Hey, I read your post. I was involved in an accident. I was body surfing at the beach and a big wave slammed me head first into the sand. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a BIG wave and caused 8 bad discs. Over time my discs got worse and I began to get migraine headaches. I've never had them before and the only cause (for me) could be the bad discs in my neck. Migraine meds sometimes help my symptoms. If you are experiencing sensitivity to light and sound, vomiting and the headaches then it may be migraines and they may have been brought on by the trauma. Ask your doc for migraine meds and also buy some excedrin migraine, which can sometimes help if taken early on when you first notice symptoms. Also it helps to try and sleep off the symptoms and it sometimes helps to get a hot shower during an attack.

I will definitely ask about what medications might be helpful with my symptoms. I'm just hoping they don't have any extra side-effects!

In general, what is the difference between PCS and post-traumatic migraine? Is there a distinct characteristic that gives one away from the other?

I don't know the difference between the two. I just know that I almost had to self diagnose my migraines before my docs could figure it out. Once I came up with migraines there was an "ah hah" moment and we started prophylactics for it and migraine meds, which all seem to help to some degree. I get severe migraines, so the meds only work on the not-so-bad days, and only when I catch them early. I have no info as to the other conditions at all, I was just speaking as to the fact that migraines can and do indeed occur as a result of head/neck trauma because in my case it happened to me.

kayseeah,

The condition of your car has nothing to do with your concussion. Unless you are experiencing severe head aches and serious cognitive difficulties, an MRI is a waste of money. They do not have the resolution to show the minute damage done in a concussion. If you had a brain bleed, your symptoms would be very severe.

If all of a sudden, you have an extreme head ache or serious confusion, go to the ER.

If you are serious about getting an image done, a CT scan would be appropriate. It is quick, a lot cheaper, and will show if there is a bleed. If an MRI is your demand, you will probably do best with an MRI/MRA. This shows the vasculature in your head. A plain MRI will not show blood vessels very well.

With PCS, you treat the individual symptoms, not the Syndrome.

The kind of exercise you probably want to do to be in shape for your wedding is probably out of the question. Slow weight training will probably help you maintain muscle tone. Unfortunately, women seem to think that loose muscle is flab or fat. No, it is just relaxed muscle.

Slow weight training is a form of weight training where you use a weight that is a bit heavier that a rep weight. You lift/move the weight/resistance slowly through the range of motion. The slow movement puts more intensity on the muscles without creating an aerobic effort. If you can do the slow weight training without causing your pulse and BP to rise, you will likely be OK.

My honest recommendation would be to just focus on fitting your wedding dress. Do the minimums to fit the dress and focus on recovery. It will be better to be able to enjoy your wedding because you do not have a head ache than to look great but feel miserable.

The stress of the last few months before a wedding will be tough enough on your brain. You don't need to add to the stress level. Pushing things may end up causing you to experience the shortness of temper that is common to PCS. Bridezilla with PCS will not be a good memory.

My best to you.

Hi Kayseeah,

You're getting married! How exciting and what a bad time to have the symptoms that you are having to deal with!

Before my sister's wedding she was in a panic about having to lose 28 lbs in order to fit into her wedding dress. She didn't lose that much weight, turned up in a wedding dress that fitting fine and everything went absolutely fine. She was just panicking about being on display and feeling self-conscious about it. Now it's a family joke.

I am presuming that someone has proposed marriage to you the way you are now and that isn't conditional on your being any lighter by the time of the wedding. So, I would say that as long as he is happy (or possibly she - I am not sure what your local laws are) then that is the main thing, so don't panic about losing tons of weight. You will look just fine and your friends and family who love you, love you just the way that you are.

If you decide that you really want to be doing some exercise, I would say:
1. Don't do anything that jerks your head around. (I think that you already know this.)
2. Don't do anything that puts any strain on your neck, like shoulder stands or bending your neck excessively.
3. Don't do anything that makes you feel at all unwell.

There are some people who think that aerobic exercise might actually help the symptoms. I have not found that it makes much difference, but it didn't make the symptoms any worse when I have raised my heart rate. I have tried this using the cross-trainer and cycling (or a cycle machine) and found that this was fine. Note that with these exercises the head is pretty stationary. I found that jogging was not at all good.
So, there you are.
Cross-trainer or cycle, don't jog, don't jerk your head.
Don't worry about the dress; you'll be fine.
Wishing you both every happiness,
CS

Thank you all for your responses! It is so nice that finally I found this site where other people can relate to what I'm going through. Your advice is very much appreciated.

I visited a walk-in doctor this weekend due to severe headaches and nausea. He is a very good doc that I have been going to for a while, but obviously cannot order any testing, etc. I was happy to hear that he also agreed it is a mix of PCS and migraines that are being caused by my neck situation. Well, not "happy", but you know what I mean. Just nice that he took it seriously.

He gave me a sample of a migraine medication, Relpax, to try. Has anybody taken it? Had any side-effects?

As for the exercise, I don't have a lot of weight to lose before the wedding. I'm 5'6", 135 lbs, just wanted to tone up a bit and feel "fitter", if that makes sense. I have an elliptical and a stationary bike at home, so I will try both of those and stop if I develop any severe symptoms/worsening of symptoms.

Thank you for the information about the MRI/CT scan. Maybe I should just ask for the CT scan, then, since it will be a lot quicker. I live in Canada (Ontario) so both would be covered by our provincial plan, but it can take a few months to get an MRI done, or to be referred to a neurologist.

Again, thank you all for your responses!

Hi again everyone.

Just an update on my situation, as well as a new question if anybody could help. It’s been about five months since my accident now, and most of my symptoms have started to go away, minus really bad migraines here and there. I’ve even been able to start up running at a slow pace and not have many symptoms. Here’s my question: I am scheduled for a CAT scan tonight (it took this long!) and, on Saturday, I accidentally bumped my head against a glass door (sideways). I have been having migraines before the new hit, and I was totally fine the day after, but yesterday (Monday) around lunch-time, I started getting severe headaches, neck pain and nausea/dizziness. I’m wondering if there’s a chance that the second hit somehow made my PCS symptoms all come back again, is that possible? (Otherwise I am assuming its a migraine) I know that it could just be a regular migraine but again I am not sure, and I guess now it’s a good thing the CAT scan took so long because it will be able to show any “damage” from the second hit as well. How long do CAT scan results usually take, just in case the second hit was something serious?

Thanks!