Having slipped on black ice four years ago I suffered with severe headaches, balance problems, vision problems, neckache, nausea, sinus problems, memory, cognitive, organisational skills. A year later I started to be bullied by my two bosses in a subtle way, this continued. I, went through two grievance procedures but couldn't cope with this on top of the work pressure and my continuing symptoms and eventually quit the job. I tried three other jobs couldn't cope with the first two and got made redundant from the last this year due to not being able to take more work on and suffering fatigue. It took me two years before I could drink a small glass of wine without exacerbated headaches and having to crawl to the bathroom the following morning. I received very little support from my Doctors, initially refusing me any diagnostic referrals, telling me to get some glasses sorted when I told them my vision was affected. My repeated requests for cognitive tests were ignored. I have had limited access to rehab. I lost my home because the Doctor refused to provide any more sick notes and I couldn't claim any benefits. I got a solicitor who basically left me to do all the work, I felt like they were supporting the third party instead of me. I travelled down to London the beginning of last year to get a standing MRI of my CCJ and neck because of unremarkable results from a brain MRI and CT scan. The brain MRI which I got two and a half years post accident had just shown several white matter hypertintensities which I was told was normal for my age (54). The upright scan showed I had torn left alar ligament, substantially thinned transverse ligaments, brain herniation and kyphotic clivo-axial angle. Now my medico-legal consultant said I suffered a concussion which would have lasted one month. For the record, his name is Mr Peter Goulding and he practices in the Leeds/Harrogate area. He couldn't open the disc with the images on and refused toeven try. He said I had a history of balance problems before my fall which was an absolute lie, I have my medical records to prove I didn't. he said the torn alar ligaments would be due to an existing neck problem lower down, he didn 't believe I had a DIA which had been suggested by two previous consultants and to cap it all he said it was his belief I had no physical injury. Because of his report I got a meagre compensation settlement. I am still suffering with memory, cognition,organising and fatigue. I go to bed at night my brain still throbs and my eyes still rapidly blink and roll whenshut. I've had to move out of my home yet again because of him. I am so angry , the charges for his shabby report were over £2500 which was taken out of my compensation. Who needs a brain injury when people like this make you ill? I would be grateful for any feedback on this type of injury causing these symptoms or if any one else has had an upright MRI.
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droopybrain123
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I am sorry to read for what you have been though, you have to understand that there will be no one with your exacte symptoms and they wont recover in the same way that you will but we will be able offer advice and guidance to this invisible disability, you have to understand that many different types of brain injury, have you contacted your local headway? or have a look on their site: headway.org.uk/ there is lots of information and a telephone number you can call
Hi Bexx87, thank you for your reply and advice, I've been in contact with Headway and they are very helpful and do give out lots of information. I only wish Neurologists knew as much about head injury as the Headway Staff do, sadly this doesn't seem to be the case, I think mainly because they don't listen to their patients.
Although I am not qualified (medically) I would have thought any bang to the head may affect the brain's operation (does that sound right?) I would suggest you speak to some one at Headway as Bexx87 suggests.
Thank you dillm2, your right it does affect the brains processing patterns. Headway staff are excellent, I didn't know about them until two years post accident.
We are not qualified medically, and has already been said everyone recovers in a different way.
It sounds to me like concussion if you banged your head or jolted your neck, but it would be difficult to definitively say as many brain injuries of this type do not show up on MRI scans.
If you have read many posts on here you will have read how frustrated many are of their inability to get meaningful follow up appointments/treatments.
I agree with your previous replies, start with a call to Headway for advice.
Hi Janet, thank you for your reply. I've done some research and just want to say my symptoms were severe for a very long time so I couldn't comprehend why my MRI an CT scans were unremarkable. Going for the functional MRI (standing MRI) of the CCJ and neck has proved that I've sustained injuries that have obviously got to be linked to my symptoms. I have had a physical trauma and no I'm not psychosomatic as been told by doctors. I want to make everyone aware of this because so many doctors are telling people theres nothing wrong with them. These upright scanners use high proton density imaging and show the brain and its surrounding anatomy in its upright position (against gravity). They are expensive but if people need answers then this is the best thing they can do. When we begin to have significant numbers of abnormal scan results then hopefully we can stop these Doctors misdiagnosing us. ( Medserina in London was where I attended).
Balance problems is definitely one symptom you can get from brain injury I have balance problems. Not to extent it effects my life but I can't balance on one leg more than a few seconds. Short term memory is another symptom I think more common than others and for me it's like I'm not sure if when I forget things if it's cos of brain injury or if I'd of forgot anyway. Headaches, vision problems and fatiugue are also symptoms which can effect people. I'm shocked at your doctors attitude making out you have always had balance problems I would change doctor and put a complaint in about them.
Everyone with brain injury is effected differently and in some people it's hard to tell they have had one. I go to group meet ups with people who have had BI and every one copes differently. One thing I have noticed is you can spot the people who have had to have physio afterwards straight away with way they walk like they are stomping around. I was told by a woman who helps there the reason is because when learning to walk again physios get you to wear shoes which stops you hurting your feet if you slam them down so when relearning to walk you just focus on getting one foot in front of other and tend to slam your feet down. Without shoes this would hurt your feet and make you walk more properly but with shoes you don't think about it. The bloke who set the group up you would never think he had had head injury but he says he gets tired faster and struggles concentrating on a few things at once. Once we was in the room all talking and the bloke was outside talking to someone at reception and someone shut door and woman who helps there said the bloke wouldn't be taking notice of what we were talking about cos he would be concentrating on what he was doing. Yet to talk to him you wouldn't ever think anything was wrong he even told me a good tip on getting a photo of something moving which I never thought of and it's very rare anyone can learn me anything about mobiles.
Hi Keeley24 thank you for your reply. Ha ha I found exactly the same that I couldn't stand on one leg to get into my trousers nor could I properly walk the line in the consultants room. It was the medico-legal neurologist who lied but hey ho! I think the higher echelons all work in collusion together. I mean just think how much it would cost the big insurance companies and shareholders if everyone with a BI from a car accident or fall could claim their rightful compensation. Its far easier and less costly to misdiagnose us and leave us to cope with the eventual loss of our homes. I did feel very heavy legged at first but this seems to not affect me as much now, I wasn't so bad that I was unable to walk. I understand the concentration problems that the gentleman has, and any background noise makes it even harder. I hope your keeping well and getting better with each day. TC. Karen. Xxx
Hi there. It sounds like you've been through a really rough time. Did you get a diagnosis of concussion at the time of your accident? I got my concussion after coming off my bike on ice last year. I went to A&E and had a CT scan that was clear (concussion doesn't show up on scans). A week later I went back as my symptoms had got worse and was diagnosed with post concussion syndrome. It sounds like this is what you have. It can take a few months to recover but there are many of us who haven't recovered years later so know that you're not alone in this.
Contact your local Headway branch and ask if they know of an NHS specialist that you can be referred to e.g. a neurologist or neuropsychologist. My local branch gave me a name and my GP referred me.
Unfortunately there is not much medical treatment for PCS thought it is a recognised condition. If you want to find others in a similar position, there's a Facebook group called UK Post Concussion Syndrome Support and together we're trying to find a way through this.
Hi Lizum thank you for your reply, I got a diagnosis of mild concussion at A&E but they wouldn't x-ray me. My symptoms got worse also. Doctors suggested PCS after 6 months and it was 10 months later before I got a CT scan which was reported as clear. Post concussion is a general term because they don't know what part of your brain or anatomy has been injured. And I believe the reason people aren't getting better is because there are structural abnormalities which have been caused by the injury which our NHS suppine MRI imaging equipment isn't sophisticated enough to detect. It is essential that anyone who is not recovering should (if they can afford it) go to a reputable clinic that does functional MRI imaging. This doesn't mean to say that anyone can repair the damage when found but you will have proof of injury and where the injury exactly is. Banging your head might not only rock your brain and cause lesions it can cause a brain herniation (chiari 0), it can stretch or even tear the main structural ligaments at the top of your neck that connect to the base of your skull these are the alar ligaments and transverse ligaments. (look up Whiplash Associated Disorder), You can receive a contre-coup injury where your brain bounces into the opposite side of your skull. The Clivo-axial angle can also drop but not sure if this is a knock on effective from a blow to the back of the head or whether its to do with the torn alar ligaments. As for Neurologists, a great majority of them don't have enough knowledge on these abnormalities because these functional MRI Scanners are relatively new to the UK (take a look at Medserina in London).sorry to waffle on but the sooner we start getting proof of these injuries the more we can stamp out the words psychosomatic, stress, anxiety. TC. Karen. Xx
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