With the release of the movie ‘Concussion,’ I thought now would be a good time to revisit my own hellish experience with post-concussion symptoms. The story below was originally posted in March of 2013. I encourage you to visit the comments on the original post if you or a loved one are suffering from this. In those comments, you will find you are not alone.
As for me: In the years since I shared my story, my own symptoms have not disappeared, but they are not as bad as they used to be. I still get way more migraines than I did before, and when I get them they are also more severe. Additionally, I feel tired more easily, although that could be attributed to simply not being in my early 20s anymore. And the fear I described in Part X below still follows me everywhere. Anyway, read on, and feel free to email me if you need someone to talk to.
Part I: “What the hell is happening to me?
The start of the whole mess didn’t feel like the start of anything of any significance. Before a family dinner at my brother’s house, I felt kind of woozy and went to the guest room to lie down for a bit. It didn’t help, and in fact that woozy feeling stayed with me for well over a year. If you’ve ever fainted before, you might know that twilighty feeling, where you’re aware that you’re about to black out, but you’re somehow too detached from consciousness to do anything about it. Starting that day in February 2011, I felt like that all the time.
That night my dad took me to an urgent care clinic.
