Hello there,

Long time ago I stopped following this forum when I felt 100% normal. I've finished my master's in honours and found a good job and was settling my life, everything was fine..until two weeks ago I again 'shaked' my head and got a host of concussion symptoms that now causes me huge amount of stress, anxiety and I am panicking about my job and life in general.

So a little bit background info:

Firstly, I am diagnosed with OCD although I think I rather suffer from tourette-like motor tics that I perform when I am alone, relaxed and have the feeling of 'having finished' something (e.g like a semester or a challenging project, etc). These are not uncontrolled but initiated by myself (compulsions). The tic itself varies over periods of time. I got ticks like clenching my teeth (this is irrelevant to the topic although I had to get 4-5 tooth fillings due to the damage it caused), shaking my head side to side (like saying no), shaking my head up and down (like saying yes), contracting my biceps suddenly (irrelevant), blinking my eyes (irrelevant) etc.

I was always a very good student in school and in the collage. Math and physics were my two favourite subjects. Always felt very comfortable with these subjects. I studied computer science and was a high-achiever in this field as well.

Concussion history:

Although I had these abovementioned tics almost since childhood, I didn't have any concussion symptoms during my childhood/early adolescence.

In 2009, I was trying to get my slipper that was under the wardrobe by dragging it back with my foot. After locating the slipper when pulling it with my foot, I accidentally also pulled the wardrobe door resulting in it hitting the top of my head. I felt dizzy and foggy for a week but didn't get any headaches. Eventually it got better and I forgot about this accident.

In 2010, During the semester break, after academically successful semester, I performed one of the tics I mentioned above (up and down one) but very violently. This resulted in a concussion symptoms like dizziness, very nasty headache, mental fog, ringing in ears and this lasted at least 3-4 months. Meanwhile, I've been to a few doctors. None suspected of concussion after seeing negative results from CT and MRI and I got prescribed an anti-depressant for treatment of recurring headaches. I don't remember what antidepressant it was but I quit it after using it for a year or so.

In 2011, I did the head shaking tic again and the symptoms like bad headache and fogginess were back. This time I was prescribed Laroxyl(Amitriptyline) by a neurologist. After a few months things got better. I quit the medication not until my next concussion in 2013.

In 2013, I don’t remember how this one happened but I guess in a similar way (through again an abrupt shaking of head), the concussion symptoms like headache and fogginess relapsed. In addition to them, this time I also got very depressed. Headaches were not as bad and I knew that no neurologyst would believe me. So I went to see a psychiatrist. He told me my problems are not related to concussion or any brain damage but rather psychosomatic. He prescribed me with Cipralex(Escitalopram) -and later Anafranil(Clomipramine) for treating OCD. I am still using them. I got off the depression and my mood along with my thinking capabilities improved. I believed that there was never any kind of brain damage occurred to me. Additionally, I learned not to shake my head this time -very hard way though.

Two weeks ago I was visiting my family (that is living in another country) after a stressful period at work. Unfortunately, when I was in front of my computer and felt ‘successful’ after completing an online course, I again shaked my head (this time side to side considerably quickly - but wouldn’t say violently) and immediately I started to feel off. That night I had hard time falling asleep. I also got some slight headache (not as bad as the previous ones though), tinnitus and some cognitive issues (e.g difficulty concentrating, difficulty thinking precisely). Now headaches seem to be cleared but I often feel tired, I can’t think as quick as I used to do and my problem-solving abilities seem to be compromised. I feel ‘spaced out’ and somewhat disconnected from reality at times. This gives me huge panic about my future.

So now I need my intellectual flexibility and mental power back as I hate feeling like stupid. So, given my experience I know that it should get better and hopefully it will get better but it just doesn’t feel so. I started taking some supplements (EPA, DHA, Vitamin B1, B6, B12 + some multivitamin with Ginkgo and Ginseng, Coenzyme q10). I also continue taking Cipralex and Anfranil.

I am open to your advices and comments. I simply needed to share this. I know there are people with more severe cases here like having survived MVAs, etc), However, I hope you don’t judge me for having a stupid tic that keeps ruining my life…

Note: I tried to ‘simulate’ this abrupt head shaking by using my wrist and fist as wrist is a similar joint to neck. I estimate the highest acceleration an abrupt shake can cause is around 4g’s.

podcast,

Welcome back. I see it has been over 4 years.

I wonder if your symptoms are from the head movement or from the event that causes you to make the head movement. Is the head movement just a symptom of the underlying problem ? And, is the underlying problem causing all of your symptoms ?

Anafranil is a very strong med for OCD. It has lots of side effects. Could it be complicating your condition ?

Your head can sustain 4 G's from walking down stairs. There are many normal body movements that result in G forces being transmitted to you head.

When you do this tic like movements, how many strokes/repetitions do you do before you catch yourself and stop ?

Hi Mark,

Thanks for answering.

If all this is due to an underlying problem then it is manifesting itself only via head movements as I don't remember any single time I experienced such a cognitive dysfunction without any sudden head movement prior to it. But why do you think it might not be because of a concussion as a result of sudden acceleration/deceleration? I remember you wrote a few times on different threads that you can get concussion symptoms by shaking your head 'no'.

My daily anafranil dosage is 10mg and I didn't get any nasty side effects from it so far.

I think the shaking itself doesn't cause considerably more force than turning your head suddenly to a voice which you didn't expect to hear. But I guess my brain must be now super sensitive to any movement due to some accumulated structural damage or sth.

When I did this tic-like head shaking, I do it only once (down/up or right/left) then I stop it. Next, I start worrying about it like crazy.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a 50 year history of concussions with my first being very severe and leaving me with permanent dysfunctions. Some of my symptoms could be vestibular. Nobody has ever been able to define a cause. My shaking my head no is not just a casual turning the head, it would be a reactive No, No, No as in when you are trying to impart the seriousness of No to a toddler.

But, you miss my point. Is there something that is causing your tic that also increases your anxiety levels and response ? I think it is far more likely that what ever caused the tic caused the anxiety response. I don't think the movement is causing the response.

I can read an NT post about headaches and get a mild headache sensation. The mind does strange things.

I think your anxiety response is super sensitive to any thought about head movement. I know how the mind can take control. Mine would get stuck looping on meaningless thoughts. The spelling or pronunciation of an odd or complex name or word. A license plate. A stanza from the lyrics of a song. Very small triggers would cause my mind to get stuck on thoughts that had no purpose.

So, if you attribute these anxieties to your mind getting stuck, not the trigger, you will do better. Stress will make these tiny triggers more of a problem. You commented about a stressful period at work. My brother went through a very high stress situation at work (systems analyst at a big insurance company that was transitioning from dumb terminal/mainframe computing to server with thousands of PC based access points.) that radically changed him.

Somewhere, you got exposed to the concept of risk of damage from head impacts/concussions and have used that exposure to define every time your head moves quickly or makes contact. From what you have related, I don't think you have ever suffered a concussion or even a sub-concussive impact. But, your mind has chosen to define those movements and contacts as damaging. Those tics are likely just a response to a stress, whether obvious or not.

My mind did some strange things. I would respond with a verbal Ouch just from the risk or close call of an injury. I could drop something and it missed my feet but I said Ouch. I once dropped a steel plate and broke 3 toes so maybe my brain was remembering. I can also strain to make a lift and say Ouch. Ouch appears to be my response to stress or even potential stress.

I have a few other odd responses. Blowing air through my lips. A moan of pleasure when there was no pleasure stimuli.

I chalk these up to what we call 'Brain farts.' Momentary releases of thought or expression that have no basis in reality or accuracy.

But, you are like the anorexic girl who heard somebody comment about her weight and now is obsessed with every bit of flesh she sees. You might benefit from therapy from somebody who works with anorexia and bulimia. A therapist who works with PTSD may also help as the PTSD responses to triggers are also similar.

So, hopefully, you can find somebody who can help with your underlying response mechanism and help you either change it or learn to ignore it, even laugh at it.

I see your point but I don't get why this 'underlying' problem that triggers the tics then doesn't cause the same symptoms when I do other kinds of tics than head shaking which are presumably caused by the same underlying problem. On the other hand, the theory that the sudden head movements have caused mild tbi sounds more reasonable to me because there is a clear pattern that goes like this: shake your head -> suffer from a host of concussion symptoms for a few months. This happened already four times. I also remember that few times something similar happening but lasting only a week or so after turning my head very quick to look at something which certainly can't be due to some underlying problem.

So, although I'd like that I've never sustained any concussion, I believe that I did. I got convinced of this especially after reading the struggles of so many of you here and being able to relate to my struggles to a great degree. Except for the sensitivity to noise/light which never happened to me, all the other common concussion symptoms are familiar to me.

No offense but you sound like one of many doctors out there who fail to recognize concussion due to his/her ignorance.

I'd like to hear if you know anything that helps with cognitive impairment. Not being able to think carefully and in depth, feeling cloudy in particular. I will start using grape seed extract soon in addition to the other supplements I am taking.

Best



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"No offense but you sound like one of many doctors out there who fail to recognize concussion due to his/her ignorance. "

Ignorance ???? Oh, I recognize concussion symptoms but I also have seen many instances where a very minor concussion symptom is combined with anxiety to become a major concussion symptom.

You posted "When I did this tic-like head shaking, I do it only once (down/up or right/left) then I stop it. Next, I start worrying about it like crazy. "

When anxiety kicks in, a symptom of 1 can quickly be a 10. It is not necessarily a psychological response. The anxiety can be psychological but once the anxiety chemicals (cortisol, adrenaline, etc) start flooding, the body perceives at a much more intense level.

The difference I have noticed is that those who can let go of the focus on the minor concussion symptom will be less likely to have that minor symptom become a major symptom.

When I shake my head and get a concussion symptom, (usually a strange sensation in the front of my head/face and a metallic taste), I recognize it, stop the behavior, and move on without looking back. I've had the same situation when I used to work with a heavy crawler-loader and it would jerk. I would stop, let things settle, regain my focus and move on. If I developed a headache or some other symptom later, I took an acetaminophen or ibuprofen and moved on.

I have never heard of any treatment for cognitive impairment other than learning to focus and shut out ambient stimuli and reducing stress and anxiety.

But, I do know that quality of sleep, which is difficult for people with anxiety or other PCS symptoms, it imperative to overcome brain fog and other cognitive issues.

A question worth answering may be. How much of the things I am stressed about are really as important as I thought they were when I look back in hindsight ? Many tend to make each day too stressful by trying to accomplish too much. Some of us have less tolerance in this area so reducing our expectations can cause a big improvement. I sold my business with many employees and started a new business with just me. My stress dropped significantly. Different careers have different stress levels.

The OCD person tends to think everything is important. Believe me. I understand this because I was caught in the thick of it. Others helped me realize that that was not the case. It changed my life but I had to change my perspective first.

Gotta agree with Mark, I have certainly found the same to be true in my life...I can't believe how many things aren't all that important in life that I placed such high priorities on.

I'm not saying to give up excellence in what you undertake but not all things are important.

I seem to enjoy life around me more now, sounds, sunsets, stuff I was to busy to take 30 seconds to notice prior to my accident forcing me to slow down.

Bud