[blackzest]

Hi guys,

I suffered a hockey stick blow to the temple on November 30th, 2009. I did not lose conciousness. Immediately I felt a ringing in my ears and pain in my head for a day, with difficulties catching sleep right away. A few days later my vision went extremely blurry (tunnel vision like). A few days following I got the worst dose of nausesy I ever felt (immobilized for 24 hours straight). Lathargeay hit me and lasted for weeks as well. The unfortunate thing about this time was that my family and I assumed that I had a flu and then a cold, never putting together that I had gotten a concussion till a month later. I continued playing hockey/ball hockey during this time, taking further blows to the head. Over the course of the entire time up until this point, I have experienced a variety of syptoms:

headaches
dizziness (only days after the accident)
impaired balance (only days after the accident)
nausea (only days after the accident)
fatigue or sleepiness (for the first four months)
inability to sleep (up until very recently, i'm trying to wein off my sleeping pills)
decreased libido (recently come back)
sensitivity to noise or light (extreme case in the beginning)
ringing in the ears (only first day after accident)
blurred vision (all throughout, getting better over time, still very noticable)
irritability
anxiety (two weeks ago I had an anxiety attack, it's been off and on since)
restlessness
depression (experienced through the worst of my symptoms and lasted for a month and a half)
lack of emotion (throughout my depression)
emotional lability or mood swings (I became dependent on the girl I was seeing)
lack of ability to tolerate stress or alcohol (stress makes all symptoms heighten)
aggression (a stage of my recovery)
amnesia or difficulty remembering things
confusion or impaired cognition
impaired judgment
slowed cognitive processing
difficulty with abstract thinking
difficulty concentrating
decrease in work performance

Today, March 18th 2010, I am leaps and bounds better than I was. I have very recently been able to start entertaining myself again (computer games, tv). Many of my symptoms still persist however I have recently recognized that they seem to become amplied throughout my workday. Because of my injury, I took a semester off University and have worked full time 9 hours a day, 6 days a week with a job that has a moderate to high level of physical activity. Analyzing this fact now, it seems very irresponsible and damaging to myself. I now believe that I have prolonged my concussion by exhausting myself on a daily basis, not allowing my brain to heal. At the time cutting back work was the last thing I would have wanted because it was the only thing that got me through the day and made me forget about my deep feelings of sadness (depression). My question to you guys now is that i'm seriously considering cutting back the hours I work. I don't need this money to survive and I think i'm doing much more harm than good. What are you thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.