Back to the original idea of the thread (things you wish that you'd known, which might possibly help others who have just had a concussion):

I am now taking pregabalin (Lyrica) - 100 mg a mealtimes (three times a day) and 150 mg before bed. That seems to work well and I am feeling a lot better on it, mainly greatly reduced pain.

I wish that I had been prescribed more medication initially. Of course, you can't just get whatever you want over the counter. You have to rely on the doctors and someone newly concussed isn't in the best place to know what to ask for. However, I do think that if I had started taking something earlier then it might have been easier to get through a really horrible period and cope with a lot of pain.

You have to get to know what works for you, how much to take etc.. That all takes time; years in my case. I haven't found much relief from over-the-counter medication, ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen (paracetamol) etc.. I have found that only daily medication for a period had any effect. Just taking a couple of aspirin seems to do nothing at all.

There can be a problem regarding over-use and side-effects. With amitriptyline I found that there were some side-effects but once you have been on it for a period of time it is really difficult to come off. I have had to cut down by 2.5 mg at a time and then stay on the new dose for a while. I have reached a dose of only 2.5 mg a day now, but that is after a year of gradually reducing the dose. I think that this drug is known for this difficulty, so I would recommend consulting a doctor before reducing the dose.

It is a real drag being dependent on medication but for me it is worth it for the beneficial effects of the drugs, pregabalin for me (I think that the effects should be very similar to that of gabapentin, which I have not tried, because the two drugs have the same target). Somebody else might do better with a different drug. I hope that something works for you.

CS

So,