CR, please do update us after your appointment tomorrow.
Am I the only one checking this thread daily, hoping for news on the OP?
I sure hope she’s okay.
Hi everyone, I had my neurologist appointment. Apparently I managed to hit right on the occipital nerve on the back of my head and since I have a history of migraines, perhaps also have had a migraine and haven’t been able to break it. In her opinion, I don’t have a concussion simply because I didn’t get knocked out or feel weird afterwards. She wanted to just address the pain so gave me a steroid Z pack to hopefully break this cycle by reducing any swelling. So far I still have the headaches and other symptoms and I’m on day four of the steroid. If it doesn’t help, there is another medication she wants to try…I can’t remember the name of it, but it was previously used as an antidepressant and know is used for pain. I think she said she’d want me on that daily and because the migraines apparently will come back more often and more severe than before, she’ll get me a migraine medication as well.
Glad you updated! Hope this plan works and you can get some relief.
I think you misunderstood your neurologist. If she thinks you have swelling you did have a concussion, and the migraines are part of post concussion syndrome. You don’t have to be knocked out or have memory problems to have had a concussion. And you haven’t been feeling right ever since, you’ve been plagued by severe headaches.
No I had asked her if she thought I had a concussion and she said unless I “saw stars” or blacked out, then I mostly likely had NOT had a concussion. I hadn’t thought that was true but that was her opinion. She thinks I haven’t been able to break the migraine cycle because of the head trauma of hitting the occipital nerve (she used something to test/knock on specific parts of the sides and back of my head to see where the pain was and hit spot on the occipital nerve).
Amitryptilene. It worked for me but made me put on lots of weight and they had to keep increasing the dose.
[QUOTE=Crown Royal;7424145]
No I had asked her if she thought I had a concussion and she said unless I “saw stars” or blacked out, then I mostly likely had NOT had a concussion. I hadn’t thought that was true but that was her opinion. She thinks I haven’t been able to break the migraine cycle because of the head trauma of hitting the occipital nerve (she used something to test/knock on specific parts of the sides and back of my head to see where the pain was and hit spot on the occipital nerve).[/QUOTE]
Sorry but that’s freaking nonsense. :eek: Just be careful, OK?
I hope you feel better soon!
I agree that it is ridiculous. My hisband was skiing in Vermont last week and one of his friends wiped out. Never lost consciousness or saw stars, said he felt fine. They did a ct and he had blood on his brain. No doubt a TBI in his case and likely yours as well.
I agree - I have a Traumatic Brain Injury brought on by a car accident. I did not “see stars” or hit my head. I didn’t even know I was hurt. MRI and CAT were normal. BUT- my memory didn’t work, I had no balance, couldn’t put together a sentence, and had a headache that made me feel just BAD. I eventually was sent to physical therapy by my neurologist where I learned to stop the headaches. Then I was sent to rehab for people with TBI. After many tests, I learned I had no working memory, couldn’t recognize one person from another, etc. Three YEARS later, I have a slight improvement, but will most likely always be disabled from it.
Frankly, I can’t believe a neurologist said that. There is no neurologist I know who would believe that you had to see stars or feel funny in order for a concussion to have happened. First of all, because someone with a concussion often cannot be counted on to give an accurate assessment of how they feel. You can have bleeding on the brain and not even know it. The worst thing anyone can do in head injury is take the word of the patient. Judgement is unreliable.
OP if your neurologist actually said what you told us she did, get a second opinion/swap out neurologists. I can’t believe with your symptoms and having fallen and hit your head its been 9 weeks until you were seen.
If it is occipital neuralgia, then she should do an occipital nerve block. If it relieves the pain, then she would know if that is the source. If it does not, then it isn’t. Either way, with the kind of “childish” response she gave you, I would seek a second opinion asap! As one who has been to a lot of very incompetent neurologists, trust me, a lot of them do NOT know what they are talking about!
ditto what everyone else is saying. your neuro apparently has no clue how to diagnose a concussion. Please get a second opinion. My daughter has post concussive syndrome and it has been almost a year, still has lingering symptoms, never passed out. The headaches have come and gone this whole time. her neurologist continues to follow her closely.
Hm sounds like a second opinion is necessary then. There is another neurologist in the same office that I can try to schedule with. Unfortunately my area is not filled with the best of the best as far as doctors go so it’s very common to be unsatisfied with the answers received.
She really did say that she doesn’t think a concussion was possible because I didn’t feel funny or see stars…yet every medical website I’ve read says that’s not true.
She did ask questions but was more concerned what medications I had been given that didn’t work and dealing with pain management. The only physical examination she gave me was tapping the back and sides of my head to see where exactly the pain was. Once I reacted to the occipital nerve, she said that was the problem, along with a migraine that couldn’t break, and that the steroids would break it and that was that. She told me not to ride for a week and that the migraines would just come back more severe and more frequently. That’s it.
I use a Back On Track neck brace to help with Occipital Neuralgia. I also take Naproxim (sp?) OR Robaxocil
The neck brace or any heat applied seems to really help me. I agree with getting the nerve blocked to see if that will offer you a more long term solution though…the neck brace works well enough for me that I didn’t need to try further treatments. Good luck.
She didn’t do anything else in terms of a neuro exam??
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She didn’t do anything else in terms of a neuro exam??[/QUOTE]
No that was it. She saw the CT scan report and the MRI (without contrast…so really what can you see?) report and that was all.
I’m no neurologist, but I do go to a neurologist a few times a year so this is just my 2 cents. Every single neuro i’ve been to (5-6 including neurosurgeons, maybe more) does at LEAST a basic exam every single time I’m in the office. I would think she should have done at least a basic exam.
A second opinion certainly couldnt hurt.
Didn’t you say you are near Baltimore? We have some of the best doctors in the world here. Try a neurosurgeon next time. Mine was at Mercy Medical Center but Hopkins is obviously good too.
PM me and I’ll give you the name of the neurologist I see at the University of Maryland at Baltimore for my migraines.
Judy
