Questions about my TBI injury
 

I fell and hit the right side of my head on a wall. I felt fine, just a bit dizzy that day but otherwise fine went to work with no problems, 4 days later I slipped and fell on ice and hit my head on concrete. I initially felt a little funny but was able to drive myself home (a 20 min drive).

Once home I relaxed for a bit and went to bed a few hours later. I woke up the next morning feeling as if the room was shifting, my right side would not stop shaking I felt week, and I could not walk a straight line or even walk without help. I went to the hospital and was admitted for observation. During the night my blood pressure dropped to 60 over 32. Later it did go back up but would randomly drop. I was sent to see a neurologist who told me I have PCS and she has me in physical therapy. On my own I went to my chiropractor and have had some good luck with some chiropractic care of my C-4 & C-5.

However I still feel very nauseated, I can not sleep at night, I wake up multiple times per night feeling dazed and confused and my mind racing. I wake up in the morning feeling tired and weak but wanting to do things, yet 10 min into doing something I feel even more dazed and confused and need to sit.

I am still having involuntary arm twitches/shaking on my right side. Prior to this happening all smells make me even more nauseated and I feel like I am in a tunnel or the room will start to shift kind of like double vision, my ears will ring and I get a really bad headache (more intense than what I have on a daily basis) and it feels like I have needles poking me in the head.
Sometimes I feel very restless and need to get up and walk around for a bit and then I will sit down and start running my hands over my legs or up and down my arms. This usually lasts for a few minutes. Does anyone know what this could be? My 2nd fall happened on Feb 14th of this year.

I am still off work and can’t really concentrate on things. My attention span is gone and I can’t multi task. This is a problem for me since I need this for my job. Does anyone have any ideas or anything that might help?

sorry you are going through this
 

welcome mel

sorry you are going through this , its still early days for you rest rest and more rest omega 3 supplement also marks vitamin plan may help, go see your doc and get some help with the sleep issue, remember there is no set outcome +/-
only time will tell and stressing your self out, will not help the situation, most will have some improvement @ 3 month mark

keep us posted you are not alone with this :hug:

Similar symptoms
 

I am new to this site as well. I am on my 6th month of PCS and have experienced the exact same sensation of feeling restless and running my hands over my arms and legs. It feels like all the nerves in my body are tensed up. At the same time it also feels like a shaky weakness (even though I don't seem to be physically weak.) Otherwise my most persistant issue has been nausea. I've just gotten wrist bands that are available at any drugstore that somehow help the nausea. I don't know how it works but it's the same principle as acupunture pressure points.

mel,

It sounds like you have a mix of PCS and other skeletal problems from your falls.

The PCS symptoms need to be separated from the other problems. The only way to do this is treat the other injuries. They should heal much quicker.

It is good to see that you have had some help with a chiropractor. You could add to that by finding a chiropractor who is a specialist in upper cervical chiropractic. NUCCA.org may be good for a referral. I am a bit concerned about the head and neck popping of a normal chiropractor. It may be too intense for your situation. Been there, done that.

Does you PT know how to treat Thoracic Outlet Syndrome? The right arm/hand tingling could be a symptom of TOS. The nausea can also be TOS caused. My PT has great skills at myofacial release and works on the effected shoulder and vertebra area. I was also treated by a chiropractor who did extensive tissue work before any adjustments. The PT and chiro had greatly overlapping therapies.

Your sleep issues sound like you may not be breathing properly when you do get to sleep. The frequent reawakening can be caused by apnea. Is there anybody who can observe you sleeping? It would help if they checked in on you and watched your breathing.

Ever since my injury in 2001, I have to be very careful about sleeping position. If my neck bends to much while I sleep, I stop breathing. This causes the restless sleep, etc.

I hope this helps.

You might try ginger for the nausea. Ginger snap cookies work good. The wrist straps are directed at motion sickness.

Symptoms other than PCS
 

I completely agree that you could have some problems with your neck and not just post-concussion syndrome - particularly, the bit about your blood pressure going really low. I have never had that, but it sounds almost as though something in the neck could be blocking the blood flow. I would ask someone about that, if it hasn't gone away completely.

I also have injuries in my neck and back that occurred at the same time as an injury to my brain.

One trouble that I have found is that once a doctor has determined that you have postconcussion syndrome he or she will put you into the "no treatment" category. They will then ignore all your other symptoms, like prolapsed discs, strained tendons, skeleton out of alignment etc.

I feel that the concussion part needs to be separated out and treated separately. There is no reason that conventional doctors can't treat what they are able to, even if the haven't a clue what to do with postconcussion syndrome.

Also, the spinal chord is connected to the brain and if you have some damage to the cord, it might contribute to what is going on in your brain.

If you find someone who seems to be able to treat part of your condition, I would go ahead and get them to fix that. At least you would feel good about having made some progress, even if it doesn't necessarily fix all your problems. Physiotherapists have sometimes given up on me just because they don't seem to be able to fix my headaches. I say, "Fix whatever you can fix. If you can only fix my neck but not my brain. You've already done great."

CS

Tbi
 

Hi,

I have found the wrist bans to help alot, and they are inexpensive and simple.

After my concussion, I had a shadow over my right side of my vision. One of my Dr's is also a chiropractor and he showed me the nerve that was being pinched and that corrected my vision instantly.

Any time that comes back I know that an adjustment from my chiro is not far off.
I agree with Mark, going to someone who is knowledgable in this type of issue is important.