My story shows how even a minor concussion can wreak outsized havoc.

(roughly July 3; 5 months 3 days since the last blow to my head.) CT scan was negative.

Struggling with insomnia, I became increasingly physically dependent on the lorazepam; and it has a lot of side effects that I got tired of. Then they were going to cut me off. Fortunately I got to taper myself off (do not suddenly stop taking a benzodiazepine if you've been on it for at least 4 weeks!) Now seeing two professionals, one a therapist, the other a full-blown MD, though the latter only for forty minutes so far. Haven't yet gotten anything good out of 'em. Quality medical care is scarce in this small isolated town.

Getting off the lorazepam has dumped a host of new problems but also deprived me of a powerful tool for sleeping and anxiety: lorazepam was my 'go-to' pill for bedtime (I still like diphenhydramine occasionally take this Valerian root concoction with other herbs) and, without that now, I've re-developed the typical insomniac's aversion to their own bed and bedtime. A good book on the subject is Greg Jacobs' Say Goodnight to Insomnia.
I've developed this bizaare symptom and situation. The lorazepam always left me sleepy during the day. As I tapered off, I was also re-building my abundant exercise level. The daytime sleepiness got more irresistible even as lorazepam was going away (it's the exercise evidently.) I cannot relax without real likelihodd of drifting off, although it's not bad if I keep myself busy. But I DON'T want to nap during the day. Yet, when the sun goes down, or I transition to bedtime in some way, suddenly the sleepiness goes away and I have trouble going to sleep--at least it gets a lot harder! Go figure. Kind of depressing.

I'm not entirely free of out-of-nowhere anxiety and mood swings. This feeds the insomnia. There's hope: I've had a lot of good and acceptable days but bad days seem to be here at least for a while. But the mood swings and especially the oldest symptoms do seem to slowly move into the past.
Meanwhile I'm trying to restructure my attitude; there's a LOT of stuff one can do. Negativity, though a survival trait, does not get along with PCS or insomnia. As many of you know.

It'll be interesting to check the site. Been away, very busy, for a while. Hope everyone is doing at least reasonable. I will be on the site more in the future.