[MommaBear]

Since my son's TBI, he has had sinus drainage, sneezing, coughing. Not a virus. At first in the hospital it was mild and went away in a day or two, but happened every several days. Now it's worse, poor guy sniffles and sneezes almost constantly. It's driving him nuts. At first it seemed to be worse in the mornings, but now it's all day long. His only relief seems to be when he's asleep.

My investigation finds that antihistimines are not to be used for a TBI patient because "they may cause disturbances in memory and new learning." Sooo what is safe to give him?? His doctor is no help at all. We just know it's not CNS fluid draining or he'd have developed meningitis.

Could the injury have caused his sinuses to be so out of whack? Or could it have cause him to develop some kind of allergy... to what?? -- that was in the hospital and now at home, and why is it getting worse? Dust maybe? Has anybody come across this very unusual effect of TBI??

Also, off subject, we just finished a game of Scrabble. He became bored, frustrated, and close to the end he wanted to give up and go back to his room. But it seems to me it's a good brain exercise / speech therapy. Maybe if he can think of it that way instead of being about winning then he will just compete against himself and not me, and have a better time with it. I also think this could be a good and gentle teaching moment about how to "Never Give Up". So I think this might be a good way and a foot in the door for me to give him a little encouraging push to learn to push himself instead of just hanging out in his dark room all the time.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!