Still struggling with PCS-like symptoms
 

I know I posted a month ago about this ("bounced" weights at the gym mid November - felt a bit "bell rung" for second and started experiencing balance issues and PCS-like symtoms a few days later).


I have a history of head injury/impacts:


Walking into lamposts as a young child and falling hitting head

Aged 12 - fell off climbing frame onto concrete from height, off school for weeks, felt sore and dazed for weeks. Probable concussion.

Aged 22 - assaulted at party, knocked out behind hotel and left for dead. No idea of how long I was unconscious, woke up drunk and very confused, required 8 staples to back of head. Zero memory of assault. Good post-event recall

Martial arts training for 15 years, interspersed with getting into occasional street fights (not proud, just explaining)

2006 - MVA Hit from behind at around 30 mph while in stationary traffic, managed to see driver in rear view mirror before impact so able to jam brakes and brace. Probable whiplash

2015 - a heavy thai boxing sparring resulted in my first real concussion / PCS experience, which took 3-4 months to emerge from. Before this, my previous trauma history had never given me much cause for concenr.


The 2015 incident is the one that made me very anxious / wary of bumping my head and getting another concussion.


While everyone is telling me this is anxiety and not a physical concussion / whiplash event I developed a stiff neck 24 hours afterwards; which is still a bit sore, with some mionor ROM restriction. I also developed left ear tinnitus and my snoring/sleep apnea is much worse after this. These symptoms make me think minor brain stem injury.

It doesn't help that I had bounced the weights off the floor earlier in the session and twice the previous week, totally forgetting about the need to protect my head. So now I fear I may have been bruising my brain on a number of occasions which has resulted in a new round of PCS.

I now struggle with cognition, executive function and mood. It takes me hours to initiate a task, I lie in bed for large parts of the day, my libido is shot - these issues make me think frontal lobe issues from my brain being jostled.

This recent event has impacted my life massively - I was unable to function in work and lost my temporary employment contract before christmas, with ongoing consequences for my paying my rent as it seems like I'm going to be on the sidelines for a few months.

My GP and therapist think it is depression / anxiety and I want to believe them but I can't shake the belief they are wrong because GPs miss concussions all the time. Its turned my life upside down in the last 2 months.

If you think bouncing weights off the floor has traumatized your brain, I agree that this is anxiety. Your mind is telling you lies.

Your sleep and apnea issues can be the cause of ALL of your problems.

2015 was not your first real concussion. More likely your 10th or 15th concussion. Boxing and street fighting gave you many 'shake it off' concussions.

You need to find the strength to move on with your life and stop focusing on your symptoms. It might help to get on an anti-anxiety or antidepressant med. An SSRI/SNRI could help you move on without obsessing about your symptoms.