Dissociation has many causations, but Zoloft has been known to cause dissociative symptoms in some people. For me, I have dissociation a lot from anxiety/possibly organic issues with my brain. But I would do some research on side effects of Zoloft.

Any concussion specialist who predicts a full recovery and also has timelines for such a prediction is not a true concussion specialist. He just reads publications that are either too old or are published by groups that have a bias against the reality of long term symptoms. Many neuro-psychs hold these biased errant opinions.

Return of full or mostly full function is not a full recovery. Many of these specialists think their patients have recovered fully because the patient has stopped asking for help.

When they stop saying over 90% recover fully, we may start to see some better concussion prevention. Side curtain airbags in cars are designed as concussion prevention devices. We need the same level of prevention effort in sports.

I consider it an oxymoronic statement to predict a full recovery but recommend avoiding further head impacts. This shows that he knows there is a weakened brain after even a full recovery from the concussion. How can this be a full recovery?

Treat the symptoms that can be treated. Get proper rest and nutrition while avoiding further brain stresses from environments (noise and visual), trauma, emotions (anxiety etc), chemicals (MSG, alcohol, caffeine etc ). Learn work-arounds to improve functions, and slowly return to a life that includes many of the functions of the pre-concussion life. Live with hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

If the specialist is not including these recommendations in his/her treatment plan, they are not true concussion specialists.

i am actually having the same problem as you right now. im only doing 6 hours of college though and its killing me.

i get a massive headache everytime i have to read and its a ton of reading. im thinking about just dropping the classes and taking the next few months off.

what do yall think is best for me? is getting a headache from reading everyday prolonging my recovery?

Mark, based on my experience with PCS thus far, I agree with your prescription for healing/recovery. That is the path I've been attempting to follow (although at times I tend to overdo the visual/mental stimulation through reading, TV and internet...my Achilles heel).

I should have been a bit more specific. The first specialist I saw (who is quite renowned in Canada) predicted a "full recovery." However, he observed that after each concussion, subsequent concussions tend to be more severe and/or longer-lasting. Therefore, he was not predicting full recovery in the sense that the brain is as good as it was pre-concussion. He seemed to be saying that my symptoms would ultimately recede and I would be fully functional again. But he would not predict how long this would take (sensibly, in my view). He was also very clear that subsequent concussions could present additional and possibly greater risks, even many years later. He noted that the research in this area is still evolving.

The second specialist predicted that eventually, I would no longer suffer from concussion symptoms (first and foremost, headache and tinnitus). He did not use the words, "full recovery" (although I did, in my question to him). Again, he seemed to be suggesting something more like, "fully functional with no remaining symptoms." Hence the caution about avoiding future head impacts. As for a timeline, he was not saying that I would be fully functional or recovered in 1-3 months; rather, he was saying that based on my progress to date, it should be "safe" for me to start a graduated return to work plan in approximately a month. The plan would be to proceed cautiously and incrementally over the course of two months, so that three months from now (assuming that this goes acceptably well), I would be back to working full-time.

These prognoses were based on my health history, physical exams (including several balance and memory tests), a head MRI, ImPACT test results, and my reporting of symptoms during appointments spaced out over the course of four months.

However well I "recover", I know that I will forever be at risk of further damage from another concussion (or subconcussive impact), but I am encouraged by my gradual progress and by the opinions of these docs, if only because they both seemed sensible, informed and experienced in dealing with concussions.