You describe the cause as being amplified nerve sensory signals and I think inflammation causes the overamplification.

If you've had multiple concussions, even if the secondary impacts were minor, then the brain's ability to regulate inflammation becomes compromised and it pumps out too much inflammation in response to a given stressor. Inflammation is what causes the symptoms so that's why you experience increased sensitivities or intense symptoms following a head bump or over-exerting yourself.

Sure the impact force from the secondary impacts was not enough to do any damage, but it was enough to trigger an inflammation response and the resulting inflammation can do more damage and cause more symptoms than the initial impact. So calling it a panic attack or anxiety is ignorant and short-sighted.


Inflammation Seems to Underlie Concussion Symptoms

Drew,

Thanks for sharing your inflammation diagnosis. I'll be honest, I don't know must about it, as I've not had three neurologists confirm my migraine diagnosis, and it seems to fit my symptom profile really well. It is nice to know that the treatment is the similar, though, and has worked for you as well! Hopefully this info can help others struggling to find doctors who can help.

Update: Success with Maxalt

An update to my journey. I fell skiing this November and had my first one of these "migraine attacks" in 3 years. I recognized the symptom progression right away after the trigger. I immediately had head pressure, dizziness/disequilibrium, and ear pressure/popping.

I drove back to the vacation home where I was staying right away and took Maxalt, which is a migraine abortive that had been prescribed to me years ago. I took the pill exactly 30 minutes after trigger. I didn't expect it to work, but two hours later, I felt fine. The two-day symptom progression that I normally get during these attacks was halted in it's tracks.

I did not expect this to work, only because I've had only a partial response to all of the migraine preventatives that I've tried so far (and they only helped with the pain and not the underlying motion sensitivity). But it is fantastic to know that I have this tool available.

Typically, my sensitivity to motion gets worse and worse over the course of an attack and then takes 6 months to return to baseline (with my "PT" exercises) after the attack is over. I had only a very, very slight regression in motion sensitivity and no other symptoms of the attack after taking the abortive.

Generally, it's important to take the abortives "right away" for them to work, and I've found this to be true. I triggered another attack by pushing my PT exercises too far a week later, and I did not take the Maxalt right away. I explained away my (relatively obvious symptoms) as having really bad motion sickness from a car ride. By the next morning, when I has insane head pressure and finally realized I was having a migraine attack, I took the Maxalt, but it was too late.

I know this won't help everyone, but if there's anyone out there with repeat symptom exacerbation like this that could be attributed to migraine, it's really worth giving migraine treatment a shot. Having this abortive drug in my toolkit is going to be life-changing for me.

Sidenote: I bought an accelerometer that can be stuck to the body with medical adhesive. I plan to collect data from my PT exercises over time to track how much my tolerance for both acceleration and jerk improves with targeted exposure. Will update when I collect enough data for it to mean anything.

Glad you found an intervention. I agree that you have to take something right away to stop the cascade of inflammation that causes symptoms to return. That's why I say to take a double dose of Curcumin and Fish Oil in my previous posts.

I read that Triptans (Maxalt) reduce inflammation levels so maybe that's how it works. But whatever way you think about it, our approaches are similar.

Drew,

So glad that those supplements work for you! I have tried both of those (as well as many others) with no change in symptoms, but hopefully they will work for someone else, also!!!!

Triptans are the most commonly prescribed drugs to abort migraine attacks. They've been around for a while. They constrict blood vessels (and I think a few other things). They have a pretty high efficacy--much higher than any of the preventative meds, and the side effects are transient, instead of all the time, which is quite nice. Most doctors will only prescribe 11 doses per month because any more than that can actually trigger "rebound headache". Luckily, my episodes are infrequent and have a known trigger, so hoping this is a good long-term solution for me.

Triptans for Migraine Relief: What’s Available, How They Work

Will update if anything changes, in case it's helpful to anyone else. Everyone's symptom profiles and medication reactions are unique, so it's hard to tell if this will help anyone else, but I figure it's worth a try.

Is this damage permanent?

Ben,

No. This "damage" is not permanent. 30% of the world's population report experiencing migraine symptoms. These symptoms are triggered by a number of environments factors (depending on the individual) and, although they can be debilitating when you are experiencing them, do not cause any permanent structural "damage" to the brain. Many people get better once these symptoms are addressed and treated and live long, happy, fulfilling lives. If everyone who experienced migraine symptoms became a vegetable in their 50's...well, let's just say it would be the biggest focus of modern medicine, and it would be all you are hearing about. Neither of which are true.

The symptoms of migraine can be so extreme in some people that they mimic a stroke (with temporary paralysis or visual disturbances), but even those people can get better with the right treatment plan.

It seems to me from your posts that you are able to live a fairly normal life (outside of sometimes crippling anxiety). You've been able to participate in a lot of activities that I would never dream of being able to do. It also seems that when you trigger symptoms (from either a panic attack, migraine, or some other neurological event), they resolve and return to baseline rather quickly. You often worry that you will need to cancel plans months in advance, but have you ever actually had a significant symptom regression that lasted months? If you haven't, I'm not entirely sure what your worries are related to.

CTE is of concern only to a very special portion of the population who gets either tackled or punched 10+ times daily, for decades in a row. A regular person might slip and fall or accidentally bump their head on something a few times a week. This is not in the same stratosphere as the extreme athletes that CTE is happening to.

Some people experience vestibular symptoms that make movement of the head uncomfortable (I have this). It can even sometimes seem like you can feel your brain move. It is important to know that it is NOT POSSIBLE to feel your brain. Any pain or movement sensations you feel are coming from nerves on the outside of your head. Those are sensations that your brain creates, based on input from sensory signals it is receiving. If you are experiencing this, I would suggest seeing someone who specializes in vestibular disorders. If you are just having panic attacks, I would suggest CBT. Either way, REAL doctors are going to be a much larger benefit to you than reassurances from random people on the internet. You have so much life to live...why waste it worrying instead of addressing your symptoms?

My apologies for the last post, Ben. I hadn't been reading the threads on this site much recently. I see you did, in fact, have a few symptom regressions that took months to resolve.

I stand by what I said about the damage not being permanent. These small incidents can trigger migraine, whiplash, panic attacks, or a combination of all three. This can cause neurological symptoms that can be debilitating but TEMPORARY. If your doctors aren't being helpful I would recommend seeing a better one. All three of those things can be treated, so it's best to figure out the root cause so this stops happening to you and you can stop worrying. There are many folks on this site who have had major success with proper neck treatment, and migraine medication has made a world of difference for people like me. Folks on the internet can speculate about your specific case, but only a specialist is really going to be able to help (sometimes needs to be a really good one...like, working for the NFL good). Best of luck!!

No, inflammatory damage is not permanent. The brain is capable of healing and repairing itself and can regenerate new cells. But it takes the brain a long time to clean up the inflammation so that's why it's important to take something right away to stop the cascade of symptoms.