Hi Mint

I think the term post-concussive syndrome is really not accurate. You need to think about concussion for what it is: a brain injury. Brain injuries can widely range in severity. What most people call PCS is actually "mild traumatic brain injury." The word mild is misleading, because the effects of MTBI can be debilitating and life-long. I suffered a TBI a little over 2 years ago. There is an excellent book on the subject of MTBI, which I recommend to you. It is called Coping with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Guide to Living with the Challenges Associated with Concussion/Brain Injury, by Diane Roberts Stoler and Barbara Albers Hill. This is a very comprehensive book on all aspects of MTBI, how it affects your life, physical, mental and emotional effects, and recovery. It is an excellent resource.
-pasara

Hello, Post concussion syndrome is a new term for me. I have never heard of it before coming here last week. I received a tbi when I was five about 42 years ago when I was hit by a car. Among other injuries, I had to relearn how to talk, and my personality was drastically changed. There has really been no therapy available for me when I was growing up. I just had to learn, relearn and adjust on my own. School was difficult for me, and I was always put in the slow classes. M y moods were always dark afterwards and as a result I have very volatile mood swings. I do talk with a therapist, and take a mood stabilizer which does seem to help. Other than that I just try to learn the best way I know how. I have developed skill as a medieval calligrapher over the past 5 years or so.

This is interesting PCS McGee... everything you have written I can relate to. I have had PCS since April 2005, with some days waking up like it is day 1 again. It's been harder than anything I know of. Even using the PC makes me very dizzy (anyone know why this is?)
Your message is a ray of hope to my life! I'm sick of being sick...

I've had the most recent bout of PCS symptoms since 2004. I also had an shorter bout where most of the symptoms went away where the injury was in 1998 and the symptoms faded dramatically on their own in a few years.

The most recent concussion would probably be termed 'moderate', with only a few seconds of greying or blacking out after impact. However, the symptoms from this concussion are more dramatic, with the following symptoms

*Concentration issues
*Dyslexia when writing or typing
*Issues forming coherent sentences or speaking verbally (loss of vocabulary, etc.)
*Headaches (these are fortunately getting a lot better and are few/far between)
*Feeling of pressure/'congestion' in the back of my head, at the base of the skull/beginning of spinal column (nothing has shown up on any x-rays or MRI about vertebrae being out of alignment or any soft tissue issues. This also tends to occur more with headaches. I also have borderline-to-high blood pressure, which I'm sure ties into this symptom somewhere)
*Inability to deal with being in large groups of people-I'm almost agoraphobic
*Depression and anxiety issues
*Radical mood swings
*Easily irritated/extremely short temper
*Extreme inability to deal with stressful situations-at some point where the stress level reaches a certain point, all sorts of things begin misfiring. Something seems to take over on a fight-or-flight-instinct level and I just physically leave the situation. Naturally, this has caused a lot of problems, and has cost me one job, one relationship, and has repeatedly strained friendships.

Overall, I've had some symptoms improve, but overall things have been steadily declining.

I share a lot of the frustration that the other posters have with the medical community's reaction and treatment- I remember doing a lot of online research and took a bunch of printouts to the doctor when I first got treated, and the doctor actually TOLD me to my face that I was more well informed and knowledgeable about PCS than she was. Her treatment, rather than refer me to a neurologist, was to tell me that I'd have these symptoms for the rest of my life and to prescribe anti-depressants (Xoloft, which did absolutely nothing and I have since stopped taking them).

Wildcard, your symptons are just about the same as mine other than the dislexia. (spelling?) What interests me the most about yours is what you said about the base of your skull. I have the feeling there that when I am extra tired and not the just tired feeling, my skull feels like it is not attached to the very top of my spine. I have asked and asked about it. Like you, nothing showed up in the MRI. My blood pressure is also high and I have to now take pills for it. 2 years ago I was rushed to hopsital with a hypertensive crisis 230/190 - the pain in my head was absolutely unbearable fortunately I didn't have a stroke as was expected! Pre accident I didn't have any signs of high blood pressure. I don't know if there is any link. I also feel that I know more about PCS than my GP - even though he had it at med school. I note that the insurers psychologist has actually criticised me for studying up PCS - but it we didn't ourselves who would! The accident that caused this for me was in 2001 and was very minor. Since then I have re injured about 4 times, the latest being 3 weeks ago - the last brought back the worst headaches and memory problems. The headaches have got better and are mainly when I let myself get too tired. The key is not to get too tired.

I think that is the key too. My headaches are worst when I am stressed or tired so I always try to get enough sleep.

Mint, do you find that if your night's sleep is interrupted it can ruin your next day and in some cases the next few days. I notice that if I am too tired going to bed I can't sleep that night (just like a grizzly todler) and then the next day is a mess and then it takes a couple of days to catch up. I had eye surgery the other day and was given vallium - great sleep that night!!!! I can't control the icons - can't put them where I want to and now I can't get rid of the jolly thing!!! It was a grin to go after the vallium!

@Lucy

Yes, usually if I have had a bad night's sleep then the next day I feel terrible. Very sleepy, headache and generally not alert, although this has happened after a few days of good sleep too.

I've had what I believe to be PCS for 22 years now. I haven't been clinically diagnosed with PCS but here are my symptoms after suffering a severe concussion / seizure disorder when I was about 10 years old.

- Headaches (constant dull pain)
- Fuzzy thought (but I get by)
- Memory problems (I'd tell you what they were, but I can't remember. )
- Depression (difficulty being happy at or feeling good, if I am happy it doesn't last longer than an hour.)
- EASILY Irritable (my girlfriend can attest to this)
- Dizzy (well it's kind of dizzy.. It's like I can't see straight/focus)
- Trouble concentrating (I can't even focus on conversations many times)

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someone here also mentioned difficulty forming sentences or speaking sometimes. I also have that problem that may be related to PCS.

A more complete analysis of my condition is below, which I have pasted from my first post here.

I wasn't diagnosed that long ago, probably mid-May, early July. But with having 3-4 head injuries in my life, the doctor said I should have probably had it checked earlier. Go figure... lol But, my family is helping me cope with it because I can't seem to get it around my head that I can't be rude to them lol