Anxiety or PCS?
 

Hey everyone. I am a 22 year old male. I was hoping someone could give me some insight on what they think is going on with me. Especially someone who has or had PCS. Maybe one day this can help someone else improve. I’m new to anxiety and haven’t had any issues with it in the past.

On Feb 14 I went out and drank enough where I didn't remember most of the night. I do recall falling asleep on the toilet and eventually falling over. I was too out of it to recall if I landed on my head or not.

Feb 15 I woke up and felt disoriented. Similar to a past concussion in 2015. I called my friend and he told me I slipped and hit my head hard on car, plus I fell down multiple more times.

Feb 16 I felt normal. I had no problems all the way until March 1st. On that day I woke up with a migraine. I rarely get migraines, but this one was constant for a full week.

March 8th the migraine went away, but from then I had moderate dizzy spells. The night of Mar 22nd I was up late doing homework and having a couple friend issues. The computer screen seemed to really be messing with me this night. I felt way more light headed than I ever have. I lost track of time and finally laid down for bed around 5am. Within the minute after laying down I remember a bunch of symptoms hitting me. Then I started having what I believe was a panic attack.

During this panic attack I was shaking uncontrollably. It was extremely difficult to breathe, like something was sitting on my chest. I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. I felt extremely light headed, like I was about to faint. I also found it hard to form sentences. I was debilitated. This being new to me and out of nowhere, I figured I was going to die.

I went to the ER. They tested my blood and thyroid. They had an EKG on me for 3 hours. They did an x ray of my chest. Everything checked out good. I was released but didn’t want to leave. My light headedness was terrible and now I had a new list of symptoms (anxiety).

For the next two days I did nothing but lay on the couch. My anxiety symptoms felt so severe that I thought I would either have another panic attack, faint, or die if I tried to move. I didn't eat, shower, and barely managed to get to the bathroom.

My symptoms at the time were: Light headed/dizziness/vertigo/faint feeling, trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest tightness, ringing or deafness in one or both ears, very sensitive to noise and light, lump in my throat, dry mouth, temperature sensitive, low/no energy, excessive burping, easily startled, and random twitching. These symptoms were daily.

I finally got into my GP. He prescribed Zoloft 25mg for 3 days, then to increase to 50mg after. The day I started the 50mg I was admitted to the hospital. My entire body felt like it was going to implode. Then two days after that I went the hospital again because the lump in my throat symptom got so severe that I was having trouble swallowing and breathing. Both hospital visits they found nothing wrong with me.

My GP took me off the Zoloft and put me on Ativan as needed. I had a CT scan a few days later and that came back normal. I was also referred to a psychiatrist. However the earliest I could get in was 3 weeks.

One night I took to the internet to figure out what I could do until then. Magnesium and amino acid supplements caught my eye so I ordered them. I met with the psychiatrist on Apr 11. He asked me to start Zoloft again. 25mg for two weeks, Ativan as needed, and we would meet back in 2.5 weeks. He also suggested there is a chance that I am suffering from Post-Concussion Syndrome.

I started my supplements instead of Zoloft. Today actually marks two full weeks of using the magnesium and amino acids. I occasionally use Melatonin at night too. I feel so much better than I did two weeks ago. I’m driving again, back in school, and hanging out with my friends. I’m am almost off Ativan.

As for my current symptoms. The most common is the light headedness. It’s not as bad, but it’s like every time I start moving I notice it. I also get the lump in my throat but not as bad. I have this constant tingly butterfly feeling in my chest most of the day. This sensation seems to bring on moderate or severe anxiety if I focus on it.

I still have is trouble sleeping. Especially when I sleep in my bed. The butterfly sensation tends to get worse laying down. I personally think the reason for this is because the panic attack originated in my bed. Long hours in front of the computer make me feel off. I continue to burp a lot. Sometimes it seems to relieve anxiety too. I’m going to try taking specific foods out of my diet to see if this is playing a role.

I see my psychiatrist again this Friday. I’m not sure if he will like that I didn’t start Zoloft, but he will be glad to know my symptoms have improved. If any of you made it this far into this post I appreciate you reading it. Regardless of this being anxiety or PCS I do believe the supplements are helping me treat the anxiety symptoms. However I am very curious of your opinions.

Do you think I am suffering from PCS and will gradually get better?

Or did I randomly start suffering from some sort of anxiety (disorder)?

Or could this be something else?

Should I start taking Zoloft again?

Any suggestions or tips are encouraged! Thank you.

Welcome to NT, Spence!

No one can predict how long it takes to recover, but it does sound like you're making good progress.

I've been dealing with brain injury symptoms for 2.5+ years. I recently started a high dose fish oil protocol and it has been miraculous. Just something to bring up to your doctor. I tried loads of supplements and tried about as many therapies you can try. None have worked as well as fish oil. And it's only about a $1 a day right now and will drop. http://www.brainhealtheducation.org/omega-3-protocol/


As far as anxiety, that is a common symptom that comes up with brain injury. This is not my forte, so I can't recommend or not recommend things.


Mark's Vitamin Regimen has been beneficial to many, including me.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread181974.html

Thank you JBuckl!

I'm all for trying supplements. My symptoms were the most severe before and during Zoloft. The symptoms are clearing up, so I'd prefer not to go through any sort of increased anxiety side effects from Zoloft again if I can beat this naturally.

I will definitely mention fish oil to my psychiatrist. I'm sure he will approve.

I appreciate your suggestions and will read through Mark's vitamin regimen to see what other vitamins I can add in.

Thanks again and good luck to you!

Anxiety is often a large part of PCS. The brain struggles to process the amount of stimulation after a concussion that was easy to process before the concussion.

Rest, vitamins and supplements, NO alcohol, and patience should help.

I'm hoping that's all it takes for me to get past this. I haven't touched alcohol since the panic attack. In fact if I do overcome whatever this is I don't know if I could ever bring myself to drink again. There are no benefits.

I feel like anxiety should slowly come about in a person. I also feel like PCS should have shown symptoms closer to when I hit my head.

These two scenarios keep running through my head and I don't know why it bugs me so much to know the answer.

Did I hit my head, feel okay for two weeks, then anxiety symptoms start to emerge (PCS)

or did I randomly become an anxiety patient following the panic attack?

Either option just seems crazy unlikely to me. Life changed so much after the panic attack. I could see possible trauma following the panic attack because I thought for sure I was going to die that night.

What I need to realize is it's impossible to know for sure. I completely agree with you. The best thing I can do is take it easy and treat the symptoms with these supplements. I'll treat this situation as both PCS and Anxiety and will continue from there.

Thanks for your insight. :)

An anxiety attack can manifest almost immediately. I've had them that went for 0 to full blown in mere seconds. Over-stimulation, getting caught in the wrong line of thinking, and many other triggers can be the cause. PCS can manifest weeks after a concussion, especially if the person lives a busy or even chaotic life.

Concussions are a process, not a single moment event. They can take days to weeks to develop to their worst level of symptoms.

But, my perspective is that you may have been an anxiety attack just waiting to happen. You appear focused on every minute detail with an introspective analysis of it all. This suggests a mind set that tends to be on the edge. I've been there. Done that. It alone can be the trigger. Add some PCS and critical mass is easy to achieve.

I again suggest you try to slow down and relax. Use a journal to keep track of everything in your mind so you do not need to juggle so much information in your mind. That juggling of every bit of a day or week including studies puts an extreme load on the brain.

So, stop trying to analyze all of this. Take each day as it come. Forget about the past. Simplify your life. In time, you will realize you are getting back to normal.

The best way to prolong PCS is to focus on each and every little symptom. We train our brains to respond. We can also train our brains to not respond.

My best to you.

I don't disagree with you.

Before I bumped my head I over analyzed everything, just like now. People tell me this all the time. My parents call me a hypochondriac. My friends tell me I worry about everything. I need to make some serious adjustments to my life to help get over this and stay over it.

I have a good understanding of why I'm in the position now. I know what I have to do to get better. No more worrying. No more allowing symptoms to cloud the judgement of my healing progress.

I can actually get by most days without worrying about the anxiety, but I keep spending too much time online trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Worrying is what I'm doing wrong.

Time to let my mind take a break. Once I'm feeling better I'll hopefully remember to come back and give you all the good news. Thank you Mark.

And my best wishes to anyone who has to deal with this.

What Mark said.

I also had awful anxiety for a while.

I have had good results with zoloft but it did make me feel awfully crazy at first, might be worth riding it out, it took almost 2 months before I kind of realized all that it was doing.

Handle your anxiety dont worry about the rest, I had one of my doctors tell me that the anxiety can be related to autonomic nervous system problems and light aerobic, measured exercise can be a great tool if you can handle it.

Meditation, mindfulness, all that stuff is also hugely helpful for anxiety if you stick with it, it wont always feel like its working but stick to it,

There is apps for it, Calm is the one I started out with, now I kind of browse youtube or just meditate on my own, it has a cost, but youtube has some quality guided meditations that may help you.


Dont worry about your worry. Its not you, and its not anything you can repress or face straight on, use the tools you have available and trust the process. The little things you do to manage it are what helps take it away.

Good luck with it all

Anxiety sucks. It was hell at first, but it's becoming manageable.

I met with my Psych today. He suggested continuing Ativan as needed and a follow up in 2 months to make sure I am progressing.

By then if I'm the same or somehow worse I'd be open to Zoloft. I just had a really wacky reaction to it the first time and think I'm doing well without so far.

Strangely enough I've noticed walking tends to really help with my situation. More of a set schedule would really benefit me. Now that this weather is breaking would be a perfect time to start.

I've been using the app called headspace for meditation. You get 10 free sessions. Once it runs out I will try out Calm.

Thank you for the suggestions. :)

Meds are only a band aid. It sounds like you need to get to the core of your anxiety. The psych should be able to refer you to somebody who can work with you with CBT or such.

[QUOTE=Spence93;1209724]Anxiety sucks. It was hell at first, but it's becoming manageable

Sounds to me like your getting a good handle on it. Recognizing anxiety is a huge success. It means your not so lost in it hat you don't know what is happening. Often times just reminding myself that this is anxiety helps.

I have heard good things about headspace too. Calm also lets you try some of their stuff free to give you an idea what it's like. What's most important is sticking it out good days and bad.

I just started the Buffalo treadmill protocol and am noticing some small changes. At this point I'll take anything. Keep walking, meditation and taking time to enjoy anything that you can

Anxiety is too probably my only lasting symptom from the concussion. Although having said that anxiety itself has a lot of symptoms, nausea, headaches, fatigue, etc can all be bought on my anxiety.

Like Mark says, its often really hard to differentiate what is an anxiety response and what is a concussion response. If I analyzed my own behaviour like you I had a tenancy for precursors to full blown anxiety, but it didn't hit me like it has 'post the event'. I also agree the concussion, or at least the stress from a possible concussion can be the event which creates the build up of anxiety.

Mark - I'm taking Ativan at most twice a week. As for getting to the core of my anxiety I have no idea what that could be. The dozens of symptoms I had and the few I now have all originated directly after my full blown panic attack. I can definitely say that I have taken as much stress out of my life as possible since then. I'm feeling better, but every once in awhile I get a set back day which doesn't seem to have any initiation. I just accept it and the next day is better.

My healing process seems to be two steps forward one back. I think eventually this whole thing will pass. I had that migraine weeks before the panic attack as well as noticing some light headedness. Maybe total coincidence, maybe not. My psychiatrist seems to think this is all PCS related and told me the anxiety should go away naturally and I should just treat symptoms as needed.

I don't know what CBT really entails, but I'm not sure what life style changes they could suggest for me to cut out any more stress than I already have. I don't work. The semesters almost over for college. But my psychiatrist is one of few professional opinions I've had. Do you think he is going about this poorly? Do you think CBT is a good way for me to proceed or should I give this more time?

MVTBI- It sounds like we go about this a lot in the same fashion. The apps are nice but are ridiculous expensive after this trials. I've already found some good youtube videos like you said so I can migrate after the trials are over. I've never heard of the Buffalo treadmill protocol. Is that similar to a stress test?

Newbie- I agree. I can have a variety of symptoms. I'm usually symptomatic all day. One may go away for a few days. Then I'll get a new one. The new one goes away, then the old one comes back. I think that's similar to my psychiatrist mindset. Now that I've realized I over stress about certain things I'll do my best to manage stress. As the concussion continues to heal I would think the anxiety would either go away or be minimized after X amount of time. There's a chance I'm totally wrong, maybe there is no concussion at all, but I feel there's really no way to know until more time passes and I can see how symptoms change.

Your reply to Newbie is the likely cause of your anxiety. The things you stress over are the likely cause of your anxiety. Stress feeds anxiety. The panic attack can even appear to be detatched from the stress. Stress causes mental fatigue that puts panic attacks on a hair trigger.

The personality that tends to stress over things is also ripe for panic attacks and even depression. What is so important that it is worth stressing over ?

Is it possible to only have your emotions depleted as a symptom and not anything else? That's how I feel right now. Everything is normal except my emotions.

Anyone? It normally doesnt take this long for me to heal from an anxious reaction to my "concussion" Just confused if its concussion related or not. Also I had a stressful event happen 3 days before I hit my head, so do you think that is playing a part in my symptoms?

once again, all i have is an emotional depletion after hitting my head very lightly last week and no other symptoms

Emotional depletion is a term I have not heard before. Flat affect is a common concussion symptom and also a symptom of depression.

Poor choice of words on my behalf...I meant that my emotions are everywhere. Im feeling anxious/depressed. This has happened before but it usually goes away after a few days. Now its been a week. I did have a very stressful event happen to me 3 days before I hit my head. Just wondering why and how to fix this

Nobody can say why. The solution is patience and reducing stress. You have not given us enough information to justify that you suffered a concussion. Anxiety and depression alone do not indicate a concussion.

Heres how it all happened.

I hit my head, then an hour or 2 later I feel my emotions scrambling and going everywhere. Exactly as if I had gotten a concussion. But that is the only symptom.

This has happened twice before, where I will lightly hit my head, and only feel an emotional symptom, and then it goes away a few days later.

The brain can memorize a concussion response and cause some of those symptoms to manifest from just the thought of "Wow, did I get another concussion?" This is even more likely when the person is already prone to anxiety or is stressed. As I said, stress put the brain on a hair trigger.

I see. Can I do things like smoking cigarettes, drinking caffeine, drinking alcohol...

You can do anything you want. But, if caffeine, alcohol or tobacco cause a return or increase in symptoms, you have a personal choice to make. Nicotine and the others are not the best way to treat a struggling brain.

Right. You mentioned flat affect also. What's your advice on combating depression/anxiety after a concussion? I've read about you and other people mentioning a healthy diet, but is that all? I've also read about something called CBD oil. Worth making a trip out to a legal state like Colorado/Seattle to use it?

Have you read the Vitamins sticky at the top ? It is a good start.

So barely hit my head again and now my emotions are everywhere...it seems like a cycle of anxiety and worry that makes it come back. Any direct one day fixes for this type of anxiety? I remember my first time having something like this, I decided to go to my neurologist. He said that anxiety is the cause and its self brought on, and with the reassurance I was actually good the next day.

How do I reassure myself, and how do you guys manage to do it. I understand vitamins and supplements but how do you not freak out everytime your head touches something? Silly but serious question

You need to teach yourself that touches, taps and even bumps and hits to your head are not injuries in most situations. CBT therapy could help. You will likely need somebody to help but as the saying goes, You need to be willing to change.

This could be a start. Sit with your eyes closed. Have someone touch your head with an object. Relax and breath through your response. Have them touch you with more force. Relax and breath through your response.

They could lightly slap the side of your head with a lightly rolled newspaper.

As I said earlier in this thread. You have caused your brain to memorize your anxiety response. You need to teach it to memorize a non-response.

Have a pillow fight. Have a water balloon fight. Neither will cause a concussion but can startle you and lead to anxiety.

What happened when your 'barely hit my head' ?

Great thanks for that. Retraining myself not to worry sounds good!

I was putting something into my car and my head lightly brushed the top part of the door frame in the car

You could work with your car. Touch various parts of your car with your head.

I encourage you to find someone who can help you. Your brain is far more tolerant of impacts that you would believe. The casual bumps are rarely even half what the experts say will even be a sub-concussive impact.