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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 205
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 205
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I did not go the worker's comp route as my injury occurred on vacation, but you should work the system at WC to use specialists to help your healing.
I know if seems silly, but 6 months can still be early in the process of the brain healing and building up its threshold to increased stimulation. You have to pace yourself and work just to threshold so you don't trigger migraines or fatigue. But a neurologist should be working with you with either medicines to help with sleep/insomnia, migraines/headaches and yes, even anxiety.
Although anxiety is often present (I had intense panic attacks and propanolol worked very well for me), it is not the key symptom that drives pcs.
At minimum, see a neurologist to help with the pcs and brain fog/ fatigue/ dizziness issue. Have you been prescribed any meds? I know amitryptiline and noritryptiline are popular to help the brain stabilize and build up thresholds.
An Ear Nose and Throat doctor may be able to help if you have inner ear, tinnititus, vestibular or balance issues. There are some very specific tests they do to measure any dysfunction.
An neuro-opthalmologist (not just ophthalmologist but one who is trained to look at issues of binocular vision, convergence insufficiency, etc.) The UC Berkeley Binocular Clinic is a first rate teaching program that I have been pursuing vision therapy.
Also, a neuro-psychiatrist can give you a battery of tests to see how you are processing information and assess where you are in terms of comprehension and analytic capabilities. As a college professor, although I am rather high functioning, the neuro-psych I saw could tell that even though my test results were comparable to the average 75% in test scores, I was still functioning way below my average. I am still on sick leave to resolve my issues with reading/comprehension.
I am also in the East Bay and I know there are good Kaiser doctors available. (I have Blue Shield). The hard thing is that you or your husband are going to have to advocate for you-you will need to learn enough to push for adequate healthcare and specialists. But it's hard when all your brain wants to do is rest.
Be good to yourself-
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The event: Rear ended on freeway with son when I was at a stop in stop and go traffic July 2012. Lost consciousness.
Post-event: Diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, ptsd, whiplash, peripheral and central vestibular dysfunction and convergence insufficiency. MRI/CT scans fine.
Symptoms: daily headaches, dizziness/vertigo, nausea, cognitive fog, light/noise sensitivities, anxiety/irritability, fatigued, convergence insufficiency, tinnitus and numbness in arms/legs.
Therapies: Now topamax 50mg daily; Propanolol and Tramadol when migraine. Off nortryptiline and trazodone. Accupuncture. Vitamin regime. Prism glasses/vision therapy. Vestibular therapy 3month. Gluten free diet. Dairy free diet. On sick leave from teaching until Sept. 2014.
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