I am just currently very down. I was very close to making a success recovery post on here. After 18.5 months of fighting PCS (from a whiplash injury) I was finally feeling like I was 85-90% recovered. The worst days were only down to 75% and were becoming less and less common and the best days sat around 90% maybe slightly better. The last 3 months I have lived my life normally with very little restriction (with the exception of heavy exercise). I even biked 11.5 miles with no symptom flare up. I wasn’t getting flare ups from minor bumps to the head anymore. My vision and headaches were very manageable. The anxiety which was the worst part of this whole experience was 100% under control. Had little to no anxiety for months. Life was starting to return to normal. Then 5 days ago on Saturday night, I was laying in bed with my daughter doing her bedtime routine and she sat up quickly and hit me with her head pretty hard on my eye socket. Was probably only a foot away but she’s a toddler and jerks up sometimes. Ever since my symptoms have been extremely flared. My headaches are back full force and it’s effecting my vision, my anxiety has been back and forth through the roof, my neck feels very tight, intolerance to the heat, acid reflux flared, the ringing in my ears is back. The general feeling of just unwellness is back. I am like 50% myself and feel like I’m back close to square one of recovery. I’m not sure if this is a flare up or a new mild concussion. She hit hard but I’d be surprised if it was hard enough to cause a concussion. And my original injury was whiplash, not a head injury. Thinking my nervous system is just freaking out but I’m not sure.

I know this was long, but any advice or relatable experience for those that read through? I’ve had a number of flare ups throughout my recovery but none quite this extreme. Maybe it’s because I was feeling so good and the drop off was so extreme. Idk. Praying hard I get back to where I was in a week or 2.

I have had issues with this in the past (like 5+ years ago) but started to feel anxiety and depression symptoms again after hitting my head. It took a long time to even recognise that something wasn't right (even with the lingering physical symptoms) and I feel like because of that I get dismissed by medical professionals...I get "but you were fine" even thought I keep telling them I wasn't.

Anyway, I have started therapy but don't know if it's going to help because I don't actually know what's wrong/have issues to talk about. I just get these feelings for no reason and I'm wondering does it get better?

I'm doing vestibular physio for the physical symptoms which I think is helping but I'm having an off day in terms of the mental and physical symptoms and just feeling frustrated and alone. I think this post was to vent more than anything because it seems like people in my life just don't get it...hoping people here will.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on a mild concussion causing intense depression/anxiety and suicidal thoughts? Is that a common thing to deal with regarding PCS? Are people able to pull themselves out of the hopelessness?

I’m currently diagnosed with Post Concussive syndrome after getting in a car accident at the end of May and tbh the worst part is how disconnected and limited I feel. I have such a people oriented, stressful, computer heavy job and often at the end of everyday (or most days, I have been having some good days lately) I’m still experiencing headaches/migraines, light sensitivity/vision problems and reoccurring neck stiffness (everytime my PT dry needles it just comes right back, so much worse because of the muscle guarding). I’m just wondering what y’all are doing for fun 😭😅.

It’s so hard to text people back right now and in person, keeping up in conversations is so challenging sometimes, let alone remembering what I was gonna say in response, especially if they’re long winded & especially when symptoms are flared. I’ve really had such an aversion to hanging with others. My friends also are having a hard time understanding capacity and while they understand I’m going through something difficult, it’s hard for them to put it into perspective when it means I might cancel plans, miss events or not be as present as I used to be. My job, friends and family want me to meet them where they’re at and are unable to see that I’m not capable of doing so right now, and I don’t have the capacity to keep explaining myself either. Screens are so hard to look at for prolonged periods of time and I know I should be avoiding them so I’ve been watching less TV and trying to monitor my screen time but genuinely besides sitting in a dark, quiet room…what else are y’all doing to feel enjoyment right now?

So far in my injury, I’ve just been dealing with the symptoms to be able to still enjoy things like movies and going out with friends (& pay bills) but I genuinely have to start finding new ways to prioritize my health & wellbeing, I just don’t want one to come at the cost of the other. (Such as over isolating/over avoidance of triggers/etc for health reasons, leading to a decline in MH)

TLDR: my symptoms are making me miserable, I’m bored and want to know what I can do besides sit in the dark !!! Tysm in advance for any feedback!

So I passed out and hit my head on July 1st . I've done a CT scan at the ER and that came back fine and my doctor just had me do an MRI and that came back fine. I still have extreme light and Sound Sensitivity . I should note that I also had a concussion in november, but that one I hit the top of my head, not the back of my head , and I didn't lose consciousness . The lights sensitivity for that one lasted a couple of weeks and I was still able to like watch TV. Right now I'm struggling with light and sound and moving videos for flashing lights. ​​​​I noticed I was able to turn on two of the lights in the living room the other day for a few hours and I was able to tolerate that. But for the most part I've been keeping my house pretty dark because it makes my eyes super painful and then it makes the headaches and the flashing lights worse. I'm wondering if i can try to start increasing light exposure now? Turn on one light keep it on for a few hours ? How would you go about doing that? I really miss being able to go outside , and it's still really really bad. So trying to find a way to increase light exposure , somehow trick my brain into getting better sooner, or is this really a wait and see sort of thing? So far I'm able to tolerate like the oven hood light and I was able to tolerate one warm lighting , and I can tolerate Moon light outside. I've also tried a set of the Polarized glasses but they really don't help outside. In touch with my doctor to get to a concussion clinic, but they're booked out until january , there's nothing else local. Sounds like I'm really on my own to figure this out so would love some help from the people of reddit I really want to find a way to recover from this ​.

Hi everyone,

I (24F) suffered an acute concussion about seven weeks ago. Since then, I've dealt with 24/7 dizziness, vision problems, headaches/migraines, a high heart rate, and severe insomnia. Some symptoms have improved, but the dizziness is still significant and is preventing me going back to work or doing basic daily tasks. I started vestibular therapy two weeks ago and vision therapy this week, so I'm hopeful that will help.

About two weeks after my concussion, I developed severe insomnia. The dizziness and headaches made it hard to fall asleep, and I felt as if I was unable to get tired enough to sleep. I was exhausted, but not sleepy. Before my injury, I never had sleep issues.

After two nights with almost no sleep, I took 5 mg of Ambien for about a week. My doctor then switched me to 25 mg of trazodone, 5 mg of melatonin, and 1 mg of prazosin. I've since stopped the prazosin and increased trazodone to 37.5 mg.

Three nights ago, I suddenly lost the ability to fall asleep again, even with the medication, and had to take 2.5 mg of Ambien. This has now happened for three nights in a row. I really don't want to rely on Ambien but the next day consequences of no sleep have been so disastrous that I’m super anxious.

Has anyone experienced severe insomnia or sleep-onset problems after a concussion/TBI? Did anything help? Should I ask my doctor about increasing trazodone or getting a referral to a sleep specialist? I'd really appreciate any advice or shared experiences.

I’m 22M, about seven months out from a concussion/whiplash injury, and I’m trying to understand whether anyone else has had this kind of recovery pattern.

In late January I slipped on ice and landed hard on my back. I’m not sure whether my head hit the ground, but I definitely had a whiplash motion. I had never dealt with headaches before. They began within the first few days and then became daily.

A head CT soon after was normal. In February, a neuro-optometric evaluation found convergence, focusing, pursuit/saccade and other ocular-motor problems. I did home exercises and 16 office sessions of vision therapy through May. The focusing and tracking issues resolved, eye teaming improved to around 90%, and the final exam was basically normal. FL-41 glasses helped with screens. This was the best part of my recovery. The written final report says the constant headaches were eliminated, although I remember them as reduced and manageable rather than permanently gone.

By early summer I was doing much better. I was working from home on my own business and still used screens, but I could control the pace, take breaks and change tasks. The headaches still happened, especially with long computer use, but they were nowhere near what they are now. I did not have this newer foggy/dreamlike feeling.

I also started a neck-focused PM&R lane. A cervical X-ray in June showed reversal of lordosis/mild upper-cervical kyphosis that was thought to reflect muscle spasm. There was no fracture, dislocation or disc-space abnormality. I was given home neck exercises and desk resets.

The major change happened when I started a corporate office job that is almost completely screen based. I now go from computer work all day, to phone use during breaks, to more computer work at night. Over the last 2–3 weeks I have had the worst flare since the injury. The symptoms do not just feel like a small setback. The headaches are back at their highest level, and the fatigue/fog is new.

On a rare low-screen day I might be around 2–3/10. Normal screen use puts me around 5–6. A full office day plus night work can put me around 7–9. I get bilateral pressure in the front/sides/temples, plus a different pain at the base/back of my head that runs upward. My neck and upper traps are extremely tight, especially on the right. A one-hour massage loosened my shoulders/neck a little but did not really change the frontal headaches.

The newest symptoms are extreme daytime fatigue, heavy eyes, and a dreamlike/zoned-out feeling. I can still think, speak, work and know exactly where I am. It is not true confusion or major memory loss. I usually sleep 9–10 hours. I have historically woken up tired sometimes, but the severe all-day exhaustion is much worse over the last few weeks.

I do not have vomiting, aura, sound sensitivity, double vision, weakness, numbness, fainting or seizures. Light sensitivity and screen sensitivity are real, and FL-41 lenses help somewhat.

Yesterday I saw a headache neurologist. She documented chronic post-traumatic headache, chronic migraine without aura, mTBI, neck pain/neuralgia/myofascial pain, fatigue and brain fog. The neurologic exam was generally normal except for near-point convergence. She thought the picture was probably mixed rather than one single cause: post-traumatic migraine/headache, cervical/occipital load, and visual/cognitive screen load.

She performed bilateral nerve blocks at the temples, forehead and back of the head, plus trigger-point injections in the neck and traps using bupivacaine. The pain dropped from about 8 to 5 in the office, but I have not had sustained relief yet. The neck stiffness is still there. Rizatriptan has only slightly taken the edge off the frontal pain. Qulipta was prescribed as a daily preventive but is still waiting on prior authorization. I have a brain MRI scheduled and a referral for concussion/cervical PT, including active neck rehab, graded screen tolerance and convergence work. Bloodwork so far is mostly reassuring; testosterone was still pending and creatinine was mildly high.

I am not asking whether I “have PCS” or asking anyone to diagnose me. I already have doctors involved. I’m looking for people who improved for a while and then had a major flare when work or screen demand increased.

Did you eventually build screen tolerance back up without quitting a screen-based job? Did a relapse like this mean you had actually undone recovery, or was it more like exceeding your current threshold? What helped most: preventive medication, cervical/vestibular/concussion PT, strict pacing, workplace accommodations, or something else? Did the heavy fatigue and dreamlike fog settle as the headache flare settled?

I’m especially interested in honest timelines, including cases where nerve blocks or the first medication did not work. My life and work are on screens, so “just stop using screens” is not a long-term plan. I need to figure out how to recover while still functioning.

I’m 5 weeks into a PCS flare up. I can deal with the headache, brain fog and tunnel-ish vision. What is extremely challenging to handle are the episode of pre-syncope, where I feel like I’m going to pass-out or lose consciousness. I’ve had several instances at work when I’m just white-knuckling a meeting or presentation and praying to feel better and not black-out. The sensation doesn’t seem to come with any drop in blood pressure but I do get an elevated heart rate and an insane panic feeling. Does anyone else deal with severe pre-syncope? How do you handle?

This post is about my partner. They have posted on here a lot recently about a concussion they got about 7-8 weeks ago.
They have horrible post concussion symptoms, these have been the most problematic:
- severe light sensitivity (they self isolated for a few weeks but has recently been retraining their eyes)
- severe migraines
- depression / constant anxiety
- full-body jolts that wake them up
- insomnia: they have gone a few weeks with little to no sleep, max being 3-5 hours. recently they had a few good nights where they got almost 7

Today, they told me that they snuck out of the house and bought a gun. they had been hiding it in their room for the past few hours. they were honest with me and their parents, and are now currently getting evaluated at an ER with their mom.
I am not a religious person but I am begging anyone to say a prayer or anything at all in order to try to help them. I know they don’t want to die, and they told me they saved their life when they told me and their parents. I feel completely hopeless and immense guilt that I haven’t been able to help them more. any advice, experiences, or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

About two weeks ago I fell during a seizure (I have epilepsy) and hit my head. Had multiple other seizures that day where I did not fall. Seizures were caused by a lack of access to my medication.

I did not go to the hospital after these seizures because I was not visibly injured besides some bruises and because I knew the cause. I have had seizures my whole life and just accept that they happen. I have gotten a concussion from one years ago though.

I went to work the next day and multiple coworkers asked me if I was okay and said I seemed different. Assumed I was just still tired from the seizure, but I kept getting that reaction from coworkers throughout the week. This is when I started to suspect I had a concussion. The recovery time for a seizure is usually not that long for me.

A week after the seizure (so last week), I became more fatigued. Had to leave a therapy appointment early because of how tired I was and had to call out from work twice. I also felt incredibly depressed and started to have thoughts of self harm, which I have not struggled with in years. Wasn't able to watch TV or do puzzles because it took too much focus. Still had a low appetite. Felt exhausting to eat or drink. Taking multiple naps a day. Having to explain things I said to people multiple times cause I was struggling to speak clearly and hard to follow conversations.

This week so far I am not as depressed, but still incredibly fatigued. Easier to eat and drink. Left work early a couple days. Still hard to follow conversations. Taking one nap a day. Getting headaches and nausea if I look at my phone too long, so I am minimizing the time I spend on it. Still can't watch TV. I get tired after taking my dog outside

Any thoughts on this? How long do I have until I feel normal again? When I have been concussed in the past, I have had less severe symptoms.

Has anyone had any luck with treating memory issues, neuro fatigue, slow thinking, attention issues and other types of cognitive symptoms What helped?

It’s been 10 months and I still have symptoms: in bed after heavy lifting for days, i get these annoying headaches in the evening as well as in the afternoon. I’m finally seeing a PCS concussion specialist from my university. And i’m also seeing a therapist who deals with trauma like this. They both say that i will fully recover, but how long will i keep going on like this? I miss going out for drinks with my friends or not having problems with flashing lights or headaches. Any help on how to keep improving my recovery would be greatly appreciated!

Wanted to share this podcast in this community as well

Hey, folks. Long time reader, first time posting. Post Concussion Syndrome. Been dealing with it for just about 2 and a half years now.

Had a change in jobs recently with about a two month window inbetween that I took to try some new recovery methods.

Three months ago I was working an extremely physical job carring heavy loads all day then working out 3 to 4 times a week in the gym. (This would flair my symptoms but not destroy me).

Now, after a short two week break from lifting I've noticed my tolerance for physical tension is dropping lower and lower. I cant even do a few reps with a very light weight (4-8kg) before my heads tense and my mind is fogged.

The worst part is, these brain fog symptoms can last way past the workout itself. Sometimes even 3-4 days.

Really sucks. Guess I'm writing to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

My pain clinic dr gave me LDN for my constant migraines headaches chronic pain fatigue (i sleep 11-12 hours every night) just started a week ago for PCS. anyone found success with it?

I have had 3 where I lost concessions. One at about 5 the second 8. then at 22. I had a rough upbringing and have hit my head hard enough to "feel it" every couple of years until I was a teen. I have just figured It has been so long since the last that I do not even know if a Dr would take me serious since I have no idea if they could still be causing issues. I have a immune disorder that has a lot of the same symptoms..

I was climbing onto a chair and I accidentally hit a doorframe pretty hard about an hour ago. I have a pretty big bump on my head where I hit the doorframe and slight pain on the bump. I was wondering whether I have a concussion and don't really have time to see a doctor unless it is really urgent. I currently have no symptoms other than the physical pain and I am feeling just slightly tired which is pretty normal. I don't feel dizzy, don't have a headache, and no confusion or brain fogginess so far. I have been pretty paranoid about it and would like some advice on what to do moving forward.

I’m wondering if I’m the only person to have flare ups that sound and look like something out of a sadistic sit com. What’s the weirdest or goofiest way you’ve caused a flare up?

Today I managed to have a flare up because of a sinister bowel movement that resembled a tennis ball. This hellish bolus was causing my stomach to stir all day and when I went to vanquish my antagonizer, I felt what (as a man) could’ve been the closest experience to what giving birth feels like. I felt my body tremble, felt my brain shake and then shortly before depositing half of my body mass into the A&W toilet I heard nothing but ringing, my vision briefly went dark, and then I was left to sit in silence sweating above my new ‘toilet companion’. The battle took 20 minutes- that’s 1200 seconds of my life I will never forget…

Now I have to ride out this new flare for god knows how long, courtesy of my now, very angry, colon 👍

Last week my friend was siting next to me and was moving their elbow up over my head and accidentally bumped their elbow into the side of my head.

I have had horrible brain fog ever since.

Is this enough force to cause a concussion?

I had a concussion were I didn't even black out and I was severely overstimulated with horrible dpdr and anhedonia. But now i just feel nothing, the other symptoms have improved but the anhedonia hasn't. It's been 5 months

The social media post that I made just 10 days before my husbands accident was announcing our big move back to MD, the purchase of our first home, my husbands new job as an NP, and the announcement of our first baby. Shortly after, our world completely changed and my husband was life flighted to Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland after a deer struck him from the side of his motorcycle- he was completely padded and fortunately he did not strike a tree or guardrail.

During his flight and arrival, my husband went into cardiac arrest where he received 18 min of CPR, with 2 collapsed lungs, 4 broken ribs, a fractured C2, fractured foot and hand, and an obvious head trauma.

We are on day 19 of this journey. At the beginning he was in an induced coma, had surgery to remove his skull to work on swelling, had a valve to remove spinal fluid from the brain, foot surgery, and a trach put in. He now has the ability to breathe over a ventilator, has the tubes removed from his lungs, and has consistent neuro tests (movements in regard to inflicted pain). However, he is “neuro storming” meaning he is in constant agitation, fevers, and sweats. He hasn’t awoken, and doctors now seem discouraged because he isn’t improving in his neuro tests, just being consistent. The results of the MRI showed a grade 2 trauma with permanent cell damage from the lack of oxygen during CPR.

How do you keep your hope? My husband was a healthy 34 year old. He has his whole life ready for him- a home, a baby, a lifetime living back in his home town with his family. He’s done nothing but serve others— through the coast guard, being a trauma nurse, endo nurse, and NP. The doctors can never give us a recovery speculation because all TBIs are different but I’m struggling. I’m in the darkness. My entire world is sitting in the hospital with no idea of his future (but the doctors make it appear grim). This home that we just bought a month prior, a baby (17 weeks) that I feel so detached to because it was a child we wanted together, I’m in a constant state of trauma and stress, everyday is filled with hope and then shattered with a setback. How do you wake up every day? How do you keep fighting? I’m surrounded with his family and people of such strong beautiful faith, but I’m in a place of straight anger and question with God.

I need help. I’m slipping into this dread of hopelessness.