u/Standard-Current172

I went to my ER yesterday after I was sitting on the couch, looked down and realized my right arm/hand looked kind of… gray. I had IV compazine and Benadryl about 2 weeks ago for a post concussion migraine and noticed around 3 days later that my bicep felt engaged even when it wasn’t. Tender from the crook of my arm up through my mid upper arm. Everyone told me it was just my anxiety, and I personally feel that was a fair assumption, because there was swelling but localized to the bicep with no redness and no obvious heat to the touch.

On and off it would feel like my hand just wouldn’t retain heat, but sometimes it was like it would randomly refill with blood and it would be warm again. If it was under blankets it would retain heat.

Anyway I went to the ER, and the doctors were ambivalent to say the least but they did do a Doppler, and sure enough I have a “nonocclusal superficial thrombosis at my antecubal fossa.” They offered anticoagulants but also said conservative care was an option; I chose conservative care (warm compresses, NSAIDs, and elevation) because blood thinners sound iffy but now I’m wondering if I made a mistake?

They want me to follow up with my GP after the holiday weekend but I live in a rural town where no doctors offices have medical imaging tech so I’m just wondering what my doctor is supposed to do when I see her.

Anyone have experience with this? They said that it’s in my cephalic vein so it’s still superficial but has the capacity to become DVT if it travels. Is that likely? I’m just a bit… confused 😅

Hi all!

I made a post here recently that was pretty much a spiral (and I want to apologize for that frankly, kinda embarrassing) but I’ve since had some testing done and I’m curious of others’ experiences here. Sorry if it’s long, I’ll include a TLDR in the end.

Had a car accident back in April, had no clue I was concussed until about a month-ish later after I went to a concert and felt like my brain had been blown outwards.

I’ve been so anxious lately, my health anxiety especially has spiralled into me assuming every twinge of my body is a disaster and my adrenaline surges constantly when I’m overstimulated or in a migraine flare up. Heart palpitations, like a fish in my chest, hot flashes, and hyper awareness of bodily sensations.

I’m close to the end of 5 weeks of FMLA and I may need to extend. So far I’ve had a VNG test done noting the possibility of PPPD along with “bilateral peripheral dysfunction” and evidence of central vestibular impairment. They also noted some nystagmus in my eye movements, but my eye exam isn’t until end of July. I’m waiting on MRI/MRA results now, but I know the likelihood of them coming back clean is pretty high (based on research I’ve done). Personally, I think some of it is from the whiplash that was never treated.

That being said, I’m going to have to extend my leave a little longer or get accommodations because I can’t drive more than a few minutes without triggering the worst vestibular migraines ever. And that’s with sunglasses, hats, etc. Part of my problem is that stress causes migraine symptoms, which then leads to panic or anxiety. My job isn’t exactly low stress either, and requires multi-tasking that can’t be avoided. I get overstimulated so easily.

I’ve been working with behavioral health and they want me to take medication. I don’t want to do this. I understand the logic but historically I have not done well with psych meds and don’t want to force myself to try anything that I would have a hard time coming off of (such as Effexor).

What can I do to manage the anxiety?

If it truly is central nervous system/vestibular problems, can I just focus on those and expect improvements on the anxiety front? I’d like to look into vestibular rehab and would be open to other medications that focus more on bodily sensations rather than psych, if that makes sense. At this point, I just want to return to functional, even if some symptoms aren’t immediately solved.

TLDR: got into car accident in April, identified concussion late. Noted vestibular involvement/balance issues. My anxiety has been off the charts but wasn’t this bad before the accident; I hate psych meds and want to avoid them.

Kind of a vent but really any advice or hope is appreciated as well.

Back in April I t-boned a guy who pulled out from a stop sign while I was going est 30-40 mph. Airbag punched me in the face.

Somehow I managed not to realize I was concussed at all until about three weeks later when I felt like I simply couldn’t stop crying and just didn’t feel right. Aside from some burns from the airbag, I thought I was good, and no one in my circle doubted me or forced me to go get checked out.

I took a week off after the initial accident to “rest” but I wasn’t really because I thought everything was ok. I went wedding dress shopping, bought a new car, and started work the next week.

Looking back on it, I couldn’t tell you how I was feeling, and that probably should have been a red flag. Once I realized what had happened I couldn’t take time off work, had to be audited on the job, and I feel like all the workplace stress (day to day and covering coworkers illnesses) have made it all the worse. I got a fever on Sunday and finally went to an ER fearing I’d missed some catastrophic injury only to be told that, yes I was concussed, and that I had an acute URI, probably lowered immunity from all the other stress.

Now that it’s been around 6 weeks, nothing has improved and feels like it’s only getting worse. I don’t feel like I have the capacity to do the things I normally love doing, writing/reading. I’m easily irritated, cry at the drop of a hat, and wander around because something is wrong with my vision but I can’t put my finger on what. The best way I can describe it is that moment of quiet when you leave a loud concert— but all the time. Nonstop. Driving feels like a nightmare and I spend the whole time wondering if I’m going to faint on the road.

I’m going to try and take time off work because staring at two 32 inch monitors and answering phones isn’t helping matters. Multitasking feels impossible and I keep finding little interjections in my emails that make no sense being there. Things like “Never mind.”

This just feels ridiculous, and I don’t know how I can keep going like this. I have a referral to a neurologist next week but I’m genuinely worried I’ve made this horrible mistake not knowing early enough. I know I have people here for me, but the guilt is eating me up every time something new pops up that makes me feel worse and I need more help.

Please tell me eventually I’ll stop feeling like this. No one else gets it when I tell them I feel like my brain is scrambled eggs and I feel like a lot of people think I’m overreacting since I’ve been “functioning” this long, and I hate that I kind of agree with them.