Can anxiety and depression make symptoms worse?
 

I am 4 months in PCS and lately I have had a lot of anxiety and new symptoms. Is this normal? Can my extreme anxiety be making everything worse even to the point of imagining new symptoms?

Oh mate Im in exactly the same boat atm. I had pcs symtoms for 4 momnths the only one in really left with is a headache and feeling depressed/anxious. I am also wondering if d and a are causing my headaches. I know I do have toght face muscles…and that this can be vaused from stress, a and d. I also wonder if I have TMJ.

Thoughts???

Good luck.

CW21,

Anxiety is the worst thing for concussions. The toxic nature of anxiety makes all of the concussion symptoms worse.

What is the focus of your anxiety?

Is there anything you can do to reduce stressors in your life?

You also need to swear off alcohol for the near future. Research shows a tolerance for a single serving per day as tolerable for some but zero alcohol is recommended. You will likely find that you are much more prone to hang-overs. If fact, you may struggle to determine if you are having a hang-over or a return of concussion symptoms.

Peter~ I was so stressed out before I found out my diagnosis that took over a year to find out I had MTBI & PCS. My left jaw I thought it was TMD or TMJ....well after finding out what my diagnosis was.

My left jaw felt better and then went into more mental cognitive symptoms for me....since my jaw was doing better my speech has got better and balance therapy 3 days a week has helped. it also could be a trigger point. Since I had got out of school and closed my own biz doctors orders....my symptoms have all calmed down with out stress....

I still get anxiety greatly from driving mainly, mood swings etc but headaches and dementia lessened.

wish you the best

Depression and anxiety can exacerbate AND be exacerbated by PCS. It is pretty useless trying to figure out which is causing which. However, strengthening the brain can help both things.

Here are some natural things you can do that will strengthen the brain and help both depression/anxiety and PCS:

- Eat a whole foods (clean eating) diet high in omega-3s and tryptophan. Take 3 tbsp of ground flax seed in juice every morning for a complete daily dose of both and then whatever you eat during the day is bonus. I also switched to a vegan diet, which is optimal for getting the nutrients you need across the blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin in the brain (the happy chemical), and serotonin is a precursor of melatonin (the sleeping chemical).

- Be sure to stay well hydrated. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily (i.e. if you weigh 100lbs, drink 50 oz. of water).

- There are also hot and cold water treatments you can do to increase circulation to the brain. In the shower, alternate 3 minutes of hot water with 1 minute of cold for at least 3 cycles. The greater the temperature contrast, the greater the benefit (just be sure not to scald yourself). Don't get the very hot water on your head, but do get it on your shoulders. Cold water is okay to get on your head. Always end on cold.

- Sunlight through the skin is good for vitamin D and through the eyes is good for melatonin (sleeping at night).

- Listening to baroque music (such as Bach) can help strengthen frontal lobe function (provided it does not increase symptoms).

- Exercise (even light exercise such as walking) can reduce harmful biochemicals and release endorphins. Again, be sure you are keeping it gentle enough to avoid symptoms.

- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and other non-prescribed drugs.

- Avoid or strictly limit television, video games, smart phone, and computer usage.

- Get fresh air daily and take 10-20 minutes specifically to do deep diaphragmatic breathing.

- Try to have regular times for sleeping and waking.

- Connect with spiritual practice, even something as small as making a list of 3-5 things you are grateful for.

These things will strengthen the brain naturally and shouldn't interfere with any medications or treatments your doctors want to use.

anxiety makes everything worse and can bring on a wicked headache pretty quick you may want to talk to your doc about getting meds for the anxiety on an as needed basis, what symptoms are new, and why do you think you're "imagining" them?

Re: "Can anxiety and depression make (tbi/pcs) symptoms worse?"
 

CW21,

As previously posted above, yes, indeed.

Also, as well, in the long term of recovery ... many doctors (currently out-of-touch with the most current base of knowledge, i.e. genuinely unknowledgeable about TBI/PCS/concussions) are more-than-ready to "sweep under the rug" your 'symptoms' under the diagnosis of "depression".

Rather than the docs actually addressing 'cognitive dysfunction' ... it's all too "simply easy" for them to diagnose it as "Depression".

Maintain your good post-concussion care and nutrition; educate yourself about your injury, so that you may speak knowledgeably with your doctors about your symptoms.

For example, be able to speak clearly about what your physical-malaise symptoms are ... what are your mental/cognitive dysfunctions ... what are your psychological states of being ... what the emotional reactions/responses are.

Best to you in your recovery,

Theta

Thanks for the post. i tried the shower, hot and Cold method after the gym today and it worked great. Could not make the full 1 minute in the cold but i did my best.

Thank you all for the support and time. I feel much better all ready. I dont like Meds. I was prescribed Xanax for the anxiety, took it three times but quickly realized that it made sme feel VERY wierd.

I have been doing much better with meditation and positive thinking.

Also, staying off of the sypmtom internet searching is helping alot. i think i may ahve been addicted to that.