UK PCS accountant,

I ran into those exact same issues. I was injured in November of 2011 and had difficulties around Christmas or even family events like birthdays.

In September I attended a wedding (best man) so I was there for most of the day and a good part of the dance. Although that I had my earplugs in all day the next 3 days I felt totally exhausted.

For me, the further I moved away from the date of injury the better in got and now mostly experience extreme fatigure the next day. It's been over a year and I even avoid the malls now just due to the busy Christmas traffic.

The earplugs I use are musician plugs, I think Etymotic research. They don't block as much as the foam plugs as much but are more discreet and still allow me to carry on with a conversation but enough to dull other voices in the background.

A party like the one you described I did not even attempt in my first 6 months. I don't know if they had bright lights there but sometimes wearing a cap can minimize visual stimulation. If I could of found one of those cones they place on dogs when they have an injury I might of worn one to minimize the amount of data my eyes have to take in by shrinking my field of vision.

As a side note, I am much better now but dealing with crowded and noise environments is one of the issues for me that's hangning around the most but still improving even after a year.