I've lingered on these forums for a while now and thought I would register and introduce myself.

I am currently 31, an accountant, married to a beautiful wife who is also 31.
I've been dealing with persistent tension headaches, anxiety, and depression since my second head injury in March 2013.

While psychologist visits, naturopathic treatments and lifestyle changes have helped to manage the anxiety and depression, the headaches persist and they seem to be getting worse and the relief time from symptoms seems to be decreasing.

Physical and mental activity will increase the pressure but it is rarely painful, although the instances where I would classify it as painful are increasing.

I tried chiropractic treatment and that didn't work.

I am currently seeing an osteopath but that doesn't seem to be working either.

I honestly feel like I've totally screwed up my future by hurting my head.

My main concerns are:

I likely won't get a promotion at work which I am close to getting if I take time off.

I may not be able to continue working in an intellectual field if I don't recover

I'm no longer that fun to be around because I can't do as much as I used to

It's causing tension in my marriage because my wife doesn't completely understand what I'm going through (she's been great and I can't complain because there's no way I would get it either if it was her going though this)

I don't enjoy life like I used to because all the things I enjoy (fitness, sports, video games, concerts, festivals, etc. just aggravate my headaches)

I'll never get to be a father as I have no desire to start a family while I feel this way. How some people are suffering though PCS with while raising children - I have no idea how you do it.

Here is the long version of how I got here. I'll completely understand if it's too long to read

Hopefully I can find some advice and encouragement here and I'll try and provide the same for others.


July 2012

Passed out at a concert and fell forward, hitting the front of my head on the ground. I passed out for a minute or two. I woke up very scared and likely had a massive panic attack. I though I was dying basically. Got checked out at the medical tent and they said I was fine, just dehydrated. I chugged a few gatorades and went home. This happened on a Saturday afternoon.

I was very anxious for the rest of the weekend and barely made it though the first half of work day on Monday due to anxiety. I also had a numbness / tingling in my head that would get worse if I got anxious. On my lunch break I got checked out by a doctor and was told I was fine. By the end of the day Tuesday the anxiety had gone away and by Wednesday things were back to normal .. or so I thought. I went back to my busy work / social life and resumed daily running and workouts and did not feel any physical symptoms with the exception that if I drank a lot my hangovers were much worse and would give rise to anxiety which would last a day or two and then subside.

Feb 2013

I was walking back to my desk at work and suddenly felt like I was going to pass out. I'm assuming it was a panic attack but I'm still not sure. I was anxious for two more days and went back to the doctor to get checked out. He said everything was fine and just like in July 2012 things went back to normal after a day or so.

March 2013

About a week after the panic attack I hit my head pretty bad snowboarding. I caught an edge and whipped backwards and hit the back of my head (I was wearing a helmet). I didn't pass out and I popped up and snowboarded for about 2 more hours. This was a Thursday night.

I went snowboarding again on Saturday and worked all day Sunday. I woke up Monday morning with numbness around my left temple. This obviously scared the crap out of me but I figured it might be just anxiety and to push though it. I worked for 2 more weeks and the numbness stayed. It was worse while at work.

Apr - July 2013

I continued working full time despite being anxious pretty much every day and experiencing the same numbness around my left temple. I slowed down my exercise routine out of fear of PCS even though I was able to pass all the basic tests that my doctor performed. I started seeing a psychologist and naturopath to deal with my Anxiety and subsequent depression as a result of my symptoms. My general doctor was pretty much useless and just tried to give me antidepressants. I also noticed that my left jaw would crackle and click although it was not painful.

Aug 2013

The numbness in my left temple started to get worse and would actually get painful. It also started to occur around the left temple until it was pretty much a full-time tension headache (felt like I was wearing a very tight headband)

Because of the headaches I stopped working out as I figured that might help them go away.

Sept 2013 - Apr 2014

I've basically soldiered on continuing to work full time and I've resumed light workouts and walking to help keep me sane. I have good days and bad days and every couple of weeks I get frustrated and cry - rinse and repeat.

Cheers.