Jolting from laughing hard
 

This week I was planning to write a positive thread to say that I have been almost symptom-free (physically and cognitively) in the last month, 30 months after developing PCS. So, the good news is that there is hope for significant improvement even a long time after the injury.

Unfortunately, I am back instead with another relapse question. Sorry for those of you who are annoyed by these posts... Yesterday I laughed hard and uncontrollably during one minute or two after hearing something very funny. My body was jolting quite a lot, and my brain did not like that. I am having symptoms as after my concussion(s) since then, in particular strong headaches and nausea. In normal times I would try to ignore these and push through. My problem is that I am supposed to travel tomorrow for a family event, with a 6 hour train ride + 2 hour drive in the countryside, on roads that can be bumpy.

I am wondering whether I should cancel my trip and rest. I am facing the standard dilemma and hearing two conflicting voices, one saying that yesterday's jolting might have caused or aggravated an injury and that I should be super careful in the next days, the other saying that having a concussion from laughing is a ridiculous idea and that my symptoms are due to anxiety. What do you do when this kind of things happens to you? I know it is difficult to give advice, but any thought would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi Vania,

Sorry I didn't reply in time for your trip. I hope everything went smoothly.

Laughing hard sometimes triggers a headache for me. If anything I believe that this is due to the sudden change in intracranial pressure caused by laughing, not the movement of the brain. I have no substance to back up this hunch.

I've never gotten a lasting setback from laughing. For me it's only ever been minor annoyance at worst, forgotten by the next day.

If you pay close attention (which generally one probably shouldn't, actually) you'll notice that the movement of the head when laughing is actually pretty smooth compared to things like bumps in a car or jolts from missed footing.

In short, I wouldn't dwell on it.