Stressed out,

I seriously doubt you suffered anything even close to a concussion.

You might want to get a vestibular assessment. The jarring might have upset the crystals in your ear that give you a sense of balance.

There is no 'concussion' treatment. You treat the individual symptoms. So, whether is was or was not a concussion does not matter. You treat the symptoms.

I believe 99% of your symptoms are anxiety related. Why ??? Simple. Concussions do not cause blurry vision at long distances. You are LOOKING for symptoms. You think you have blurry distant vision because you are trying to build a case for claiming you suffered a concussion. Your anxiety is finding symptoms, but symptoms that can all be caused by anxiety.

Don't worry about the future. Take care of yourself TODAY. Get help with your anxiety.

Many people who have similar experiences as you have been helped by treating their anxiety. Either counseling or drug therapy or both can help.

How did you resolve your prior concussion?
Tell us about your prior concussion.

I've experienced the dizziness like you describe. For me it was overstimulation, like crossing a busy street where there were so many cars moving so fast it was a big chore for my brain to process.

What causes the dizziness? Lower your activity level to avoid the overstimulation. As your condition improves, gradually increase your activity level.

Inflammation also causes concussion symptoms, which means you can experience concussion symptoms without a concussive-force impact. Chronic low grade inflammation contributes to anxiety, and the anxiety feeds back creating more inflammation and more symptoms. So it's important to relax and also take steps to reduce inflammation.

The shoulder incident may have caused a neck injury, which can cause concussion symptoms, so seek treatment like soft tissue massage.

It has now been a month since I bumped my shoulder and the situation is still horrible. I am getting very very desperate and scared.
The symptom that is concerning me is my complete inability to concentrate and focus. I am in medical school which is quite academically demanding but I literally cannot concentrate on anything or think properly. I would not describe it as brain fog more like a complete inability to concentrate my attention on something that is cognitively complex/challenging. And when I do try to study I also experience the strange unsteady/dizzy feeling I was describing earlier.

This symptom is awful because, like I said, I am in medical school and have always scored very high grades. But since this shoulder bump I have not been able to study at all. Not even for 10 minutes. The inability to focus is constant and I have not found anything yet that makes it improve or go away, even for just a bit.

What is going on?
I do not really have any pain symptoms--no headaches or neck pain or anything like that. The primary symptom I feel is this intense and debilitating inability to focus which is ruining my life. It has honestly made me borderline suicidal I am not sure what to do anymore. Without being able to study I have lost my entire identity and purpose, not to mention I have exams coming up soon, which I am 100% not able to even try to study for. Will this ever go away? I cannot deal with this any longer. Please, help me.


Info about my previous concussion:
I got my first concussion 5 years ago from being hit in the face by a volleyball. The symptoms (headache, nausea, visual problems) lingered for a long time and improved very very gradually. I did not really do much treatment over this period as nothing was available but was mostly symptom free for the past two years except occasional periods of brain fog. I did take an SSRI for a while to treat anxiety around getting a new concussion from bumps.

Being in medical school, why not approach some of the professors about what you deal with. Sounds logical to me.

Hello stress_out_girl

Have you consulted with your doctor or any other health professional about this?
If things are that dire, then that really should be your first course of action.

Forum members have offered you support and information based on their own knowledge and experience, but that's all they can do. They can't really "help" in the way you are asking beyond that, and so seeing a professional to discuss the symptoms you are experiencing really would be best for your own peace of mind and health.

Have you consulted with any medical professionals?
Are you taking any meds or supplements?
bumping up the link above in case you missed it.

If you are hypermobile things can get misaligned quite easy.
Seek the best care providers you can find..

stressed out girl

How is your sleep? The stress of school and simply life can mess up sleep. Poor QUALITY sleep can severely impact your cognitive abilities. Quantity of sleep is meaningless if the sleep is not quality. I do well on 6 hours of quality sleep but if I do not get quality sleep, 8 hours of sleep does not help.

A simple concept: When you lay down to go to sleep, how long does it take you to fall asleep?

When I get quality sleep, I am out in 2 to 3 minutes. If it takes longer, I rarely get quality sleep. I will have disturbed sleep all night.

I have discovered that I need a 200 calorie snack 30 minutes before bed to get good sleep.

Have your academic challenges increased recently? Has course work become more intense?

I struggled in college as the intensity increased. Medical school is intense. It is designed for the best of the best. That stress alone could be adding to your struggles.

Since bumping my shoulder I have had a few nights of bad sleep but overall have quality sleep 9+ hours every night so the focusing problems are not caused by poor sleep.

While medical school is stresfull, before the incident with my shoulder I was doing fine in terms of stress and found the workload quite manageable. It is only now that I am having concentration problems that I am getting stressed. It feels like my brain is just not working properly anymore. It's specifically whenever I try to focus on learning/understanding something complicated that my attention fails me and cannot be sustained long enough to reason through a complex train of thought. This is an incredibly scary and distressing feeling because I cannot think at the level I used to.

While I have had periods of brain fog in the past two years (some lasting quite long), this trouble concentrating feels very different and much more inhibiting/like an impairment. What do you think this is? and do you think it will ever go away?

9 hours is quantity sleep. How do you know you get quality sleep. Do you wake up naturally roaring to take on the day or do you need an alarm and cup of coffee?
Do you dream? What kind of dreams? Pleasant dreams, stressful dreams...?

A neuro rehab sleep specialist spoke at out TBI support group. She said that sleep is a very common cause of cognitive struggles. She explained the difference between quantity, 9 hours, and quality.

Are you ever tired during the day?

I spent 2 years struggling even though I got 8-9 hours of sleep. When I finally learned how to get quality sleep, everything changed. I can do great with 6-7 hours of quality sleep.

How long do your study sessions last? Do you struggle more when they are longer?

There is a huge difference between memorizing facts and learning problem solving/diagnostic processes. Do you do better with one than the other?

What is your study environment like? Quiet, background noise, music (type), voices, visual stimulation, ???

Neck trauma can cause inflammation that can disrupt blood flow to the brain. The neck does not need to be sore or painful to have inflammation. Mine never did but after I took care of it, thinking improved. I call these injuries Subtle Neck Injuries. They do not image or test as injured but they do cause inflammation.

Do you get headaches at all?

One concussion research program found 80% of concussion symptoms were neck related.

As you say, you are stressed out. You also mentioned having Concussion Anxiety Syndrome and took an SSRI for a time. Research shows that people with a history of anxiety, depression, and struggles with stress have far more struggles with symptoms, especially prolonged symptoms. Resolving stress and anxiety is important.

Does your school have an athletic department with a kinesiology dept that can do a cognitive test, like ImPact or CNS Vital Signs or Brain Minder?

Do you take any supplements? Omega 3 fish oil would be helpful. B vitamins, too. The Vitamins sticky above has a supplement regimen.

You should get a full medical work up, just to make sure there is nothing else causing your issues. It may not be related to the door incident.
We can only make suggestions and give ideas based on what you post.
If your concerns are seriously affecting you.. Seek professional medical care.