What could you say? We seem to have established that for some reason this symptom doesn't seem to have any info about it anywhere!

The best I can do for you is an anecdotal case study of one (that being me :D ). For many months I was so sensitive to any head movement, vibration or jolting that I had to wear specially cushioned sneakers to walk anywhere or even each step from walking was too much of a jolt.

I have improved a lot since then and continue to do so. I even ran a few steps the other day, and it seems to have been ok. And speed bumps in a car are now ok as long as I lean forward. So if she's like me, it will improve and won't limit her life as much as it now might appear.

I expect it to limit my life in terms of the lifestyle choices I make. I have learned to avoid activities that might jolt me, and intend to continue doing so even if I feel better in the future. I would advise your daughter to plan to do the same, this isn't something she'll want to go through again. There are plenty of fun and worthwhile activities which don't involve head jolts :)

My best to you both.

The head movement sensitivity is still decreasing in my experience too. I've actually noticed a significant decrease in just the last couple of days. Before, if I moved my head too fast, or even just nodded in agreement during a conversation, the movement didn't agree with me... but I feel like I'm able to handle more of it, especially earlier in the day, when I'm less fatigued than later in the day.

MRI sound made PCS much worse
 

I don't know if I should start a new topic here, but has anyone noticed that an MRI has made the PCS come back in full force? My daughter is 15 months post whiplash concussion, and 10 months since the kick to the head, and she had to have another MRI 2 1/2 weeks ago after the first try to a chiropractor seemed to cause tremors.

Since the MRI, her headache is much worse, she is feeling the "sick" and super fatigued stuff, and can't sleep, nightmares are back, and is experiencing the extreme agitation and sadness again. I think the loud noise and vibration of the 1 hour MRI set her back, again.

I am heartbroken. 16 months and no end in sight. Everything sets her back and she is living in a bubble. Just when she gets a little better and has hope, something will set her back and every time the symptoms seems worse. Sorry to be so down today.....Seriously, why can't any doctors help her? She is so frustrated and sick of nothing helping.

Yes, we have had several people on the board with relapse of symptoms after MRI. The noise, especially in close proximity, can be really detrimental.

I am terribly sorry to hear about your daughter. I am in a similar situation, so I understand some of what she is going through. The constant fluctuation in symptoms and progress is soul-crushing at times. Hopefully she can continue to improve little by little.

Hi PCSmother, just to let you know I"m 9 months in and had MRI 3 weeks ago. It literally felt like I lost everything I had worked so hard for in healing. But 3 days later I noticed it wasn't as bad because I wasn't thinking about it anymore. Symptoms took about a week to get over and I was back to "pre" MRI status. I have hyperacusis and very sensitive to jolting/vibrations and very dizzy. Also too much physical exertion brings on the tension headaches worse.

The only thing I can suggest is to try and get her mind off the symptoms, I know it's hard but that's the only thing that works for me. If she can read or watch a comedy or have a friend come over and chat with her for a little while. Sometimes I chat with the guys from work and it takes my mind off the symptoms.

Collorado Mike--I really enjoyed reading your posts, and I too have done quite a bit of thinking about post-concussion jostling. In my experience, as my pulse increases (brought on by anxiety about getting hit in the head, or just general excitement) my symptoms tend to worsen. I know there is evidence that concussions inhibit the brain's ability to regulate intracranial blood pressure, causing it to increase (and paradoxically, for the brain to get LESS blood). One of my hypotheses was that anxiety could be causing symptoms after small jostles because it increases your pulse and blood pressure, causing the intracranial pressure to increase as well.

I do, however, think it is very important to maintain a degree of humbleness when talking about the mechanisms going on in the brain. Here is the real truth--the brain is so exceptionally complicated that we will not for a LONG TIME actually understand everything that is going on. From our own experience and basic molecular neurobiological research we can make hypotheses, but nothing is an undeniable truth.

Mark In Idaho--It seems like you've thought a lot about concussions and possible biological reasons for PCS, but I would advise you to remain guarded in your assessments. The brain is a massive, massive interconnected web of neuronal cells all communicating with one another in a mysterious, complicated way. Just because axon shearing has been imaged, does not necessarily mean that is the cause of our symptoms. Correlation does not imply causation, in other words. Keep thinking and researching, it helps us all, but just remember that we are not close to having the human brain figured out.

Myleine Sheath
 

I may need to be corrected here, I seem to remember reading an article about damage to the mylien sheath surrounding the nerve. While the intial impact and subsequent die off of nuerons did happen.

Some of those that remained were damaged in this way and did not neccesarily heal. Age played a large role in healing. Older less healing. I can not help but wonder if subsequent impacts further this damage causing the following onset of symptoms?

This is a good news story, with regards to sensitivity to jolting I would like to let you know how I brought this symptom down from a 8/10 high to very low 2/10. For me I think it was my weak and injured neck muscles causing this particular symptom. I noticed my neck was very very sensitive to touch.

After starting with a new physio, they recommended putting heat pad on my neck and relaxing it. Then when neck is totally relaxed, start doing neck stretches. Then I started to do isometric exercises to strengthen the neck. After about 2 weeks of doing 1 hour morning and 1 hour night, this symptom has gone way down. Bumps on the road rarely bug me now.

Anyone else improved in this area ?