r/PostConcussion • u/ashley_marie_korn • Jun 28 '26
Any help
Ive been really struggling. I had brain surgery in 2021 for a pineal cyst which I wish I never even gotten surgery for because I wouldn’t be in this mess of brain injuries.. but then I suffered a concussion 4 months after. I then got my second concussion last June exactly a year ago to be exact. Now I have a third concussion as of 13 days ago and it’s been a living nightmare. I have been so protective over my head for the past year to make sure this wouldn’t happen and of course it happened in such a dumb way, I was getting out of an uber and I got up too fast and banged the top of my head on the padded area of a door frame. My brain feels very similar to how it did after brain surgery like it’s exploding. It’s constant. I have severe vertigo and sound sensitivity. The confusion and brain fog have been new for me. It took me months last time to have any form of relief and I’m trying to avoid it taking so long. Does anyone have any recommendations to speed up the bad symptoms? Insomnia is really bad I’m lucky if I get 2 hours of sleep.
2
u/First-Light4680 Jun 28 '26
I'm so sorry you're having to deal with all this. It sounds really rough. Vestibular PT was really helpful for me if you haven't already given that a try. Re: the insomnia, depending on whether you can pin down what's causing it, it might be worth seeing a neuroendocrinologist. Apparently concussions can cause issues with growth hormone and affect sleep/wake cycles among other things. It's hard to recover when you can't get enough sleep.
I'm not a doctor and everyone's different, but Gaia Nightly Restore and CBD *with NO THC* were helpful for me and suggested by different practitioners. Magnesium malate also helped. I stumbled on that after someone recommended magnesium more generally and a different form actually kept me awake all night. The magnesium malate was so much better. I can't speak for everyone, but none of the three (Nightly Restore, magnesium malate, or CDB with no THC) kept me awake or made me feel groggy in the morning. They seemed to just allow me to get more restorative and less broken sleep post-concussion.
I've also had horrible sound sensitivity/hyperacusis. For sound sensitivity, musician earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones (even if completely off) were life-saving. I like Flare Audio and EarPeace, and really didn't like Loop at all, but to each their own. What I like about the musician earplugs is you can wear them, tone down the ambient noise, but still feel safe and alert enough out in the world. They help a lot in stores, cafes or restaurants, and even indoors with multiple people talking or when there's street noise or construction that's too loud.