r/Concussion

I had a car accident back in mid february, hit from behind. Felt fine. Initially, until a week later, I started getting the headaches. Which turn into migraines, i stupidly didn't get checked out until mid March. was given gabapentin, felt like it worked 30%. April was relatively mild headaches a lot of brain fog, and i'm not sure if that was from the gabapenten. There were moments in april where I felt normal. However, sometime in mid may, I got off the gabapentin. Since it wasn't effective anymore, and was given metoprolol which i'm convinced did absolutely nothing. Got an mri with no results, went to PT, book getting an appointment was very inconsistent but mildly helped.

Since the end of may, my symptoms have gone significantly worse. 24/7 dizziness mixed with a headache, feeling weird in my left hand on and off for hours as if I have no strength. Much more nausea due to the dizzyness being prevalent and not having any relief. I'm attempting to go on walks and to do yoga and i'm eating super clean. Driving gets a little weird.

I can't even go to the store without my body tripping out. Every place that I try to get an appointment with seems to only care if it's workers' comp. I requested a concussion specialist but I can't see one until september at the earliest.

I'm so miserable. Im currently on pause from work.

Please tell me this gets better, i'm at the point where i'm terrified. Waking up each morning to a dizzy headache.

Hi guys! I posted here and in r/concussion a few times already but I love reading the timed updates here so I figured I will write one as well.

I'm under medical care of general practitioner, neurologist and psychiatrist. Next week I'm finally starting physiotherapy and I hope it will improve things.

TIMELINE

It's been 3 months since my head injury - diagnosed with concussion, but on arrival of emergency services my glasglow coma scale was 10 and I woke up probably somewhere on the way to hopital (and I remember only some time after arrival there), so I guess the hit to my had was not light 🤔

First month was hell. I tried a lot of advice from these subreddits (believe me I read a lot of it and definitely all those advice megathreads) but for my life I wasn't able to do any physical activity without getting bad consequences, even though I definitely tried. I had bad anxiety, headaches, migraines, fatigue, insomnia.

Month 2 was kinda better, I was able to lightly function at home (cooking, washing dishes etc.), start slow stretching and very short walks. I still had bad headache every day + I had to take several naps during the day. Insomnia got better with meds (trazodone).

MONTH 3 ACTIVITIES

Well in month 3 I'm finally seeing big improvement.

I take 1-2 rests during the day (without sleeping). I'm able to cook, do light chores, 2 weeks ago I started taking public transport!!!!! And grocery shopping!!! I'm really excited about that as I feel much more functional.

I take a walk every day. At the beginning of the month I started with 1km, took me an hour, heart rate 100. Now I'm able to do 2km in 1hour 30 mins with heart rate 115. I hope I will be able to push it to 2.5km soon. If I manage, that means I can walk from my hellish apartment complex to a forrest and back and I really need regular nature visit to calm down my nervous system.

I read a lot of books, my head doesn't hurt from that anymore which is great.

I'm trying to train myself for screen time right now. 3 weeks ago I got a headache after 30 mins of reddit, now I can be on my phone for a few hours without problem. Laptop is the next step, I play some light games on it or read and I can do 1 hour right now. TV still gives me a headache very soon so no luck with that yet (I'm sooo sad about not being able to play on my playstation 🥲). But I do mostly reading/simple videogames, movies are still a bit too much on any screen size.

Finally I can also listen to podcasts without getting triggered, I still wear earplugs outside but don't need them much at home.

Socialisation is still tiring af - yesterday we did bbq party with my brother and our spouses (so 4 ppl including me) and I was dead tired after 2-3 hours. Also the car drive to their place and back completely finished me and I was fatigued today the whole day, it was definitely too much for me yesterday. 1 hour when someone visits me at home is non problematic, so at least that's something.

Sometimes my mood gets a bit low because I feel lonely or I can't do what I would like to do.... thankfully no anxiety thanks to my meds.

CURRENT SYMPTOMS

Sometimes fatigue (trackable to me overdoing something), headaches (usually in the evening/when tired/from screens), dizzyness in public places like grocery store. Bad focus especially when tired.

MEDS + SUPPLEMENTS

I take trazodon 75 mg in the evening for insomnia and pregabalin 75 mg twice per day for anxiety. It works well for me. I also take magnesium every day.

What did not work for me were creatine and medicinal mushrooms (gave me headache and dizyness). B complex gave me intense hunger resulting in headaches so I'm not taking anything from these.

Omega I'm undecided - I took them for the first 2 months but now I run out and did not purchase new ones, but I did not see any big difference in (not) taking it.

Well, that's about it.

I hope I will manage to maintain my improvements, mainly I want to focus on physical activity and screen time. I hope my other symptoms will get better as I focus on these.

I will be glad for any of your experiences, what worked or what didn't, what do you do these days, anything you want to share.

I suffered a mild head injury last week and have concussion symptoms since. I have been told by the doctor to rest for a week but not much information beyond that. I don't want to head back to work too early but equally don't want to delay my recovery by waiting too long.

When is a good time to go back? For context I work on a screen all day.

I 20F hit my head pretty hard yesterday, it was one of those hits you don’t feel at first. The problem is right now I’m experiencing a headache in the area I hit, and slight lightheadedness. I’ve been severely concussed before at 15., i was passed out for more than 20 seconds. In consequence of the accident, I now have chronic headaches so now I don’t know what to do. Should I get it checked out or should I wait it up?

I also had another minor concussion at the age of 13 but that one only has me nauseous.

Hi everyone,
I’m a 19-year-old male, and about 13 days ago I went to a boxing sparring session after recovering from a very severe anxiety episode. Looking back, it was probably a terrible decision.
During the sparring I took a couple of hard shots to the head. I never lost consciousness, I didn’t vomit, I didn’t have double vision, and I was able to go home on my own. However, shortly afterward I developed a headache, dizziness, pressure in my head, and overwhelming sleepiness.
The excessive sleepiness has improved over the last two weeks, but many other symptoms remain, and honestly they scare me more than the physical symptoms.
I constantly feel mentally “off.” It’s difficult to explain, but it’s like I’m not fully present in reality. My thoughts don’t feel normal anymore. They feel unusually vivid, almost like they become very realistic images inside my imagination. I know they’re generated by my own mind (I’m not actually seeing them with my eyes), but they feel much more intense than they used to.
Another thing that really worries me is that my brain never seems to stop analyzing itself. I’m constantly monitoring every thought, every sensation, every memory, and every little mistake I make. My mind automatically tries to find hidden meanings in normal events around me, and then immediately tells me that these thoughts must mean I’m developing schizophrenia, dementia, or some kind of brain disease.
Sometimes I feel like I can’t even think clearly anymore. It’s as if my mind becomes slow or disconnected, and that makes me panic even more because I start wondering if I’m literally losing my cognitive abilities.
Because of all these symptoms, I underwent a brain MRI yesterday.
The MRI came back completely normal.
I’ve also had blood work done (including thyroid tests), and everything has been normal so far. I saw an ENT specialist as well, and he didn’t find any significant vestibular or inner ear problem. I’m still waiting to see a neurologist.
Despite all of these reassuring tests, I still feel mentally different. That’s what scares me the most.
My biggest fear is that this is either:
Persistent post-concussion syndrome,
An early neurological disease that is still too early to detect,
Or something else affecting my brain that hasn’t shown up on any test.
I know anxiety can make symptoms worse, and I definitely have anxiety now, but it honestly feels like the anxiety is a reaction to what I’m experiencing rather than the original cause.
Has anyone here experienced something similar after a concussion?
Especially:
Feeling mentally disconnected from the present.
Feeling like your thoughts became strange or unusually vivid.
Constant brain fog.
Feeling like you’re losing your intelligence or cognitive abilities.
Having a completely normal MRI but still feeling awful.
Did you eventually recover?
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences because, honestly, I’m scared and just trying to understand what’s happening to me.
Thank you for reading.

Yesterday i hit my head, and after getting a nose bleed and being alarming to my family, they decided to take me to the ER.

I have a concussion and was told to take Paracetamol.

Now they told me to come back if my symptoms get worse, and even though they aren’t much worse i do see i’m having more trouble with talking (I take longer to find words and my sentences do not always make a lot of sense, i’m not slurring.) and i am in so much pain on my head, and i am not feeling like myself at all. (Very sad, irritated, and like a shell of who i am.)

Does anybody have any tips? Especially against the pain and not feeling like myself?

I thought I'd share a remedy that has helped me as I recover from my third concussion. I use topical DMSO for almost everything, so I used it on my forehead after I hit it in my garage getting yet another concussion. My normal symptoms were either non-existent (concussion crying, paranoia, listlessness) or hardly there. I really hope there are others that are using it that can chime in. I am so hopeful now. I am going to continue to use it because it has resolved my symptoms much faster and I'm convinced it helped me get much of my memory back from my second concussion.

TLDR

• had a concussion in 2023 in biking accident
• been dealing with dizziness off and on since
• extreme dizziness during pregnancy
• now 7mp postpartum, having bad flare ups
• dizzy while walking or biking, not sitting or laying down
• made much worse with exercise so I haven’t been able to do anything
• looking for other’s experiences and thoughts

Full story

I had a concussion from a bike crash in sept 2023. I was descending a hill and went right into a big hole in the road I couldn’t see because of the sun. I was going over 20mph, flew over my handlebars and the left side of my head took most of the impact of the fall.

I didn’t pass out or throw up, I was wearing a helmet that only had a scuff, no cracks. I had whiplash the following day and about a month of pretty intense headaches, light sensitivity and dizziness where I spent most of the time in bed in a dark room. I had a brain CT and they didn’t see anything abnormal.

But since then I’ve never really returned to normal. I’ve delt with dizziness on and off since then, mostly while walking and biking and gets much worse when I’m exerting hard on the bike. I can’t push myself or I feel like I’m going to pass out or fall off the bike.

For reference I’ve been an endurance athlete my whole life (ran college track and cross country) and am used to exercising 6 days a week, up to 3-4 hours on the bike at a time.

I was pregnant last year and the dizziness got so bad I could barely go on a walk. wasnt anemic, but I did have gestational diabetes so I never knew what the cause was. I kind of just thought it was pregnancy (doctors don’t know much about women’s health so thought it fit into that bucket)

Now at 7 mo postpartum, I had gotten back on the bike finally from months 3-6, but I’ve been dealing with dizziness flare up the last few weeks and I haven’t been able to bike or go for walks. I feel unsteady holding baby which really sucks.

It did seem to get worse around the time I went back to work. I work remotely and stare at a computer for 8 hrs per day and am on a lot of video calls. I also was ramping up my workouts and had gone on a few bigger rides that definitely taxed my system. That combined with breastfeeding and not great sleep, I don’t think my body was recovering well at all.

Im at a loss, I always thought the concussion wasn’t that serious because I didn’t lose consciousness.

To me, it seems like the dizziness flares up when my body is exerting or fatigued (exercise, pregnancy, breastfeeding and lacking sleep) but also sometimes it seems random (just walking).

Anyone have a similar experience with exercise Or pregnancy and post-concussion dizziness?

side note ever since the concussion I regularly use the wrong words for things! And that combined with mom brain has me barely able to communicate 😂😂

Has anyone else struggled with other people around you not quite understanding the severity of a concussion or the wider way it can make you feel?

I think most people are aware of headaches and nausea but not necessarily the extreme tiredness, the slow eye movements, the mental slowness, and the body aches (my muscles and joints are so sore constantly, anyone else?!)

Posting on behalf of my cousin (24M). Looking for opinions before he sees a doctor.

About 10 years ago, when he was around 14, he accidentally hit the top of his head on the iron rail of a photo frame during a drawing class. He stood up without noticing the rail above him, and the impact was on the top of his head (possibly around the parietal region, based on what I found online).

At the time, he did not have any obvious concussion symptoms—no vomiting, loss of consciousness, seizures, fainting, or anything similar. He continued to do decently well academically (around a 9 CGPA in 10th grade and above-average performance in engineering entrance exams). He is now working as a software engineer.

Current symptoms:

He still feels discomfort at the exact spot where he hit his head.

He describes it as pressure, pain, or a sensation of swelling. Sometimes it feels like there's a scratch or an unhealed wound in that area.

If he scratches or picks at the spot with his fingernails, he sometimes notices a clear watery fluid or a small amount of blood on his nails.

In high-stress situations, such as being asked to speak unexpectedly during office meetings, he sometimes zones out.He finds it difficult to focus, follow conversations, or process what people are saying.

Outside of stressful situations, his thinking seems normal. He has no issues with coding, problem-solving, or day-to-day work.

Could this be something relatively harmless like a chronic scalp lesion, scar tissue, or a skin condition that's unrelated to the old injury? Or could it indicate something more serious that warrants evaluation by a neurologist or another specialist?

Also it would be helpful if you could suggest OTC creams or home remedies if any. Thanks!

Breathing issues after concussion ?

About a year ago, a city work vehicles mirror broke on my face. I am a 5 foot two about 130 pounds at the time Girl I got knocked to the ground. I had a CT that came back negative and just needed stitches about two weeks after the fact, I started to experience burning in my arms and heaviness in my arms along with vertigo, headaches TMJ , brain fog, derealization, severe Gerd
amongst other things, but the one thing that was the most uncomfortable that I still suffer with to this day is I have a pressure that is on my chest. I can’t explain it. It’s like a ball of air around my sternum or like a band that makes it harder for me to breathe or feel like it’s pushing down on my chest I’ve been to a pulmonary doctor. I’ve been to a Gastro doctor. I’ve been to orthopedic doctor. I’ve gotten EMG test done I’ve been to a sports medicine doctor as well. My blood work comes back very well and I’ve been cleared with all of these doctors. I do have asthma, but my asthma has always been able to be treated with albuterol. It’s not the sensation of asthma sometimes it just is barely there, but sometimes it gets extremely intense but since a year ago, it has never went away. I’ve lost about 20 pounds. I used to be in the gym full-time but now I’m very worried I feel like if it was something detrimental, I would not have been here so long, but I am exhausted and I’m all out of answers. I still have other issues from this accident, but none of the doctors take it seriously I don’t know why because I was blatantly hit in the head on the side of my face. does this sound familiar in anyway? Keep in mind I was absolutely healthy before this hit.

I got a concussion on 4/10/26 after fainting and the back of my head smacking the concrete. Of my remaining symptoms, I can deal with the loss of smell and nerve issue with one of my eyes, but I am SO FREAKING TIRED by the time 2-30pm hits every single day. Is this a common symptom? Anything known to help? Thanks! ✌️

I’ve started doing taekwondo almost 1-2 months ago. We do sparring once a week and i got kicked in the head 2-3 times while wearing a headgear (i know it does not prevent concussion) in the last 2 sparring sessions that happened 2 weeks apart. I did not feel like those kicks were that strong as i did not even flinch and continue but i felt headaches for 1-2 days that i do not feel after other sessions except for sparring sessions. I did not have any other symptoms of concussion. I asked a few people and they told me that they have never felt headaches after sparring even though they sometimes get kicked by the head too.

Did i get seriously get 2 concussions in the span of 2 weeks? I love taekwondo but i don’t want to end up having CTE in 20 years. I’m trying my best to minimize head contact but i’m still curious.

6 months out and still experiencing chronic migraines accompanied by dizziness, nausea, brain fog and in general just feel cognitively slower most days when I am normally a mentally sharp person. Emotionally it is taking a toll and it keeps getting in the way of my life, so many times I’ve had to cancel plans or leave a function early and I’m burning through my pto for the year. I’ll be good for a few weeks and then out of nowhere I’ll feel like the day I got hit and will be out of commission for a solid week or so. I am seriously behind in my lsat prep and am also considering changing jobs (currently work at an animal hospital which is busy/stressful/loud but also rewarding and interesting, but have been interviewing at a book store chain which would be I suspect much easier on a day-to-day basis with a similar pay and benefits package)

Strategies I’ve been doing to help manage but with little to no avail.
- Magnesium Glycinate
- Ashwaganda + L-Theanine
- Omega 3
- Tylenol migraine
- gravol
- no alcohol
- light exercise
- prioritizing sleep (full 8-9 hours and lights out by 11)
- massage therapy
- the calm app for anxiety/stress management
- starting physio next week at the recommendation of a concussion clinic.
- if physio doesn’t help next steps are a neurologist

I suppose I’m just feeling a bit dejected and as I type this I am in the throes of a particularly bad migraine that started on Friday and it is now Wednesday. Yesterday I had some relief then today it just crept right back up. Any extra advice or words of wisdom or steps that I may be missing from anyone who has gone through this and recovered would be really appreciated.

I (f20) hit the back left of my head on the corner of a wooden unit a day or so ago, hurt quite bad to the point where I cried and I have quite a high pain tolerance.

I now have a bump there which hurts to touch, and I’ve noticed I feel really tired. I overslept through alarms for work for 2 hours this morning - I never do this.

My whole body feels quite hot and I just feel very out of it, quite irritable too.

I do have health anxiety which may be exacerbating symptoms, should I see a doctor?

So to sum it up. Yesterday afternoon i was just fixing myself on the bed when i hit the middle top of my head on my headboard pretty hard. My temper came up abit since i was annoyed that i hit my head. Didn't put any icepack ot anything because i just let it be.

Didn't think much of it then last night i had a minor headache (in which i did not really think much of it being connected) and took paracetamol.

So fast forward today, was soing vocal warm ups and exercises when my head suddenly throbbed. Felt a headache, then kinda felt warm feeling on my head. Now I'm laying down, putting ice on where i hit it. The pain is kinda coming down a bit i think but it's still there. Should i be worried? Or am i just overthinking

About six weeks ago, I suffered what was likely a mild concussion while sparring in Muay Thai. I never lost consciousness, never threw up, and didn’t have any obvious neurological deficits, but within the next day I developed intense brain fog, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, and a strange feeling of derealization where I felt disconnected from my surroundings. My vision was technically clear, but my perception of the world felt altered, almost like I was looking through a haze. It was easily the hardest part of the recovery because I could still think clearly, but I never felt fully present.

The first couple of weeks were filled with ups and downs. Some mornings I’d wake up feeling almost normal, only for the fog to return later in the day. Evenings were consistently the hardest, especially when I was tired or in stimulating environments. There were moments where I genuinely worried I had permanently changed my brain. Reading stories online only made that fear worse and legitimately gave me anxiety attacks, which increase the derealization a lottt.

Despite the symptoms, I tried to avoid complete bed rest. I listened to my body, continued working when I could, and slowly introduced light activity. Going on easy hikes seemed to help a lot. Getting blood flowing without pushing myself too hard consistently made me feel better afterward. I also learned not to obsess over every symptom. The more I constantly checked how I was feeling, the more noticeable the fog became.

Around the fourth week, I continued with a clean diet and became much more intentional with recovery. I focused on eating whole, nutrient-dense foods like ground beef, sweet potatoes, sardines, steak, rice, vegetables, berries, and other sources of healthy fats. I don’t usually eat artificial foods, seed oils, or most processed foods. During that time I also started taking magnesium, a B-complex, creatine, omega-3 fish oil, and lion’s mane. Around the same period, I began noticing much bigger improvements. I can’t say with certainty whether the supplements caused those improvements or whether my brain was naturally healing at that point, but that’s when I personally felt recovery really accelerate.

Recovery wasn’t linear. I had days where I felt 95% normal, followed by days where the brain fog or derealization would return and convince me I was back at square one. Looking back, those setbacks were simply part of the healing process.

By around Day 35, I had my first truly clear day. Days 36 through 40 continued to improve, and by Day 40 I felt about 9 out of 10 recovered. The lingering brain fog and derealization that I was terrified would never go away had almost completely resolved.

If there’s one thing I’d tell someone going through the same experience, it’s this: don’t assume the way you feel today is the way you’ll feel forever. Brain fog after a concussion can linger for weeks and fluctuate from day to day. Recovering isn’t a straight line. Get good sleep, eat well, stay hydrated, avoid another head injury, ease back into light exercise like walking or hiking if it doesn’t worsen your symptoms, and give your brain time. Mine did heal—even during the moments when I was convinced it never would.

I am interested in whether there is some unique sensation that is hard to specify precisely about having a concussion, some sensation or feeling?

Anyone that can share?

Could it be discerned from mere anxiety in a way?

It’s been a roller coast of a journey. I’ve improved a significant amount since the injury. I’m back to work, working out regularly etc. both of which caused complications in their own ways for quite some time. I’ve still not returned to soccer though, through advice from my doc. But I plan to test this out in the coming weeks.

For all the good news, I still have what I call “episodes” of dizziness and eye fatigue, sometimes even this weird pressure or sensation in my sinuses. It’s not all the time like it used to be, that’s how I know I’ve improved but it’s still quite regular. I continue to have positive thoughts that the gap between these episodes will expand till they eventually cease. Does anyone have similar experiences with the nose sensation? It was the first symptom I felt the day of the trauma, now it just comes and goes.

My last question is about mental sharpness, I’m probably two notches below my normally mental capacity, I’m highly incapable of multitasking, planning things in advance (keeping a calendar etc) when did you start to notice you were back to being mentally on point again? It has to be the most frustrating aspect of the injury. Appreciate the support.

As a NCAA division I athlete in a contact sport, I’ve suffered 8-9 concussions throughout the last 5 years, with each concussion usually lasting 2-4 weeks.

With my history, post concussions symptoms has became part of my everyday life. My symptoms have affected my short term memory, attention span, speed production, fatigue, and overall productivity.

Now, my head has became increasingly sensitive to contact after each concussion. Being only 19 years old, a neurologist recommended rtms therapy to improve my PCS symptoms. I did some research and heard mix reviews, so I was wondering if anyone has experienced rtms for pcs first hand? How was your experience and would you recommend it?

Thanks