One week in, and I'm freaked.
 

Hi all,

I'm so grateful to find a place like this to be able to get support.

Last Thursday (the 27th of December), I fell while ice skating and hit the back of my head on the ice. I'm lucky in that I didn't black out, and didn't even experience any confusion or dizziness. I had a headache, so I went to the ER and they sent me home with some Tylenol and info on concussions. For the next two days I rested, and was feeling better, but the next day I woke up feeling hungover - a terrible headache and nausea. I went back to the ER and the doctor told me I was probably experience post-concussion syndrome.

Since I left, I have been experiencing headaches. Not much more than that, though. I've been taking Motrin and a Percocet here and there to manage them. Yesterday, I felt so much better, and I even read for an hour. Today, though, I have a headache that won't go away. I'm feeling extremely anxious as I am a freelancer and have a job coming up on Tuesday that is very very important to me. I am obviously quite worried.

I know my symptoms are on the milder end of the spectrum, but does anyone have any words of wisdom, or is anyone experiencing something simliar? What is it like to go back to work?

Thank you for your time.

Most of us probably couldn't even consider going on the computer or reading at one week! Hopefully you are one of the majority that is better in a couple weeks. My recommendation to you would be to take it very seriously.

No tv, no reading, no computer, no smartphone etc. For as long as you can. It would be best if you limited all noises too. Music, conversations, etc.

You'll probably also hear the regular advice of no alcohol, caffeine, sugar, msg, etc.

Basically you need to completely rest your brain and give it the best environment and nutrients to heal!

Good luck and I hope you recover over the weekend and we never hear from you again! Good luck on Tuesday.

CC

Penny you are very early in your recovery. One of the hardest things to learn is patience. PCS is a marathon not a sprint. Be kind to yourself, ask any questions you may have we will try to answer them as best we can.

Thank you so much for your quick response! That's very helpful to hear. I am 29 and I've never had a concussion before (never played sports, don't ride bikes, don't go in for thrills :) ), and staying inside all the time makes my mind wander to bad places.

It's hard to say no to my computer and to reading. I'll try just laying quietly tonight in bed before sleep.

Not drinking alcohol or eating a lot of sugar has already been very nice to my waistline! :p

Thank you so much for replying! I really appreciate that. I live in New York City and I have a fast-paced job, so I'm not used to NOT sprinting! :)

You don't say what area your freelancing is in, but I assume it has something to do with reading? Or is it just having to be out and about?

Rest up as well as you can before your job, and prepare for the fact that you will probably have a "crash" afterwards -- doing it will probably make you feel much worse the next few days, so plan to take it easy afterwards if you can.

penny,

At this point, you are not suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome. You are suffering from a concussion. PCS is not really considered as a diagnosis until 6 to 8 weeks after a concussion. You may well recover spontaneously in the next few days or weeks. I do suggest you try to lower your stress levels for this job on Tuesday. If you can, find a quiet place where you can work with minimal visual and audio distractions.

You have a great opportunity. Many with a concussion will try to push through and tough it out. For some, this is not a problem. For others, this causes a delay in recovery. There are some here who did not learn to get the quiet rest their brain needs until after struggling for 6 months.

You would do well to avoid caffeine, MSG, artificial sweeteners, aluminum based antiperspirants, and also try to moderate your activity and work load. It is a lot easier to rest for a week or two more than mess up your job opportunities for the next number of months.

Quiet rest means low intensity activities with moderated screen and sound exposures.

And, don't forget to use ice on your upper neck and back of your head. The upper neck is often tweeked by the impact and this can be a big part of the head aches experienced. 15 on, 30 off as often as is comfortable. A zip lock baggy with 1 part rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol and 3 parts water will freeze into a crushable ice pack.

My best to you.

Mark, thanks very much for your reply.

The doctor in the ER who attended to me is the one who diagnosed me with Post Concussion Syndrome. I'm learning there's quite a bit of disconnect, disagreement, and misunderstanding about concussions. I suppose time will tell.

Today I had quite a nasty headache that wouldn't go away, but it occurred to me that since I had the concussion, I have cut out alcohol and caffeine completely, so I might be experiencing some mild withdrawal from that as well. That idea calmed me a bit.

My job is one that requires quite a bit of memory and concentration, so I'm nervous about what to expect. In the last week, I have experienced very little cognitive problems. Should I be concerned about more popping up unexpectedly?

Eowyn, thanks for replying. My job has a lot to do with reading, concentration, and memory. I'm a bit worried.

As I mentioned to Mark, I have not noticed many alarming cognitive problems thus far, so I'm hoping that bodes well for the coming weeks.

Penny I have seen this stated before If you have seen one brain injury then you have only seen one brain injury. Each is different and no-one can predict how you will feel one month, week or tomorrow. Try not to stress and take care of yourself.