Thanks Mark (I've already read a lot of your posts so its nice to get your reply and same to Lebber)
I just made a new post about neck exercises and would be interested in opinions on it.
It does seem like i need to take notice of the subtle features, although sometimes I think I'm hitting my limit start sleeping bad but still function quite well, then crash after 4-5 days of bad sleep...???! (like 2 hours a night). Last night I got about 5h it think. I'm hoping its not 2 hours tonight. I've tried the getting up thing, it helps but not when I start falling down this hole and had a couple of nights of 2 hours.
In this situation, what is good to take to force one to sleep? I tried phenerghan once and it seemed to help... more so than amitriptyline and nortriptyline.
Very grateful to be getting your responses!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho
DavidK,
Welcome to NeuroTalk.
I'm not surprised you got relief from the neck therapy. But, I doubt he fixed. He just improved it for the short term. Neck injuries take months to stabilize.
At the present, I think your fatigue problems are due to poor sleep. If you look at your time line, you have had a lot of poor sleep as you fatigue has gotten worse. Learning how to sleep without stressing or reinjurying your neck will be good. Neck exercises should be limited to gentle strengthening with limited range of motion for a few weeks. Anti-inflammatory meds (ibuprofen) and icing can help.
Your response to the Nortriptyline is common. It and its predecessor, amitritpyline have been successfully prescribed in low doses for insomnia and headaches from PCS.
The most important factor for you to understand at this point is quite simple. Just because you are having a good day or couple of days does not mean you can increase your activity and work load. You need weeks of those good days to improve. Lasting improvement comes when your symptoms are low.
It will be helpful to learn the early signs of impending overload. Things like struggling to focus to read, rereading a line of text, and may other minor struggles are indicators of a need to slow down and even take a break. Using ear plugs or headphones can help in noisy areas.
Feel free to tell us about any specific situations where you might be over-stimulated or pushing the limits.
My best to you.
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