Hi everyone,

Apologies for the long post


Would love some expert input to the past three months! I've been diagnosed with anxiety/trauma and am actively working on it, but would appreciate some advice if the "bumps and bruises" I've experienced post initial concussion were real or not.


About me: 23M, very fit and used to exercise daily/run 40miles a week. Still trying to stay fit post-injury with stationary bikes and light weightlifting most days


Current Symptoms - Anxiety/PTSD, sore neck/tense shoulders, clogged ears (airplane ears), dull ache from initial concussion blunt trauma spot, occasional dizziness and vertigo when "agitated" or anxious


Timeline

Mid-January 2022 - Was bench pressing flat on a bench and the barbell dropped on my head. Clear concussion, symptoms were headaches, aversion to screens. Symptoms had resolved 90% by the end of two weeks. No other symptoms. Returned to light exercise 48 hours after injury, resumed normal exercise routine (stationary bike in lieu of running) a week after.


Early February 2022 - I had bought a new foam mattress (Casper Element, Full ~80lbs) and had it leaning against the wall while I was sitting next to it. The mattress crumpled and tipped over, bouncing off my head after falling a few feet. Initially I didn't think much of it since it was soft and bouncy, but new symptoms of anxiety and nausea kicked in. No headaches, no aversion to light - nausea was the main problem (Zofran helped a lot). Not sure if this was a new concussion, but this is where my anxiety started. My head became very sensitive to any bumps and bruises, where as prior to this incident (post initial concussion) I wasn't fearful of light bumps and bruises.


Late February 2022 - Was walking down a flight of stairs outdoors when a car honked at me. I stumbled and planted my right foot down a stair, jamming my heel. Immediately I felt it and my mind panicked. Immediate new symptoms were a renewed aversion to light, anxiety and fear. After this incident, my entire body became sensitive to bumps and bruises, bumpy car rides, hard steps from walking, etc.


While most of my physical symptoms have healed pretty well, my mental state continues to deteriorate. Any slight jostle or bump triggers my flight or fight mode, and while a few sessions of CBT have helped me reduce the length of my state of agitation, I'm still getting triggered as commonly as I was before. I'm fearful of taking any hard steps - I can feel the bumps of driving over a pothole, and my head is incredibly sensitive to any contact. After agitation, I often get a dull headache at the portion of the head where the barbell slammed into my skull, slight vertigo, and of course - anxiety.


For example, I dropped my head a few inches into a firm pillow last night and panicked. I've taken to dropping an egg to mimic these bumps, arguing to the rational brain that if an egg doesn't crack, my head should be fine.


My question to you all is two-fold:

1. Out of those two additional incidents post-initial concussion, do you think any of the other two were real concussions, or just my anxiety/brain freaking out? My PCP doesn't think so while my psychiatrist (versed in military PTSD) thinks the mattress incident was a second concussion and the source of all my current psychological problems.


2. What do you recommend to desensitize my brain? CBT hasn't worked as well as I hoped, and supplements to reduce inflammation haven't made a noticeable difference.