[jac3sr]

Hello Everyone!

I am so glad to have found this forum! I'm glad I am not the only one going through this. I am a 25 year old female and suffered my latest concussion on January 29th 2013. My first concussion happened at the age of 3 and I have had several subsequent falls and accidents where I may have sustained mild concussions but was never diagnosed.

This latest concussion occured because I was in a rush and I had a huge load of laundry in my arms (I couldn't see my feet) and I lost my footing going down the stairs. I only fell a short way (two or three steps) but my momentum was stopped by me going face first into the wall immediately in front of me and rebounding off to finally land on my back on the stairs.

I am not sure if I blacked out for a second or not, but it really would not have been long if I did because a significant amount of time had not passed. I knew I had probably re-triggered whiplash in my neck from a previous car accident and I knew my face hurt where it made impact (the bone at the end of my right eyebrow and the cheek bone directly below that). I got ice for it and rested a little, but got ready to go to work that night as usual.

3/4 days later the symptoms set in...headaches/dizziness/"out of it"/insomnia/lack of concentration/depression/photophobia. I have been getting these weird headaches where my right temple feels like it is stretching and becomes a void in my head twice its normal size. I don't know if that sounds familiar to anyone, but it feels weird and leads to nausea and severe dizziness and inability to concentrate on anything if it gets bad. It is only this bad when I get tired, which happens a lot quicker than it used to!!

I took 4 days off of work and life in the beginning to rest and sit in the dark listening to audio books, basically. This helped somewhat but when I went back to work, even though I was on half days, it was bad. We have to be able to concentrate at work because we are dealing with patients lab tests and they cannot be messed up, and any area in my job that does not require concentration, requires walking back and forth a lot, which makes me dizzy.

I had FMLA and am getting it again, I had short-term disablility which gave me some of the paid-time off hours I used for the half-shifts back, but it eventually wasn't enough and I had to go back to work full time in the beginning of April. I have just recently had neuropsychology testing done and the results show that my memory, learning, and ability to access information is fine, which I am extremely glad for.

My current problems are in lack of concentration (due to my brain tiring quickly), dizziness brought on by motions like standing and I know it sounds odd, but looking down or under things like desks and/or crouching. I sleep better most nights which is awesome but other nights I might get 3 or 4 hours. I also still have problems with photophobia. It is improving, but very very slowly. I've been wearing sunglasses everywhere since the beginning of February!

I think because of the depression, I have had a lack of appetite except for junk, although even that doesn't appeal to me. I haven't lost weight because I try to get one good meal in per day. I have also had NO motivation except if I have something specific planned with a friend. I go to work, but just because I have to get paid. I used to love to work and be active and do a lot of stuff but now that I am not allowed to, I just feel like I'm existing and that's it.

I am not patient at all, so this whole ordeal has been very frustrating, maddening, and I sometimes have a lot of anger towards people at work or friends who simply don't "get it". I am SO fed up and I feel horrible about continuing to complain to my good friends who have been listening to me say the same things over and over for the last 4 months!

Having read several of your posts, I have a complete respect for those of you who have had a MUCH LONGER road and much worse symptoms and for those who have children, my heart goes out to all of you. I am on my own and I only have to worry about myself, but in some ways, that is not really a good thing. So sorry, I know this is extremely long...I've just been frustrated for sooo long that this kind of venting is what I need! Any comments or questions are welcome and appreciated!