10 Months Post-Concussion Setback
 

Last summer I suffered a mild concussion. The recovery process and coping with PCS has been long and confusing. The lingering symptoms I have are tinnitus and sound sensitivity in my left ear, depression and anxiety, irritability, and headaches. After 18 weeks, I was beginning to feel fine and passed the IMPACT test and my neuropsychologist cleared me for all activities. By 22 weeks, nearly all of my symptoms faded and I went abroad to study and was fine for two months until I went to an electronic music concert. I was bumped on the head at the concert by a person trying to get through the crowd past me, barely noticeable though. A friend also gave me an Adderall XR that disturbed my sleep for the next 3 days. A week later, the sound sensitivity returned in my left ear, and another week later the tinnitus and headaches returned and were much more severe than they were even following my injury and have persisted the last 2 months.

My neuropsychologist and my physiatrist both believe that my returning symptoms are caused by lack of sleep, too much stimulus, and depression. I was evaluated for a possible neck injury (no scans were done though) because I was experiencing headaches on days where I was sleeping with my head too elevated, but my physiatrist does not believe there to be anything wrong. The only contradiction is that my IMPACT scores were 3 times better than what they were in December. The questions that I raise to this forum are: is it worth investigating a possible neck and soft tissue injury further and can anyone comment on the issues of depression and stimulus (loud noise and bright lights, and stress) causing the relapse of symptoms without a second concussion? Finally, does anyone have experience with anti-depressants and PCS, because these were recommended in low doses to me this week by my doctors to assist with the depression issues. Thanks everyone!

Gettingitback,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Your experience is very common. Your experience with the ImPACT tests are also not uncommon. They are very superficial.

I suggest that your relapse is do to all the issues your docs say except the depression. You blew your mind out at the concert then put it on overdrive with the Adderall XR. Relapses can have a delay after the triggering event.

I agree that your upper neck may be an issue. Most physiatrists and other pros will not diagnose the very fine upper neck instability. Even an MRI will miss it unless you have the MRI with your head turned sharply to the right and left to show the instability.

It is not uncommon for amitriptyline or nortriptyline to be prescribed in small 10 to 20 mgs doses. If they are prescribing for depression, I would hold off. Check out the Vitamins sticky at the top and get your brain on good supplements.

Try icing your upper neck to help with your symptoms.

Disregard the ImPACT scores. They have no meaning on brain health. They are oriented on Return to Play issues and only address those lightly.

I have tried 10 mg amitriptilene and it did not help me but I heard that it has helped others. With regards to your neck, I have a chiropractor who believe that alot of the concussion symptoms stem from the neck and he has had a great deal of success with concussions and chiropracting manipulations. He does alot of hockey players and uses some new technicque he studied at the Kerrick Institute in Floriday. I have been going for the last 10 months and physically I feel better but I believe the majority of my concussion issues are due to my vision issues.

Keep looking and questioning because your best doctor is yourself.

Good Luck

I will try the ice. My symptoms are fading, but are still noticeable. The ImPACT scores are better for judging cognitive speed and memory, which I am not having problems with anymore, I got straight A's this semester even with the symptoms returning in the last 6 weeks. Probably just need to avoid stimulants, light shows, and discos for the next few years.

Concussion Setback
 

I ended up with a concussion as a result of bumping my head on an overhead bunk while vacationing in mexico back on April 18th 2015. To say the least this process has been extremely overwhelming mentally, emotionally, and physically. I've been taking Vestibular therapy 5 weeks ago which has really benefited me a great deal. I noticed that my sleep pattern began to get better as well as my cognition. I was able to drive for the first time in 2 months on Wednesday June 24th. On Thursday June 25th I was driving my kids to camp and a sharp painful sensation hit my face and head. The next thing I know this horrible head pressure that I had at the onset returned back with a vengeance and now my I'm back to having issues with my balance/cognition skills. It's now Sunday June 28th, my medical leave runs out in two weeks, and I simply don't know what to think or do because now I'm dealing with a setback. Over the last two weeks I had been progressing so good and I thought that I was almost at the end of dealing with this overwhelming burden. I'm at my wits end , I'm losing hope, and I'm ready to give up. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME

Phillip,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear you are struggling.

You don't provide enough information to understand what is happening.

Are you having head aches ?
What kind of cognitive struggles are you having ?
How long did you have vestibular therapy ?
What have doctors said about your condition ?
Have you been examined since your episode on Thursday ?

What is the reason you were not driving ?