Hi everyone. I'm a 25 year old male who suffered my second concussion in my life in may. My first concussion was a year prior and recovered normally. My most recent concussion was a trunk slamming on the back of my head at work by accident. It took about a month but my symptoms were clearing. For example the light sensitivity and vertigo and foginess were not as bad. But after a month I accidentally hit the back of my head on a bed post before going to sleep. It was not a hard hit but it felt like I had a concussion all over again. This was a month ago now, and ever since then I've had the worse pcs symptoms of my life. Head aches, extreme light sensitivity, major brain fog to the point where I don't even know what I'm doing sometimes. I get very confused, pretty much the worse feeling I have ever had. I've had to quit my job and have been pretty much bed ridden since my first hit that I was still recovering from. My main concern is that these symptoms seem to get worse day by day and not better?? Which has me Confused. I've had a CT scan and mri. All normal. If anyone can please help me understand why this is going downhill I would really appreciate it. My main symptoms are brain fog, vertigo, extreme light sensitivity, headache, and a just plain out of it feeling. Also is there anything I can do to help like going for walks or anything? I've been to a neurologist recently and was no help. Thanks

What are you doing to help recovery ?

Are you resting in bed ? Why ?

What is your diet like ?

What are you doing to take care of a possible upper neck injury ?

How do you spend your day ?

Have you read the vitamins sticky at the top ?

Hi mark, to help my recovery I just have been doing neck exercises that my neurologist gave me a sheet of to do, I'm resting in bed for the most part. I try to get up and around but the vertigo and brain fog really prevent me from doing much. Especially since I have bad light sensitivity it's hard to go out in the sun or watch TV. I Actually was just cleaning and bumped the top of my head again. I hope this doesn't result in more complications. My diet is pretty good. I am usually a active person before this head injury I play sports and go to the gym so I'm usually a good eater. My days for the past two months have been hoping to wake up without a headache brain fog g and vertigo and live the life I was living but that hasn't happened so I try to get around but it's really hard for me to at this point so I end up just laying down taking ibuprofen and turning off the lights in my room. I did read the vitamin page and actually picked up fish oil I don't really know what all to combine with though. Any help on why I would regress would be curious for me to know. I will say I do accidentally bump my head a lot like tonight and not saying I have a actual concussion I think these bumps might be doing something to regress any progress that I make.

For many, resting in bed is counter to healing a subtle neck injury. It takes discipline to maintain good neck position when resting or sleeping. The head and neck should be in a straight position during rest and sleep.

It is valuable to keep the brain active so it has good blood flow. Activities that use the hands are often good. The hands can not move faster than an injured brain can tolerate. Knitting, crocheting, Swedish weaving and such are good activities. Some take up painting. I do online jig saw puzzles at: www.thejigsawpuzzles.com and http://zone.msn.com/en/jigsaw/defaul...Strip_2_Jigsaw Just Words at www.games.com is also good. You set your own pace and difficulty level.

These other bumps are more likely anxiety producing that injuries.

My best to you.

Hi bmkp13,
Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

This is just my personal experience but when I was having some similar symptoms such as the light sensitivity, headaches and especially vertigo, I stopped being able to do very much at all. I think the vertigo has been the worst and it really became quite disabling to the extent that I stopped driving my car and I stopped going places basically because it was too difficult to get around… and then I became afraid. Afraid of falling again. Afraid of people knocking into me in crowded areas like supermarkets. The problem with that was the less I did, the more difficult it became to get back out there again.

If you have periods during the day when you don’t have a headache or the vertigo isn’t so bad, try to get back into your old routines little by little. Put on sunglasses. Use a walking stick if you need. When walking, focus on a point at eye level in the near distance. Try not to move your head too much and keep that focus. Hold onto the trolley in the supermarket. For showering and such you can use a waterproof seat in the shower. The longer you stay in your room in the dark where you can shut out the light and not fear the feelings that vertigo can cause then the longer it will take to really recover.

You don't need to walk around the block. Just try walking in the garden at first. Don't feel bad about using a stick when you're walking. I've even needed to use a wheelchair at times just so I could get from a to b. The thing is... it gets me there. It doesn't mean it's permanent. Think of these things as aids to recovery. Main thing for me personally is that I do *something* and all those somethings add up.

Thanks for the replies every one it means a lot. Unfortunately last night I hit the top of my head on a coffee table and it left a pretty big bruise and today I've had 100% concussion symptoms. I'm pretty sure I gave my self a new one. I went to the er and that's what they said. But this is my third bump to the head in 2 months I have to somehow stop hitting my head by fluke accidents. I feel back the square one but never giving up.

I was in a similar position to you a year ago. I had between 4-6 concussions within a 5 month time period. No matter how cautious i was it seemed i could not refrain from accidentally hitting my head. I wold be careful with everything i did and then once I let my guard down for a second Id hit my head again and be back at square one. my advice is to try to understand where you are likely to hit your head given what you do throughout the day. For instance in bed if you have a headboard, have pillows against it so that there is no way you can accidentally hit your head while sleeping or in a groggy state in the morning.

It will get better once you are able to string along a period of time of not hitting your head and setting yourself back. I never thought i would get past what i went through but miracuosly i have. Be careful with what you are doing, which i assume you already are. Try to think of where you could hit your head and avoid situations where there is potential to do so until you are more aware of your surroundings. I think the issue is how foggy/unaware of your surroundings you are is why it keeps on occurring. It was for me at least.

I feel your pain and wouldnt wish it on anyone. You will get better, give it time and be cautious with what you are doing.

Many of these symptoms are the result of anxiety from the minor impact. As stated in another thread, the startle response is exaggerated with PCS. That little bump caused increased anxiety that appears to be concussion symptoms. Some are truly concussion symptoms but most are not.

It is worthwhile to learn to make slower more deliberate moves. We often do not have the same balance and reaction skills that we had prior to PCS. Trying to move through life with the old behaviors can create more opportunity for those little bumps.