Thanks for you good response. This helps me understand your situation.

Your age means you don't have to worry about the issues of adolescence and concussion.

The caffeine and alcohol are also good answers.

Your history of diagnosed concussions of just one needs to be updated with those head impacts that caused head aches and any other symptoms besides a simple swollen bump. This puts you in the spectrum of Multiple Concussion Syndrome.

There is a concussion specialist back east who suggests keeping record of any and all head impacts. He even suggests that ER doctors note possible concussion in the medical records of any patients who are seen in the ER from falls or other like of trauma. He considers it valuable information for future doctors to consider when PCS like symptoms may manifest.

What this means is your symptoms MAY be more prolonged with a lesser level of recovery. It also puts you at a much greater risk of more damaging head injuries. As concussion count increases, the damage caused by the same or even less intense impacts can be much more problematic.

You need to give very serious consideration to finding a way to resolve your anxiety issues and hypochondria. With your history, anxiety will likely follow you do to the weaknesses your brain has from your concussions. Doctors tend to dismiss patients with concussion like symptoms from what appears to be a minor impact. They frequently label the patient's symptoms psycho-somatic or somatoform. This ends up being a ball and chain that can follow the patient for years.

As far as getting on the road to recovery, there are some basic things to do. Get started on a supplemental vitamin and nutrition regimen. This means a B-50 or B-100 complex, 300 mgs of B-6, 500 to 1000 mcgs of B-12, D3, E, niacin, Omega 3's, folic acid, calcium and magnesium, a strong multi-vitamin like GNC Mega Men's. There are a few others that I forget (brain damaged).

Regarding your questions,

It is very common to go through a roller coaster ride with symptoms. After a while, you will start to notice triggers. Many triggers will not cause an increase in symptoms until the next day. Hard to understand but the truth. We can discuss triggers in a latter post.

The head aches in other areas of your head just mean that your injury was not a focal injury at the point of impact but a diffuse injury or coup contra coup (hit with a rebound hit as the brain bounces inside your skull). The head aches are usually tied to the brain's loss of its ability to regulate blood pressure in the skull. There are also head aches from the upper neck injuries common to concussions (the head bone is connected to the neck bones, hit the head and the neck is impacted by the head). These will usually manifest from behind the ears and move to other parts of the head as tension increases.

The restless feeling in your legs can be connected to the concussion for a myriad of reasons. I need to take an anti-seizure med to help my legs settle down so I can sleep without kicking my wife. Gabapentin (Neurontin) works well for this for me. It is well tolerated with minimal side effect, especially compared to Xanax

Regarding your anxiety and hypochondria, if you arm yourself with complete and accurate information, it is quite possible to exclude the many risks that are often obsessed on. There is a saying in medicine, When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras. The idea is to consider the most common and logical issues (horses) and ignore the extreme or rare issues (zebras) until all the common issues are ruled out.

Understanding your concussion symptoms allows a simple, "Oh rats, I did that and now I have to deal with some symptoms for a bit." Download and print a copy of the TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com. As you read through it, you will have many 'ah ha' moments. Then, realize that concussions rarely ever kill anyone, and usually only when a second concussion happens within the first three or four weeks of a previous concussion.

So, no basketball or risky activities at all for a few more weeks at least. Even better if you wait until you are completely symptom free for two months. If you develop an excruciating head ache or lose control of your muscles or balance or focus or other extreme symptoms, get to an ER right away. But, that will be a very rare situation, again about as likely as getting struck by lightening. There is not much the doctors can do to help you except prescribe meds for individual symptoms. Amitriptyline (10 mgs) is often prescribed for head aches and insomnia. Propanolol can be used as an anti-anxiety med. It is fast acting and easier on the brain and body that benzos like Xanax.

There are lots of trick you can use to help tolerate your symptoms. Tell us about your worst and we can help you with them.

There, I gave you the full flow fire hose treatment. Print this post out so you can read it later and show your parents.

And, get some quiet rest.

My best to you.