Hi all, this is my first post on the forum. I know the topic of insomnia and anxiety comes up a lot (I ran a search for old posts) but just wanted some insight into my own situation.

I have a history of pre-existing anxiety (no medication) and have always been a light sleeper. I sustained what I thought was a mild concussion on 2/28/14 by tripping and slamming the center back of my head into a steel door at work. ER performed a physical assessment and diagnosed me with a concussion and gave me a referral to a concussion clinic in my area. A week later I ended up back in the ER for what turned out to be panic attacks, had a normal CT scan, but was then diagnosed with post concussion disorder and/or an acute stress reaction.

The past 5 days have been a complete blur. I did not sleep more than 2 hours per night from Sunday to today. During the day many of my symptoms are mild, but my anxiety is high. It's manageable as long as I have something to distract myself. But I rarely feel drowsy and when I lay down, I feel my heart rate increase and my mind begins racing. If I can manage to fall asleep, I wake up intermittently every thirty minutes or so in a sweat or for no reason at all. I do not take naps during the day (though I occasionally doze off for 15 minutes at a stretch) and try to go to sleep at the same time every night. I have no appetite whatsoever, nausea throughout the morning and late evening, and am probably averaging about 500 calories a day. I try to perform light exercise (mostly walking) every day.

It's now the start of week 3 after my concussion and I've been to the concussion clinic four times, seeing a neuropsychologist who is helping me cope with anxiety using meditation and mindfulness techniques. I have also been seeing a physiatrist at the same clinic, who doesn't seem to do much besides prescribe me a lot of medications that I feel wary of taking (had a bad history with anti-depressants when in college). Among these are Trazodone, Xanax, Ambien, and a few OTC supplements (melatonin, gingko biloba). The Trazodone worked by itself the first night but has not been effective since. The Xanax I try to reserve for emergencies but often end up taking 1 or 2 pills in the middle of the night as I grow more and more anxious about sleeplessness. I have not tried the Ambien yet as I'm afraid of the side effects.

I know that these things take time, but I'm a 24 year old who just got accepted to grad school and am trying to do whatever I can to recover before I start in August. I have a supportive family around me (my boyfriend's family, actually) and they are letting me stay with them so there's always someone at home with me. Unfortunately they can't help me fall asleep at night.

So I guess my questions.... What else can I be doing to sleep? Is it worth trying the Ambien? (My own physiatrist called after he prescribed it to say he had reconsidered, since it might exacerbate my anxiety.) Can anyone provide any insight?