Originally Posted by imnotcrazy

I was lucky enough to be living in NZ (land of ACC) when I hit my head. That was 9+ months ago and I was quickly diagnosed with a "mild concussion" (despite 30+ minutes loss of consciousness) and sent home. I believed I'd be back to normal in a week or so. Then I believed I'd be back to normal in about a month. Then I hoped I'd be back to normal within a few months. Now, I don't know what to think or believe. Hope is hard to come by.

I don't even remember much of that first week, or several weeks following. Even now, just getting through the day is a challenge, with only dreamlike memory of events and awareness of my surroundings.

I'm sure you can all correctly guess at about half of the symptoms I've been experiencing, and the other half you'd never guess. But I suppose that's all part of a concussion. Of course, if it persists more than 9+ months then it's NOT "just a mild concussion".

Over the last few months I've seen "concussion specialists" and a neurologist, courtesy of ACC. They keep telling me that I'm just manifesting the symptoms through depression, anxiety and PTSD. Nothing new here, huh? At least the neurologist could have acted like I wasn't crazy. Almost everything I told him, his response was a cross between disbelief, ridicule, challenges and insults.

So now I've got two problems: First is a medical problem, which is that I'm all messed up. Second is an administrative problem, which is that ACC doesn't recognize "all messed up" as a medical diagnosis.

I'm concerned that they're about to tell me "get a job, hippy" at which point my inability to function normally, or even stay awake, will really cause me to suffer depression and anxiety while I wait for the bank to auction off my house.

I've got an appointment with an ENT. I've recently learned that some of my more bizarre symptoms are actually fairly textbook for a certain ear injury. Before learning about that I was starting to believe that I was going crazy. As a practical matter, I'd accept a diagnosis of depression or anxiety (as a result of the injury, and keeping me from performing normal activities) if it will keep a roof over my head while I try to figure this out and get better. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it almost seems like ACC (either through malice or incompetence) has sent me to every test and specialist that can "prove" nothing is wrong.

Is there any kind of scan or test that can "prove" that I'm actually suffering from a concussion? I've had MRI and CT, both of which are, of course, normal (which is interpreted by ACC as "nothing wrong"). I've read a little bit about fMRI and DTI being able to demonstrate whether or not a brain is suffering a concussion, and if I have to go out of pocket to "prove" it, I'll do it. But would that even help prove anything? Is there anything I can do to prove that this isn't "just in my head"?

Thanks...

Originally Posted by imnotcrazy

Small discovery that encourages me that the root cause of my ongoing problems is in my ear: I just had a cold, and while recovering from the cold I was stuffy and congested for a couple of days; they were the best days I've had since I hit my head. Balance and equilibrium were noticeably better. I was comfortably staying awake longer and even had a bit of an appetite.

This encourages me that I'm on the right path in pursuing middle/inner ear problems. Is there ANY other explanation?

Waiting to hear back from an ENT who will review my previous CT scan looking for SCD, and arrange a new scan if the old one isn't detailed enough.

Aside from SCD, are there other things that the ENT should be looking for?

Thanks!