Cerebrospinal fluid leak
 

hi there i have had multiple non severe concussions over teh past few years, im only 22 yrs old at the moment. The last major one that i can remember was back in june, although it wasnt a huge impact, it was enough to give me a new concussion as i have had many previous concussions. so anyway, since then, i have never really fully recovered. I had days where i felt completely normal, but mostly dealing with headaches or lack of concentration.

I more recently hit my head again, about 1 month ago, it was too hard, it made the symptoms more severe for a coupel days, but after that, it went back to the on and off symptoms im used to...

Now obviously... i am very careful with my head, ive learned it the hard way... since that incident a month ago, i havent hit my head once..

now heres the worrying part... last week, i began feeling more sevre symptoms... more severe headaches, sometimes dizzy, etc... i was just gonna deal with it, ive experienced symptoms coming back from no where tiem to time, so i just learnt to deal with it.. so it was this morning... i started having the top of my head started aching more than usual, and my mind seemed to have cleared up a bit, but i was more dizzy... and i suspect a Cerebrospinal fluid leak started today too... i have never had that worry before, as brain swelling and Cerebrospinal fluid leak seems to only occur in extreme cases. but since this morning, i have had this warm, satly liquid coming from the top-right of the back of my throat.... it was really bothering me, and the more severe dizziness, salty liquid have lasted the whole day, its approx 11pm right now.

I would have never thought i had a Cerebrospinal fluid leak until i did a search half an hour ago... people say that it tates salty, just plain salty, almost liek tears, but not as intense of a taste.

I was hoping some of you with experience can give some input into my situation. Is it possible to have your brain swell and have a Cerebrospinal fluid leak, a month well after the last head trauma? i mean, i dont even play sports now, no real physical activity that may have traumatized my brain, i sleep with pillows around my head.
And if this is possible, and i do have a leak, What are the steps i should take to treat this? will this damage my brain??

i really cant afford any more head trama or brain damage... im a 4th year engineering student.. its really tough when i had so much potential to do well in school, now everything is just going downhill...

If I remember correctly, vini has the most experience with CSF. Tears can also flow into your throat. If your tear duct is clogged, you can get it flowing backward.

Either way, it sounds like you need to find a doctor with experience in mild Traumatic Brain Injuries, not just any neurologist.

Second Impact Syndrome can be very dangerous. The weak brain tissue from the previous impact can be very seriously injured with just a minor impact. A CT scan might be recommended.

I would not waste too much time. Better safe than sorry. I have suffered multiple impacts and know first hand how damaging they can be.

transclival CSF fistula.
 

hi
I know this situation oh too well, my nuro has just confirmed that I may have a transclival CSF fistula. after in depth MRI. but I had a visable nasal leak after skull and facal fractures, long story :confused: an occult leak as it is termed can be real tricky to diagnose but with a history of head trauma you should get it checked out, there is a risk of infection, on top of the head aches tinitus balance ect issues . there are some active forums on the net but it is against NT rules to direct you to them

good luck

Sorry to hear of your recent injuries. Once you get your CSF leak figure out, I suggest you get busy rehabbing your brain. I was in a very similar situation to you while I was in college - I was a biochemistry major who was getting weekly minor concussions from Rugby. The unfortunate part for me is that I didn't do any rehab until 6 years after my last injury, and I had to suffer the symptoms of PCS that entire time. Fortunately for you, you don't have to endure the same process that I did. You can rehab your brain and get your life back on track. Your also lucky that you have such a high functioning brain because the research has suggested that he higher functioning the person was before the injuries, the better outcome he will have after rehab. I have done all of these therapies and I found all of them to work, not to mention a lot of research has been done on these that has shown them to be very effective in rehabbing PCS.

The first thing to do is to get lab tests done to check for any deficiences you may have in vitamins/minerals and to also check for any hormone imbalances. The second thing to do is to find a neurofeedback therapist to begin neurofeedback. Since you are an engineering student, I'll leave it up to you to research what this is and what it can do for you. The third thing to do is to look into other therapies that have been shown to help. These include: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Transcranial magnetic stimulation, nutrition therapy and homeopathic therapy.

I wouldn't suggest getting a neuropsychological test done because it has been shown inefective in diagnosing PCS for people with high IQ's. This was my problem when I first began rehab because I would blow those tests out of the water. However, you neuro will probably prescribe one but just be aware that your results will probably be above normal unless your damage has been pretty severe.

The good news for you, and anyone else who is under the age of 25, is that your brain is still growing at a pretty active rate. In fact, your pre-fronatl cortex, which is responsible for executive functioning, is the main area usually affected by concussions and is also the main area that continues to grow to age 25. So, you should take advantage of this while you can and get your brain "back into shape."

Sorry for the unsolicited advice and I hope it has been helpful to you. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to pm me or ask on here.

GOOD LUCK!

hey thanks for the reply... do you think theres a high chance that what may be coming out is in fact cerebrospinal fluid?? if so, what might cause thiss?? i have not and blunt trauma for a while.

and there any dangers to prolonged leak? today is day 2... seems liek the same amount of leak, same taste... ii feel a littel dizzy, but the headache is still very mild, mainly on top of my head... from what i feel and how often it occurs, it feels like i lose at least a coupel hundred mL a day :(

Hi calson

our CSF leak forum is not a very active one but perhaps there may be useful info for you in past posts there
here is the link
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum78.html

not for me to say
 

hi it is not for me to say only tests will determin whether csf is leaking a betta 2 transfering or tau test of the fluid but collection is a problem with an occult leak close cut mri or florocine dye mri
please donot worry and see a doctor, I have leaked for 2 yrs infection is the main concern

ive been slighty sick for the past 2 days. could this be a sign of infection? did you have any infectinos during the two years? what were teh symptoms?

hi
 

carlson the chances that you have a leak without truma are slim it will be pointless to speculate you will best be served by talking to your doctor

best wishes vini

so i went to the doctor today. Well, she didnt even know spontaneous CSF leaks were possible... and then she googled it. She look at symptoms off wikipedia and saw taht symptoms were severe. such as nasea, severe headaches, other disabling symptoms.... and i didnt show any of those ( except for slight dizziness)... so she was pretty sure it wasnt a csf leak. She also ruled out csf leak from brain trauma, because the concussions ive had were nothing severe, never been admitted to the hospital because of a concussion.

She is keeping in mind the possibilty of csf leak, but today she just sent me home with a nasal spray for nasal inflamation and see if that works out. if not i will visit her again next week and we will look into csf further..... but... honestly, i know more than her about csf, i really dunno what else she can do for me if this isnt nasal inflamation.

So, i dont know... i really hope this isnt csf leak. But if it is, i will be living with it until it miraculously heals....

my fever is pretty persistent since last week... had about 5 days worth of tylenol flu, but the low fever hovering around 37 degrees celcius is still there, no other symptoms aside form higher temp. and yesterday, i started having a wet feeling in my ear. It was on and off, but since yesterday night, its been bothering me non stop. Ive been irrating my ear with tissue paper, seeing if theres acutally anything, but my ear is just a bit more moist than my other ear, dont notice any real liquid comnig out... could this be ear leak as well? or am i just overthinking all this??

anyway, the taste is still present... headaches seemed to have lessened, probably due to my higher caffeine consumption...

what can i do for myself if this really is a csf leak that will not be treated?

thankss
any advice si greatly appreciated