I a vampire? :confused: I guess my vision slightly shimmers would be a way to put it.

My neck is still stiff and sore and I get Shiatsu once every 10 days which does seem to help. I did physio for three months and it did pretty much nothing.

I'm about to be referred to an ENT as I have a sinus like pressure between my eyes and a headache just above the pituitary gland area. I think my GP thinks I'm mad.

The biggest problem for me is that I feel like I have to try about three times as hard to focus and concentrate every day, this brain fog I guess. But as the doctor said the MRI was clear I have no idea what's going on.

Any suggestions greatfully received.

kw,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. You are making a common assumption. Just because your head did not strike the stairs as you went down does not mean your brain did not suffer trauma. The shaking alone can cause a concussion. The trauma to your neck can resonate to your brain. The neck trauma can cause inflammation that can interrupt blood flow your your brain.

I highly suspect you have suffered some level of brain trauma.

The week delayed onset of neurological symptoms is common to concussions. It is a result of the brain finally giving up the fight to save injured brain cells and connections.

A clear MRI means nothing regarding a concussion. Concussions are not imageable except with very high power imaging systems.

Read the sticky at the top of the forum about Vitamins and Supplements. It has some good links at the bottom.

Keep us posted.

My best to you

Mark, many thanks for your response and sorry for the lateness of reply. What you have written makes more sense to me than anything any of the doctors have said to me (which is incidentally nothing, except "am I depressed" or that I have no issues showing on the MRI). My GP isn't the slightest bit interested so it makes it impossible to do anything except self diagnose!

I will try the vitamin regime, I was already trying a few vitamins anyway but your post helps with what to try.

Couple of things I experience and I don't know if others do too, is that sleep doesn't make me feel refreshed anymore, I still wake up half asleep and tired, and also stimulants like a coffee for example don't have any effect on me anymore. They don't "pep" me up like they used to. It's like I'm on the constant down level equilibrium and nothing stimulates my brain like it used to. Very odd. It's also very tiring trying to concentrate on anything like looking at a document on a computer for example.

Many thanks again and will post back if I notice any changes.

If you are not getting good sleep, you may be having episodes of apnea (failure to breath properly). Upper neck injuries can disrupt the brain's signalling to breath. This delayed signalling can put you in a cycle of sleep apnea that starves your brain leaving you tired and groggy. It is hard to get a sleep study done for this Central Sleep Apnea. If you snore, you may have Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

I have to be very careful with sleep posture so as to not aggravate my upper neck causing Central Sleep Apnea. If I have a bad night of breathing, I experience stressful dreams.

Hope this helps.

My best to you.

It's been over a year, I think you might want to consider getting some vision therapy.

If your brain has been having trouble interpreting the information from your eyes it can cause dizziness and the other vision related symptoms you refer to.

But so can a hormonal imbalance. A specialist diagnosed me with pituitary malfunction due to a concussion I sustained in an MVA and I've been taking supplemental hormones and my vision has improved a great deal, the horrible dizziness I had that made me "hug the walls" also dissipated and the brain fog has diminished significantly. The treatment has truly been a miracle for me!

But some neck injuries can also cause many of these symptoms too.

Unfortunately trauma like this can potentially damage many different little areas that can all cause similar symptoms.

I'm glad you're still perusing answers and not allowing your GP to bully you into thinking you're nutty. Maybe you should look for a GP who has some experience with concussions?

Please do keep investigating it to figure out what can help you to improve. There are answers out there and there are physicians, specialist and experts who can help.

Because of all the veterans and athletic stars who sustained mTBI's there is a lot of research being conducted and new information is coming out frequently.