[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

Anyone out there experience this? On Saturday and Sunday I was practicing/racing DH in northern Maryland. I crashed and "rang my bell" once on each day. Felt a little nauseous and my balance was a little off, but I didn't black out or puke. After my race I got really, really scared on my drive home. Every time I rounded a curve on the highway, I felt like the car was going to totally flip over. My hands and feet sweated profusely. I had to have a friend drive.

Granted, many of the curves were off-camber, which I hate to start with. In fact, on the way to the race location I got scared a few times... but the way home was waaaaay worse. I'm thinking my crashes caused my equilibrium to get thrown off, making things that normally frighten me a little frighten me a whole lot. I realized something must be really wrong with me when I realized it wasn't driving in the mountains (fear of heights) that was the problem... because I got totally freaked out taking curves when I was driving in farmland... not in the hills.

Has anybody else experienced this? Konked your head and then gotten really freaked out while driving????

 

[DH Diva]

Anyone out there experience this? On Saturday and Sunday I was practicing/racing DH in northern Maryland. I crashed and "rang my bell" once on each day. Felt a little nauseous and my balance was a little off, but I didn't black out or puke. After my race I got really, really scared on my drive home. Every time I rounded a curve on the highway, I felt like the car was going to totally flip over. My hands and feet sweated profusely. I had to have a friend drive.

Granted, many of the curves were off-camber, which I hate to start with. In fact, on the way to the race location I got scared a few times... but the way home was waaaaay worse. I'm thinking my crashes caused my equilibrium to get thrown off, making things that normally frighten me a little frighten me a whole lot. I realized something must be really wrong with me when I realized it wasn't driving in the mountains (fear of heights) that was the problem... because I got totally freaked out taking curves when I was driving in farmland... not in the hills.

Has anybody else experienced this? Konked your head and then gotten really freaked out while driving????

Is this still happening?? Or did it go away after a couple hours?? Hitting your head twice in two days is serious business. Multiple small concussions can be just as bad and sometimes worse than one big one. If you are still having any symptoms/balance problems/or anything else relating to your head, you might want to get it checked out. Be careful until you know your heads clear again, okay??

 

[DHZombie]

PLEASE....GO SEE A PHYSICIAN IMMEDIATELY !!!!!!!!!! :mumble:

What we may think is a 'little konk on the head' could really be a fairly severe concussion.

Loss of equalibrium/depth perception and anxiety attacks while driving ARE NOT NORMAL !

Don't take this type of reaction to an accident lightly, we really want to keep you around !!!


GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!


P.S. Look over your helmet carefully to make sure that it hasn't been damaged. If you're not sure about the condition, you may want to contact the manufacturer and talk to one of their tech reps (maybe you could e-mail them some photos of the suspect area's of the hemet... if applicable). It doesn't take a very large impact for a helmet to become unsafe and unusable.

 

[DRB]

This Is Not Good. You Need To See A Doctor Immediately.

 

[teamkranzelbike]

If it hasnt cleared up by today I think you should see a dr. The bad news is they will probably tell you to say off the bike for a couple weeks so if you were planning on hitting snow shoe you will probably not heed thier warning anyway. Hope all is well
Rick

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

If it hasnt cleared up by today I think you should see a dr. The bad news is they will probably tell you to say off the bike for a couple weeks so if you were planning on hitting snow shoe you will probably not heed thier warning anyway. Hope all is well
Rick

Thanks to those who have replied thus far. Today I am feeling much better. I'm a little tired and my head hurts slightly, but that's to be expected because I'm at work, sitting in a chair doing nothing after a totally exciting weekend. I had no problem driving today. The Beltway (around D.C.) is very fast and curvy but I didn't feel I was going to fly off the edge of the world. Yesterday I even felt pretty good until I started driving--that's when I freaked out--I had to pull over about fifteen minutes after leaving the race. About half an hour after getting home I felt way better.

I can't believe I got so scared during the drive. Last year I remember going 90 m.p.h. during parts of that drive home. And driving to Snowshoe and back (which is way curvier) is almost fun because it's such a challenge. I'm worried that as I get older, maybe I'm getting more afraid of heights and so forth? I'm hoping the driving freak-out has more to do with me hitting my head, than me getting more anxious as I age. Although I did get scared on the drive to the race....

Re: Snowshoe Nationals.... Yeah, I'm probably not going to go there this weekend after all. 1) My boss hasn't approved my leave yet (which means she probably won't), 2) I can't handle a curvy drive that's four-to-five hours long if I'm going to possibly freak-out at every curve, 3) gas prices just shot up again, and 4) I'm not in good enough shape to do a race of this caliber and have it feel like it was worth it.

 

[blt2ride]

I agree with everyone else here, GO TO THE DOCTOR. If you can't get an appoitment, you need to get to urgent care or even the emergency room. When it comes to head injuries, you can't risk it.

You risked it enough by driving home, don't put yourself in harm's way any longer...good luck.

 

[DRB]

Even if you are feeling better, those kind of symptoms as severe as you describe aren't a mere bump on the head. Those are describing a concussion of some severity.

I think you are making a mistake if you don't see a doctor.

 

[OGRipper]

Yeah Capt. Jack go to a doctor, this is no time for self-diagnosis. Two hard smacks in a row would be enough for me, even if I didn't have the symptoms you mentioned. And I hate doctors. Seriously, the first hit could have caused some swelling or other problem that made you less able to take the second hit. Get it checked out ASAP.

 

[Zutroy]

Yeah go get looked at, It sounds like you have grade 2 concusion, E-diagnosing you may have blacked out for a couple seconds and not even known it. I've done that before myself. Alway beter to play it safe, it's a pretty simple check to see if you have some other problems going on. always better to play it safe and make sure you don't have something else going on in your head.

 

[H8R]

Sorry if this has already been said, but:

GO TO THE DOCTOR NOW!!!

 

[rzakt]

I don't want to beat a dead horse but seriously go see a doctor. I had something like that happen to me. Rang my bell and when I got home I didn't remember driving there. Went to the doctor imediatley. Turns out I had a minor concusion. I don't know why it seems everone puts off going to the doctor when they think something might be amiss with their body. Injuries are not to be taken lightly especially head injuries.

 

[ska todd]

At this P'kill race back in like 98 or 99 I crashed on my head hard. I sorta remember crashing but not really. I don't really remember finishing (I wasn't last though!) or packing my car. I drove home in my race gear and my mom woke me up on the couch the next morning so I could go to work. Funny thing is I didn't remember the 4hr drive home to Long Island.

-ska todd

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

Thanks for everybody's advice. I still have a little bit of a headache in the front. I saw my doctor yesterday and I have a CT scan tomorrow morning, just to make sure everything's all right. The doctor thinks my anxiety while taking curves while driving is completely unrelated, since it started earlier Saturday (before I crashed on my head.)

I had another freak-out while taking a curve on a highway yesterday. It is totally unlike me to be scared while driving. The doctor said I may be developing anxiety/panic attacks for some reason. I'm taking a trip to the beach this weekend... so if the drive causes me to get anxious on the curves I'm supposed to call her and address that problem next week.

I can't believe my stomach flips all of the sudden when I take curves in the road. This is unbelievable. I'm Speed Racer, not some right-lane drivin' grandma!

 

[denjen]

The doctor said I may be developing anxiety/panic attacks for some reason.

Keep an eye on this and catch it early. My wife slowly over the course of 2-3 years devloped a fear of heights. Stuff she had done her whole life such as driving over Afton Mt on 64 she suddenlycouldnt do. The last time she was driving over it she freaked and pulled over and made me drive. She had probably dove the same road a 100 times before. Any way long story short panic attacks are no fun, find the cause and treat it now before it gets worse.

Sorry to hear you are not coming to NORBA.

Dennis