Bud - I can't fly with anyone unfortunately, they're both out of town now, but the anxiety alone isn't really a big deal for me, even though I guess it seems like it. I'm hearing from a few people now that I probably wont get another concussion, this is reassuring and I do appreciate you guys taking the time to help me.

Mark - I have tried gabapentin and propranolol in the past. I have fairly low blood pressure so propranolol makes me feint and I had to stop taking it. When I saw my last concussion/pcs specialist (who is also pretty useless), she ordered a series of tests, so I did a thyroid and hormone test, both came back normal. I haven't tried a GABA test, I actually didn't know that was a thing, although if I had to guess it would be *very* low. Same with cortisol, I assume that would be pretty high. Maybe I can check those out.

I used to have a pretty bad panic disorder, I've been able to beat a lot of it over the years, through a LOT of work. It's still wrecked my brain, even if the symptoms have diminished. They say that people with underlying neurological conditions are much more likely to develop PCS than "normal" people. I think that's why I'm now 5 months with little relief. The only medication I'm taking right now is lamictal, which helps a little, and it's pretty safe.

One thing that stuck with me that an old psychiatrist told me years ago was that with anxiety disorders people's brains will change to focus on things like laser beams. It's not to say that symptoms are just "all in your head", but rather your brain will amplify symptoms 10x or sometimes 100x the typical effect. So you DO experience things in a way that's heightened significantly. It's possible that this is what's been happening to me.

Let me ask one final question that would really help me out in a lot of situations. If I do something like move my head too fast or over exert myself, and I'm suddenly feeling exhausted, dizzy, throwing up, confused (sometimes I forget where I am), or any of these other symptoms.

My biggest fear is not that these incidents happen, but that the effects will last for days, sometimes weeks (like in this case). When they last this long, it feels like I've really done serious damage, as everything I read suggests that I should not be experiencing these symptoms for more than an afternoon, or a day at worst. Is this a sign of further brain damage? How should I be thinking about these kinds of episodes? Is this just in my head or do I inadvertently cause real damage?

Thanks you guys, this means so much to me.