What is Post Concussion Syndrome?

[greenlemon15]

I am curious to learn more about post concussion syndrome. In the past 4-5 years I have had 4 or 5 "mild" concussions and am starting to get worried. I received all of these from sports and have since pulled myself from such dangerous situations but I fear I am still dealing with the after effects of my reckless youth. After my last concussion I had extremely bad vertigo, memory loss, and headaches. They got so bad I had to get a Cat Scan because they thought my brain might be bleeding, thank god it was negative. Well I recently got in a car accident and have no clue if I did hit my head or not. I went to the ER and I was cleared in a few hours. That night I had the worst Vertigo, when I say Vertigo I mean spins and dizziness if I am using this wrong sorry I was told that this was the correct term, which result in my inability to stand, see, and really talk. They wanted me back in the ER asap but I refused because I thought I could just deal. Well it has been two months since the crash and I am still having issues. My balance, which used to be great since I was an athlete all my life, is terrible. I bump into doors, wall, trip constantly, my memory is no where near what it used to be. I have issues remembering simple things like take out the trash to long term things like next Monday go to the Doctors. I still have headaches and all of this scares me. Is there a chance all these concussions have done some serious damage to me? Is there anything I can do? Please help, thanks.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Post concussion syndrome may resolve in a few weeks or it may continue for years together. It all depends on the severity of the concussions.

Your use of the term "vertigo" is probably correct. The best way to describe is a feeling that everything around you is spinning. I would recommend that you should consult your Neurologist again and get an MRI of the brain. A more advanced and useful imaging technique is the PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan. It can tell you which areas of the brain have been affected by the concussions.

Regards

[greenlemon15]

OK I will look into that. I have noticed my symptoms do not seem to be going away with the exception I have has severe spins in a few weeks. It just gets tough to do things when you have problems seeing and your constantly off balance.