Hello! I am new here. My dad died in mid January; he had Parkinson's and I had been taking care of him. It was a devastating loss. I was starting to feel a little better and less like I was in free fall when I was in a car accident. A woman came from the shoulder of the road and tried to pass me on the inside of a right-hand turn, and since she was accelerating, she really slammed my car around. I never saw her until mid-collision.

I have really been through it since then. Since I work in the schools I had been waiting until summer to really start on doing the job of combining my dad's stuff and mine into one condo, cleaning mine up and moving back into my own condo. It would have been a daunting job under the best of circumstances, but with a headache it was brutal. I had to pay people to do a lot of things I should have been able to do myself, to some extent even to think about how to pull it all off.

Now I am back to work, but part time and at a different school. I have had OT and Speech tx, and a lot of chiropractic. My doctor has been only minimally involved, but I'm starting to think that's not good. It seems I'm supposed to figure all this out myself and I'm not doing very well at it. In a lot of ways I am better, but have had a headache, light and noise sensitivity, and a pressured feeling in my head almost every day for three months. My balance and speech problems are better and the OT and SLP discharged me last week. How does anybody figure all this out and what to do?

I wonder if anyone can tell me if pressure in my head is something particular to do with TBI/PCS? When I was much younger I used to have headaches and sometimes migraines, but none for 7 years - until this car accident with intense twisting whiplash. Many of my symptoms have cleared up but I am left with a headache - every day for three months. It is triggered by light, noise, stress, and who knows what else. The headache seems very connected to the place in my neck that the chiropractor is treating, but this headache seems different than the ones I used to have in that I have this feeling of pressure from inside my head.

I had X-Rays in the ER right after the accident, but it was on a reservation (kinda like a third world country). Immediately after the accident I had the feeling that my eyes weren't working together and there was a split from high left to low right that didn't match up. All they could do at that ER was to have me stand 20 feet back from an eye chart and read it.

My doctor was getting ready to go on vacation and when I called him to tell him about this, he told me I was fine and I should just go home. I saw the nurse practitioner who was covering for him while he was gone and she had me do MRI's of my head and neck. Nothing on the scans.

My doctor is taking it more seriously since he came back, but is of the opinion that the concussion will just go away by itself. I was seeing a speech path and an OT; they have now both discharged me. The OT was trying to get me to see a neurologist or a neuropsychologist and my doctor thought I didn't really need to do either, but wrote the referrals. Even though he wrote the referrals, I can't get an appointment because they are so booked they are seeing people four months or so from now. And it's not like I have already been on a list for the three months since the accident because no one can figure out who I should see...

I am working with an attorney because it was so squirrelly from the get go. The tribal police told me that I had no right to know who hit me, who her insurance company was, or to have a copy of the police report. I eventually did get all that, of course. The other driver was cited and I wasn't.

But now I am getting a little worried because I am still having problems. I feel like I am turning into a hermit because my headache returns or gets worse when I go outside into the light, and I am too tired to go out at night. I used to work full time and play the cello in three different groups and now I hardly go to rehearsals because of the noise. I really need a full time income, but hardly have what it takes to pound the pavement and find more work.

My attorney seemed very good, but was called off on a special assignment for six weeks and the guy who was covering for him has only talked to me twice. I really don't know what I am supposed to do. Is it reasonable to just figure I'll have a headache forever and accept that I may never be able to work full time again and therefore be forced to sell my house at a huge loss and have no idea how I will ever survive because of headaches?

Sorry for the long post. I am starting to feel desperate...

Hi and welcome to NeuroTalk
I have merged your 2 threads to make it easier for you and other members to respond.

Adenium,

It sounds like your head and neck have experienced quite a trauma. The twist and jarring can create a complex injury. The upper neck can often contribute to many symptoms, especially head aches. Most chiros use the 'twist the head and pop the neck' treatment. This can be far too aggressive for the types of neck injuries that cause these symptoms. An upper cervical chiro may be worthwhile.

A physical therapist who has good upper neck skills can often help with gentle traction with some gentle manual mobilization of the upper neck. Range of motion exercise can be premature.

Clear x-rays, CT Scans and MRI's of the neck do not mean you do not have a subtle upper neck injury.

It is important to use good posture discipline while the neck heals. Good sleeping and resting posture is very important.

There is some good information about these injuries and attorneys at Brain Injuries Help: Crashing of the Mind After Traumatic Brain Injury and Subtle Brain Injury Permanency from Concussion

A physiatrist (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation MD) may be better than seeing a neurologist. It is worth scheduling the neuro psych because if you are still struggling in 4 months, a neuro psych assessment will be very useful.

Please don't lose heart. Many have gone through similar injuries and slow recoveries. It often takes time and finding the right therapy combinations to see improvements.

My best to you.

I had a very difficult summer, working almost every day-sometimes long days-on my dad's estate, consolidating his and my stuff together into my condo. I am far from done going through all of his stuff, but at least I did manage to get moved into my own condo, fixed up a few things, and got rid tons of stuff. Most of the work I was doing is gone; the guy I was working for lost the contract. I do have a short term contract of my own and am trying to focus on doing a good job of that.

In a way I am kind of relieved; I don't think I am really in any shape to work full time or to drive 2-1/2 hours (each way) to work on a reservation, even two days a week, like I did for four years before the accident. I used to have so much energy it made people tired just to hear what I did in a given period of time. Now I have headaches, light and noise sensitivity, and I get very tired, even after a short day. I sometimes feel like I could just go to bed at 5:30 or 6:00 in the evening because I am so tired, but I am not actually sleeping all that well. It's hard to imagine how I could be working full time at this point. But I need to work.

From what I've read recently, I wonder if I was really doing too much this summer. Maybe I should have been resting and not trying desperately to get this move accomplished this summer, in ten weeks. But now it is back to school time, I should be working full time, but I am working part time and don't think I could be doing any more. It's hard to even think about what I would have to do to get more work.

I had dinner with a friend and her family; they are in town for the week. I was talking to my friend's partner about how I think I have too much fatigue and headache to work full time. My friend's dad jumped in and more or less told me that I was malingering because it had been three months and I must not want to work because I was making too many excuses. He pointed out that my dad always worked hard and I should follow his example. I pointed out that my dad was to tired to do much of anything after he had Parkinson's, and my friend's dad told me that was different because he was retired before he was so tired. He was basically telling me that there was no good reason to be tired three months after a concussion - like I must have suddenly developed severe laziness.

That friend's dad was completely wrong. Many struggle with PCS for months, some even a year or 2. It just depends on their specific injury and what they can and can't do during their recovery.

It is important for you to get good sleep on a normal schedule. Getting up at the same time each day helps the body's sleep clock so you can get to sleep. Do not sleep in/late even if you feel tired. Get up. Then, at night, slow or reduce your activity level so you recognize when you feel sleepy. Have your bedroom and any tasks done so when you feel sleepy, you can just get in bed and sleep. Stopping to do hygiene, turn off lights throughout your condo, get sleep clothes on, etc. can disrupt the sleepiness. For some, we need to have everything ready a half hour to an hour before we go to bed.

Just remember, the most important part of getting to sleep and sleeping well is getting up at the same time each morning. Sleeping in, even if it is just on weekends, disrupts this sleepiness cycle.

Proper sleep means one gets all of the stages of sleep. REM sleep and slow wave sleep are imperative to recovery.

I slept lousy last night and know it will make my day lousy. My wife was up too late watching the Olympics and it interrupted my routine.

Thanks, Mark! I had an especially bad day today with no particular idea why other than yesterday having been a horrible day. Some unrelenting headache, but more problematic was this brain-fog where I couldn't get anything done because I couldn't focus or keep track of what I was doing. I may not have slept enough...

Getting up is no problem. I set an alarm and when it goes off the cat comes in and starts poking at me, licking me, sticking her whiskers in my face etc., until I wake up enough to give her a few cat treats and we both get up. I taught her to do this so I don't oversleep. I am a school psychologist and studied animal learning in school. It's been fun applying it to Lena.

Getting to sleep can be problematic. Sometimes I am overcome with grief and worry that my dad is gone and what will become of me alone. He died in January after a long struggle with Parkinson's and ten years of my taking care of him. I have supported myself all along aside from a brief period when he helped me. I also am an LCSW...I have good marketable skills for which there is a demand and a stellar resume, but it's hard to not worry.

No one who knows me thinks I am capable of working full time right now, and that worries me. I have always had enough stamina and energy to make people tired just hearing about what I did in a given day. Also, no one seems to have any doubt that I'll get better because I do keep getting better. But it's hard to not worry and fret about it.

Even those who end up with permanent PCS like me still end up with the ability to have full lives with jobs and such. Letting the future control you today will prevent or delay your recovery. Good sleep is the most important part of recovery. You need to find productive thoughts or a way to zone out as your prepare for sleep so your thoughts do not torment you at night.

I have a routine where I get sleepy watching TV or NetFlix. Nothing stimulating. Just enough to take my thoughts away from day to day issues. I have everything ready to get in bed, lights off, hygiene done, so when I feel sleepy, I get in bed and fall sleep within a few minutes. I used to lay in bed for a long time trying to go to sleep. Now, with this system, I am asleep very quickly.

For some, making a few notes about things to do tomorrow is helpful. Writing things down helps the brain let go with the security those things will not be forgotten.

It might help for you to get some counseling for both your grief and PCS.

It can be an easier road to travel when one has a system for getting through the day. Foggy brain can follow a system but may struggle to get a system started.

My best to you.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and comments, Mark! Tomorrow I see my PCP and am planning to ask him for a referral for medical massage. Many of my symptoms from the head injury seem to be resolved. Most of what is currently bothering me is the fatigue and headaches, many of which are triggered by light, noise, and/or stress.

Even though I do not currently have the energy and stamina to work full-time, I feel guilty about this and worried about the long-term ramifications of having to take some money from my savings for a period of time - however brief - to live on. I was far from taking it easy last summer and that may have lengthened my recovery. Similarly, I think the amount of worry I have now is impacting my sleep, which as you mention is not a good thing. I need to work on that.

Anyway, I wonder if you have any suggestions about things to bring up or ask of my doctor when I see him tomorrow. I have only seen him twice since the accident. He is a great guy and really smart, but like most GP's, working with soft tissue and the brain is not his forte. Nevertheless, he has historically been willing to go along with reasonable requests from me when I have something I want to try. Any ideas?

I am 29 months since my TBI and other spinal nerve injury. I only progressed so far, but certain issues remained. 21 months post injury, two neurologists telling me nothing else they knew of wrong. many months of neck exercises, etc. then 3rd neurologist with under 30 seconds of hands on clinical diagnosing proved out a greater occipital spinal nerve injury (c2) and told me blatantly...they never should have had me exercising and stretching my neck....and now even more damage is done. the occipital nerve also impacts your optic nerve. I would limit your neck movements until you find a neurologist that understands occipital nerve injuries ( i am assuming the: greater occipital nerve) and have this proven out before you possibly unknowingly build up nerve scar tissue that only further complicates things. And I would not allow any nerve surgery before this is considered...newer info that I came across. I was considered for removal of that spinal nerve....but came across this info just yesterday...after 29 plus months since injuries...

Dr. Jho's C-2 Decompression for Occipital Neuralgia surgery: Novel Surgical Treatment for Occipital Neuralgia or Headaches