ZooCrewGal,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Please feel free to introduce yourself. I see you posted to the New members forum but very few here ever see those posts.

DannyT,

"I ask this question because I am concerned about pushing myself through school and preventing proper healing as a result. I am almost at five months. Would I be able to get the same healing results in May if tried to ride out this semester. There is a lot at stake for my future here."

When you see comments like all or most healing happens in the first year, what is meant is that in an ideal healing situation, most healing that will be accomplished will be accomplished in the first year. It does not mean that healing can not happen past that time. If you delay providing your brain an opportunity to heal during that first year, you can still continue to heal by providing your brain an opportunity to heal.

You said "I have accepted my condition fully and am doing everything in my power to recover. " but in reality, you have not.

"Most of my original symptoms have returned in the past few days. This all started after returning to school and then trying to go out to dinner that same evening. The restaurant was crowded and extremely noisy. Also I believe stressful phone conversations with my brother and argument with my girlfriend have not been helpful and pushed me over the edge."

You need to avoid the above activities and situations. They are avoidable. Many of us have had to turn around and walk out of crowded and noisy restaurants. You need to find ways to avoid the stressful conversations and arguments. Not every issue needs to be resolved or argued. For many of us, it would take weeks to recover from those activities in the best of situations.

"Symptoms include: chronic headache at the spot of initial injury, increased anxiety, depression, OCD symptoms, inability to use electronics of any sort, light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, shakiness."

These are likely to continue unless you can give your brain a break. It will help greatly if you reduce the peak levels of activities, stress and stimulation. One day at peak levels can undo weeks of moderated activity and stress.

"I have accepted my condition fully and am doing everything in my power to recover. This latest setback seems to suggest that I'm pushing it too hard in school. I was fine doing all right up until I hit my head again on 2/9. The past weekend and today I spent lying in bed doing nothing for 23 hours out of the day trying to chase the symptoms away. I live in New England where we have 5 feet of snow on the ground, rooves collapsing - I feel like I'm going to go insane."

You can not be overly active and then expect to DO serious rest to recover from that activity.

"Work arounds/ actions by myself to speed up recovery have included using lowest brightness on screens."

Work arounds are not to speed up recovery. Work arounds are so you can do things that you can not do by normal means. Having somebody take notes when you can not endure a lecture is a work around. There is nothing that speeds recovery, just activities that slow your recovery. Proper rest and stress avoidance provides the best opportunity for a normal recovery.

"Taking breaks from anything mentally or cognitively stressful, relaxation techniques, eating extemely healthy, and taking a vitamin/supplement regimen extemely similar to the one suggested on here. I have also cut out all alcohol, caffeine, and smoking. I have tried to limit my medication use to a minimum but this has been a battle because I was already diagnosed and being treated for anxiety and insomnia."

It sounds like you need to consider some lifestyle changes. Anxiety and insomnia are often made worse by lifestyle choices. Add PCS and you have a double whammy.

Your goal should be just two things. Recovering from your concussion and continuing with your education as well as you can on a schedule that accommodates your recovery. Socializing does not even come close to the other two.

My best to you.