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Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: New York
Posts: 196
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I want to give you hope because its out there and trust me, I have been in your position you are in right now. Please please take care of yourself. Being in the 20s with a brain injury is stressful. If you are feeling suicidal, call 911 or go to the local emergency room. Depression and anxiety are very common in brain injuries. I had severe anxiety during mine. It is uncomfortable and all the other symptoms just add to the depression and anxiety. Brain fog isn't nice either. But there is hope.
To help with vision problems, a neuro eye doctor will help. Neurologist can also help diagnose PCS and help help treat its symptoms to make you feel more comfortable. Psychotherapy is also helpful as it relieves depression and stress on the brain.
There is also a sticky on the vitamin thread, read it. The vitamins do help. I still take my regimen.
I want you to know you are not alone. This is an invisible illness and not many people will understand and it's scary. I am a 23 year old female who had PCS and recovered. It didn't happen overnight though. It took patience and discipline. No screen time for more than 30 mins and rest was a must. Light diet (as I had nausea). What ended up making me better, was after relieving the stress. Stress makes a huge difference in recovery. You need take the load of stress off. Do what you need to do. Please 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RainMan44
Hello all. I'm a 20 year old male, new to this forum. I'm in desperate need of help, my PCS plus family trouble is just making my life a living hell. I don't know what to do, nobody has my back. Everybody I try to talk to thinks I am a hypochondriac and/or I am making this up, so I have come here with one last attempt to recapture how life used to be.
Anyway, here is my story.
On May 25, 2013 I was over at a friend's house spending the night. We had drank a couple hours beforehand. It was around 1:30 AM when I began to feel a bit dizzy, so I got up to splash some water on my face. As soon as I took a couple steps, I blacked out. My friend who saw me fall, said that my whole body just gave out and I slammed the back of my head on the rock hard marble floor. He told me my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and that it was the hardest hit to the head he's ever seen, and he was certain I was dead or something.
Now here's where it get's tricky. I woke up immediately after, I was not knocked out by the head trauma, but rather before it. I got up feeling fine, no nausea, headaches or anything. Just very bad pain in the front of the neck, very sore. I couldn't lift my head up when I was lying down, or really move it side to side. It was obvious at that point I had whiplash, which makes sense since I hit the back of my head.
Weeks went by without any symptoms. Then suddenly one day I got these very sharp headaches, I started crying for no reason. Life just felt very, very dark. Like I was all alone, almost in a dreamlike state. I began having twitches, jerks, spasms or w/e you call it in my head/neck, my arms, my legs, etc. Constant dizziness, feeling of heat all throughout my body. FEELING IN HEAD THAT ISN'T HEADACHE, BUT MORE LIKE PRESSURE. Like something is pushing my skull down. Balance issues, I walk very weird. I can't even play basketball anymore that well, something I did my whole life. My coordination is off.
But my biggest problem, WHICH I CANNOT PUT INTO WORDS, is with my vision. I just have no clue what the hell is wrong with it, but god is it screwed. My vision is a mess. 24/7 black spots/webs, fuzzy grainy vision, and what I look at doesn't even make sense. Life just doesn't look the same anymore. If I stare at something in particular, at some point the image begins to split. Or everything in my visual field begins to mix up together. Whatever I am focusing on just does not look right. It's like the middle of my vision is not the middle anymore. Like what I am looking at is not one image, it's not coming together correctly. I know this sounds crazy to you guys, but this is the best I can explain it. Also I can't look at stuff for too long, for example I'm having a convo with my friends and can't look them in the face while I we're speaking, I have to keep looking away because my eyes start hurting. Everything I look at feels like it is zoned out. Like everything just gets blurry. I can't see fine details.
It's so frustrating having this, it drives me insane. Gives me suicidal thoughts. I can't keep living this way, and if these problems are permanent, I don't know if I will continue with this life. I'm getting emotional just typing this out. This isn't me, this isn't supposed to be the way life was. 
So here is my main question(s)
1) What should I do? Where do I begin? Neurologist? Neuro-Ophthalmologist? I'm just lost.
2) I found out I have upper cervical misalignments. My c1/c2 and c4 I think are misaligned, I went to the chiro and we came up with a 25+ session rehab plan. Two sessions in, two adjustments in...I feel a difference right after adjustment, but it does not hold and eventually the sense of doom returns...does this particular treatment take time? As in over time it gets stronger and stronger? And is it possible that this is the root of all my problems and I don't have PCS?
3) I am trying to get to the bottom of this, and I want to know what else should I check for? Intracranial pressure, CSF leak, neck aneurysm, skull fracture? Can you guys help me make a list of complications from concussion that I can check up on, please.
4) Why the hell is my head moving by itself? It's almost like a spasm, it'll make a "okay" nod, and I can hear all these clicking sounds in the back of my head when that happens. It's so unbearable, and annoying. Everytime I turn my head these pops and grinds and crunching sounds are in my head and neck. What do I do for this?
5) And does this feeling of being in a hazy/dreamy state ever go away? Just doing things like interacting with people doesn't feel the same anymore.
6) Just any extra tips/advice/pointers is greatly appreciated. Please help me get my life back.
Thank you so much to everyone who read this, and God Bless. |
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College Student in Information Technology and avid PC Gamer, hit the back of my head against a bunk bed and went unconscious for 3 minutes back in 10-28-2012.
Symptoms: Occipital Neuralgia.
2 MRI's and CT normal.
Currently going through Paxil withdrawals, and psych has me on L-Theanine, Benadryl for zaps, and Lemon Balm. It has eased it by a bit, so I am continuing the treatment till 1 month from now.
Made a 98% recovery on April 8, 2013 with only symptoms of pinched nerves/Occipital Neuralgia in the head and is being treated with injections and physical therapy.
Was experiencing:
Migraines, Headaches, Nausea and Vomiting, Panic Attacks and Anxiety, Depression, Major Insomnia, Brain Fog, Tinnitus, Lethargy, Loss of appetite, Major Heart Palpitations, Occipital Neuralgia has eased a bit.
Vitamins and Medicines: , L-Theanine, Omega 3 Super DHA 900mg, Stress B-Complex Extra Strength, Potassium Gluconate 1000mg, Magnesium Malate 1250mg, Vitamin D3 2000 IU, Methylcobalamin B-12 5000 mcg, Vitamin C 500mg, Lemon Balm.
Things that helped me: My Vitamin Regimen, Medication, Earplugs (Love these!), Nature Sounds, Hydrotherapy, Neck Pillow with Heat, Heating Pads, Resting, Being Outside!
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