<p><a href=“Ravinia,%20for%20people%20who%20know%20the%20Chicago%20area%20concert%20venues”>quote</a> and we had lawn seats. We could easily hold a conversation while the music was playing.
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<p>I still wouldn’t rule out dehydration as a contributing factor. I find that those outdoor concert expeditions on a summer night to be really dehydrating. I know that I am typically buying and guzzling water at a rapid clip – something that is out of the norm for me. The dizziness when standing up is such a classic symptom of that. it’s really common for people to “faint” at concerts for just that reason.</p>
<p>Could be a little of this, a little of that.</p>
<p>teriwitt – sorry if I misread you – I really thought you were trying to figure out how to keep him off his bike. Maybe locking up his bike is the better way to go.</p>
<p>Hope he gets all the necessary medical care to help him heal.</p>
<p>I concur about the bike-- lock it to something. Lock the frame. He should not be riding! He should not be on a stationary bike either. He needs to stop exercising until the symptoms clear up.</p>
<p>As to the dizziness, as it happens, I have had episodes of Benign Positional Vertigo. It’s vertigo, not dizziness, and although the cause is benign, the symptoms are anything but: you move your head or sit up, and all of a sudden the room starts spinning violently. It’s horrible. If I had an episode of that when I was riding my bike, I would crash instantly. Teri, I don’t think your husband’s dizziness could be that.</p>
<p>As to dizziness because of low blood pressure or dehydration-- people, at least middle-aged people, who are prone to that kind of dizziness know it. It has happened before. It’s a familiar sensation. </p>
<p>Either your husband has the common, expected aftereffect of the serious concussion we know he had, namely dizziness, or he has suddenly by coincidence just happened to develop some other syndrome that also causes dizziness. I know which explanation I prefer.</p>
<p>You can still suffer bleeding longer than a week or two later. That’s what is so deadly about this… you move on and then it hits you and it might be too late once you notice it.</p>
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<p>If one of my athletes suffered a concussion and was still having symptoms at this time, he/she would be referred to a neurologist. And would not be allowed to play until cleared by the specialist and by myself.</p>
<p>I had a bout of it a couple weeks ago in the middle of a workout and fell off a stability ball! I don’t think that’s the cause of this dizziness at all. That is much more of a head movement moving from horizontal to vertical. What triggers it for me when I’m having a bout is looking up at the ceiling and moving.</p>
<p>The key for Teriwitt’s husband is to shut it down from an exercise standpoint for another couple of weeks and especially avoid any risk whatsoever of another blow to the head. If he’s got cabin fever for some exercise, maybe some nice quiet mellow walks.</p>
<p>If it were me ( a physician) or a loved one, I would be in to see a doctor, preferably a neurologist asap. A physician can help determine if the symptoms are c/w post concussive syndrome, and if so, what course to expect and what activity should be prohibited for what length of time.</p>
<p>Please try to convince your DH to see another doc asap. </p>
<p>Slightly different situation, but long story short, my DH was sent home from ER with an undiagnosed stroke. What I didn’t understand at the time was that an ordinary CAT scan can miss a stroke. There is a HUGE difference between fitness and health, but I have found that when you are married to an obviously fit man, sometimes symptoms are overlooked. </p>
<p>I am not suggesting your DH is having a stroke, I am suggesting that there may be a reason for concern that has not been identified. If your DH gets examined again and there is nothing wrong, great - but I have had too many close calls where DH would have died if I hadn’t been persistent.</p>
<p>A concussion is bad enough, but a second concussion on the heels of a first concussion can be fatal. It is absolutely critical that he stay off that bike.</p>
<p>My daughter has had two very serious concussions as a result of playing soccer. After the second one, she had residual symptoms for months. </p>
<p>This is nothing to play around with. He’s showing extreme bad judgment biking so soon after a concussion and with residual symptoms.</p>
<p>“Speaking as a husband, I would strongly recommend that wives not start calling their husband’s doctors and injecting themselves into health care at that level. You are not his mommy. He’s not a little boy. And, he will resent the hell out of it.”</p>
<p>Don’t make a wife laugh with such a comment.</p>
<p>You might also consider, Terri, that the dizziness is related to the surgery. If it was my husband, he would have been in the ER that night after the concert. And he would have raised as much of a stink as any man.</p>
<p>I cannot pretend to understand this idea that real men don’t see doctors. My husband is a United States Marine, a pilot and pretty darn manly. When he needs medical attention, he gets it. Maybe doing two tours in Iraq relieved him of the need to prove something? Who knows. </p>
<p>In any case, I would have driven to the ER that night. You don’t negotiate with someone who may be experiencing neurological problems, right? That seems very obvious to me. </p>
<p>If you’re still concerned than tell your H either he makes an appt tomorrow or you’ll make it for him because you love him and you’ll be damned if you’re going to be a young widow because he thinks going for medical help is some kind of comment on the size of his, ahem, manhood.</p>
<p>My daughter is 17 mos. post concussion (cheerleading injury)–her second and still has unresolved symptoms-primarily daily headache and light and noise sensitivity, did have dizziness early on. Advice you are getting is very good. Let me add something that her neurologist has suggested–1-2,000 mgs of fish oil weighted to the DHA, B stress vitamins twice daily and she has added iron. Dr. Andrew Weill also recommends zinc. Can’t hurt to give your brain what it needs to heal and rebuild.</p>
<p>DD got a concussion in June before senior year, she definitely noticed headaches and general post-concussion issues at least through Christmas. Perhaps you can find some scary articles. The last thing he wants is to be hurt again, concussions are your BRAIN, baby it whilst it heals, dude!</p>
<p>Spoke to H last night and asked if anyone at the hospital had even told him he needed to follow up with anyone for the concussion and he said no. I ‘suggested’ he touch base with our PCP to see if the PCP wants to see him for follow up. He said he’d call today. </p>
<p>But reading some of the stories here just affirms what I sort of suspected, that this dizzy spell is likely due to some sort of post-concussion syndrome.</p>
I’d suggest looking for a sports doctor who deals with a lot of concussions … knowledge of concussions is an emerging area of expertise and in our experience with sports concussions a lot of regular docs (HMO family doc for example) are not upto speed on dealing with concussions and tend to miss the diagnosis of some concussions and let kids play sports again too soon. Your local high school (or college) will likely have good contacts to concussion experts in your area.</p>
<p>My sense is that much of what the sports concussion specialists do is monitor and determine when it is safe to return to competition. For the most part, these lingering symptoms simpy require the passage of time to heal. Particularly with the dizzy spells, a consult certainly makes sense, but what he has to do in terms of taking it easy is pretty self-evident, especially when it comes to eliminating the risk of another concussion until the first one is completely healed.</p>
<p>He’s also got a lot of “trauma” in general. I mean, the surgery to plate and pin the scapula. The broken ribs. The concussion. These are all going to take a cumulative toll for a while.</p>
<p>Obviously not “self-evident” for the OP’s husband, as he continues to engage in very risky behavior (continues to ride the bike). Sometimes hearing from the doctor makes more of an impact to a patient than hearing it from a spouse. That’s always been the case in my house, even though I’m a nurse. I apparently know nothing, even when the doctor confirms what I’ve said, many times using the exact same terminology.</p>
<p>“You don’t negotiate with someone who may be experiencing neurological problems, right?”</p>
<p>Wow, this reminded me of something I’d totally forgotten. Almost 10 years ago I took an awful whack to the head. I tripped over an open suitcase in our dark bedroom and fell face first toward the chest of drawers, hitting my forehead very hard on the corner. I collapsed into the suitcase with blood streaming down my face. I had never experienced something quite like that before - I literally saw stars, like an explosion of tiny flashing lights in my head. If tripping wasn’t stupid enough, I then insisted on going to bed with an ice pack on my forehead. I refused to go to the doctor, that night and again in the morning. My headache continued for about a week and I felt generally lousy and sort of distracted. It’s pretty clear in retrospect that I probably had a concussion. My point is that my husband probably should have ignored my protests and talked me into seeing a doctor. If he or one of my kids had taken that kind of blow, they would have been in an emergency room within 30 minutes.</p>
<p>Not quite sure why I’m telling you this. Just thinking it’s better to err on the side of caution.</p>
<p>I experience this quite a bit. My dad has battled plantar fascitis for at least two years. I’ve told him what to do to fix it, at least one of the other athletic trainers for the company has told him what to do. He finally went and saw the PA at our doctor’s office. She, who is also an athletic trainer, did the exact same thing I had done but this time he finally listened. Of course he’s still not very good about doing what he’s supposed to do. I’ve quit fighting it because he’s not going to listen anyway.</p>