[pcshealer]

Hi,

I just found out about this group through a google search on post concussion syndrome and am looking for hope that my symptoms will resolve soon. It has been almost a year since I fell and hit my head and although I'm seeing some improvement, I'm wondering if my symptoms will ever completely resolve. What would really help me a lot is to hear some success stories from people who have recovered after having prolonged symptoms for several months or longer. Does anyone out there have any stories they can share?

My early symptoms of extreme fatigue, brain fog, tingling in my hands and feet, and a burning sensation on my skin (arms and feet) have gone away. However, I still suffer from a lack of energy and strength, feelings of irritability, eyes sensitive to light, and numbness in my hands each morning. I also have recurring dull headaches that correspond with the times when I'm having the worst symptoms. Also, I am not able to exercise on a regular basis like I did before the fall and usually have symptoms if I try to do too much.

I've also noticed that my symptoms seem to be induced when I sleep longer than normal. For example, on the weekends I sleep later and usually have headaches and a low energy level. Has anyone else noticed a variation in symptoms based on sleep patterns?

Because of these many symptoms, I have not been myself over the past year and have lost a lot of my joy in life. The longer this continues, the more I worry if they'll ever go away. If I can find other people who have recovered after a year, that will really help me stay positive. Anyone out there like that?

I appreciate any encouragement that you may be able to send my way!

Thanks for listening!

Don

[Mark in Idaho]

Don,

Have you been seen by any doctors? It sounds like you may have an unresolved neck injury. Neck injuries are common in concussion patients.

A chiropractor or physical therapist may be able to help you.

[ewizabeth]

Hi Don, welcome to NeuroTalk! I don't have any advice but I'm glad you found us and I hope your symptoms will improve soon.

[Hockey]

Hi Don and welcome to NT!

Knowing when, or if, one's PCS will resolve is the $64,000 question - and I wish I had an answer for you. The extent of recovery can be influenced by many factors including age, number of injuries, whether or not you lost conciousness, etc...

During the healing process, it's important not to do anything that might hinder your progress. Rest and good diet are essential. It's also important to stay away from alcohol. I have no doubt that members more knowledgeable than I will chime in with good advice on supplements and treatment options.

Understanding PCS is an important step in recovering from it. Some excellent sources for further reading include: the Brain Injury Association of America www.biausa.org; www.tbiguide.com and our own TBI forum here on NT http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html If reading gives you headaches, there are a number of excellent TBI videos on You Tube. (Who knew it wasn’t just idiots surfing on cars?)

People have made incredible recoveries from brain injury. For example, a woman who got a serious TBI from a fall in her teens is now a neurologist in Canada. Never give up!

Cheers

[pcshealer]

Hi Mark,

Yes, I've been seen by three neurologists and several other doctors and they can't find any problems. I thought it could be a neck injury as well, but the MRI showed everything is structurally fine. After I fell, I had a lot of neck pain for about 3 weeks.

I haven't been to a chiro since the fall because I was afraid it might make it worse. I had a neck injury from an auto accident several years ago, and had chiro treatments at that time. But, all I had back then was occasional soreness.

I was hoping to hear some PCS recovery stories, but I guess nobody out there has any to share. I saw a former NFL football player (Merril Hoge) on ESPN last week who said it took him more than two years to recover from PCS.

Thanks.

Don

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

Don,

Have you been seen by any doctors? It sounds like you may have an unresolved neck injury. Neck injuries are common in concussion patients.

A chiropractor or physical therapist may be able to help you.

[Hockey]

Here's a link to a great brain injury (stroke) recovery story:
To read more, click on the link provided below; http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/natio ... ice=mobile

[pcshealer]

Hi Hockey,

I tried the link, but I think part of it was chopped off, so I couldn't connect to the article.

Don

[Dmom3005]

Hi Don
I' m Donna, and I wont ever be totally recovered. But it isn't because of
having just one PCS were not sure how many I've had.

I also have a balance and vertigo issue that makes my problems show at
times.

But my experiences with the PCS that were really severe are much better
now. One of the things that really helped me was physical therapy.

Donna

Hi,

Your story sounds all too familiar. Like you, I went to many different neurologists after my head injuries and they all couldn't understand what was wrong with me. And on top of that, they had no idea how to help me rehab my brain injury aside from pumping me full of useless medication.

It actually wasn't until I discovered neurofeedback that I started to get better. Nothing currently out there has shown as much effectiveness at resolving symptoms from a head injury as neurofeedback. It is usually done in a therapists or medical doctors office. Just google search "neurofeedback" and "your city/town" and you should be able to find a few in your area. Make sure they have experience treating head injuries. If there is someone in your area who does LENS neurofeedback or Z score training (or both) I would highly recommend going to them. Good luck.

[Everwilde]

Sorry to hear of your struggles, and can relate with a lot of your symptoms. I had a head injury almost 2.5 years ago and am still recovering. Like you, I have symptoms like bouts of dizziness, head pressure, sound sensitivity, altered vision, hot flashes at night, headaches (migraines early on) and extreme fatigue. I have noticed patterns over this time that helped me to develop some theories that I am testing out.
After 2 years I came to I wonder if my injury was maybe 80% neck and only 20% brain injury. I do not have problems with memory or executive decision making or things like that. I am no doctor, but have read a lot and wonder if this is my case:
The uppermost vertebrae in the neck are donut-shaped, and the brain stem actually goes down inside them. If these bones are even a little out of place, it pinches the brain stem. My cat scans showed up normal too, but usually they are not looking for this sort of thing at the hospital. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but the functions of the brain stem have to do with things like balance, sleep, seeing, hearing, migraines, etc. So, if the brain stem has pressure on it, it has a harder time with all these things, resulting in fatigue.
I went to a very good upper cervical chiropractor (who you go to makes all the difference - in my case it had to be an upper cervical specialist). He took x-rays that showed a misalignment of my atlas and C-2, the topmost vertebrae. He laid me on the adjusting table, and as he adjusted it, I could literally feel liquid draining down from my head, relieving the head pressure! That was wonderful, and a few days I felt a LOT better, with less symptoms.
The problem then was that anytime I got a little jolt of some kind, the bones would go out of place again. I mean like throwing a rock, or clapping my hands too hard. The vertebrae are held in place by tendons and muscles. These get loosened in the initial impact, and can take a long time to tighten again. So, the vertabrae would go out again, and all of my symptoms would come back. Then I would get another adjustment and feel good again. This cycle went on for months, gradually my atlas started to stay in place. Then the C2 started staying put. Pretty soon I was just dealing with muscular knots and tightness. I think that a good physical therapist would have been good for me, but my chiropractor kind of played that role, I guess.
After seeing this pattern of "neck in - feel great", "neck out - feel terrible", I decided to find exercises that would strengthen my upper neck to keep it in place. Swimming was the best for me (I have a post about this), so I pursued that for a month this summer, and had great results. By the end of this past summer, I was almost normal. No more plugging ear, no more migraines, a lot less head pressure, better sleeping, a lot less dizzyness, and the best was that I could take a few little jolts and not be bothered too much.
Then fall came, and it got too cold to swim. I went downhill again, and was susceptible to any little irritation of the neck. So, I went to the local YMCA and began swimming again, and started to feel really good again. In the last month, I have had multiple days in a row of feeling perfectly normal. Not just feeling OK, but feeling really good - lots of energy and I could somehow see beauty and joy in things again.
Today is a different story, as I bumped my head really hard the other day, and actually got a lump which broke the skin from the impact. So, I am back to chills, nausea, and dizzyness, and major fatigue. I saw the chiropractor today, and sure enough, I had whacked C2 out a little. The interesting thing was that when my head got hit so hard the other day, I had no ill effects till about 24 hours later, when my neck started to get cranky from it.
So, my theory is that if I get my neck strong enough, that I should be able to return to a normal active life of work and raising my family. I have not proven this yet, but have had some hopeful initial results. I hope to let you know in a few months how it is going. It is inconvenient for me to spend time in exercise, but I am willing to do it if it means that I can lead an otherwise normal life. I also recommend daily magnesium and B complex - they help me a lot. Avoid MSG.
Sorry to ramble on here, but hopefully it will be useful information for you. There seems to be no shortcut to healing, it is a long road with lots of ups and downs. I was constantly dizzy for a year and a half, and suddenly it cleared up. I think of it as a tide coming in which gradually rises, but goes in and out a lot. Progress in not measured in days and weeks, but months and years with PCS. I do not know that this is a success story, but might spark some hope for you.