That's interesting, I hadn't considered it being psychological, it feels far too real. I think it's not psychological because

(a) I didn't expect it to happen after my concussion, so why would I imagine it

(b) it seems to be improving with my other symptoms, though admittedly at a slower pace

(c) when I did get a big jolt last June, it caused a massive relapse, even though the person who jolted me didn't touch my head and the jolt was not bad enough to cause concern amongst the people who saw it. SO in effect I have 'tested' it and found that jolts do in fact cause me more damage than they should.

(d) it seems to be a fairly common experience and I doubt we would all share the same delusion

Yes, I totally understand! I experience it too! And mine was worse than it is now too.

Remember, I'm not an expert or a Dr. at all.

But I don't think it wise to completely rule out it being psychological. Who wouldn't feel a little more sensitive about their heads being jostled after sustaining major trauma? I think of it like you don't want someone to touch your bruise...

And some experts believe that some issues with PCS are psychological... so even though your symptoms got worse after a serious jolt, that could have been psychological too.

I too think it could be detrimental. It could certainly be that a jolt can cause a subconcussive impact and physically make a person worse biologically.

I just threw it out there because that's what I think of it - I can't really tell what's what.

I think that patients with PCS are not well researched yet in some ways, so maybe researchers haven't included it in the list of symptoms. Or perhaps, most patients are usually more concerned with other symptoms and they don't even mention this one as a symptom at all because they only have 15 minutes to talk with their Dr.s and they have to make that time count.

And really, I think that people recovering from a brain injury and PCS really have a heightened sensitivity to all stimulation - so it could just be that too!

Who knows?!?! I'm also hopeful to find some documentation about it.

At the very least, for myself, I'm just glad to know that some of you guys also experience this, because I have and still do too.

I think it's pretty much a definite fact that some PCS symptoms are psychological, mine included. But that serious jolt brought all my symptoms back with a vengeance, I was off work for two months and I didn't recover to where I had been for about 6 months afterwards.

For me to hallucinate such numerous and extreme symptoms for such a long period would pretty much make me psychotic I think, which I'm certain I'm not (but then I would say that, wouldn't I .... )

That said, you've got me thinking about the psychological aspect a bit more - I'm sure my fear of jolting must make it seem worse to me than it actually is, even though I still believe there's an organic problem underlying it. Maybe I could try walking on eggshells a little less

Regardless of whether it is an organic or psychological symptom, it seems common and debilitating enough to warrant at least some information about it somewhere!

Klaus,

Your sensitivity to light jolting is a result of your autonomic nervous system going haywire. Your brain is constructed in a way that you have your limbic brain (aka reptilian brain or primitive brain) that is there to regulate all of the things our bodies do that we don't think about like digesting food, your heart beating, etc. It's also there to protect us from danger i.e. it controls your "fight or flight" response. The other part of your brain is your outer cortex which is involved in higher functioning like sight, reasoning, thinking, talking, listening, etc. A region in this part of your brain is called the frontal cortex and this is responsible for very high levels of function. In other words, this is the part of our brain that makes us human. This part of your brain is responsible for inhibiting your limbic brain; it acts as sort of a control mechanism and filters out the signal from your limbic brain. When you have a brain injury, in some people, your frontal cortex can no longer handle it's job of filtering the limbic brain and as a result, your limbic brain is allowed to go haywire.

So, when you get a slight jolt or something, your limbic brain automatically sends off signals that you are in very grave danger and this starts a cascade in your brain that will cause you symptoms. It is impossible for you to do any damage to your brain physically by these slight jolts but that doesn't mean that you don't do damage to your brain psychologically. When these signals are sent out, they are sent out via neurotransmitters and what could be happening (of course no one has proved this) is that your brain changes and becomes more sensitive to the neurotransmitters that cause the flight or fight response and hence, you become more sensitive to any bumps or jolts.

Now, I suffered from this as well for about 4 years and I fortunately was able to overcome it. I fixed it in a couple of ways. First, I discovered that I was suffering from hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue, both that are common in people with head injuries. Your adrenal system actually plays a huge role in the scenario I mentioned above. So, I got both of those systems treated and this helped immensely. Second, I did some neurofeeback directly onto my frontal cortex and strengthened that part of my brain to be able to handle any stress my body may incur. Third, I did some HBOT as well and this also helped with the sensitivity. Fourth, I also did some balance training to try and get my vestibular system back in order. Finally, I went to an upper cervical chiropractic specialist who put my neck back in order so that my neck could go back to being the shock absorber it's supposed to be.

I am now about 80-90% recovered and although big bumps and jostles still bother me a little bit, I am able to handle the small to medium bumps and jostles that I wasn't able to handle before.

Hope this helps.

M

Colorrado Mike,

I agree than some may have the fight or flight response to jolts but for many of us, it is a physiological trauma. The fight or flight response cause a different sequelea to manifest. The adrenaline response if completely different than the non-anxiety confusion many of us experience.

I know how to recover from the flight or fight response. It is a cakewalk compared to recovering from the decompensation caused by the jolts. As Klaus said, it can take weeks to months to recover from a jolt, depending on the intensity or repetitiveness of the jolt. The other concussion symptoms that manifest from the jolt are not associated with the flight or fight response.

Many of us have very sensitive brains that react to very mild movements. I can give myself a concussion, or sub-concussive impact that causes immediate symptoms, simply by shaking my head No. A ride down a bumpy road can do me in.

Those of you who do not have these overly sensitive to movement brains are very fortunate. You likely do not have the cumulative number of concussions and sub-concussive impacts that some of us have.

Mark in Idaho,

Very true and I neglected to mention that in my post. Mine was also a physiological response that I have been able to mostly heal from - like I said, I still have problems with big jolts or bumps. Before I healed my brain, I would get bumped and have to shut things down for a day and sometimes even a couple of days. It felt like I had just had another concussion. One time, it took me a entire week to recover.

I believe the key to healing this is a matter of trying to get any inflammation in our brains reduced significantly or completely eliminated. From my research, I think that our brains lose the ability to handle inflammation. And surprisingly, a physical trauma can actually set of an inflammatory response in our brains. So I think the inability to control inflammation is why we become more susceptible to further concussions.

If we can get this under control via hormone therapy and neurorehabilitation, I believe we can reduce our sensitivity to bumps and jostles.

M

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.

So you are saying that this symptom is likely to manifest in people who have had lots of concussions, rather than one bigger brain injury? I certainly fit that category. Is that the experience of other people who have this symptom?

Klaus,

It's hard to definitely make any statements regarding brain injuries. I know a guy who had one concussion and his brain is super sensitive to jostling and bumping. On the other hand, John Elway has had 21 concussions and his brain seems just fine. For those of you who don't follow football, he was a hall of fame QB for the Denver Broncos, a very successful business man and now he is the Executive VP for the Broncos.

Mark is right though in that your chances of developing a sensitive brain greatly increase with the number of concussions you get.

I have been feeling something similar. Yesterday I was in the car and my fiance stopped quickly and I instantly got a headache. It was like I hit my head without actually hitting anything. The pain didn't last long, but it was definitely an annoyance for about 15 mins.