Double Concussion & Broken Nose ~ After effects

[unikornfairy]

Hello,

My 17 year old son was doing ROTC Maneuvers at school on October 2, 2012 and suffered a double-concussion and a broken nose. He had intense headaches, staggered, was utterly confused with short-term memory loss, stayed nauseated, couldn't eat, couldn't handle loud or sudden noises and bright light sent him into orbit for over a week. He is still having some short-term memory problems, issues with loud noises or bright lights. But by far, the worst problem is his inability to keep food down unless he's taking Zofran before meals. He's lost 17 lbs since October 2 due to the problems with keeping food down and a lack of appetite. The doctors have done an ultrasound (normal except for a 16 mm cyst on the left kidney pole), a C.T. scan that we're waiting for the results, and is scheduled for an endoscopy. Since my son had no problems eating before the concussion, I still believe this is due to the injury. But, only one website mentions continued nausea as a symptom of PCS. Has anyone else suffered from extreme nausea more than a month after the injury?

[postconcussion]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your son's injury. I hope that he will get better quickly.I had terrible nausea after my injury and also lost weight. The pain only contributed to the nausea and lifting my head to eat was difficult. Also walking and any activity would make me dizzy and nauseous.

Zofran helped immensely. Without it I would have had no appetite. Please ask your doc for a prescription. Also it was helpful for me to get the sublingual type. I was ordered the regular pill form at first but anything in my stomach made me feel sick. It does taste bad but as someone who gets all the side effects from any pill I was thrilled to have something that I did not react to.

Stomach problems are common here, especially if you have to take a lot of pills including vitamins long term.

I was also given Reglan from another doctor but the Zofran was the clear winner for me. I would feel relief minutes later and would take it continuously. I hope that he gets some relief soon.

Take care!

[pcslife]

My mTBI was 3.5 years ago and I had that terrible nausea about 2 months later and suffered. I resisted myself taking Zofran and then gave up and took it. It does work very good. I have to change my diet to control it. Mostly I eat fresh fruits, veggies, Yoghurt etc., I avoid meat as much as I can. Because of my nausea feeling now I can't even take any Vitamin pills besides the sublingual ones.

I have both dizziness and nausea which can get pretty ugly at times. I didn't know what nausea means before my mTBI. Also I tried many meds like Elavil, Cymbalta, Notriptyline, Neurontin etc., which sure messed up my stomach. Now I take only minimum dosage of Xanax which also helps my nausea besides my dizziness. Now I take Zofran only occasionally when stomach throws me in a loop.

I lost about 20lbs after my mTBI and now I gained back. I do understand what your son going through. Hope he gets some relief soon and since he is young he has a better chance of full recovery.

[Mark in Idaho]

unikornfairy,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am sorry to hear of your son's injury.

Can you give us a better explanation of his injury. Did he fall and hit his head and continue falling and hit his head again? Or was this a coup-contra-coup injury?

Neck injuries that can happen during the head injury can cause gastric problems. A likely injury would be at C-6 to T-3, between the shoulder blades. I suffered an injury at T-3 decades ago and lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks. A Stanford GI doctor could not find the problem. A chiropractor finally found that I had dislocated a rib that was inflaming the nerves that lead to my stomach and esophagus. All I was doing when I injured myself was splitting firewood with a splitting maul. I swung hard and popped a rib out of place.

Hope this helps you get him the help he needs.

My best to you both.

[StupidRugger]

Zofran helped me some, but just a fair warning: continual use WILL make him constipated. It got so bad for me that I had to go to the doctor. When I'm nauseated now I try to use peppermint and ginger first before I resort to zofran.