@underwater - I get depressed and/or anxious after or during a setback too. When I feel better I tend to overdo it and that causes me setbacks. It's been just over four years for me and I'm still learning how to "pace myself" as my Dr. has recommended to me for years. A part of it is that what I'm able to do changes every day and the ability for myself to analyze myself changes too. PLUS I'm the type of personality who pushes herself naturally - it's what helped guide me to succeed before the accident and it's a part of what lead me to my proper diagnosis and treatment.

My therapist reminds me that setbacks are going to cause me to feel bad and she tells me that when people are ill with a cold or the flu that they feel bad about themselves and feel anxiety and/or depression from having to lay down for too long too. It's a natural part of being human.

@Sarah - I'm really glad that the Dr. had time to sit down with you in order to explain to you that she believes that you really are in pain. I remember thinking that people wouldn't believe that I had a head injury within the first year after the MVA I was in - that they thought I was a malingerer. Maybe this kind of thinking is a part of having a head injury? I'm not sure...

Anyway, I remember that I had extreme pain literally in my head and that it also raised my BP a good deal. The pain meds I received intravenously in the ER helped reduce the pain and also lowered my BP. I was forced to visit the ER about 5-8 times in the first 6 months after the MVA I was in a little over 4 years ago.

My second neurologist finally discovered that I probably had an increase of intracranial pressure and the spinal tap they administered to measure the pressure inside my skull relieved me of the ongoing and ever-increasing pain.

I'm sorry that I can't remember all the details of your treatment, but have you been given a spinal tap? Sometimes an increase of intracranial pressure is too low to be seen on a CT scan or an MRI but it's still high enough to cause pain to the patient which is why they will measure the ICP with a spinal tap. If you haven't already had one, please ask your Dr. for one.



You are both in my thoughts and prayers.