Dear University Student,
I am a College student!
In March of 2009 I fell off a horse and hit my head so hard that I still don't remember the surrounding 10 hours, not even the fall, I am only told that I fell. Then, two weeks later just as I was feeling well enough to go out, I went to watch a volleyball game and one of the guys who is a really good soccer playing kicked the ball and it slammed into my head. For the next three months until classes were over I only barely was able to stay. If I had not had friends willing to read my homework out loud to me and look over my papers and such, I would never have made it. I did nothing the following summer except sleep. Then, as soon as I returned to the stress of school and being an RA, the headaches came back, but not too bad. Then, I got slowly better so I started to dance again. My favorite thing in the whole world is to swing, waltz, tango, and contra dance. So, I danced, just a little because if I did too much I fell down. But of course, twice when I was dipped another girl was being dipped at the same time and kicked my head. Then, after Christmas break, my headaches were completely gone, so I went sledding. I only went down the hill four times, but I was nauseated for four months. Now, because I have been stressing about where to go to school this coming year, my headaches are as bad as ever.
Nothing helps but lots of things make it worse, exercise is the worst. Any activity can make me dizzy and nauseated and the headache goes from a throb to sharp. If I eat too much or too little sugar, if I am stressed, if there is bright lights especially florescent, if I don't sleep enough, if I sleep too much, if I think too hard, if I wake up. The one thing that I never had a problem with before now is sleep. I am purposely staying up late and getting up early, but still can't sleep.
this is my story.

Now, because I have had so much trouble, I have also done a lot of research. A lot of websites say that it is bad to take pain meds because it only increases the headaches, but I don't know. Balanced diet, that is key for me. They say to increase activity slowly, but I have not noticed that helping. At school, I increased my activity from not even walking to slowly walking more and more until I was walking about 2 hours a day to and from classes, but not doing any other activity. I still had terrible headaches from just the impact of my foot on the ground.
All I can say is keep it up! I went from the semester I it my head having my first to C's including a C- and then all B's except one A- then, the next semester I still had 2 C's but higher other grades. Then, this semester I had an A and 2 A- , a B+ and B, and one C. I am sure that even if I am not getting better I am learning to deal. My friends all became very knowledgeable about PCS with me and it helped them to deal with my weirdness and inabilities. They are what got me through and they kept me going through the hard times. Whenever I bit their heads off I made sure to apologize later and they were always understanding. Keep studying, keep working on ways to live with it and try to educate your friends. Slowly you will get better and at the same time learn to deal with whatever is left behind.

I am so sorry that you have to deal with this terrible...weirdness. Good luck to us all!
"Never Give UP! NEVER SURRENDER!"
Margarite