Since my injury i've always described it as trying to "strain to think" and when I try to picture something or remember something I feel like I dont have enough energy, I tense my whole scalp, and my eyes twitch back and forth. But my "brain" literally hurts. It hurts to think! And i'm not even thinking hard, just basic stuff. I almost feel as if my head is cut off from the rest of my body, with no blood flow, as my eyes are droopy, and i'm so drained. Now i've just gotten A cranio-cervical fusion and mild decompression of the occipital lobe for basilar invagination and cranial instability, so some of it might be due to that. But I literally feel as if my brain is asleep. I have nothing to say to people, i have no automatic thoughts about anything, and i don't react to things like explosions or drama or tense moments. It's like i'm a freaking zombie! I've been tested for thyroid/ you name it. My neuro thinks i might hve a mitochondrial disorder because i have Ehlor's danlos syndrome. I also developed Postrnual Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome after the incident which is another reason why my neurosurgeon did the surgery (brainstem compression can cause atonomic dysfunction). It's s serious and i feel retarded, like i can't even remember yesterday without straining my head. But i do feel it is a structual problem like it could be fixed if pressure was taken off (nerve or blood vessel?) which is more than possible seeing i already had one sructual abnormalty and having ehlors danlos make me more prone to it. I've never heard of someone like me and it realy is a complex case. The thing is i can articulate perfectly even above my age group but i can't think about stuff or imagine stuff without hurting my damn head.

You have multiple things going on that could or could not be related.

What do you mean by "even above my age group"?

Is the basilar invagination caused by injury, illness or was it present at birth?

Did you sustain a head injury?

Are you being treated for a head injury?

Are you being treated for any inflammation?

You possibly need genetic testing or your neuro should be consulting with a geneticist.

Last but not least, with respect, your use of the word "retarded" was used/termed in an
uncompassionate and apathetic way...With consideration for all with a disabilty, please be respectful of the term. If you want to get a little understanding and empathy, you've got to learn to give a little of it yourself...Just sayin'

It perpetuates the sterotype and false stigma of having a brain injury or disorder.

Hi i'm 19 and this has been going on for 6 years. I didn't complain of anything until i was like 13 or 14 so i dont know if the invagination was caused from. I'm pretty sure i sustained an injury as i had intense headaches, feeling of fluid rushing/draining in my head. Weird clicking noises and my eyes got droopy and i got really weak. I think we got an mri i dont know how soon after but it was 'normal' except for white matter ongoing mylenation.
but the thinking started from that where my state of consciousness 'changed' and i had depersonalization. I always descibed it as not getting enough oxygen o blood flow to my brain because i was so sedated after. but i think there was an injury to my neck and i know i had at least one concussion from lacrosse. Also i did have a head injury when i was 6 where i hit the back of my head against the side of a pool. The interesting thing is that is where i get my headaches. I had profound mental symptoms after this accident too( not when i was 6). Intense OCD for contamination. So we tried all the tests we could with the neuro root but nothing significant like a tumor. So we went the pych root and they diagnosed me with everything in the book. Thy put me on every medicine available and eventually as they were baffled gave me 23 ECT treatments. My memory was still poor before then though.

No one is going to figure it out though and i cant. After dealing with as many incompetent doctors as i have, Even from Johns Hopkins (i live in maryland) you would have realized that. So i'm just waiting for some Self taught guru to help me.