Post-concussion-like symptoms of anxiety
 

About a month ago I was getting something out of the back of my Subaru Outback with the hatchback up. All of a sudden I felt like I had the feeling of a concussion, with 'out of body' feeling. To my knowledge, nothing hit me in the head, and I didn't have any bumps or sore spots from having hit my head on anything, and I don't recall hitting my head on anything. Immediately after I had to coach a youth soccer game and was out of it, disoriented, etc., just couldn't get my thoughts. Since then I've been fairly anxious. Prior to that I had been having headaches, left temporal, for several years, and after the incident doctor put me on 25 mg of Atenenol for headaches, then doc upped it to 50 mg, and that made me more anxious. I stopped Atenenol about 4 days ago, and have been trying natural supplements.

The anxiousness is affecting my work, and I'm generally feeling out of it in social situations, not able to contribute/concentrate, and I worry over small matters that I didn't worry about before, and my sleep has been real off.

Does anyone have any knowledge of situations where one can have a concussion-like event without hitting your head on anything?, I feel like this anxious feeling is a result of what happened, as I didn't have it prior to that.

marco.fellin

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

What you describe sounds like it could have been a TIA, Transient Ischemic Attack. These mini-strokes are very hard to diagnose because they are over so quickly. They can be caused by plaques in the carotid or vertebral arteries dislodging and partially obstructing blood flow before they break down and float away. Twisting and turning your head and neck could have been the cause. Nobody can say with any semblance of accuracy.

The anxiety can be directly caused by the change in blood flow or just an emotional reaction to the scare. The injured brain can easily get stuck trying to figure out what went wrong.

Did you doctor suggest low dose aspirin to help with blood flow ?

What supplements are you taking ?

Hi marco.fellin,

Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

Just a thought regarding the Atenenol... did you taper that down or did you stop taking that abruptly? Atenenol is a Beta Blocker and should never be stopped abruptly.

To Mark in Idaho and Lara
 

Mark and Lara, thank you very much for the replies. Today was the 1st day since I had this issue on October 26th that I felt fairly normal, without anxiety, and able to somewhat relax, not worry, and have decent conversations, thank God and what a relief. I've been off Atenenol since Sunday. I'd been on 25mg for about 2 weeks (since mid November), and it helped my headaches, then stopped working, so doc upped to 50mg, and I quit on Sunday due to increased anxiety. Lara, I did not taper, and realize with meds that taper is important, but didn't want to have it in my system any more.

Mark, my doc has recommended one aspirin tab a day, which I've been taking for quite some time. I take alot of supplements for an eye condition; lutein, zeaxanthin, anaxanthin, DHA fish oil, multivitamin. Since Tuesday of last week when my headaches got fairly severe, I'm taking a liquid herbal formula geared for headaches, and it seems to have helped me. I also drink a fair amount of herbal teas.

Thanks Mark for the suggestion on what the 'incident' might have been, I'll research it. I do have a bit higher cholesterol, about 210 with HDL of 60, (my folks both have high cholesterol, 230+, but very healthy otherwise with high HDL). My Dad is about 140 lbs, 5'6', and very healthy, but did have plaque dislodge a few year ago and caused a mild heart attack, I think this might be what you're suggesting might have possibly caused my brief condition?

I actually did start to feel better yesterday, although still with anxiety and more anxiety in the evening, but one other thing I started again yesterday was the sinus/nasal rinse. I've had sinus issues for most of my life, multiple nose/throat surgeries, and have been diagnosed with mild to moderate sinusitis and rhinenitis. After I rinsed yesterday morning and afternoon, it actually really cleared up my head and I felt a bunch better, and my thoughts seemed to be more clear. I rinsed three total times yesterday, and today again. I've read in the past that sinus problems can sometimes cause neuro issues as well if not dealt with, ie, fogginess, lethargy, etc.

Thanks again for the input, much appreciated. I've never tried these sites, but think by throwing my symptoms out there, there are alot of folks out there who may have had something similar, or who may be able to provide input.