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Having Severe Concussion. Getting Vertigo And Feeling Giddy. Having Problems With Concentration And Memory. Suggestions?
Question: Hello Doctor.
About two months ago I had a rather severe concussion - everything seems ok, however when I lie down I get vertigo abiout 5 seconds after lying down and when moving my right eye to the extreme right to look at something I feel giddy....
Now normally that would look like inner ear problem, however I have had undiagnosed serious health issues for a long time now - and they have just informed me that I may have Primary Immune Deficiency - I am definately deficient on the IgG side of things.
I am having problems with my concentration (something I was well know for being good at) and I am also having problems with my memory - I had a CT after the accident which was ok, and a follow up MRI because of the dizziness - which only found increased white matter sections in front lobe -
I would like you to look at my medical history and let me know your opinion on the below questions.
1/ I have chronic infections and low O2 sats as well as low Immunoglobun could an infection or virus have gotten through the brain blood barrier?
2/ I have chronic lung problems - could the dizziness be from that?
3/ Is this all to do with the concussion - I have had a few, but this was apparently a really big one - i could not remember where I lived for 2 days
4/ I cant have another CT scan, I have had 12 already for other reasons and many other exposures to radiation, so what can I do to investigate?
About two months ago I had a rather severe concussion - everything seems ok, however when I lie down I get vertigo abiout 5 seconds after lying down and when moving my right eye to the extreme right to look at something I feel giddy....
Now normally that would look like inner ear problem, however I have had undiagnosed serious health issues for a long time now - and they have just informed me that I may have Primary Immune Deficiency - I am definately deficient on the IgG side of things.
I am having problems with my concentration (something I was well know for being good at) and I am also having problems with my memory - I had a CT after the accident which was ok, and a follow up MRI because of the dizziness - which only found increased white matter sections in front lobe -
I would like you to look at my medical history and let me know your opinion on the below questions.
1/ I have chronic infections and low O2 sats as well as low Immunoglobun could an infection or virus have gotten through the brain blood barrier?
2/ I have chronic lung problems - could the dizziness be from that?
3/ Is this all to do with the concussion - I have had a few, but this was apparently a really big one - i could not remember where I lived for 2 days
4/ I cant have another CT scan, I have had 12 already for other reasons and many other exposures to radiation, so what can I do to investigate?
Brief Answer:
Concussion is the underlying cause....
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I agree with you that concussion is the most likely cause of your symptoms. This can cause dizziness as well as memory issues. There is no need to do another scan of brain, as it is not required, and also the findings would be non specific.
There is no possibility of infection entering the brain, unless there was a fracture of base of skull during the head injury. Any fracture would have got picked up in the CT scan, so, one can safely assume that you have no brain infection, even though you have immune deficiency.
Treatment would be mosty symptomatic for dizziness with medications such as betahistine, and vestibular adaptation exercises.
For memory issues, piracetam would help. Also, it is important to make sure that have no deficiency of vitamin B12 or thyroid.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Concussion is the underlying cause....
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I agree with you that concussion is the most likely cause of your symptoms. This can cause dizziness as well as memory issues. There is no need to do another scan of brain, as it is not required, and also the findings would be non specific.
There is no possibility of infection entering the brain, unless there was a fracture of base of skull during the head injury. Any fracture would have got picked up in the CT scan, so, one can safely assume that you have no brain infection, even though you have immune deficiency.
Treatment would be mosty symptomatic for dizziness with medications such as betahistine, and vestibular adaptation exercises.
For memory issues, piracetam would help. Also, it is important to make sure that have no deficiency of vitamin B12 or thyroid.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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