Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Concussion Syndrome For traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post concussion syndrome (PCS).


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Old 05-20-2015, 08:33 AM #11
Laupala Laupala is offline
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Last summer when I left school and came home to rest I followed that protocol, icing whenever I could, for a couple months. I'm not sure that it helped all that much.
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26 year-old PhD student in evolutionary biology, slipped on ice in Feb 2014 while clipping my fingernails and walking to save time (dumbest reason for PCS ever?). Initially just had headaches and didn't feel quite right, but a minor head bump 5 days later started a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Had trouble concentrating on reading/looking at screens

April 2014 - did exertion test, passed, started exercising and doing more, but didn't feel much better.

May 2014 - Went on backpacking trip OK'd by doctor, trip itself went fine, but felt worse a few days after getting back, more difficulty concentrating, worse headaches.

June 2014 - Bumped head on ceiling walking slowly down stairs, no immediate symptoms, but caused worsening headahces, more difficulty concentrating and looking at screens. Have not felt as good as I did before this since this bump.

December 2014 - after feeling relatively better I went xc skiing and fell but didn't hit my head (something my psychologist who specializes in brain injuries told me he hoped would happen so I saw it was OK), felt worse

Feb 2015 - back in grad school, light teaching load and some research, nowhere close to operating at my full capacity. Still have constant headaches, difficulty reading/looking at screens, mild anxiety and depression, and just not feeling like my normal sharp self.

Trying, but struggling, to believe that I'll get back to my old self, or at least get close.
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Old 05-20-2015, 12:53 PM #12
RJam RJam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Laupala View Post
Yeah, the only headaches I got before this were from lack of coffee or being hung over (which wasn't often). I have a new appreciation for how difficult they can be to live with.
I forgot I replied to that comment already ignore :P
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Old 05-20-2015, 04:23 PM #13
thorx89 thorx89 is offline
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Same here, I haven't tried as many things as you have, but I too have been dealing with mild (now) headache on a daily basis ever since having scaffolding fall on my head in June of 2014. They almost vanished for about 3 weeks in March, but came back. ALCAR seems to help a little bit. I also do fish oil, vitamins, minerals, an turmeric (this accident seems to have turned me into a junkie, LOL, but I'd rather be doing something than nothing).
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Old 05-20-2015, 04:33 PM #14
Laupala Laupala is offline
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I feel like a crazy person taking all the vitamins and supplements I take too, haha. What is ALCAR?
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26 year-old PhD student in evolutionary biology, slipped on ice in Feb 2014 while clipping my fingernails and walking to save time (dumbest reason for PCS ever?). Initially just had headaches and didn't feel quite right, but a minor head bump 5 days later started a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Had trouble concentrating on reading/looking at screens

April 2014 - did exertion test, passed, started exercising and doing more, but didn't feel much better.

May 2014 - Went on backpacking trip OK'd by doctor, trip itself went fine, but felt worse a few days after getting back, more difficulty concentrating, worse headaches.

June 2014 - Bumped head on ceiling walking slowly down stairs, no immediate symptoms, but caused worsening headahces, more difficulty concentrating and looking at screens. Have not felt as good as I did before this since this bump.

December 2014 - after feeling relatively better I went xc skiing and fell but didn't hit my head (something my psychologist who specializes in brain injuries told me he hoped would happen so I saw it was OK), felt worse

Feb 2015 - back in grad school, light teaching load and some research, nowhere close to operating at my full capacity. Still have constant headaches, difficulty reading/looking at screens, mild anxiety and depression, and just not feeling like my normal sharp self.

Trying, but struggling, to believe that I'll get back to my old self, or at least get close.
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Old 05-20-2015, 09:31 PM #15
lily101 lily101 is offline
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I was diagnosed with PCS over a year ago. I believed many of the symptoms had resolved, but recently I have been under some unusual stressors.

I called my neurologist and the best way I could explain it was, I felt as though someone had picked me up and put me right back where I was after my concussion.

I do get headaches. They are difficult to describe, but in the front of my head where the brain injury was.

I think certain things like stress can worsen symptoms. Like aggravating a wound.

While I don't have any great suggestions for relieving your headaches, I wanted you to know, I deal with them as well.

I hope you can find some relief soon. Hang in there.

Angie
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Old 05-20-2015, 10:04 PM #16
"Starr" "Starr" is offline
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I've had a constant headache for over 3 years now with no break. My accident was Feb 2012 and I've tried so many things, but nothing even touches the pain. (Various drugs, acupuncture, chiropractic, physiotherapy...)

I got prism glasses in January and everyone was hopeful they would help. So far, no improvement. Next steps are vision therapy, which everyone agrees will make my head pain worse, at least in the beginning.

Neurologist wants to try Botox, but it makes me very nervous, so I haven't agreed yet.

I was on topamax for over 2 years but came off it a few months ago. My headaches don't seem worse since I came off, they are just their same old horrible selves. I do wake up more often at night with horrible head pain since coming off the topamax, so it was probably doing *something*.

My head pain is constant though... on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, mine never gets better than a 5 and often sits closer to 8 or 9. Sometimes they are so bad all I can do is cry, which makes them worse. Sometimes the pain is enough to make me nauseous and vomit, but usually only if I over do it.

My blood pressure is low, too, the drs and nurses always comment on it every time I have it done. They often do it 2-3 times because they think its a bad reading.

I've tried icing my neck, constantly and regularly, I don't get any relief from that. I've also tried periods of using heat, no relief either, but it doesn't make it worse and feels nice. (We live in a cold, drafty, old house so the heat feels really nice in the winter!)

So at this point, I'm just kind of resigned to living with it. Its super frustrating and draining and I just try really hard to not over do it and make it worse.

Best of luck to you.
Starr
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Old 05-21-2015, 08:50 AM #17
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Ive had a headache for over 8 years.... They use to be real bad now there just part of my life....

I went to the Diamond Headache Clinic, it took a lot of playing around to get something to tone them down....It has made me happier...
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Old 05-21-2015, 09:55 AM #18
packersrule packersrule is offline
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I had a headache for 10 months after my accident. It was was a low grade but constant. I was dealing with many other issues that were effecting my life then the headaches.

The doctor gave me a low dose (100 mg) of topamax. This completely controlled my headache. I have very few side effects because of the low dose most lose of appetite.
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Old 05-21-2015, 01:03 PM #19
barnburner barnburner is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by packersrule View Post
I had a headache for 10 months after my accident. It was was a low grade but constant. I was dealing with many other issues that were effecting my life then the headaches.

The doctor gave me a low dose (100 mg) of topamax. This completely controlled my headache. I have very few side effects because of the low dose most lose of appetite.
packersrule - how long were you on the medication before you experienced any improvements? How long before you were completely off of the medication?
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Old 05-22-2015, 03:44 PM #20
Laupala Laupala is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by "Starr" View Post
I've had a constant headache for over 3 years now with no break. My accident was Feb 2012 and I've tried so many things, but nothing even touches the pain. (Various drugs, acupuncture, chiropractic, physiotherapy...)

I got prism glasses in January and everyone was hopeful they would help. So far, no improvement. Next steps are vision therapy, which everyone agrees will make my head pain worse, at least in the beginning.

Neurologist wants to try Botox, but it makes me very nervous, so I haven't agreed yet.

I was on topamax for over 2 years but came off it a few months ago. My headaches don't seem worse since I came off, they are just their same old horrible selves. I do wake up more often at night with horrible head pain since coming off the topamax, so it was probably doing *something*.

My head pain is constant though... on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, mine never gets better than a 5 and often sits closer to 8 or 9. Sometimes they are so bad all I can do is cry, which makes them worse. Sometimes the pain is enough to make me nauseous and vomit, but usually only if I over do it.

My blood pressure is low, too, the drs and nurses always comment on it every time I have it done. They often do it 2-3 times because they think its a bad reading.

I've tried icing my neck, constantly and regularly, I don't get any relief from that. I've also tried periods of using heat, no relief either, but it doesn't make it worse and feels nice. (We live in a cold, drafty, old house so the heat feels really nice in the winter!)

So at this point, I'm just kind of resigned to living with it. Its super frustrating and draining and I just try really hard to not over do it and make it worse.

Best of luck to you.
Starr
That sound really tough, I hope things improve for you.
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26 year-old PhD student in evolutionary biology, slipped on ice in Feb 2014 while clipping my fingernails and walking to save time (dumbest reason for PCS ever?). Initially just had headaches and didn't feel quite right, but a minor head bump 5 days later started a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Had trouble concentrating on reading/looking at screens

April 2014 - did exertion test, passed, started exercising and doing more, but didn't feel much better.

May 2014 - Went on backpacking trip OK'd by doctor, trip itself went fine, but felt worse a few days after getting back, more difficulty concentrating, worse headaches.

June 2014 - Bumped head on ceiling walking slowly down stairs, no immediate symptoms, but caused worsening headahces, more difficulty concentrating and looking at screens. Have not felt as good as I did before this since this bump.

December 2014 - after feeling relatively better I went xc skiing and fell but didn't hit my head (something my psychologist who specializes in brain injuries told me he hoped would happen so I saw it was OK), felt worse

Feb 2015 - back in grad school, light teaching load and some research, nowhere close to operating at my full capacity. Still have constant headaches, difficulty reading/looking at screens, mild anxiety and depression, and just not feeling like my normal sharp self.

Trying, but struggling, to believe that I'll get back to my old self, or at least get close.
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