Hi Penny,

Your story is similar to mine. I too ran into a metal pole (on July 13) and I was also sleeping a lot in July (and some in August) with a huge relapse in August, again in late September. I had to quit school about 3 weeks ago. I am almost 30, and I also had depression about 10 years ago. They found cysts on my thyroid after the concussion, but I have not been diagnosed with Graves or anything.

None of these similarities may matter (each brain and hit is unique), but I just thought it was a coincidence and wanted to share similarities. I have experienced sleep apnea after the concussion, but I do not think I had it before the concussion. Sleeping on my side helps more than sleeping on my back. I sleep about 9-10 hours a night, how many hours do you sleep a night now? Sometimes if I have a headache I take an hour nap. I slept about 8-9 hours a night before the accident too and would take naps when I could. My body likes sleep (always has). I also had just trained for a 1/2 marathon before the accident and needed a lot of sleep for this.

About 3 weeks ago I had to lay down after doing anything. I too have a pup (a true puppy - only 13 weeks old - ahh!) and would walk her around the block. I'd definitely had to take a nap or lie down afterward. So I stopped doing that. Plus, she's quite unruly on the leash which botches up my neck.

Have you had your neck looked at? Mark and others have seen an upper cervical chiropractor and neck issues can be the cause of headaches. I will be honest, I really think over the long term my chiropractor treatments are helping, but in the short term I usually get a headache after the adjustments. I am unsure what this means, and the chiropractor thinks that it is related to dehydration, but I tend to think it's related to the physical adjustment which is gentle but it's an adjustment. Anyway, I'm still going because I believe it is helping and will help.

I feel for you regarding your career. I don't know what it is that you do, but it sounds like you are in a profession that you enjoy and want to return to. It seems like going back to a full time schedule doing what you were doing may or may not be an option for you. It's hard to tell what it will be like in 6 months. I am not in a position where I have to decide in 6 months, but if I were I would be betting that I could go back part time or in some less stressful capacity, e.g. working from home. I was in a career like yours right before the accident (interacting with people, travel, critical thinking, lots of reading) and when I ask myself if I would have been able to return the answer is no, or at least only part time. Is it possible for you to try intermediate attempts to go back to work at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months and at different capacities to see how it goes?

Going back to work intermediately and at different capacities might give you the opportunity to see what you can handle before you have to decide if you need to search other options for income. The other benefit is that you can let your mind and body relax until the time comes for you to try working, instead of worrying about the ultimate decision that you'll face.

I am glad you reached out. I hope that you are able to find some help here. I found that for me, writing on NeuroTalk was a turning point because it was when I finally accepted what I am going through, which turned out to be healing in and of itself.

One last question: did you drink alcohol or caffeine after the concussion at all? I did and it had an absolute negative affect on me. So did continuing to do heavy reading in graduate school. I am taking the vitamins and so far it is going well. I also take gabapentin for nerves at night.

Good luck to you and feel free to reach out to me through private message if you'd like.

VB