Hi I am currently 5 1/2 months into this. It started with me banging my head on a door, I instantly got woozy and knew something was wrong. I checked the CDC website, since I have never had a concussion before read that most concussion resolve within 7 to 10 days and wrongly concluded that I was fine. My stubborn personality got the best of me.

I had a huge trip planned to the southwest the next day with my wife and decided that we will take it easy but went on the trip anyways, without going to the doctor. I know, it was a bad decision but I didn't know a door hit could be so brutal. The trip lasted about three weeks, in which I felt bad and then good, went on some hikes, felt okay, went on some hikes felt worse.

Things starting going bad when we reached Colorado and the altitude told me something was really off. My wife and I decided to go back to her hometown, and when I got there I collapsed, now the symptoms have been ongoing for all these months.

I rested like crazy when I got back but realized that it was too little too late and this was the first time I found out about PCS. I have been resting but the anxiety is making this really difficult, I used to be a competitive rock climber, world traveling scuba diver and I am super active guy but now all that feels like a different life from the one I am living.

So..now I am in the trenches...Lets see Tinnitus, Panic attacks (these are crazy), Some visual stuff, problems sleeping at night, problems reading, stiff neck, I can still walk 20 minutes without getting a headache, I have weird head pressure. Depersonal, derealization, don't recognize myself in the mirror. I also can't watch TV or movies, this is the hardest thing I have ever experienced. Before this I was the happiest kid in town. Also a lot of new symptoms started 2 1/2 months in after I went for a bike ride and then spent too much time on a screen. I guess I didn't think things could get much worse.

The anxiety is insane as I feel that i have lost my life, I am super sensitive to sound. I get easily overstimulated when I go out, I am always super depressed. staying positive has been the hardest thing as I lost my dream job in the process of all this and this is my first year of being married (my lucky wife). I got prescribed lexapro and ativan. Ativan helps, lexapro make me feel all weird i think.

I went to a Chiropractic Neurolgist for a month, it helped with my dizziness but didn't really help with the other symptoms.

So now..I am coming to the conclusion that if I don't do something drastic this condition will be permanent and that is scaring the **** out of me.

So I have decided to follow the vitamin stick every day, do two green smoothies every day, eat 6 to 8 eggs a days, drink milk mixed with Coconut oil. Eat salmon everyday. I know I will gain some weight but I can take that off when I get better. I am also ordering a Hyperbaric Chamber to rent for a couple of months, turns out its pretty cheap like $900 a month, in which I will do 120 dives at 1.3 atmosphere for an hour and a half each. I know there is no guarantee but I feel likes this will really get me in the mood to follow my regimen.

To keep myself busy, I will follow the buffalo protocol on exercising with a treadmill and I am an artist so I guess I will start painting so I don't go haywire. I feel like I am going crazy I was hoping for all of this to kind of disappear with time but seems like this condition stays with you unless you really attack it. Kind of feels like I am going to war! I will continue this for the next 6 months as I have taken that time off to recover, taking each day as it comes.

The tinnitus is driving me insane and the thought that I might not ever get better makes me go crazy. Any advice from the gurus would be great. Also, weird question has anyone gone scuba diving after they recovered? Really scared that I will never be able to dive again.

Sorry for your injury, but welcome to our little brain boo boo club.

Although it feels like an eternity, 5.5 months isn't really that long when it comes to TBI. My neuro-psych won't give PCS diagnosis before 6 months.

Speaking of neuro-psychs, have you been tested? It's probably the best way to identify deficits/problems and target any necessary cognitive/occupational therapy.

Are you seeing a good psychologist to learn to cope with your anxiety and panic attacks? Trying to stabilize yourself emotionally is very important for recovery.

Yes, the ringing is annoying. In most cases, it goes away. In the interim, white noise (an air purifier, soothing sounds cd, etc...) can help.

Good for you for being attentive to your diet. That will pay off.

Don't beat yourself up over the post concussion hiking trip. Yes, it would have been better if you'd rested. However, all you've done is delay your recovery a bit, not undermine or derail it.

Thank you so much for responding. It seems like you figured out all my psychological issues from reading my post. I have been beating myself up about the trip, if only I would have rested, I wake up with this thought every morning, if only, if only. I feel like I destroyed my recovery chances, we did so many hikes and I knew something was off but it felt good to move so I just kept hiking and hoping that this will just clear my system.

Then when I got home I collapsed and I went to a neurologist, he told me to stay active it would be good for me. I followed his advice and developed all sorts of new symptoms.

The ringing goes away! I am going to hope for that as it is destroying my sanity.
I did just finish a neuro psych assesment, she kept saying that I super depressed and I have too much anxiety. I am really hoping for a good recovery but the anxiety brings on stress and then I get panic attacks and its just this awful cycle.

I am triple major in Business, and was going to go teach at University in the Middle East in August but all that feels impossible if this condition continues like this. Will I ever be me again? People who recover, do they get their sense of self back, as I feel like it has been stripped away from me...just from hitting a stupid door.

You say you have been lurking. Have you done anything to resolve your stiff neck ? We have discussed neck injuries and concussions many time.

The rings almost always goes away. Some of us do have to learn to live with it. While it's not fun, it is possible.

Hopefully, you'll end up in the happy majority. At present, there really isn't an effective cure for TBI tinnitus, so there is no point in obsessing. Yes, I know TBI is all about obsessing.

Mark I have been icing it. How often do you think I should Ice it in a day? The Chiropractic Neurologist did some adjustments but I think it just made it worse, they were all twisting and popping adjustments. I started going to an Atlas Chiropractor recently, he will do 12 adjustments but I am not sure if they will help. As a rock climber, we all have some neck issues because we are always looking up to spot the next climber I am wondering if that has made my neck problems much worse. They did an upper cervical MRI but that came out clean.

Yeah Hockey. The obsessing and feeling like I am living the same day over and over again is what is killing me.

Standard imaging is not effective in diagnosing the subtle neck injuries common to concussions. Your stiff neck proves that. I suggest you hang up your climbing shoes and harness for a while and work on getting your neck healed. I find it odd that the atlas chiro can predict 12 treatments. Your neck will need proper alignment and disciplined posture for a few months at the minimum to start to stabilize.

One of my challenges came when I had to start wearing progressive lenses in my glasses. I spent too much time with my head tilted back so I could see through the bottom of the lens. When I lowered the position of my display, my neck started healing.

Mark obviously I haven't climbed since this injury, it was my life before that and it is hard to imagine a life without climbing. I will eventually get back to it, as I feel like if I don't than I never really recovered from this set back in life... but right now it is time to heal. And what exactly do you mean by proper posture..could you enlighten what that may include. Also, what symptoms can the neck have...could it help with the debilitating fatigue? Last question, do you think because I didn't rest, I got Post concussion Syndrome? That if I would have taken the six weeks to just close my eyes in the beginning I would be all good to go. I know no one knows but its always in the back of my mind.

Not resting right away just delayed your recovery. Stop worrying that it prevented a recovery. The amount of time you spent at altitude was not helpful for a speedy recovery. 15% take longer than usual to recover.

Good neck posture means straight neck posture, especially when sleeping or resting. Gentle neck movements only. No extreme movements or attempts to push for range of motion. Some time ago, a NT poster posted a link to a neck exercise protocol that helped him.

Regarding your recovery. You injured yourself. Not all injuries recover 100%. Very few brain injuries recover to near 100%. It is the nature of the limits to brain healing. It is not like a torn muscle or broken bone.

Not seeing a doctor did not change anything worthwhile. Very few doctor have even a clue about concussions. Most just say rest and wait. Duh....

I have had a number of concussions over the years, Every one left me with more limitations than the previous concussion. It is the nature of the beast.

For those who speak of full recovery, the most they can mean is they have been able to return to all of their previous activities in a normal situation. Most, if not all, will find that when under stress, they notice symptoms returning and limitations again.

Have you tried anything to reduce your anxious thought patterns ? This self induced anxiety is counter productive. Try to accept your current limitations and go on living within those limitations. Have foam ear plugs handy for noisy situations. Don't fight your limitations. Trying to tough it out and push through, especially sensory over-stimulation is very counter productive.

Get over these thoughts that less than a full recovery means you have lost worth as an individual. Many of us have had to reinvent our lives.

My best to you.

This is really good advice.

So many of us go through a "if I just will my way through this" and/or "if I pretend my limitations aren't there, they won't be" phase. I did both. I think we super active, over-achiever types are especially vulnerable on this score. If you're like me, this is probably the first time in your life when you feel truly vulnerable and out of control.

Anyway, I can say from experience, that fighting your TBI symptoms is a counter-productive bit of torture. Listen to Mark, do yourself a favour and skip that step.