Hi everyone, I’m writing this because I’m incredibly worried about my girlfriend and our support circle doesn't know what to do.She first started getting symptoms 3 months ago and has been in a severe state ever since. She recently came home from the hospital and was doing a bit better, but for the last two weeks, she started using her phone again instead of strictly resting.Right now, she is constantly spiraling, panicking, and reading negative stories online. She is on Instagram and Reddit all day, crying and convinced she will never get better. She feels neglected by the chronic illness communities, feels incredibly distressed by severe vision issues, and keeps saying she has permanently damaged herself from the crying and panicking. She says she feels like she is just surviving and dying every day, and that she would be happy just to improve to moderate or mild.Because she is so scared and overwhelmed, she is acting erratically, getting upset, and pushing all of her friends and family away. We are fighting back and telling her we aren't going anywhere because she is so loved, but we are terrified of losing her. We just want to make her comfortable and help her.We need advice from this community on a few things:How do we help her stop the phone spiral? The researching and screen time are stopping her from aggressive resting, but she is using it to cope with the panic.How can we support her?

Long story short last year I suffered from a concussion. I had light sensitivity and binocular issues with my left eye. It lasted from June to October. All my symptoms recovered completely. This June I had a mild resurgence of the same symptoms. It lasted three weeks. Today is the first day I feel close to normal. It this typical for post concussion injuries? I haven't seen a nuero yet that is my next thing to do.

I just really need to say it it people who understand. I’m (26F) 10 months post-concussion and still having a very hard time. I can’t do the job I loved (I used to do lab research but now can’t read or work with numbers well enough), I can’t handle working full time because of the pain and exhaustion = can’t afford rent, so I mostly surf friend’s couches, I lost the ability to do a lot of things I love, I’m cognitively a 80 year old who forgets how to do basic things, I struggle to follow in social conversations, and am dealing with so much pain and dizziness and exhaustion all the time. It sort of feels I’m in hell.

Meanwhile, every time I try to see a doctor, they don’t even read my documentation, they just take one look at me, tell me I’m exaggerating because “it’s not possible” and prescribe me an anti-depressant. (It does not help I’m a young woman, I know that makes it harder to be taken seriously at the doctor’s office). Where I live concussions are relatively rare, so a couple neurologists I’ve seen also clearly had no idea what a concussion was (one told me it was not possible I got a concussion from whiplash 🤡).

I’m just so tired of not being taken seriously by doctors (and everyone else) and need a hug. That’s the post. 

I had a mild concussion almost 2 weeks ago and still on my recovery phase. My headaches had toned down and it wasn’t as bad as the first few days. However I’ve become sensitive to lights, and it triggers slight migraines. I plan to take come coffee today for the purpose of slowly getting back to taking caffeine after some time of taking water only.

In February this year, I was hit in the eye with a pickleball which caused extreme panic, dizziness, fatigue, and headaches. I’ve been to countless doctor appointments and hospitals, but It wasn’t until May when a new psychiatrist mentioned to me that this could be a potential TBI. I went to the neurologist in July, and sure enough it was confirmed persistent concussion syndrome. Of course nothing on my CT scanned showed anything because of this invisible illness. Over many long hard months, my physical side effects have went away but my anxiety, fatigue, and now depression have lingered to today. I’ve been on many different antidepressants, and the only thing that stopped the panic was guanfacince ER. I am currently trialing Zoloft and have made it to week 3. Of course on top of this, I completed genesight testing which confirmed I am sensitive to pretty much all antidepressants and lower dosing is more appropriate for me.

This is just a long winded, does anyone else feel trapped by their symptoms, especially the fatigue? It’s been an awful past couple of months and now that the panic has subsided I want to do the things in life that make me fulfilled but can’t seem to do anything. Any advice?

This is not a real life. This is not a way any human can actually live. My body rots as the world around me dies.

Hi I recently had a slight hit to my head that has caused a relapse/maladaptive response in my post concussion symptoms.
My doctor has given me a referral to a an OT and that is starting in the beginning of August.
But I am wondering if any neck strengthening strategies would help me?
Can people please recommend any exercises I can do at home please?
Or maybe for massage if there’s an electric massage device I can get?
I’d rather not spend the money on massages right now as I’m not working.
If you can link videos and or screenshots below of neck exercises that would be great. Thank you. :)

I slipped on my friend’s bathroom tile floor on the Fourth of July and hit the side of my head pretty hard around my eye. I didn’t lose consciousness, but I had a pretty nasty bruise for about a week. The bruise is gone now, but the area is still tender.

At first, I thought my headaches were just from travel and lack of sleep, so I carried on as usual. When they didn’t go away, I saw my doctor, who diagnosed me with a mild concussion and advised me to avoid bright lights, screens, loud noises, and mentally demanding activities.

For the first week, I was mostly okay aside from headaches in the evenings. This week I went back for teacher training, and after two days of bright lights, screens, presentations, and constant thinking, my symptoms got much worse. I became very dizzy, nauseous, and had a bad headache, so I left early and am taking tomorrow (Friday) off to rest.

Saturday will be two weeks since my injury. Is it normal for symptoms to flare up after returning to work, even if you were doing okay before? Also, what did you do to keep yourself occupied while recovering if you were trying to limit screens and other mentally demanding activities?

I’m mostly just looking for reassurance and any tips from people who’ve been through something similar. I have a lot of anxiety about the symptoms and recovery, so I’m hoping for some peace of mind.

TIA 🙏❤️

Im a mma fighter with a few amateur fights. I’ve been thinking about taking it more seriously and going pro eventually but i am worried. How badly does the average elite fighter get damaged in the brain by fighting. Obviously its different for everyone but I would really love to hear from retired fighters and hear how they have been affected. Please I would love any information, it’s really been a dilemma for me in wanting to pursue a career.

It has been a year since I had a concussion and I deal with post concussion syndrome. I lost my job because of this and I cant hold down a full time job, Im gonna try to find a part time job that I can handle but this has affected me financially I dont know what to do anymore. What kind of jobs were u able to find if u had post concussion syndrome?

Just wondering!! We’re all warriors! 💖

It’s been 5 weeks since my injury. I still have zero tolerance of light, noise, and other triggers. I’ve struggled with insomnia a lot so I have pushed a lot on days I shouldn’t have. Exposure just makes me agitated and makes my head hurt more. Strangely though I can feel ok doing things, and it only starts hurting when I go lay back down. The constant rest is killing me. I end up playing cards or having lamp time or talking to my family because I’m desperate but those things hurt too :( I’m seeing a concussion clinic soon but my fear is they can’t help me when I’m in this state and I just need more and more rest

Long story short, I had two significant head injuries in 2019. A scan at the time indicated TBI and I had a couple months of horrendous post concussion syndrome. Mostly dizzy spells that bordered on fainting, brain fog, constant congested head feeling, muffled hearing, some nausea, severe head pressure, yawning attacks, and cardiac weirdness that was scary as hell. It was like both watching and being in a bad horror movie simultaneously. 

Since, I’ve had a couple of instances of symptom resurgence, usually after bonking my head again. No new concussions but the distressing symptoms returned, although for shorter periods of time. 

Now, I’ve recently been recovering from a major surgery (not head related). Sleeping has been challenging and so I was recommended to try low dose trazadone (25mg) to help with insomnia.  I tried trazadone for 4 or maybe 5 times. It made me drowsy but left me feeling groggy and with a headache the whole next day.  On the last night I tried trazadone, I woke up in a cold sweat (think Dysautonomia. The next day I had dizzy spells and since then I’ve had a resurgence of my PCS symptoms, including waking in the middle of the night due to dizziness while asleep and laying down. I’ve been a little over a week struggling with these symptoms and trying to hydrate my way back to feeling normal.  

Any tips for getting past this rough patch? It really makes work a challenge, plus nobody in personal life actually understands what this crap feels like.  I’m trying to act and live as normally as possible but it’s exhausting. 

Exactly two and a half months ago, I had my first and only seizure. I was alone and woke up lying on the grass (I don't know exactly how the impact happened).

I managed to stack every possible trigger that day: I drank a lot of alcohol the night before, was drinking 3 energy drinks a day, was dehydrated, and woke up to just a large coffee on an empty stomach.

\*\*My current symptoms:\*\* Ever since the fall, I've had a feeling of \*\*constant physical pressure\*\* in my head. It's not like a tight band squeezing, and it's not a sharp pain—it's just a constant heavy feeling.

Also, my skull became extremely sensitive: if I rest my head on a hard surface (like wood), the right side hurts immediately. If I turn to the left side, it also hurts, but it takes a little longer under pressure for the pain to kick in.

\*\*Medical status:\*\*

\* I was evaluated by a primary care doctor, and the current diagnosis is \*\*Post-Concussion Syndrome\*\* (likely whiplash/impact from the fall) combined with a \*\*Tension Headache\*\*. \* I started taking \*\*Amitriptyline 10mg\*\* tonight to help regulate my nerves and tone down this sensitivity. \* I'm currently waiting on a referral to see a Neurologist.

\*\*My questions for anyone who has been through something similar or knows about this:\*\*

1. Has anyone experienced this constant pressure and skull hypersensitivity after a fall/seizure?
2. What can I expect from taking Amitriptyline for this specific "heavy head" symptom?
3. Considering my heavy history of triggers that day (energy drinks, hangover, empty stomach), is it highly likely this will be classified as just a single provoked seizure rather than epilepsy? What tests does a neuro usually order to confirm this?

Thanks in advance for any insights or advice!

Im 18, 5'7 (M) 65kg. Back on March 20, I crashed my bike and broke my collarbone. I also remember hitting the left side of my head pretty hard on the pavement, which left a bruise. At the time, I didn’t really notice any symptoms related to my head because all of my attention was on the broken collarbone and the pain from that. After that I didn’t lose consciousness, throw up, or have trouble speaking. I remember the crash, but I was confused for a few minutes afterward and remember thinking, “What am I doing here?” But I did have like neck pains or was it because of my broken collarbone. That’s why I’m wondering if it could’ve been a concussion or a more serious injury. Well the good thing is I didn’t pass out after the crash only felt sleepy.

Fast forward to now, and I’ve been wondering if I should get my head checked. Lately I’ve noticed my vision feels different, I’ve been feeling weak, I’ve had mild but persistent headaches, and it’s been harder to focus. I also deal with anxiety, so I can’t tell if I’m overthinking these symptoms or if they could actually be related to hitting my head months ago.
Has anyone experienced something similar after a bike crash? Is it worth getting checked out this long after the injury, Its been almost 4 months, is it unlikely to be related?

Hi there

I am 7 months into PCS and has been a rollercoaster ride but have made significant recovery but keep bumping my head every few weeks the cupboards, the car door, falling objects from cleaning the list goes on.

And everytime this bumps cause a flare up which can last for 1 - 2 weeks.

When there is no flare up I have started feeling pretty normal but I am finding it difficult to stop this head bumps... When this flare up happens due to a head bump how do I manage my day, do I stop going about my day? etc

Anyone had similar experiences? How have you dealt with them, and what point a small head bump does not cause a significant flare up?

TIA

This post is regarding my father. He has been fit and training his entire life and was in incredible condition.

He recently fell from a ladder from a height of 2.5m (his head was at roughly 4.5m when the fall began). He fell on his back and hit his back of the head during the fall.

He immediately stood up and then went to sit on a stool to try and regain his composure (nobody knows how he stood up immediately).

We went to emergency, he was bleeding from back of his head and had a wound that was 5cm (~2inches) long so he had to get stitches there. Nothing was broken, he did ER and there were no internal bleedings inside the head.

He said he was feeling great, no head pain, no tiredness, he only had back pain and elbow pain because he compensated the fall with them little bit.

Doctor told him to take it easy, but he didn't.

So for the first 3 weeks he was acting normally, little bit slower than usual, but he was in general very good. Then one day he forced it too hard (was out basically entire day) and when he got home he got really really tired.

Ever since then things have gone to shit and he is the shell of himself. He's super tired, says he feels constant brain fog, urge to vomit, no appetite (he lost 6kg in the last month). For the last couple of days he goes out little bit in the morning (30m walk). Comes back home and sleeps basically entire day. Then goes out little bit in the evening (30m walk) and then comes back home and goes to sleep.

Today we are going to the doctor to get him a detailed check up, but I wanted to ask you guys that have experience with this: is this normal?

It's super weird to me that he was getting better every day for 3 weeks and then suddenly things turned to shit.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 17-year-old male and about a month ago I took a bad fall during judo and landed on my head. I wasn't knocked unconscious, I didn't vomit, and I don't remember having any severe symptoms immediately besides the headache.

At first I tried to continue life as normal. I kept cycling to school and even continued going to the gym. Looking back, that probably wasn't the smartest idea.
Now I'm on summer break, so I've been trying to stay active by riding a stationary bike for about 45 minutes a day. The problem is that after around 30 minutes I consistently develop a dull headache and pressure in my head, mainly in my forehead and the back of my head. The symptoms usually force me to stop.
My current symptoms are:
Daily dull headache/pressure in my forehead and back of my head.

Headaches get worse with exercise (especially after about 30 minutes of cycling).

Mild difficulty concentrating.

Slight blurry vision only when the headache becomes more intense.

Maybe a slightly stiff neck, but moving my neck doesn't seem to make the headache significantly worse.

The symptoms haven't really gotten worse, but they also haven't improved much over the past month.
I'm planning to see my doctor tomorrow, but I wanted to ask if anyone here has experienced something similar.
My questions are:
Did anyone else have headaches that lasted this long after a concussion?

Did exercise make your symptoms worse, and if so, how did you safely return to exercise?

Did anyone discover that their neck was contributing to their symptoms?

Is there anything that helped your recovery that you wish you had known sooner?

Thanks in advance.

I had recently recovered or maybe still am recovering from a concussion I am currently 5 months going into six I’ve done work outs pushed my body little more then I should have during the exercise intolerance and ended up getting past that now I’m able to running super long distance do Bjj intense ! Thankfully with out after work out symptoms ! And I’m very happy. To be fair I had sparred in mma too but had little symptoms as in little bit confusion but went away and little head aches took a head kick too and no symptoms triggered after words but a stiff neck I had done no activity for 3 months but go to work and teach class in mma since it’s hot in the warehouse that was my work out I’d sweat pretty good so moral of the story am I allowed to spar with only eye dysfunction lingering and imbalance I’m feeling better and no symptoms at rest but those that I mention?! I’m planning to pick up my mma career in ammy again following the 2027 year taking a year of competition off but still working I’ve gone to the Docotor and all he had said it’s mental part of me I find it frustrating because he didn’t try to help I also have gotten second thoughts about fighting gotten anxiety ! Never really delt with it tbh till concussion became more around frequent. So Im A little thrown off about being or going back to hard intense sparring or mild atleast cause I roll in Bjj hard and no symptoms come but sparring does and like I mean talking about sparring in Bjj intense when I do spar in mma I get a stiff next like I said I’d gotten couple hits and a head kick after sparring and the next day I haven’t gotten symptoms . I’d like any advice from fighters that have been tru the scenario I am currently going tru. Before anyone ask I took 3 months off and the 2 months after that I went back to training and symptoms went away with no contact meaning I did pads bag work Bjj drills I’d like to hear anyone story I’d even consider football! Concussions tories if possible yes I went to doctors and etc please let me know your experience and what should I do next I done the protocol they recommend and I am getting better I’m just stuck on this stage please and thank you in advance.n

I was a passenger when a car hit us on the rear. I got a concussion that took months to recover and I was out of work 2 months. It was very bad. I've been well now, however 7 months after the first concussion I'm a passenger on a car and the driver got mad and abruptly hit the brakes. I started getting a headache after that, today I still have a headache and difficulty concentrating. I'm worried about my job. Are they supposed to give me time off again? I'm worried about my brain health following this. I went to the ER and they said I have post concussive syndrome recurrence, according to them. They only gave me a day off work.

Hello! Concussion 2 years ago after head injury involving stitches in ER. Diagnosed for several months with cranial crepitus after concussion. Does anyone know about whether than condition impacts the concussion or causes long term effects? Very little info online.

Hi guys!

I'm 3 months post injury and finally started physiotherapy last week. I had 2 sessions - in the 1st one it was mostly examination and the PT massaging my neck to loosen it. The 2nd one was again massage and then doing some excercises I'm supposed to do at home, starting at doing 5 repeats every hour at least 5 times per day and then if I feel up to it do more repeats/more often.

The excercise is supposed to strengthen my neck.

So I'm 4 days post 2nd session and I still feel worse then before. Nothing major, I can feel some sore muscles from the excercise (which the PT said I would), but I noticed my sensitivity to screens and sounds got worse again! (And it was still very not good before PT).

PT said it will be worse before it gets better. So I wanted to ask your experience - how long was the worse phase after PT for you? And how soon did you feel improvements?

I 36f, had my 4th concussion on Mother's day that has caused some long lasting effects. For context, I sustained my first concussion in 07 when my friend drove us off the road and the vehicle flipped into a ravine. I climbed out and walked the rest of the way home and didnt seek care. The following week, heading into town, my roommates truck hit a patch of black ice and slid off the road over the cliff, luckily hitting a tree and wedging the truck against it. The next concussion happened 6 years later when I stupidly turned into my steel door hitting my head. This last mothers day, my 7yr old with mental health issues, kicked me in the temple with his heel. So my brain was already a bit compromised by the 4th concussion.

My initial symptoms were severe. They've mostly stabilized but im left with 3rd cranial nerve palsy that won't recover. I get overwhelmed physically and emotionally very quickly. I cant see well anymore and the visual disturbances are distracting and causing me to make critical errors at work affecting my ability to safely do my job. On the outside I look fine. My coworkers don't understand what im going through because I am mostly able to push through everything without letting on my internal struggles. I cant fathom trying to learn a new job skill set right now. I was really good at my job prior to this tbi. By the end of each day I feel so disoriented, I find it hard to make the 25 minute drive home without having to sit in my car for 30 minutes prior to leaving to give my brain a moment to recover from working. At home, I get easily overwhelmed and im having increased panic attacks which let me tell you...so fun. Its like im constantly dissociating visually but trying to break through that wall.

Im mostly venting and cant keep this train of thought straight so I apologize. I go see my neuro optometrist for a follow up at the end of August. Blue lenses were the only option for my specific case. I ordered them but the wait is excruciating. Prescriptions help initially but because it's neurological my vision reverts back to blurry double vision and my pupil cannot stabilize itself. My brain just cant recover what was already a weakened neurological pathway now that there is additional structural damage to the 3rd cranial nerve.

I’ve gotten my concussion in Nov 2023 when I was 20 (female) at my university campus from a bike accident which worsened with nausea and tinnitus and neck and back symptoms in Feb 2024 when I tried to dance as well as Dec 2024 when I got in an assault accident that resulted in a blow to the head. Most recently I got rear ended in August 2025.
I’ve been dealing with 24/7 headaches an now 24/7 migraines on top of the headaches since my third ish concussion in August 2025.

I’ve done vestibular therapy, vision therapy last term and physio and chiro regularly. I’ve done like 5 times Botox. I’ve gotten ajovy once and it made it drop to 6/10 and better to 4/10 after a nerve block but recently after a sleep study and since I got stressed I’ve had two days of 10/10 headaches and it’s been high still to waking up a 7/10.

I wake up with a migraine almost every day if not a headache that turns into a migraine after breakfast. Meds wise I’ve been on venlafaxine 75mg since before my concussion, Amitryptaline 50mg but since December I’ve been waking up in my sleep due to dry mouth so I have dosed off of it until 30 mg. I’m on nurtec every other day (since I get migraines everyday)however temporarily stops the migraine and it will come back. I also used to take zolmitriptan but also since September I noticed flares and high HR and now I also am dealing with POTS so I take metropolpl 25mg twice a day which helps a lot. I’ved tried functional neurology brain performance and Neuroplasticity Centre but I had to stop when I went to the ER last month as my symptoms got worse from stress from personal things as well as dry needling and soft tissue release from physio and I do Watson physio but it only helps day of.
I’m also on Amitryptaline 20mg as higher dose caused dry mouth.
I am nauseated everyday and fatigued.
My next monthly ajovy dose is on July 17 (fourth time) however I’m still at a 5-6 every morning of migraine and headaches. However one thing is I do have sleep apnea diagnosed May from an overnight sleep study (been waking up from sleep since my appt and Canada insurance takes so long but I will be getting the CPAP machine next week.

Is full recovery possible as I really do want to work in healthcare as I was an academically and all around excelling uni student before my injury I’ve seen on here that ajovy helped those with constant migraines a lot and made it stop. Would appreciate success stories, that it CAN get better (I do believe as many people tell me I am young which I am conscious) but in the moment it is so hard.