Concussion relief

[Kind345]

Seeking some suggestions for relief from dizziness, tinnitus and headaches from a concussion.

[Beachlovingkiwi]

Where to start....... lots of mini brain breaks - 10 mins lying down with something covering eyes- ideally one per hour at start, yoga - love your brain website has some great stuff, meditation, heat - heat pack on shoulders - calms the nervous system, spas are great for that too, breathing from you belly - any calm breathing exercises, time away from screens, make a diary or schedule for yourself so you can see what seems to trigger symptoms. Nice relaxing walk in fresh air - gazing into the distance/horizon. I didn’t experience dizziness much but when I did doing things at a slower pace helped.Please be kind to yourself things will get better it’s really a time and patience thing..... hope you get some relief soon and have some support too .

[Kind345 in reply to Beachlovingkiwi]

Thank you. I’ve been doing more walks and trying my best to decrease screen time. One of my biggest challenge is lack of sleep as well as the dizziness and headaches. For the love of me I can’t sleep. I am open to any suggestions for sleep aid

[Beachlovingkiwi in reply to Kind345]

I got pit on amitripilyne. Small dose 20mg and I also take magnesium complete sleep health supplements. A also had a small prescription for sleeping pills which I had next to the bed for those nights when brain would not turn off and tinnitus was bad. Hope this helps - maybe talk to your gp. Life will return eventually 😀

[moo196]

Daily yoga nidra sessions. Balance exercises and anti seasick wristbands 24/7.These may help you

[Kind345 in reply to moo196]

Thank you. I’ve tried scopolamine patch which made the blurry vision worst. I’ve tried Dramamine which has no effect. I will incorporate yoga. Any advise on sleep aid?

[Beachlovingkiwi]

I also signed up and receive emails with up to date info from this group. Concussion Alliance. Some very helpful stuff at times. Sleep is super important to recovery so if I was you I would go see my gp and explain and get some sleeping pills/aid

Website

[Beachlovingkiwi]

I also signed up and receive emails with up to date info from this group. Concussion Alliance. Some very helpful stuff at times. Sleep is super important to recovery so if I was you I would go see my gp and explain and get some sleeping pills/aid

Website

[Painting-girl]

Hello Kind,

So sorry you have this. I remember it well.

Dizziness can be vertigo ( BPPV) vestibular and/ or oculomotor issues. So as Moo says, balance and eye exercises - see if you can find a concussion specialist physio? I think GPs can help with BPPV nhs.uk/conditions/vertigo/

Headaches - mine were a combination of post traumatic migraine and a constant one caused by nerves in my neck - again the specialist physio stopped these, but the ordinary physio I tried first didn't.

Everything is made worse by fatigue, so as everyone else says - do hourly brain breaks. Nidra yoga is indeed awesome (it is also called a 'body scan practice' by mindfulness tutors) you may be able to find some free recordings online. Basically you lay down and breathe with your eyes shut, but just fall short of being fully asleep. Some of the yoga for headache/ migraine exercises on YouTube by Adrienne can be helpful too.

Insomnia, and late night snacking goes with the territory too. Weirdly enough mine is always much worse when I'm more fatigued during the day. So try starting with those hourly brain breaks and the nidra yoga. (Set timers to take breaks, and to limit your phone and screen time).

Sleeplessness can also be provoked by anxiety - unfortunately depression and anxiety can be triggered directly by concussion - so talking therapy and antidepressants can also help (amitriptyline did knock me out at night, but it gave me over vivid dreams and I couldn't cope with the dry mouth ).

Do try talking to the Headway helpline too, for support and treatment options to discuss with your GP. 0808 800 2244

Hope things start to improve a bit soon 🌸

[Kind345 in reply to Painting-girl]

I’m on Amitriptyline as well. I also did some yoga that Adrienne posts. I’m looking forward to trying the Nidra yoga later this evening and see if that helps. Anxiety and depression goes hand in hand with concussion; unfortunately. I’m in therapy with a Neuropsych to help with this. I’m looking forward to more constant better days. I’ve come a far way in my recovery but I still have a way to go

[Painting-girl in reply to Kind345]

It's really good you've got a neuropsychologist - mine was very good, particularly on the fatigue coaching. I did better on Duloxetine (though everyone is different) than amitriptyline - it's got a pain control element - have been completely off it for a couple of months now, and had my last neuropsychologist appointment last week - we'd worked onto monthly appointments anyway by then.

Are you talking your amitriptyline last thing at night?

Welcome to the forum by the way - what happened to you?

[Symundo]

Hi Kind,

I have all what you have for years now.

Recommend bubble pack around your head for dizziness so you don’t get more concussed.

Tinnitus : Radio on louder and no medication, because they all make the tinnitus worse. Also don’t talk about tinnitus, because then the tinnitus knows your talking about it so gets much louder.

Headaches : paracetamol & or tramadol works best but then you can’t hear anything because your tinnitus is screaming like a Banchee.

Or take nothing and eat well and take multi vitamins and cross fingers it goes.

And sleeping. Nothing helps.

Melatonin you can get of eBay helps. Google herbs to sleep. I’ve tried all of them. The only thing that works for me is temazapam and or zopiclone from doc.

Don’t take pain killers up to 3 hours before sleep because they cause insomnia.

Try herbal 1st, because it’s an otherwise slippery slope of pain killers and sleeping tablets and Anytriptyiline that only works if I don’t eat. But it makes me starving hungry.

And careful of joints in Yoga. I can’t do it because all joints were shattered, so bending makes the joints worse. But puts more wear and tear on joints in general.

This is all what a neurologist will say. He might suggest balloons instead of bubble pack, but ahh well what ye gonna do. 🤪

I hope it all goes away and exercising helps a lot with deep breathes. Oxygen in blood aids recovery.

[Symundo in reply to Symundo]

Hi Kind, Here’s some herbal sleep tablets I’ve tried.

Nytol Herbal.

Kalms Night.

Valerian Root tablets and powder.

Sleapeaze.

Vantage sleep aid.

Phenergan that can you have prescribed or bought over the counter at phamarcies.

[Kind345 in reply to Symundo]

Much thanks

[Mooch21]

I had post concussion syndrome with constant dizziness I did well on nortriptyline

[Symundo in reply to Mooch21]

Is Nortriptyline very similar to Anytriptyline with minor help to sleep, dizziness, concentration etc ? It’s just it was mentioned to me to try by a Neurologist, but asking my GP to change my meds, would be easier winning the jackpot lottery 5 times in a row.

Never got to try it out.

[Mooch21]

Its an anti depressant but the Neuro was not prescribing it for depression. He told me it helps relax the brain amd to take it at night. It worked tremendously like the 1st time I took it

[Painting-girl in reply to Mooch21]

Nortriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant like amitriptyline - they increase serotonin levels in the brain like SSRIs and SNRIs do - it's very personal what drugs do and don't work for each individual. I hated the dry mouth and grogginess after I took amitriptyline, but Duloxetine (an SNRI with a pain relief element) was helpful for headaches and anxiety. Still haven't cracked sleep! Everything has side effects - it's just a matter of what you can and can't tolerate personally, and how much benefit you get personally.

I am not happy, that having been off all the drugs for a few months, I've still got the dry mouth - annoyingly the neuropsychiatrist only casually and belatedly mentioned that it might not go away after stopping taking the drugs - which I now feel quite miffed about. I feel I should have asked more questions beforehand about any long lasting effects - but I'm not sure whether or not I would have made different choices at the time? I would have done pretty much anything to get rid of the continuous headache and post traumatic migraine at the time - and it worked.

NB All of these drugs have to be started at low doses and when stopping them tapered off very slowly and carefully, with medical supervision.

Older people like me should also be a little wary of anticholinergic drugs too - which I was keen to come off, and did so with support from the consultant.

health.harvard.edu/mind-and....

That said - if you're on a drug that's working for you, my non medical opinion would be to stick with it.