New here :) 6 months on and still trying to understand
 

Hi all,

Have been reading the forum for a while now and have been inspired by your stories and courage. Apologies for the long post but this is me trying to summarise my story (which is still continuing), as a quest for both understanding and ultimate recovery. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I suffered my first and only concussion almost 6 months ago. I don't remember it happening but I fainted, fell down some stairs and unfortunately smashed my head. It was quite a solid concussion.. I don't remember the trip to hospital, waking up, or a CT scan I had while fully conscious. We worked out I had approximately 2.5 hours of post concussive amnesia. My MRI also showed some microhemorrhages to the brain.

So that was the injury. I went back to work after a week of rest and for the first few days was fine. Started experiencing some racing thoughts/anxiety which just compounded day by day into a state of constant extreme anxiety/panic. Went back to the neurologist who prescribed me Xanax and at my request referred me to a psychiatrist.

I had just started having some anxiety in the couple of months prior to the concussion after a 'panic attack' of sorts on recreational drugs. The anxiety was mild and specific to a group of friends and I had actually dealth with and eliminated it in the several weeks before the accident. But I think once I started feeling strange post concussion I attributed it to my earlier problem and started a vicious cycle.

The psychiatrist diagnosed me with panic disorder and said antidepressants were the only way. I wanted to at least try and work through it naturally first so took myself off Xanax after 2 weeks and started exercising and meditating regularly. I also got another opinion, and they were happy for me to work through it drug free in addition to some CBT which I was all for.

So have been doing that since.. had plenty of time for exercise/meditation/rest as have been studying full time. Improved alot in the last few months to the point where I am completely calm, comfortable, happy at home by myself or with loved ones.

My problem that remains is a feeling of uncomfortableness (anxiety??) around people, which has impacted on my social life. I've been told I have panic disorder but never have full blown panic attacks with phsysical symptoms. I've also been told I have social anxiety, but I have always been extremely social and still have full confidence in my personality when I am relaxed enough to show it.

Now I am trying to identify what happens to trigger my anxiety or uncomfortableness as it seems quite random. The thing I've noticed in the last couple of weeks is that it is actually in big groups when there are alot of different people talking that I start feeling uncomfortable. I then get introspective and get ready for the anxiety to kick in. But now I'm identifying a feeling of pressure in my head and wondering if it could actually be overstimulation that is bothering me?

In the first few weeks I had typical post concussive symptoms like poor concentration and memory problems. But once the anxiety kicked in it really took over and has been the focus ever since, to the exclusion of anything else. I guess I'm just wondering if its all mental or there could still be some physical symtpoms e.g. overstimulation that are and have been bothering me and triggering the anxiety.

Wow just realised how ridiculously long this post is. Was going to try to edit it down but too hard.. may as well leave it now that its all there. Understand if noone even reads this but if you do and have any feedback would love to hear it.

Thanks and good luck on your journey to recovery

I know exactly what you're talking about! Ah, finally. I got a minor concussion back in October playing soccer. It was more like a series of concussions because I kept playing on it for a week, and one of my main struggles has been anxiety/panic attacks.

For a while I was getting horrible anxiety attacks whenever I saw anyone or spoke to anyone on the phone. I pretty much became completely withdrawn and antisocial, most likely due to the underlying fear that I would have an anxiety attack. As I've made progress in my recovery, the panic attacks have gotten better. I'm trying to be social again. It's a challenge, and it never was before. I was extremely social before my concussion. As well as certain triggers, I've also learned that whenever I overexert my brain, the panic attacks return.

For me, certain things triggered the attacks, but the main reason they were occurring was my brain still needed to heal and recover from the concussion. I got to a point in my recovery this past month where I was running almost every day. It began to take a toll on me, leaving me unbelievably exhausted to the point where I couldn't even get out of bed. I then had the worst panic attack I've ever experienced and my head felt horrible for days, almost as bad as it felt during the initial concussion. Basically what I'm trying to say is your panic attacks are just signs that you are pushing your brain beyond it's limits.

I would suggest maybe talking it through with a therapist and antidepressants if you're not already on them. Doctors who tell you that the anxiety has no correlation with the concussion are idiots. The problem with some doctors is they try to look at the anxiety as something completely separate from the concussion. The way I see it, your brain still needs to heal. At least that's what I've learned from my concussion and relapses in regards to the panic attacks.

Sorry this is so long. Hope it helps. I'm sorry you're going through this, it really sucks. If you have any questions or anything, I'm willing to help!

I forgot to mention that I got that pressure feeling a lot, but it has subsided as I've made progress in my recovery. It was at my worst in the months following a horrible relapse back in January after running. I would definitely say your brain needs some time to heal completely.

Thanks so much for your reply Kelly.

Your first couple of paragraphs sound exactly like me. I have always been an extremely social person with many different groups of friends but for a couple of months after the concussion I was completely withdrawn. I was constantly on edge and seeing anyone or even talking to anyone was a struggle.

Have come a long way since then and making efforts to get back to my 'old self' by being social, but yes it is a challenge.

I have been getting therapy which has helped me cope with different situtations. I hope the realisation in the last few weeks that some of my triggers are actually overstimulation will help ease the anxiety too.

Agree completely that the brain needs time to heal. It has been 6 months and I was hoping to be back to perfect by now. But I need to focus on the positive which is how far I've come since those first few months, and that it will continue to get better. Also the fact that my old confident, funny, outgoing personality is still there at times when I am relaxed and anxiety free keeps me going.

Thanks again for your reply has seriously been a big help as you sound very similar to me. I am happy to hear things are going well for you and hope it continues.

Also moderators sorry for the double post, feel free to merge both of my threads

Coffee?
 

Hi Heisenberg,

This is just a shot in the dark, but I sometimes notice that when I am feeling anxious about nothing at all, e.g. meeting someone that I know well and there is no reason to get nervous about, then it's because I have caffeine in my system.

I also think that coffee makes post-concusson symptoms worse. it seems to bring on the same sort of headache that I get because of PCS. I didn't get this before when I drank coffee, so I thought that it might be worth suggesting that you might want to rethink how much coffee and other caffeine sources you are able to tolerate. It might not be the same as before you got PCS.

I should add that I don't have anxiety attacks, so my set of problems are different from yours, and I am not suggesting that giving up caffeine would be an end to your problems, but I just thought that it might be something that you could try and see if it makes any difference.

Good luck.

Concussed Scientist