I suffered a very slight concussion two weeks ago, had very slight headaches which seemed to be easing until today. I stopped taking my daily aspirin. I am 69 years old.
Meanwhile, the weather here suddenly changed from hot to cool; many people got common cold, including myself. My symptoms were very mild and went away with a few Decolgen doses.
But today I have a symptom which seems strange. I’ve always been tolerant of a fairly broad temperature range, but I’ll feel chilled, put on a shirt and soon feel too hot. This quick alternation between too-hot and too-cold is something I’ve never noticed before. I also have a (mild?) headache I associate with the concussion.
I intend to visit doctor tomorrow. What should I know first to help me explain to and understand doctor?
No. The impact on the head seemed minor — there was zero pain, and zero symptoms until I later noticed very slight headaches. And over a period of 10+ days the headaches lessened … until today. (Several years ago I suffered a head blow which seemed much more serious and felt like a hypochondriac when, a few weeks later and against medical advice, I insisted on a CT scan.) But the headache this time is “different.”
I’d still not be worried much, but the rapid alternation between feeling too hot and feeling too cold seems peculiar and novel. Is it diagnostic of something?
You thought you had a concussion, but you didn’t go to the doctor – that’s insane. Nowadays, doctors are far more aware of the dangers of head injuries.
Update: Today (Monday) is a holiday here, so I was planning to wait until Tuesday to go to hospital. However, when I woke up today my headache is completely gone! — I wouldn’t have gone to doctor anyway. I feel like my old self.
Sometimes I feel like a hypochondriac; sometimes I seem over-reluctant to visit doctor — I seem to oscillate between these two extremes. (And, most strangely, although I’ve been awake for over three hours and feeling headache-free the whole time, as I typed this post just now I noticed a very small headache sensation. :smack: )
Today I made the long trip to the best hospital in the region and spoke with one of their best surgeons. I described my symptoms and he felt that a CT scan was unnecessary. He gave me Arcoxia (aka etoricoxib) 90 mg daily after breakfast for five days. If the headaches continue despite this I’ll return and get a CT scan. I mentioned my difficulty swallowing when I eat too quickly and incautiously; he was more concerned about that (possibly esophogeal cancer? :eek: ) than about the mild concussion but relaxed when I told him I have no problem as long as I eat slowly and carefully.
Of course he was mainly responding to the symptoms I reported, which are as I described in the thread. He said if I were bleeding in the skull I’d be complaining of constant crushing headaches, nausea, and perhaps have equilibrium problem (difficulty walking).
I do feel relieved (and somewhat hypochondriac!) after his diagnosis.
I’m glad you saw the doctor. You should know that even for a “mild” concussion, symptoms can continue for months. If symptoms begin to return, as mentioned with your headache, you need to stop whatever it was that you were doing that caused that. Reading? Running? Watching the news?
There’s also potentially an add on effect if you’ve had past head injuries. If you’ve had a concussion in the past, then even a mild one now can be more severe than you’d expect.