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| Well THERE's your problem... |
'via Blog this'
I frequently overlook those symptoms that don't bother me when I discuss symptoms of my brain injury.
One symptom that keeps showing up, I initially described as a "rumbling" sound in the back of my head. Both times I mentioned it to a doctor, the doctor responded by ordering an EEG. The EEG's have not shown evidence of any kind of seizures. However, meanwhile, the rumbling has gradually gotten worse, as I have gradually become so accustomed to it, that I rarely think of it as something abnormal.
Today, I've been feeling unusually fatigued, so I've been trying to fight the fatigue by napping in the hope that later today I'll be able to get some things accomplished. I have no trouble sleeping. I drop asleep quickly, as soon as I decide to sleep. My problem is with not feeling refreshed afterward, and specifically that has been my problem today.
Trying to get the most out of the time I invest sleeping, I tried using a guided relaxation recording that coaches relaxation of specific muscle groups in succession in order to encourage deeper, more thorough relaxation. Usually it works, but today, it just made me keenly aware that my jaw muscles were working overtime, and nothing I did to relax could make them stop.
Immediately after the accident, and even a year ago, I did not recognize that there was a physical aspect to this rumbling in my head. I assumed it was "all in my head." It occurred to me today, that maybe all the doctor needs to do the next time I mention this symptom, is to listen with a stethoscope, rather than ordering another EEG. Obviously there is some abnormal involuntary muscle action going on, and I'm sure that activity makes noise. After all, I've been perceiving this symptom as a sound from the beginning. Maybe this symptom is important. It would be nice if I were not the only person to detect this symptom.
Maybe this symptom could tell us something useful that would lead my doctors in a new direction, to find resolution to my other more annoying symptoms, such as the endless fatigue, or the ongoing amnesia... That would be a very nice outcome!
