So, I met with the neurologist yesterday, and as many people tell about on here, he wasn't that helpful. He did a standard physical exam and told me I was suffering from PCS and that it would take about 3 months to recover if I rested. He did recommend that I withdraw from my classes in order to let my brain heal. He prescribed me amitriptyline and that was that.

This evening, I spoke to an executive at the Student Health Services at my university about a medical withdrawal for this semester. At first, I was just trying to weigh my options, but as we spoke, it seemed clearer and clearer that the right decision is to cut my losses and move on. This gentleman, who is also a MD, seemed like an all around good guy and provided me with a lot of useful information. Also, he actually seemed like he gave a crap about me and my situation (unlike all of the other physicians I have seen).

Basically, the choice I have to make is to either:

A) Continue pushing through the symptoms and hope that they get better enough so that I can finish the semester with decent grades.

B) Withdraw from this semester and allow my brain to heal and try again in the Fall. This would mean taking "W" grades for three classes which have no effect on GPA but still would remain on my transcript permanently. Also, I would lose half of my tuition that I paid, along with financial aid being affected.

Any opinions? The choice for me seems to be clear at this point. I am really glad to have spoken to this guy. Dr. Charles is the man!

Hi Danny. Difficult decision I know.

You seem much less overwhelmed about making that decision today in your post. I'm glad you went to meet with Dr Charles!

A couple W's on your transcript is minor and easily explained as due to medical issues. You would likely not even need to explain beyond that. Getting low grades will effect your GPA.

My first semester college grades were destroyed by my struggles with one intense honors class. Second semester, I struggled even worse and dropped one class and did miserably in another resulting in an unrecoverable drop in GPA. I entered college as an honors student. Stress loads and a concussion at the beginning of my second semester did me in.

So, I think you are better off taking time to heal and get a strong start later.

Would you be allowed to audit any classes ? It might be beneficial.

Mark,

I'm sorry you had to deal with that during college. I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone.

I appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge on the subject. I met with my academic advisor today to go over the details. Withdrawing now seems to be the right choice for both my academic and especially my health future. I just wish that my University was more flexible about the "W" grades. I know that some colleges allow for more time to withdraw without a permanent effect to a transcript. Most of the people I have spoken with seem to think that 3 "W" grades will not be an issue since I have a good reason for them. I know you said this too.

Thanks again for your advice.

I am not sure what auditing a class means. No one has brought this up. Is that where you sit in on the class?

Thanks for the input DannyT, really wish there was that magic pill to fix all of this.

I agree. I wish there was some medication that would aid the healing process.
I think we all are sick of being told to rest.