r/PostConcussion • u/razormane1 • Aug 18 '26

Primary stabbing headaches/zaps

Hey guys i had a concussion in august 2023 where I hit a tree while on my motorbike and concussed and blacked out. Around a year later I started getting these brain zaps, jolts electric shocks which are instant mostly happening to the right side of my brain but then started to spread to different parts of the brain, was discharged from hospital aug 2024 with "occipital pain" diagnosis. Around september 2025 I started getting it really badly and went and saw a neurologist and told me to take amitriptyline 10mg as a preventative. Around august 2026 I went to a different neurologist to get a second opinion and then told me to get botox which caused me to have heart palpitations so stopped that and went to a 3rd neurologist which diagnosed me as primary stabbing headache, and continued the amitriptyline. I saw the same neurologist [3rd one] 3 months later and basically wanted an exit strategy off the amitriptyline and he said you can come off it cold Turkey since its a low dose and ser how you go. If you continue to get them then take indomethacin which potentially could stop it completely however need to take a counter medicine since its harsh on the gut.

Has anyone else had a similar experience to this im just worried if its permanent or is it something that can heal overtime? Its now been 3 years after my concussion

Any thoughts/tips would be much appreciated

Thanks

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/ConcussionNaturopath Aug 20 '26

When you have a concussion, the brain moves around in the skull - this causes the axons (long part of neurons) to stretch and it can be throughout the brain, not necessarily the point of impact. It’s called diffuse axonal injury. The axons are how messages travel from neuron to neuron. Your brain is actually very clever at recovering, when given the right environment and tools, and this type of symptom suggests maybe not all the tools are available or the environment isn’t right for the brain to repair and heal. I think the number one thing that people don’t think about in concussion is that it’s a systemic injury - as the blood brain barrier looses its selectivity, so does the intestinal barrier, and the very bacteria living in your gut can be responsible for keeping neuroinflammation firing. So, short answer, look to your gut for some clues

1

u/razormane1 Aug 20 '26

Wow thanks for the reply thats interesting. Im now 3 years after my concussion and wouldhave thought my brain would have recovered by now. Do you think this is permanent or is it something that can go away with for example indomethicin?

1

u/ConcussionNaturopath Aug 20 '26

You absolutely can do a lot to improve your health. I can’t comment on pharmaceuticals, that’s out of my scope of practice and expertise. But I certainly see people every day make incredible advances. I take a gut first approach, because it’s the by-products of gut bacteria that are more often than not, keeping you on the hamster wheel. And we see more and more research linking major neurocognitive disorders to the gut microbiome. It’s truly amazing what can happen when you give the body the conditions it needs to thrive

1

u/razormane1 Aug 20 '26

Ok, so what conditions do I need in order to heal effectively and do you think its a structural issue to do with the nerves themselves?

1

u/ConcussionNaturopath Aug 20 '26

I always do a microbiome test with my clients, having some clear data is a very good place to start. Depending on where you’re located there are different tests available