[Fallaryn]

Hey everyone.

Quick run-through of what I've been dealing with:

- I was a sleeping passenger in an automobile accident Sunday, October 26 (van I was in had rear-ended a pick-up); I hit my head on the window frame and was knocked awake.
- Had a headache immediately after that lasted a couple hours, which was reduced by the 200mg ibuprofen I took.
- I had Monday booked off of work already, so I took the day to rest.
- Monday night, I developed nausea-inducing vertigo. Went to a walk-in, doctor suspected a mild concussion and said I needed to see my doctor ASAP - appointment was scheduled for Wednesday morning. I took one Tylenol Extra Strength and went to sleep.
- Tuesday I returned to work. Helped with some easy pruning, carried the branches to the chipper, and operated the chipper. I was ready to sleep at 7pm but stayed up until 11pm, when I took one Tylenol Extra Strength and fell asleep.
- Wednesday I saw my doctor - he confirmed a mild concussion. I noticed my reaction time was off (eg. while driving there was the occasional vehicle that seemed to spawn out of thin air) so I did not go in to work for the remaining half of the day. I had a shower and cleaned out my ears, when I found a small amount of dried blood from my right ear.
- Wednesday, 11pm. I went to bed. Immediately the front right side of my head felt like it was going to explode. I took one Tylenol Extra Strength, which reduced the pre-existing headache but not the one induced by laying down - that pain went away on its own after about half an hour. After consulting a registered nurse over the phone I went to the hospital.
- Stayed up all night waiting to see a doctor as I couldn't rest my head without immense pain.
- Had a CT scan - came back negative. (Which is weird because I can feel bumps on my head that never used to be there.)
- Was diagnosed at 7am Thursday with post concussion syndrome. The doctor told me to take a week off of work and to not participate in my LARP hobby for 6-8 weeks (there's a risk of getting hit in the head by a boffer weapon). After being up 25 hours I slept for 8 hours, was up for 6 hours, then slept another 8.

All three doctors I've seen had determined no neck injury. The only thing I'm noticing with my neck is soreness from having to sleep upright to prevent the resting head pain.

My consistent symptoms are a constant mild headache (at first it would come and go, but now it's always there), night time vertigo (especially when I close my eyes), there's decreased sensation in my feet (not numb and no tingling, just feeling less than usual), I can't take in too much information at once, and I tire easily. When I get tired, my reading comprehension takes a nosedive and I get varying levels of brain fog. Aside from that I seem to function okay.

I don't know for sure but I seem to have less motivation today, which makes me wonder if it's a side effect of the injury.

I know I'm supposed to be resting my mind, but using my brain is how I get through the day. Even when I'm just laying in bed I'm doing a lot of thinking and can't stop for some time. When using the computer I frequently wander away to give my eyes a break, and I've been using f.lux for a few years already.

What can I do to put less strain on my brain?

Thanks for reading!