[BeanJean]

Hello everyone!

I'm back after getting another 3 concussions in less than a year. They've had a tremendous impact on my life in general, but especially my health. I've attached a video that shows how extreme and abnormal my reflexes are now. Every doctor I've seen say that they've never seen anything like it before. Figured maybe someone on this forum has a clue or any ideas.

All of my MRIs and CT scans have come back normal.

Here's the video that shows how intense things are:

https://youtu.be/g1eJqE8HiAM

If nothing else, it is fascinating to see.

**
Thanks in advance!
BeanJean

[Mark in Idaho]

I've had a positive babinski for over 40 years. It is a diagnostic tool. I don't make much of it.

The clonus and your reflex issues might be of interest to a movement disorders doctor.

[SuperElectric]

Why so many concussions?

[BeanJean]

Originally Posted by SuperElectric

Why so many concussions?

I used to be an elite athlete and now my brain is so susceptible that just about anything will give me a concussion; each one gets more severe and easier to get.

[BeanJean]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

I've had a positive babinski for over 40 years. It is a diagnostic tool. I don't make much of it.

The clonus and your reflex issues might be of interest to a movement disorders doctor.

The video shows how extreme everything is and how my big toe doesn't merely go upwards, it is really really intense and followed by a few beats of clonus.

I have been to a movement disorder specialist and nothing came of it. I'm not sure what kind of doctor I should go to now.

[BeanJean]

I know diffusion tensor imagining is primarily used for research, but it has shown great promise in the study of concussions and I'm wondering if it is a good idea to pursue getting one. All the doctors say there's a problem, but they don't know where it is or how severe it is, so they have me on 600mg of lamictal (lamotrigine) and other medications to try and calm my neurons, but such high doses impact my life and maybe if a DTI shows where the damage is then there can be targeted treatment rather than throwing the kitchen sink at my CNS.

[Mark in Idaho]

Have you tried gabapentin ? It helps me with minor but persistent movement issues. I can have periods like restless legs all over my body at times as I try to relax to sleep. Gabapentin resolves this. I take 600 mgs.

Are you doing any nutritional therapy ? The Vitamins sticky at the top has the regimen I have followed for decades. It helps but may take weeks to see a difference.

Just about any MRI lab can do a DTI. It is included in most MRI software packages. The problem is finding a doctor who knows what to do with the results. Maybe a call to an MRI lab to see who requests them will direct you to the appropriate doctor.

How did you suffer your concussions ? If you had three over the past year, how many do you think you have had over your lifetime ?

[BeanJean]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

Have you tried gabapentin ? It helps me with minor but persistent movement issues. I can have periods like restless legs all over my body at times as I try to relax to sleep. Gabapentin resolves this. I take 600 mgs.

Are you doing any nutritional therapy ? The Vitamins sticky at the top has the regimen I have followed for decades. It helps but may take weeks to see a difference.

Just about any MRI lab can do a DTI. It is included in most MRI software packages. The problem is finding a doctor who knows what to do with the results. Maybe a call to an MRI lab to see who requests them will direct you to the appropriate doctor.

How did you suffer your concussions ? If you had three over the past year, how many do you think you have had over your lifetime ?

I have not tried gabapentin, but I have tried trileptal and tegretol which didn't help and then they put me on lamictal and it seemed to do the job. Because I don't have minor movement problems, I often have bouts of severe dystonic-llike movements on the left side of my body, and my limbs randomly fly out.

I do have a pretty intense vitamin regiment, which I find benefits my mental functions more than physical.

Thanks for the suggestion to call an MRI lab, I had no idea how I was going to find a neuroradiologist who can read DTIs. Do you think I should reach out to large labs like hospitals where there are likely to be more neuroradiologists?

My concussions are the result of a wide range of accidents:
Field hockey sticks and balls to the face, getting kneed in the head flipping someone over my back, face-planing while dune jumping (I hit my head so hard my contacts popped out), surf board to the head while surfing, smashing the back of my head on the metal door while getting my suitcase from under a Peter Pan bus, my coworker dropped a relatively heavy box on my head, getting smacked in the head by a backpack causing a whiplash movement, falling face first into the corner of a metal doorframe, and there were probably a few more along the way. The first one was in 2010 and they have been pretty evenly distributed over the last 5 years.

I haven't been allowed to play sports in over 2 years, at one point I had to wear a helmet all the time, but it has reached the point where I literally see and think everything is a danger and potential threat. It's scary and I am in fear nearly every day.

-BeanJean