hi duncan the link to the site posted by sc has some good advice, I tryed to go back to work 6 week post damage and it was a disaster, rest seems to be the order of the day ,and NO MORE BANGS ON THE HEAD I have talked to people who are epileptic and often hit there heads and it really can be cumulative, so take care , and go back to the docs, mistakes can and do get made at A& E I was sent home at 4am past out in bed had to get to another hospital 30 miles away then sent home again with multiple skull fracture for six days on day two, I got a CSF blood, leak coming out my nose I went to have the plates fitted and they freaked and sent me for an MIR finally got the bones fixed 13 days after I was injured I new nothing about head injury and couldn't help myself to get something done so like sc says make sure you get what you need keep us posted

kind regards Vini

rest does seem to be the key for sure- the other day when i was feeling a bit better i thought 'great- i can do everything now i feel better' and the next day i felt wrecked again, still do. just started a new job today as well, arrgh!
clinical amounts of coffee seems to help though..

hi duncan its a good sign that you are having better days

take it easy and good luck with the new job

vini

thanks man. ill try and take it easy.

Hi Duncan,

Welcome, I'm new here also. I am not sure what all of your symptoms mean, but I know I have had very similar symptoms after my car accident. I was diagnosed in the ER with concussion, Post-Concussive Syndrome, two broken ribs, etc. But as in your case, not much was done. The ambulatory team simply sent me home after determining my blood pressure and that I had a pulse, so they were even worse.

What did help was getting an MRI, so that there was "concrete" evidence that I DID (and still do) have brain damage resulting from this particular accident. At least I didn't think I was crazy anymore - the Doctors in the ER were saying if they thought I needed an MRI at 4 a.m. they would order one; but the thing was, no one was there to run the thing so it was out of the question. I had to get a referral and then they finally (two weeks later) located the origin of my problems. I don't want to sound discouraging, but perhaps you should look into getting an MRI done, just to be on the safe side of things and, even tho' sometimes it's not what you want to see or hear (as in my case), it is a relief, because if people / family around you doubt that you're feeling horrid (as they did in my case) at least you have proof right there in your hand.

Also - brain and neck injuries can and do get worse so they should be checked out. If you can find a really GOOD chiropractor (I seem to have found a good one) - and I say this with caution because there are some out there who will only want you coming back for more - then by all means, go get adjusted. But make sure you get some good referrals first, don't just go to the first one in the phone book.

Research on the net if you are able to (I know I couldn't use the computer much at all during my first 2 weeks) - you will be able to connect a lot with what you are going through - I know I did. At 2 weeks out - you could still be dealing with PCS (post-concussive) issues, and those may go away sooner or later (hopefully sooner) and you won't have any more to worry about. But I would worry about the injury to your neck, and it wouldn't hurt to get some images of your neck and an MRI of your brain just to see if something didn't get knocked loose - I have a couple marbles missing myself So you're in good company.

My symptoms which I have still (some 4 weeks after my car accident) are similar to yours which is why I responded to your post:

- extreme tiredness (can't even get through a single day)...
Not me before the wreck, as anyone would tell you!

- inability to concentrate

- inability to process information

That inability to process information could be brain-related also; it was in my case. So be careful not to fall into the assumption the doctors at the ER make a lot of times - that its PCS and will go away in "four weeks" The bottom line is, if they aren't looking into your brain on CT scan or MRI, they do not know. I had to find that out for myself the hard way. So see if you can get an MRI if you can afford it and have health insurance. It's better to be safe than sorry - as the old saying goes. Take care, I hope you find a way around your injuries... and back to yourself. I'm still looking for me. I know I'm somewhere around here, lol

hi tigress, thanks for posting. i know how you feel, especially the tiredness- its a killer. However i have discovered something that seems to help- ginkgo biloba. I started taking it 3 days ago, and for the past 2 days i've had the most energy and clarity since i hit my head. i dont wanna speak too soon, and maybe thats not whats helping but i definitely have been feeling a lot better. Maybe it would help you too..
The neck though, is still just the same- if it doesnt get better soon i will have to get it seen to. I did consider a chiropractor actually,if it doesn't get better, but as you said, its hard to know if they're good or not.
Another weird thing that just started is this twitch in my leg. Who knows if it's related but it's driving me mad. The muscle above my knee twitches, involuntarily, all the time. I couldn't sleep last night for it!! Maybe a side effect of the ginkgo.. still worth it though.
It's still early days for both of us though, so there is hope. Let me know how you're getting on.

Duncan,

Hello, Duncan. You mentioned "The thing im a bit concerned about is the cracking in the back of my neck, has anyone else experienced this?" Well, I absolutely have ! I want to say with the strongest emphasis that if you NEED TO SEE A NEUROLOGIST ... like, yesterday! If your doc is a brain doctor, express your deep concern. It's a legit issue.

I had a motor vehicle accident and I broke my neck in 2 places. The Thoracic vertebrates have been fused to the Cervical vertebrates via a titanium rod. I was also in a coma for over a month.

If you have ANYTHING similar, I implore you to get a doctor (specializing in brain and spinal cord injuries) to look you over. What you've been describing sounds very similar to an injury to your brain. I may be 100% wrong, but please get that ruled out.

If you ever need someone to talk to or questions answered from someone who's lived through it, please don't hesitate to send me a message (if your new ... look in the right corner of your screen, and click "Private Messages")

Good luck & God speed!

Joe M

hi joe
thanks for telling me that, you've convinced me to demand some proper treatment.. one question though, is it the cracking in my neck that makes you think i could have some brain injury or because of the other symptoms? I ask this because the other symptoms seem (touch wood) to be getting better, despite the fact a bike fell on my head the other day!! (i work in a bike shop) but the neck is still the same..
Could i be walking around with a broken neck all this time?
Cheers, Duncan.
i was gonna send this as a pm by the way, but couldnt get it to work for some reason.

Duncan, I would NOT let a chiro touch me until I had exhausted all other options. DO see a specialist as has been suggested. I wish you well.

Hi, you should definitely have your spine xrayed. I am in my 7th year of pcs and have had a continual battle with getting "good" help and information.

I have only recently had my xrays taken by a chiropractor and she also looked at my MRI.( she is a relation who sepcialises in cranial massage for new born babies). AND guess what!! The MRI shows that in the past I would probably have had broken bones around my sinus as one of the passages is so crooked and narrow and there is a piece of bone showing that she told me has broken off either my first or second vertebra.

It sounds weird but I felt like cheering as finally some evidence of a severe knock - all the time that I have been told by the insurer's specialists that my concussions were only minor and that the effects are more than you would expect for such minor bangs to the head. They didn't accept my QEEG report. So finally I could see something physical - immense relief.

So Duncan, trust your instincts, there are not that many specialists/doctors etc that actually know a lot about concussion. If you don't agree with anything you are told keep going until your find somebody that you can trust.

In the meantime avoid being over tired and learn to pace yourself - in my 7 years of this pcs, tiredness is the cause of most of the symptons. It is hard to accept that less effort is better and to not think that you are being lazy.

In the initial time after my accident - and yes concussion is cumulative - I am a walking example of this - I pushed myself and kept tyrying to work full time etc and it was the worse thing that I could have done. The A&E that I went to actually accused me of being a fraud when I kept going back saying that I felt really terrible and still had headaches - it was a nightmare. A neuro/psychologist eventually said I had pcs and that was over 3 months later.

Lynlee