Originally Posted by Vania

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here. First, I want to say how grateful I am to all the people who actively contribute to this forum. I am a PCS sufferer and I am having a very hard time explaining my situation to people, so a place like this one where I can find reliable information and where I know that people will not take my explanations with skepticism is a real blessing.

My name is Vania and I am 30 years old. I had a first concussion three years ago in a bike accident. All symptoms resolved within two weeks. I unfortunately had a second concussion five months ago after a heavy wooden door which was placed against a wall fell down on my head. The accident seemed relatively mild to me (no loss of consciousness, no symptoms during three days). But since then I am experiencing terrible and permanent headaches, as if my skull was full of pressure. This is basically the only symptom and I believe that the others that I am sometimes suffering from - fatigue, some difficulties to concentrate - are consequences of the headaches. I took three months out of work recently and avoided any intellectual or physical stimulation. It helped a bit but even after this period the headaches come back after any physical or cognitive effort (reading on computer, or even walking slowly).

I have done an MRI recently (everything is normal) and seen two neurologists. They gave me the impression that they did not take my situation very seriously. Both suggested that my headaches were caused by some psychosomatic condition and recommended that I take antidepressants. I must say that I am very skeptical regarding this theory - I am not feeling anxious or depressed, I am just in pain, therefore I did not take the treatment. I also had my eyes checked and everything is normal as well. I am not feeling any neck pain. From a cognitive perspective I haven't noticed any difference relative to my pre-concussion self. I tried taking some CBD but it did not help. I am following the dietary/vitamin recommendations from the sticky thread on it.

I recently went back to work and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it clearly improves my mood and I can sometimes spend one or two hours involved in an interesting discussion and forget about my symptoms, which is not the case when I stay home. On the other hand, the headaches are more intense since I went back to my office. Do you think that I should try to put myself off work for a longer period in the hope that the headaches will finally disappear, or is it a good approach to resume my activities and ignore the symptoms? I have seen some conflicting advice on that, so any thought would be welcome. Also, if anyone has any advice to share on how to reduce the headaches I would obviously be very interested.

Many thanks in advance, and all the best to all of you.
Vania