Hi Everyone,

I'm obviously new around here. I can't believe that I'm posting here; never thought it would be me.

Seven weeks ago I was in a bad cycling (bicycle) crash and lost consciousness. I was air lifted to a trauma unit and kept overnight for observation after CT scans of my head and body revealed nothing remarkable. They told me my helmet saved my life. A week later it was discovered I had four fractured posterior ribs, nondisplaced, which are mostly healed. My post-concussion symptoms, however, still linger.

After the crash, the first thing I remember noticing while being trapped in the hospital (felt like an animal tied to a bag of fluids) was a loud ringing in my right ear. The tinnitus still persists, much to my dismay. After the rib issues began to dissipate, I became acutely aware of balance problems. It felt like a night from my teenage years when I had drank too much, the spinning room and lack of groundedness. This too persists. For this reason, I have not felt comfortable getting back on my bike, which isn't something I'm happy about, but don't want to crash again.

So, seven weeks out, here are my symptoms: tinnitus (loud), spinning dizziness with certain head movements (not constant), feeling disconnected from my body (especially when I walk), weird pressure in the upper part of my head that almost feels like a numb space (hard to describe), irritability, inability to handle too many things (feel overwhelmed), sleeping more, dull headache, lack of genuine emotions (feel flat), and just not feeling like myself. In fact, I feel like I'm walking around faking that I'm me.

I've had two days where my symptoms dissipated and I felt like me (except for the tinnitus), but afterward I felt horrible for days. I work full time, am a single mother, and am in graduate school. I just don't know how much longer I can hang on. Am I going to be like this the rest of my life?

I am scheduled to have an MRI/brain scan on Saturday, but I'm not sure that will be useful. According to my neurologist, only symptoms are treatable. He offered to give me a low dose of Paxil but I declined.

I know much of this takes time and some stays with people forever. I'm just wanting to connect with others who understand. Most people can relate to broken bones, but not so much to concussion issues.