Hello. So in June of 2011, I was assaulted from behind while walking in to a McDonalds. At the time I was intoxicated, as I was coming back from the Fremont St Experience in Las Vegas. I was brought to the hospital after complaining about severe dizziness and head pain. CT scan showed a contusion and hematoma on the left frontal lobe. I was there for 3 days before they released me, as the bleed was not getting any worse. I went home and stayed in bed, only getting up to use the restroom, shower and eat for the first month. In the beginning of August, I was feeling back to my normal self. So I started working again, drinking and living a normal life. Then in September, I woke up one morning with strange symptoms. Dizziness, numbness in hands and face, trouble thinking and concentrating, memory problems and other things. One night I woke up feeling very scared and out of my mind....so I went to the ER. I explained what was going on with me and told them about the sudden symptoms. They told me I have Post-Concussion Syndrome.
So here I am, almost 7 months post injury. I'm miserable. My cognitive problems have not improved, I have trouble remembering things, I have massive anxiety and panic attacks, I have a hard time learning things, can't follow along when people talk to me, I have trouble doing multi-step tasks like cooking, I can't watch TV for more than 20 minutes without becoming a space cadet, I can't play video games for more than 2 minutes or I become very very foggy....basically I can't do anything and I don't feel like I'm getting any better. I have a neurologist that I'm seeing, but he's no help. He doesn't even tell me what I should be doing to improve my recovery. I'm on medication for anxiety and depression as my day revolves around thinking about how bad my symptoms are, I tried cognitive behavioral therapy and I felt like it was pointless. I couldn't even keep up with what the guy was talking about, even though he kept it simple and I could only remember one thing we talked about.
I'm eating 3 meals a day, I've been taking Vitamin C, B12, Brain Power, One-a-Day every day for 2 months now, I drink tons of vitamin water and Powerade, I don't drink alcohol or do any drugs or smoke cigarettes. I usually just stay home and do nothing because when I go out my brain becomes overwhelmed.
Is this as good as it gets? I know it takes awhile to heal but since I don't feel like i've been making any improvements, could this be what i have to live with for the rest of my life? I want to go back to work. I have an 8 month old son that needs me. I had to cancel my enrollment to medical school because there is no way my brain can handle the stressloads of school.....What do I do?
Any help and incite would be appreciated.