[hazelnuts]

Hey guys. I'm currently a year out from what was a mTBI. I didn't get knocked out, wasn't confused and the only early symptoms I had was the obvious headache, which progressed over the weeks to dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity, feeling off balance (room spinning) etc. It actually took most of those symptoms quite a while to come on, weeks/months. It took me a long time to get a concussion diagnosis from the doctors (and a sick certificate because of it).

Now over the past 12 months things have gradually improved to the point I'm pretty normal generally. But I still have a variety of what I call 'odd' sensations that make life rather unpleasant compared to before, to the point that if you mention them to doctors they make you feel a bit nuts for even discussing it. Being

- Vague sense of tingling over the whole body. Kind of like an adrenalin tingling feeling but even at complete rest, comes and goes
.
- Vague sense of nausea/fullness. Again, comes and goes. I find the more overloaded I get the more it comes on. Sometimes i struggle to eat

- Tiredness. Activities that used to be pleasant, such as catching up with friends for a few hours can make me feel completely wrecked.

- Headache but just between my eyes. More like the whole facial muscles around my eyes nose are 'tight' would be a better term for it. Nothing like the earlier headaches.

- Sensation of 'overdoing it' and getting the feeling of anxiety symptoms. This is the hardest to describe, for instance if you watch a movie for a few hours, towards the end you might feel a bit 'shaky' and just feel a bit off.

- Vague sense of off balance at times, like you're not entirely grounded, or feel like you're swaying in the breeze when standing.

The thing is, at 12 months out, is there really anything you can do at this point? I don't really feel anything makes me feel better, nor do I find specific triggers that make it feel worse. I'll often feel great for some weeks (say 9/10) then others not so great.

[Mark in Idaho]

Hazelnuts,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Everything you are experiencing is common to PCS. Interesting that you say "nor do I find specific triggers that make it feel worse." but you mention the triggers.

Spending a few hours catching up with friends is a common trigger. It is usually to much stimulation, especially if you were all talking and sometimes at the same time. This can be extremely taxing on a compromised brain. It is valuable to learn how to moderate these events. The memory strain of this can also be taxing.

The more overloaded you get, the more you will likely struggle. This overload is called various things. Over-attending, where you try to do too many things/multitasking, etc. Multitasking is a heavy stress for healthy brains.

Headaches between the eyes can be do to a visual problem, convergence, etc. A behavioral optometrist can usually help. NORA.cc Health Care Locator Custom can help you find a optometrist. You vision can be fine but the way both eyes work together may be a problem.

A vestibular assessment may be worthwhile. Hearing and balance clinics or neurorehab clinics can help with this.

The vast majority of concussions include a upper neck injury. These can be very subtle with minimal or even no specific symptoms. But, inflammation can cause tingling, autonomic nervous system problems and other odd symptoms. It is very difficult to get diagnosed and treated for subtle upper neck injuries. NUCCA.org chiros help some. Physical therapists/physiotherapists can help if they understand this injury. Gentle traction with manual cervical vertebra mobilization can be helpful. But, it requires disciplined posture during sleep and resting to get long term results.

The challenges of over-stimulation are often long lasting and require an acceptance like "If I spend 3 hours with friends, I'll need to rest the next day." Sometimes, a modification to the group event helps. Rather than talking with 4 people, you spend time one on one. For some of us, we can reduce the struggles by limiting this to talking with a single person who we can look at. Those conflicting/talking over each other voices cause the brain to strain.

A simple explanation. "Since my concussion, I don't do well when too many people try to talk at the same time. The doctor does not know when this will get better."

When I am at an event or restaurant, it makes a big difference if I stay away from the center of the room/people. Being near a wall or corner limits the direction these voices come from.

I hope you can get the vestibular and vision assessment to see if there is help in these areas. The over-stimulation will be primarily up to you as you learn to moderate your activities.

It would be worthwhile to read the Vitamins stickie at the top. Check out the update to the first post on page 11 of the Vitamins thread.

My best to you.