In March of 2002 I got a concussion while playing indoor soccer, from hitting my head on the astroturf. I had about 20-30 minutes where I couldn't recall anything to do with numbers: didn't know any phone numbers or addresses or the current day/week/month/year etc. But I felt pretty normal by the next day.

Fast forward five months when I went on a scuba trip to Florida. I was a new diver and had done some short, shallow training dives at home in the springtime. But these were my first real dives; deeper and longer (40-50 feet, 45 minutes). First dive was fine, but when I surfaced from the second, something happened to me. Literally as I took the regulator out of my mouth upon surfacing, I felt like I got hit by a ton of bricks: I felt out-of-it, dizzy (like I was drunk), and had a senation of pressure on the top of my head (like someone was pressing on it). I haven't been the same since. I have chronic pain (more like an intense soreness) in all my muscles from the shoulders up (face, neck, scalp etc). I still feel out-of-it or foggy-headed, difficulty concentrating, and cannot feel positive emotions (depression). I just feel crummy all the time. It's like this 24/7, it never gets better or changes and it's been 8.5 years. I've tried almost every treatment you can imagine to no avail, but it's hard when no one can give me a good diagnosis. Some say I have TMJ, TOS, atypical neuralgia, etc. but the treatments usually do nothing.

A TMJ-type issue makes the most sense (because symptoms started at the instant when I removed the pressure on my jaw from clenching on the regulator), but treatments for this have been mostly ineffective. I have seen numerous TMJ specialists and had many special appliances made. Most of these did nothing. But one got rid of my constant headaches. And another one would sometimes (though not always) give me a 20% improvement in facial tension/soreness and mood for about 10 minutes the morning after each weekly appliance adjustment. But it never lasts and eventually the dentists give up.

So my current doc wants to go after the concussion side of this, thinking that the dive's pressure somehow brought out symptoms from the concussion. It sounds somewhat-plausible... though why would it happen just as I took the regulator out of my mouth? I had varied my depth several times during that dive (all within dive tables), and I had spent a long time at very shallow depths (not as much pressure) prior to surfacing. That part doesn't add up. But some of my symptoms do sound a little like PCS. I have had neuropsych testing done twice and they thought I looked very normal, but I don't feel normal. I feel I can focus for short periods of time to take their tests, but not for my day-to-day life.

Anyone think PCS is a factor here? My doc is having me go for HBOT next week. I think it's worth a shot, but it's also very expensive. Any input? I'm just so tired of feeling this way...