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Member
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 214
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 214
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Thanks for the reply. I've got one more question unrelated to NUCCA but related to your comment about sleep. I've read that central sleep apnea sometimes comes on after brain injuries. I had sleep issues early on after the injury in terms of difficulty falling asleep, and difficulty falling back asleep after waking up (which I usually do to go to the bathroom at least once a night), as well as waking up very early.
Now I've pretty much gotten sleep under control, and usually sleep, or am in bed, 9 hours a night, waking up once or twice, which wasn't unusual for me before the injury. I find that I don't feel terribly well rested when I wake up, and have bags under my eyes which I didn't used to have (even early on after the injury). I'm not excessively tired during the day, although do have bouts of fatigue. I guess I'm wondering if central sleep apnea might be an explanation for this? It seems unlikely to me, but I'm curious if there are any ways of telling other than a full blown sleep study?
I figure I'm not sleeping as well because I'm not as active as I used to be, and perhaps lexapro is messing with my sleep too, as I started to notice the bags after I started taking it.
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26 year-old PhD student in evolutionary biology, slipped on ice in Feb 2014 while clipping my fingernails and walking to save time (dumbest reason for PCS ever?). Initially just had headaches and didn't feel quite right, but a minor head bump 5 days later started a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Had trouble concentrating on reading/looking at screens
April 2014 - did exertion test, passed, started exercising and doing more, but didn't feel much better.
May 2014 - Went on backpacking trip OK'd by doctor, trip itself went fine, but felt worse a few days after getting back, more difficulty concentrating, worse headaches.
June 2014 - Bumped head on ceiling walking slowly down stairs, no immediate symptoms, but caused worsening headahces, more difficulty concentrating and looking at screens. Have not felt as good as I did before this since this bump.
December 2014 - after feeling relatively better I went xc skiing and fell but didn't hit my head (something my psychologist who specializes in brain injuries told me he hoped would happen so I saw it was OK), felt worse
Feb 2015 - back in grad school, light teaching load and some research, nowhere close to operating at my full capacity. Still have constant headaches, difficulty reading/looking at screens, mild anxiety and depression, and just not feeling like my normal sharp self.
Trying, but struggling, to believe that I'll get back to my old self, or at least get close.
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