[Reynold88]

Hi everyone,

During a game of sport 10 weeks ago I took a hit to the head that resulted in a concussion. This was my 4th, with the other 3 (all occurring over 3 years ago) only giving me mild symptoms and never taking more than a couple of weeks to resolve.

I was diagnosed with a definite concussion a couple of days later, displaying 70% of all the symptoms you would expect. I followed the sport england concussion protocol and did no physical exercise for 2 weeks. After this i did some gentle exercise at 75% of my maximum heart rate; no issues.

A few days later i made the silly decision to drink with a few friends (i'd done this with the previous concussions to no harm). The next day, with a hangover, i did the next phase of my return to play protocol and did a sprint session. I felt ill halfway though and went home. Over the next few days my symptoms got worse, even worse than they originally were. At this point i was bed bound with my main symptom being dizziness/light headed (this has always been the main symptom i've had with PCS).

I underwent a series of tests. My MRI came back showing everything to be structurally fine, and my cognitive function was very good. Blood samples showed my brain was still recovering from an injury. The doctors said i just needed rest and i should make a full recovery. This was encouraging and helped with the anxiety i had at the time.

Since then i have improved slowly over a couple of weeks before my symptoms have deteriorated again, with this 'cycle' happening twice now. Im not sure if I've been pushing too hard when my symptoms have seemed to improve, but I'm now getting very frustrated and anxious again. My current main symptom is still predominantly the dizziness/light headedness which i currently get from standing up/looking at a screen/talking for too long. Sometimes i get a mild headache, and my appetite isn't what it normally is.

What doesn't help the situation is that this means i cannot study for my college course, with me currently being in my final year. Doing any form of work at the moment will only set me back symptom wise. But at the same time i'm desperate to finish my course this year (for financial reasons), and I'm aware that every day i lie in bed recovering I'm falling behind on my course. Who knows if I'm going to get better again just to return to square 1 again?

Needless to say I'm very frustrated and anxious. The doctors are supportive but all they can prescribe is rest. None of my friends seem to understand how much this is affecting me. My promising sports career is in taters, I'm currently falling behind on my course, I can't live my normal social life and i'm emotionally drained by all of this.

Thanks for listening.