PCSLearner,

Glad to hear your daughter is doing better. What neurofeedback is she doing? What results do you notice? How well does she tolerate it?

If your daughter wants to get off the Elavil, why has she not tried a more intensive vitamin therapy? Especially the brain vitamins, B-2, B-3, B-6, B-12, folic acid, thiamine, D3, E, C, and all of the other anti-oxidants?

You commented that you would not mind if she was on the Elavil forever. Vitamin therapy as a lifestyle has far more upside and no downside. I have been on it on and off for 28 years. My wife gets after me when I am off it. She can tell by my behavior and mood. Now, I have not been off my vitamin therapy for quite a few years. She makes sure of it.

I am surprised that she was on 20 mg of Elavil (amitriptyline). The common dose for PCS is 10 mgs. The anti-depressant effect is not the main goal. Just the head ache relief and insomnia.

Regarding triggers, they are not all bad. They can be helpful at understanding how she may need to moderate her life. Many triggers that I have can be easily moderated. The noise and other chaos triggers make PCS symptoms return but they also effect the non-PCS person, just not in a life changing way. So, learning to understand these triggers cam lead her to a more normal and calm life, for the rest of her life.

I know plenty of people who outright refuse to come into the city (Boise is only 300,000) because they are so accustom to their calmer life. They are nicer people, less aggravated by the little things in life. That is why so many want the more rural lifestyle.

It is the city/chaos lifestyle that needs a cup of coffee and cell phone in each hand.

Here in Idaho, there is a road we try to avoid because it is congested with people who are in a hurry to get to their cabin or condo to RELAX. We cannot figure out why they cannot start to relax as soon as they leave the city. It sure would make the drive much nicer.

I would recommend that your daughter understand that she is will have PCS for a lifetime. It will not necessarily be symptomatic frequently but she will be susceptible to a recurrence of PCS symptoms, especially when one of her triggers is at a serious level and she is in a weakened condition (getting over an illness, tired, hungry, etc.)

I learned a very basic understanding of this in my early 20's after visiting my mother for Thanksgiving. Her observations opened my eyes to a need to be aware of my triggers. I wish I had access to a more thorough understanding back then. My wife and family would have been spared a lot of grief over the first 15 to 20 years of my family's life.

I bet that some of the other PCS old timers will agree.