Nausea and tinnitus

[Ginkgobiloba]

Hello there, I have been suffering from a wide range of ongoing symptoms three months since being concussed (by falling and hitting my head hard on the edge of a step). I have found that nausea has increased a lot over the past couple of weeks, together with tinnitus getting louder. I’ve had both since the fall, but they have got a lot worse lately. Has anyone experienced the same or similar things, or found any useful ways to reduce nausea & tinnitus after a head injury?

The gp prescribed anti nausea tablets early on, but they didn’t work and only made me very drowsy. Herbal and natural remedies like ginger tea are soothing to an extent but don’t go to the core of the constant feeling of knottedness, churning and queasiness, morning to night.

A neurologist recommends vestibular physiotherapy in case I have damaged my vestibular system, but it’s a long wait for an NHS referral and a slow process of elimination as I’m not definite this is actually what I have done or need.

My vision has been affected with strange changes to my depth perception and it feels like my brain is working harder to keep my eyes settled in synch. I wonder if this vision problem connects to the nausea, a bit like when you get motion sickness. An optician says my eyes themselves are fine, therefore I am not sure but assume it is the signals inside my brain to my eyes that have been affected somehow.

Thank you so much for reading if you are, and for any suggestions.

[pinkvision]

Hi had nausea for over a year, had visual issues, jaw and ear pains. Eventually went to an optometrist which really helped with the visual issues, am waiting to see ENT for vestibular. Am over two and a half years in now and it has all taken a long time but I am recovering quite nicely now. You say three months post accident, that may be early days for you. I would definately get on the vestibular list, ask to get on the neuro-psychology list too for cognitive testing. For optometry you will need to go private, make sure it's a real optometrist, Janet Green in Wigan and John Glover in Stockport could help.

[moo196]

I'd recommend the brandt daroff exercises (my osteopath told me about them) =less of a wait. Check with the gp that it's OK for you to do.

Otherwise there are a lot of vestibular exercise regimes online you can use.

Need to be done 5 times a day mind you.

Also the anti seasick wristbands were a tremendous help. Need to be worn night and day and probably give them at least a day to see if they may be helpful.

Good luck

[Whitleywoman]

its definitely worth seeing a vestibular physio, and an ophthalmologist (medical eye specialist, an optician will just know if you are long or short sighted) to see what exactly is happening with your vision and brain signals, there are a few things that can happen to your vision after an injury that affect balance, such as nystagmus or the visual mid line can get slightly out of sync.

[Pairofboots]

Any changes, increase in symptoms, you should go back to your GP. What wasn't apparent shorty after your accident might have changed. Concussion can take a long time to settle, but any increase could be a sign of other causation. It more than likely is just concussion running its course, but if you are worried enough to ask about it here, it is probably worth asking your GP, and don't accept the "what do you expect", you expect further investigations to be safe.

[Feebie8]

My nausea and ear ringing got increasingly worse the more I did. I was told by A&E that nausea should be viewed as a warning and not to ignore it. Are you resting, working, doing a "wee bit"? What are your activity levels?

It's gradually "settled" but the ringing in my ears (more right ear) is seemingly worth investigating...my neuro physio (treating vestibular) told me to get a hearing test to see if I have damaged my inner ear or if it's just processing issues (brain runs out of room to take all information in - visual, hearing, proprioception etc and hearing/vision etc is affected) still and my DR wants to see me "about a letter received from Specsavers" (yea...I went to Specsavers 😊 it was free) which is the tinnitus. I don't see her until February.

When you say NHS referral, is it your local brain injury unit you are being referred to?

[Oceandreams]

Hey, I can totally empathize with you. It seems like you have the same issues as me. My symptoms were confused with vestibular problems. Nobody would listen to me about my vision problems. Do some research on Post Trauma Vision Syndrome. Nausea is a huge symptom. Personally I think you’re trying to hard to soon. You need to rest. Also post concussion syndrome. I found an ophthalmologist who specializes in vision therapy. I got glasses with special prisms, bi nasal occlusion and tinted fit overs for light sensitivity. This has helped a tremendously for me to function but I feel my vision is getting worse. I had to pay for this by myself. And then found out I could’ve got this a lot cheeper through the hospital. My doctor was very un careing. I’ve since been back and demanded he referred me to a neuro ophthalmologist. My appointment is April 1st. After that probably vision therapy but it’s expensive. I tried it too soon and it made me sick. You’re not going crazy. It’s very real and very scary. It is treatable and many people recover in only a few months. Try not to push yourself to hard. If you’re brain is still swollen you could do more damage. I went to work right away and then got extremely sick and was pretty much bed ridden for 8 months. Take care.