Thanks Ginnie for your thoughts! I'm glad you found one that works well for you!

Hi Mark,
I'm doing about the same as always, not too much has changed, except now I've been to the brain injury rehab clinic twice. The physiatrist is one of the top guys in the country, probably North America, so I figure I at least got lucky to land there!

Physiatrist diagnosed occipital neuralgia and prescribed topomax... very low dose though because he feels I'm super sensitive to medication. I've not noticed any improvement, but I've not noticed any side effects either.

He's also suggested cortisone shots for the occipital neuralgia which kinda freak me out, but if they would help? I just wonder how much the actual shots hurt??

He sent me to physio for vestibular rehab, but they are doing gait retraining first, using the cane keeps me upright a bit more often! Once my gait is a bit less wonky, they will do the vestibular testing and see if the rehab is necessary.

Also seeing a rehab psychologist that specializes in brain injuries and her focus is identifying trouble areas (deficits: cognitive, emotional & social) and coming up with strategies for dealing with them. Practical coping strategies. She also assists in navigating the health care system, clarifying roles and treatments as needed, basically guiding you through the process in any way that might be needed.

I guess as far as the anti depressants go, they just scare me a bit. Having felt so much worse taking different ones, I worry about going through that again. Its like the devil you know (going without) rather than trying the devil you don't (the cymbalta), make sense?

Family is less and less patient as time goes on, they expect more and more. Like shouldn't I be healed already? I'm sure they are frustrated. I am frustrated. Not sure how that's all going to turn out yet.

I've found it remarkable the number of people that I thought I was close with, that I've helped and supported over the years who have vanished during this... I understand I'm not that fun to be around and people are impatient waiting for me to speak and I walk too slowly and sometimes I'm cranky and miserable.

But all those times I supported and helped them through things, they weren't great fun to be around either. Oh well, I guess this is how you find out who really cares and who really matters. Certainly interesting.

Maybe I will phone my rehab nurse tomorrow and tell her about my cymbalta worries and she will remind me why its a good idea to try it. Because right now, I feel I've lost so much that I'm not willing to let a drug take anything else away from me.

Thanks for listening.
Starr