new symptom 5 days in. Anybody else?
 

To make a long story short if you have not read my other post. I got a concussion March 5th playing a sport suffered with it for about 5 weeks. After getting released two weeks ago I was playing and got knocked out for 30 sec. Of course I have had the headaches, dizziness, and nausea and a few other common symptoms. But today 5 days out I am having a new symptom. My head feels like its going to blow up, like just full of pressure and my headache is getting worse. Anybody know what this is about?

It is not unusual for it to be several weeks before ALL the symptoms show up.

Sorry, to say its just what comes with PCS.

So you really need to take it slowly.

donna:grouphug:

Have you been seen by a doctor? The pressure can be caused by two things.

The most concerning is the mechanism in your brain that controls blood pressure is not working properly. This is what happens when Second Impact Syndrome comes into play. The over-pressure can cause serious damage.

The second is caused by neck injury with related muscles spams and inflammation of the joints in the neck. This can disrupt blood flow and cause severe head aches, too.

Either one should be looked at by a specialist in concussion and upper neck injuries. Good luck finding a good one. They are hard to find. Most doctors do not have this level of expertise.

Do you have a blood pressure measuring kit? It will help if you check your pulse and blood pressure when you are experiencing these extremes.

Do you consume any caffeine? It can be counter to the head ache issue. You should limit your caffeine to one serving per day, max.

Keep in mind that a concussion is not a one time event. It is a cascade of events started by the impact/injury. That cascade can take 6 weeks or more to stabilize. I have had up to 3 months of increasing symptoms. 3 months is not uncommon but 6 weeks is a more common time frame.

During the cascade, the brain is much more susceptible to dangerous injury. Each consecutive impact causes an injury that can be a level of magnitude (multiplication of the previous injury not adding to the previous injury) more damaging.

Hope this helps you understand the mechanism of concussion.

For me it's been a rough rollercoaster ride. Each day I experience a different set of symptoms, some new, some I've already gone through. Since it's a second head injury you've sustained though, you should visit the doctor again just to play it safe.

I get that with any activity. Sometimes just from talking and/or working.

Prednizone and sleep are the only two things that make me feel better.

I assume this is all normal for 6 weeks in.

I know what you're talking about. I used to get that pressure feeling all the time, and sometimes if I read too much/overstimulate my brain, it feels like my brain is "screaming" (the only way I know how to describe it), which I guess is similar to feeling like your head is going to explode.

I don't get headaches.. haven't had a headache since my initial concussion. I guess this is just my version of a headache. If i lay in the dark for a while with a cold towel on my head, it definitely relieves the feeling and makes my head feel better.