College freshman and conflicted on what to do
 

Hello everybody. Been a long while since I've posted here.

So, in January of 2015 I suffered a mild concussion that gave me symptoms (mainly headache, fatigue, and brain fog) for months, until a visit to a Neuropsychologist. The neuropsych took a quick test on me and determined that I was actually functioning well, and that my symptoms were being caused by anxiety. Sure enough, a few days later, I was 100% symptom free.

I remained so until this past July, when I bumped my head at work and become very slowed down and foggy. With school coming up, I quickly became very stressed and anxious. Funny thing is, I took the imPact test a few days after the blow out of curiosity, and totally passed it.

Anyway, eventually we went to a physical therapist who had a specialty for concussions, having suffered a whopping 12 herself (she's totally clear now, except for some noise sensitivity.) She revealed to me that I was having convergence/vestibular issues that were causing me these problems, and we began work on that.

At this point, before I left for school, she told me that my eyes are working fine again, and that although I might feel symptoms still sometimes, I should try to just live my life as normally as possible, and rest occasionally when I can. A chiropractor I've been seeing also says that nothing short of hitting my head again will set my PCS recovery back.

But damn I'm just so scared that I'm never going to recover. I really like it here and want to be here (rooming with my two best friends and going to a great school), but every post I read on this website talks about how complete cognitive rest is absolutely critical. Will I get better if I push through it?

I don't want to drop out, but I don't want to ruin my health. I have been generally okay the last few days, but last night we were out late, and now today I'm feeling very dazed and foggy. And I keep getting these weird, quick throbbing pains in a sort of vertical line on the right side of my head. I'm afraid the stress, studying, stimulation, and poor sleep I'm going to experience is going to set me back permanently. There's a two week period to drop out and get your money back. Not sure what I'm going to do.

I don't even know where I'm going with this post. If it is convoluted, I apologize. I'm so conflicted. I feel like I'm being robbed of something I was really excited about.

"but every post I read on this website talks about how complete cognitive rest is absolutely critical. "

You must be reading only a very few posts. Complete cognitive rest is NOT absolutely critical. In fact, cognitive rest is important for the first 2 or 3 days and mild stimulation should start after that.

If your vision issue is resolved, you should just move on. But, I wonder if you actually had a vision issue if a PT could resolve it. The PT was more likely a placebo that helped you move on.

If you are starting college with this much anxiety, you will have a miserable time. You need to get focused on resolving your anxiety, not your head bumps.

Anxiety can cause the slowed down and foggy after the bump at work. I'm not convinced that bump was a even a concussion. Many have had the same anxiety induced symptoms. Your brain can actually memorize a set of symptoms that will reoccur when you think you have experienced the triggering event again.

So, stay away from caffeine because it is anxiety inducing and find some help with your anxiety.

Pushing through the pain will make you head worse. But that doesn't mean you should stay home. Figure out what you can and can't do and as you improve you'll be able to tolerate more activity.

Have a read of my other post. Porn can cause anxiety:
http://www.neurotalk.org/traumatic-b...ncussions.html