new member, pcs.
 

Hey guys, I'm been lurking on her for a little over a month so I thought I'd register and see if I can find some advice.

So heres the skinny,

April 18th was drinking with some buddies And we're were rough housing.
I slipped and smashed my head on a ledge. Head was gushing blood. Went to the er and got 4 staples. No huge deal. Only superficial pain, perhaps I didn't notice concussion like symptoms because I had had several beers?

Anyways went home after that buddy bought me a few beers because he felt bad. After that I went home and went to sleep. Woke up the next morning feeling like absolute ****. Dizzy nauseous headache weird head feeling body ache anxious ect. It sucked. And then 10 minutes after I woke up I bashed my head into the corner of my bed frame while reaching for my phone, headache got worse blah blah blah.

Went to a doctor and he said I had a concussion, and sent me to get a ct. Ct was clear. Doc said to rest.
I rested for a couple weeks and got out of taking my finals, and everything got better except for this weird feeling in my head.

Fast forward 6 weeks

I saw a neurologist ( who is also my sister) and she prescribed me gabapentin and told me to wait it out.
The best way I can describe this feeling is like a weird pressure and a spaced out feeling. Like I feel like my head is full of cotton and I have poor time perception. The continuity of this symptom has Also made me super anxious.
Today I saw an upper back massage therapist for some neck and back pain that I thought was unrelated. After taking some
Measurements and taking my pulse at a few different locations he told me my upper cervical area is misaligned and could be causing all my issues.
So I went ahead and made an appt with a nucca

So my question is has anyone had any experience with anything like this??
I'll keep hoping for inprovements for all those on this site who have it way worse than me.

Miller

Welcome miller.5887. :Tip-Hat:

Hi Miller,

I am new to this too but I think there is real validity to the C-Spine influence on PCS.
I plan to have a MRI on mine due to the numbness in my left extremities.

I empathize with your frustration...I am just not the same girl I was before😒

Miller.5887,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sounds like you got some decent diagnostics and advice. Your head ache and such sounds like what I can a mud head ache. It feels like my head is packed full of mud and my thinking is bogged down as if it is stuck in the mud.

Other than the NUCCA, you should lay low for a while and stay away from alcohol. Alcohol is poison to a healing brain.

What was the gabapentin prescribed for ?

Mark,

The mud head is a good way of describing it. I swear it feels im stoned all the time.

Unfortunately I can't really just rest any longer. The laying around doing nothing was making me super anxious and depressed.

I'm dangerously optimistic about nucca, I'm hoping that there just isn't enough cerebralspinal fluid or blood getting to my brain, and that once adjusted the feeling will go away.

The gabapentin was prescribed to attempt to treat the head pressure as well as level out the anxiety and depression.

This feeling is really quite distressing...

Miller

I've never heard of gabapentin being used for those symptoms. I have been taking gabapentin for 14 years.

There is a difference between laying around and living a low stress life. Avoiding noisy and chaotic environments, loud music, stress inducing activities, excess screen time, and a myriad of other things that have a tendency to overload the sensory systems.

It is important to maintain good cerebral blood flow with mild physical exertion. A gentle walk or bike ride can be good.

Finding an activity that does cause stress but occupies your time will be good.

Mark,

Not really sure about the gabapentin. If I didn't know better, I'd think it's the shot gun approach. It was prescribed from my sis, so I wouldn't be shocked if she's suggesting it may be effective for off label issues.

In terms of physical exercise, I've been running a couple of miles a day as it doesn't make my
Symptoms any worse, and helps with the anxiety as I was a pretty physically
active college student.

Additionally I don't really have photo/phonofobia at all and loud crowds don't give me any problems. It's honestly just this one feeling of cotton head.

Do you think this running is a bad idea?

I suggest you get some foam ear plugs for when you run. You will hear the sound of your foot plants. Then, try to modify your gait and foot plant to minimize the impact sounds you hear. There is quite an impact to the C-1 and C-2 area from running.

The NUCCA chiro care will also need to be supported with good head and neck posture, especially while resting and sleeping.

The shot gun or try this and see if it helps approach is quite common. 10 mgs of amitriptyline is a commonly prescribed med for PCS head aches, insomnia, anxiety and depression.

yep. very common that the symptoms not resolving start to cause severe anxiety. I started taking an ssri, and the supplement MagMind which helped A LOT with that. In addition B-12, a high DHA fish oil, good multivitamin and healthy veggie/protein diet. avocados, sardines, blueberries, 2 eggs for breakfast everyday, etc.

Small frequent meals were needed.

Stay away from benzodiazepam drugs (sorry, spelling) if you can. In my experience they made everything worse, altho did help with insomnia in the beginning.

Much of my symptoms resolved after 3-4 months. Most terrifying time of my life, for sure.

Hang in there.

Small frequent meals have been found to not be good for blood sugar control. I used to follow the small meals protocol until I learned better.