Very delayed concussion symptoms or just TMS being sneaky?

Hi!

I had a concussion about a year ago (late Feb 2023), and I still have some symptoms from that because of an underfunded NHS and not being able to see people straight away. Mostly nausea and some vision issues - I don't think they're TMS but I'm working on them or waiting for referrals.

However, 11 months and 2 weeks after the concussion I started getting headaches and they really threw me. They got worse and worse, and I freaked out and spent 5 weeks trying to do as little as possible to the point where I was laying in the dark for most of the day with earplugs in, only coming out for a short 5-minute walk once or twice a day, and meals. Well, trying to do that but it's actually really difficult. Even fidgeting would make the headache worse, and one of my TMS symptoms is, I think, restless legs which made it that much harder. My Mum wasn't very supportive of my decision to effectively isolate, but at the time it was the only thing I thought would help because everything else did the opposite.

I ended up going to A&E, was told to take cocodamol and wait for a Neurology appointment which came about 3 weeks later. The neurologist told me to stop taking cocodamol, try and live life as normally as I could, and to my surprise the headaches didn't get horrendously worse as I thought they would. That was a few weeks ago, and although my head has been slowly getting more painful it hasn't been as disabling as I had imagined.

This symptom - the headaches - came on almost exactly a year post-concussion and that feels kind of TMS-ey to me. I have so much in my life that I'm stressed about: Dad with dementia and Mum spending lots of time at my brother's to help look after the nephew leaving me to babysit him, some medical things in the family, best friend moving away across the country just a month before, the state of politics and how that's affecting everything else including my own access to healthcare, my lack of employment, etc.

The question is: Could this be the symptom imperative? I still get other symptoms too and I'm trying to work on journaling and feeling my feelings but I still have doubts about this specific thing and it's pretty all-consuming right now.

Sorry for the scattershot post, my brain is all over the place right now.

 

You already know what you need to know: "This symptom - the headaches - came on almost exactly a year post-concussion and that feels kind of TMS-ey to me. I have so much in my life that I'm stressed about: Dad with dementia and Mum spending lots of time at my brother's to help look after the nephew leaving me to babysit him, some medical things in the family, best friend moving away across the country just a month before, the state of politics and how that's affecting everything else including my own access to healthcare, my lack of employment, etc." and even your Neurologist has good insight "The neurologist told me to stop taking cocodamol, try and live life as normally as I could".
Although nausea and vision issues are signs of concussion, they are also very real TMS symptoms, and symptoms of anxiety. "underfunded NHS and not being able to see people straight away" - if you've seen a Dr. and they have cleared you of having any more issues with the concussion you sustained last year, then you should look into how you feel about how you feel your health care was taken into consideration. Do you feel left on the back burner? That's rage inducing.
Being left to care for an Dad who has dimentia while Mum seems to be doing more enjoyable things... (people pleasing? What if you just said no?)
Do you live with your parents?
Your rage at what you view as politics playing havvoc with your desired lifestyle....

There's a LOT to dig into here.
If you have not yet done so, read a book by Dr. Sarno and pay attention to how he says that subconcious rage plays into symptoms. Pay attention to how he describes your focus on symptoms continues to drive them, fear, anxiety (which you may not recognize as part of your symptoms).
Reading about Nichole Sach's method of journaling she called journalspeak would probably really help you feel like you can express your emotions in a healthy way: https://www.thecureforchronicpain.com/journalspeak (How to JournalSpeak — The Cure for Chronic Pain)

Best wishes!

 

Hi Tom(tom,tom),

Concussions don't cause headaches a year later. That's why the neurologist told you to go on and live your life.

What likely happened was that you had a normal headache, and then in the back of your mind you probably had a simple thought, "I wonder if this is from the concussion?" and your TMS brain said, "OMG, THIS MUST BE FROM THE CONCUSSION! STOP EVERYTHING!"

And then you were off to the races with TMS (which was likely looking for a way to escape/avoid your stressors) controlling your focus on the headache which then has kept the symptoms going which then has kept the TMS focus the headache which then has kept the symptoms going and so on and so on.....

The neurologist had the general right idea to help break the cycle. He or she was likely trying to help you stop focusing on the symptoms by living your life. If you can successfully do that, the headaches will magically the disappear. The tricky part is when TMS is also at play, you have to either trust in the process and know it will go away, or you have to deal with the TMS unconscious stressors so that when you go about your life the little nagging bitch (TMS) doesn't keep jumping in and putting your focus back on the headaches.

Like Cactus said, your logical brain knows it's TMS. Now you have to make sure the other parts of your brain don't get to run the show.

Go, live your life, enjoy!
The rest will dissipate and some day someone will ask you about your headaches and you'll say, "oh, I forgot about those. They are gone now."