Please get tested for Lyme disease. I don't know anything about your situation or medical history other than what you posted, but listen to a quick summary of my story.

I suffered two major concussive impacts--one in high school (2006) and one in college (2009). For years since then, I suffered off and on from neurological symptoms--predominantly headaches, dizziness, brain fog. My symptoms would tend to flare up following minor head bumps. They would get worse and worse for months at a time, and then I would rest and seem to eventually get better enough to resume my life. Then, right when I thought everything was under control again, my symptoms would spiral out of control. Most recently I took a downturn in late February 2014. I dropped out of graduate school and stayed at home for months, trying to recover from what I thought was post-concussion syndrome. I also had other unexplainable symptoms that I thought were unrelated. My lymph nodes in my groin were extremely inflamed. I had difficulty urinating. I developed panic attacks towards the end of April. I had very low vitamin B, vitamin D, and very low cholesterol. I was borderline diabetic. I had a week straight of panic attacks that happened every night and precluded me from sleeping until I started taking Xanax. I was convinced that I wasn't going to live much longer.

While searching for HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen) as an alternative treatment for PCS, I stumbled into a doctor's office that coincidentally happened to treat many Lyme patients. The doctor looked at my bloodwork and medical history and told me that I had Lyme disease. At first I did not believe her at all. I hadn't been bitten by a tick since my childhood. However, I got the most accurate Lyme test available and two weeks later my blood work came back positive for Lyme disease. I am currently undergoing treatment. It will take many months to get better, but I've already seen some improvement with oral antibiotics. I will likely have a port installed in my chest in a couple weeks to receive antibiotics intravenously to maximize their effectiveness and penetrate the brain-blood barrier.

If my story sounds anything like yours, make sure you get an Igenex (Western Blot) test for Lyme and get seen by a “lyme-literate” doctor. Igenex is the name of the best ab in California that does the analysis. It takes 2-3 weeks to get the results and costs about $250. Most doctors will order an ELISA and/or a standard Western Blot analyzed locally, both of which have been known to produce false negatives. All of these blood tests are looking for the presence of specific antibodies in the immune system, and the Igenex lab is both more sensitive and looks at a wider range of antibodies. Keep in mind that because Lyme is also a clinical diagnosis, it’s important to go to a doctor who is a Lyme specialist, ideally a member of ILADS, to get a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment. If you need any further information, check out a documentary called "Under our skin" on youtube. I don't want anyone else to suffer with a misdiagnosis if I can help it.

Thank you and may god bless you. Panic attacks are no fun. I thought I was dying after my first panic attack and spent the night in the ER.