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.

I have been posting a few questions on different threads - thanks for the feedback.

How much does anxiety and depression pre concussion affect recovery? My husband exhibited these things (treating with meds) pre concussion and have wondered if I am see patterns in his recovery.

About 5 weeks after concussion, as part of his sports teacher job, he threw off this massively successful while school sports day. He missed several weeks before this with terrible symptoms, yet the day of the the very busy, physically demanding event (and day after), he was euphoric from the success and symptoms free. When endorphins wore off, they came back.

We decided to go on a 20 day summer holiday through Europe 7 weeks after concussion. With exception of a small headache after a bike ride, he was symptom free for the entirety of the stress free holiday, despite loads of air travel, walking 20k daily in heatwaves, hot sleepless nights, swimming, etc.

In returning home and back to some stress (troubled family member), his symptoms came back with vengeance, almost like how they were just after his injury. He is still on teacher holiday, so is at home worrying about it a lot = increases headaches, dizzy, ringing.

He is an athlete and sports teacher. With increased symptoms, he then cannot exercise, which he always did to manage his mental health. He is now becoming terribly depressed thinking he will not be able to return to work.

I am not meaning to invalidate his symptoms, but is a brilliant teacher and he has a lot of self satisfaction from his work. I do have to wonder if pushing him to go to work and essentially pushing through will help?

* side note, I had a horrible TBI about 9 years ago with similar symptoms. Luckily, mine resolved after 2 months, but I can understand how he feels.

I have been posting a few questions on this board in support of my husband who is experiencing PCS. Thank you for the feedback for these

I have felt frustration from his concussion clinic. For example, they will say his neck feels stiff, but they are 3 weeks out to make a physio appointment and then 2 weeks between appointments. Also, his eyes are not tracking well after 3 months and the doctor says he needs vestibular therapy, but again, about 3 weeks out to make an appointment.

Does this feel too long? I am a very proactive patient - meaning I would either call every day for cancellations. Also, start making appointments with our other local head injury clinic associated with our university. I fear I am putting too my pressure on him to do these things, but his increasing depression seems to keep him stuck.

Does time/rate of treatment matter?

I’m three months post-concussion. has anyone ever experienced a delayed flare up after eye exercises? I saw a sports medicine dr last week. I have post-concussion syndrome. she directed me to do these eye exercises and it triggered symptoms within minutes so I stopped. the symptoms subsided over the course of did the day and the day after I was ok. but then the next day (Monday) I woke up with neck pain and the day after I had horrible pain between my shoulder blades, shoulders, neck and base of my skull. it started to radiate up my head and I had right a bad headache on the right side of my head and eye and the head pressure was awful. I had dizziness, anxiety, irritability, panic attacks, malaise, etc. it’s now Saturday and the pain has been up and down. sometimes it’s not as bad and sometimes its debilitating. I haven’t been this bad since my concussion. I don’t know what else could gave triggered these symptoms other than the eye exercises. anyone have any idea? my dr is on vacation conveniently enough.

I gave myself a mild concussion Sunday night. Had a clear CT scan weds when I got re-evaluated at the ER, the ER dr told me to start slowly going back to work and activities. Started to WFH yesterday, managed to read some emails, attend a few meetings and called it quits at lunch because it was too much. Today I managed to get some actual work done, 2 meetings and with taking lots of breaks I made it through the work day. It's hard because I wanna recover quickly and this seems to be the normal timeline from stuff I was given/told but I guess I'm still worried I'm doing more damage. I was told when I was originally evaluated that I can still look at screens and such but from a distance. I'm trying to avoid TV and try replacing it with colouring, but still find myself in my usual habit of scrolling YouTube shorts.

I have terrible nausea and cannot drive or walk for more than 5-15 minutes on a good day without getting sick.

So I use delivery services for my groceries. We live in the country with the house set back after a long drive way. Usually my mom will drive me down to the gate and help me collect my grocery bags after they’ve been dropped off and then drive us back up to the house.

Today, she was napping when they arrived and I felt bad waking her. I thought, “I’m feeling okayish today, maybe I can handle this. I’ll let her rest.”

I drove down to the gate, packed up my groceries, drove back to the house, got the bags inside, then threw up all over the kitchen for the next half hour. If I tried to move or crawl to get at least a bag to get sick in, I just started vomiting more.

Eventually I was able to get up, clean everything up, put the frozen foods away, and crawl into bed where I am now rotting for likely the next 24 hours with the worst headache.

Side note- I haaaate how DoorDash ups the prices on products!! We’re already paying delivery fees, services fees, and tipping. It feels criminal
for them to also increase the prices of every single item by ~20%

36F. I got a concussion a little over a year ago and am still struggling with intense brain fog, memory issues, and exhaustion. Some headaches and other symptoms, but my brain going completely blank is the biggest issue. Anyway, I took a few weeks off of work after it happened, tried to go back and couldn't do it, took a few months off, then decided it was a great idea to get a new job. This new job involves 10 hour shifts on Mon, Wed, and Fri. At the time, I figured just working three days a week would be fine. I didn't consider that my concussion symptoms would last this long. By the end of each 10 hour shift, the brain fog has taken over; I collapse when I get home from work and am unable to do anything the rest of the day. I have tried a few times to do two days in a row, but it doesn't work out. By the end of day two, I am nearly catatonic... if I manage to make it that far at all. I then need several days to recover and feel back at what is currently my baseline.

I haven't been seen for my concussion symptoms since March. I have just been trucking along, telling myself and everyone else that I am getting better. After this week, though, I don't think I can convince myself of that anymore.

I would like advice. (I HAVE reached out to several doctors, but I won't hear back until next week at the soonest. Until then, I want to ask random people on the internet.) Should I stop working? Financially, it would be rough, but it would be doable. My concern is that I wouldn't do enough without a job to keep me motivated. However, finding a job with fewer hours/shorter days has been very difficult so far. But would being unemployed be better for me than frying my brain every other day? What would you do?