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

Until I read you 3rd to last paragraph, I was going to suggest your 'social anxiety' was due to the multiple voices. This is a common problem. The brain wants to understand all of the sensory inputs it receives. In a healthy brain, when it hears multiple voices, it has a filter mechanism that will disregard most of the voices and only focus on those nearby.

With PCS, this filtering mechanism is often damaged. The neurological term is "gating." It has lost its ability to gate sensory inputs to the correct stream or to ignore (block) it from passing the gate.

The simplest solution is to get some foam ear plugs and where them when in a multiple voice situation. You will be surprised to find that they do not block near sound too much but do a good job of blocking the ambient and distant sounds. What they do best is improve the contrast so the near sounds come through with good volume and the ambient or distant sounds have big drops in volume.

I find the yellow cylindrical foam ear plugs work best. The bell shaped ear plugs are less effective. Twist the foam plugs up tight. Insert then deep into your ear so you can barely touch them. They will expand to fill the ear canal.

The ear plugs with strings in them are lousy. The strings transmit the sounds.

Do not feel embarrassed to wear them. A simple explanation of "I have an auditory processing disorder due to a concussion" is well received by others.

I have been using this trick for 10 years. I always have ear plugs handy.

Hope this helps.

My best to you.

Hey Mark, thank you very much for your reply, what you say makes sense. I think gating and other forms of overstimulation have been contributing to my anxiety. I am hoping that just understanding this will help me when I experience the uncomfortable effects.

Ear plugs are a really good idea and I appreciate the suggestion. Going to see how I go at work tomorrow and will try to source some if I begin to struggle again.

Had some problems at work that I cannot attribute to gating, e.g. in a team meeting feeling very uncomfortable and anxious (just needed to sit quietly for 30mins not present/contribute anything) so there are other things I need to work on.

But hopefully having a better understanding of what is going on will alleviate some of the problems and result in a smoother recovery.

Thanks again for your help. All the best