pushing through
 

does anyone have any tips on pushing through setbacks? i was basically recovered until getting a ride home and the driver backed up and hit a parked car. i feel like i'm starting all over again and i sometimes don't think i have the strength to do all the vision, vestibular, PT all over again (mental strength). i'm sure many people here can relate... if anyone has been in a similar situation, tell me how you handled it. how did you get yourself to get up everyday and put in all the effort you could into recovery instead of sulking?

i've always been a pretty willful person and have had serious illnesses in the past but have been able to push through and do all that was necessary. i feel like i'm losing steam here.

I'm not convinced that all of the therapies are necessary. There are plenty who will push therapies because they get paid to do it. Therapy is great for injuries where the patient is left unconscious for days or more. I'm not sure that pushing through symptoms is the answer for everyone.

Many have done well with lowering stress and using moderate effort to move forward. It's just different ways to help the brain heal. I spent a lot of time doing short stints of an activity then moving to a different activity with maybe a rest between. It takes a different kind of mental effort that may not be as mentally exhausting.

Just something to think about.

Good point.

My question is really more: how does one get oneself to get off the couch and do something other than watching TV? I don't seem to have energy to do anything. In previous bouts with serious illness I could simply will myself to do it but with PCS I can't seem to gather the strength. I feel like I'm in a rut and I can't lift myself out.

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Do you think you're dealing with depression at the moment? Feeling depressed about the set backs and how difficult it is right now to motivate yourself?

Maybe you could make a plan. Get a little whiteboard and divide up the days. Sometimes just seeing it there can be motivation. Make sure you give yourself quiet time too.

If for some reason you can't do something one morning or one afternoon, then don't beat yourself up about it. Just try to do something productive for your wellbeing each day and see how you go from there.

i think i am likely depressed - i like the idea with the whiteboard. i tried to create a schedule for myself but found that i would start deviating more and more. the deviation would upset me and i'd give up on the whole thing.

i'm not sure how to really deal with not being able to do very much and i'm not really sure that anything i do helps my recovery. i take the vitamins that people talk about here and eat healthy, don't smoke or drink. my inability to affect my own outcome is very difficult to swallow.

A rehab specialist who spoke at our Brain Injury Support Group this month said it is imperative that we start our recovery by accepting where we are as the new "Me." Then, we work forward from there. It we look at ourselves as broken and less than we were, our brains continually produce stress chemicals resulting in depression, anxiety, slowed recovery and more. He stressed that we need to start from the new "Me" and appreciate each small improvement.

Focusing on the pre-injury person will constantly leave us in a less than optimal state for recovery.

interesting - but what does that mean? if i accept the "new me" then i essentially admit that my future will be highly limited. i almost feel like hanging on to the image of my "former me" gives me some sort of hope. on the other hand it definitely depresses me to think about my life prior to this and my current state.

i guess the question is: how does one accept the current condition and then strive to return to being a fully functioning human being? it feels like the two are opposites.

I think what Mark is saying is that you have to accept that this is actually happening. It's not just gonna go away overnight and you have to brace yourself for the fact that this "new me" is who will define you for your life. That's not to say that you can't improve the new me, but it's imperative to recovery to start by accepting that there is a new me and the old self is essentially gone for now.

Rather than focus on 100% recovery, which is impossible anyway, we need to focus on being better next week than we are this week.

If you lost your eye sight, you would not be able to move forward until you learned skills for living without sight. If your focus was returning to a sighted life, you would never move forward and be incredibly frustrated.

If you shredded your knee, you would be in a similar position. Some knee injuries can only be repaired to a walkable level but not a competitive level. The soft tissues, especially the cartilage, can not be forces to heal back to normal. If that was the case, you would need to modify your life to fit the capabilities of your knee.

We have to accept that our brains are damaged. Not all of that damage can be overcome. That damage that can recover will take quite some time if it is the kind of damage that does not spontaneously recover.

There is life with a damaged brain. I lived 40 years before I suffered my last injury that was not recoverable. My brain injury at 10 years old changed my life but did not end it.

i like that - one week at a time. i suppose even after the car accident there has been some improvement so i should attempt to focus on that.

the comparison with sight loss is precisely what is troubling me: if my injury is truly that debilitating and the prognosis is the same as that of someone who lost their sight (which is permanent) then i need to radically alter my ambitions and expectations. when should i stop thinking that things will improve and attempt to create a new life for myself? how long should i be recovering? those two paths seem to be pretty different.

There are a lot of things that we just need to do differently. A few activities and such are just not compatible with PCS even though some will push forward anyway and struggle to be successful in that activity.

What objectives do you have for your future that you think may be in jeopardy ? Maybe we can suggest ways to pursue those objectives.

My objectives are strictly centered around my career: if I am visually impaired (misreading words, for example) and experience dizziness with walking, then I need to drastically alter my career aspirations. I simply don't know whether there will be continued significant improvement or whether I am now at a new permanent plateau. If the latter, I need to begin to create a new life for myself. If the former, then I focus on recovery. However, the two are mutually exclusive in my view.

I would not call misreading words visually impaired. My nephew is dyslexic. It slowed him in school until he got the proper help. Here is a list of successful people with dyslexia http://www.dyslexia.com/famous.htm I doubt your misreading of words is nearly as much of a problem as dyslexia.

I've had word misreading problems. I don't know if the problem has resolved somewhat or if I have just learned how to deal with it better. I reread things from time to time. My typing shows similar problems but with a simple reread and use of spell check, I rarely let a mix up make it to print.

Dizziness is a different issue. Is it constant or just at certain times ? I have to get up from chairs slowly or I may experience dizziness. For me, it manifest after anesthesia for knee and ankle surgery.

What career path were you working toward ?

Thank you for the reference - encouragement is partly what really helps me keep my spirits up.

It isn't constant - it comes on with walking or turning my head from side to side. I suspect this must be a neck injury from the auto accident. Maybe whiplash type injury? A doc examined me about two weeks ago and he said he was not concerned there was something wrong with my neck. However, I have read enough of the posts here to know that subtle neck injuries are notoriously difficult to diagnose.

I am a computer scientist.

The descriptions of your feeling dizzy sound like my vertigo.

Especially bad for me when walking. It's a feeling as if the feet do not know where they are (if that makes sense) and it feels as if there's a disconnect between the brain and the feet.

I also have a problem with my eyes. If I move my eyes too fast, I'll spin. If I have to sit in traffic and there are cars flashing past, I feel the same way.

This maybe totally different from how you're feeling, but just thought I'd post. Often people say they get dizzy, and I often wonder if they mean they're about to fall down faint sort of dizzy or if they mean something else.

If you have an intellect I would expect of a computer scientist, I would also expect that you can use that intellect to develop strategies to continue despite any word reading issues.

There are two issues that effect intelligent persons when they suffer PCS. First, they notice small changes in congitive and such abilities that others do not notice or consider a concern. Second, they are able to overcome those issues and continue on with their lives.

What area of computer science do you specialize in ?

Lara: yes, i think we are probably experiencing the same thing. did you ever figure out whether this was strictly a visual thing or did it relate to your neck/inner ear?

Mark: I don't know if I'm all that intelligent but I hope it is enough to overcome my word reading difficulties as you say. My expertise is in machine vision, helping computers automatically parse images in an intelligent manner. Google's cat finding expedition is an example though the applications are numerous (diagnostics in medicine, biometrics, autonomous vehicles, etc.).

Edited to add:

I'm so sorry. I should have asked my questions on your dizziness thread. Too late now.

No, didn't ever figure it out. Was given medication for vertigo years ago but it made me feel horrible so just learned to deal with it/work around it. It's the only symptom I still have from a head injury years ago. It's much better, but it's never left me totally. The cost of seeing all the people I needed to see was prohibitive. I had another head injury recently and for 4 weeks my vertigo was as bad as ever, but it's subsided now.

I was going to take something called Serc that I think is a vestibular suppressant but didn't ever end up doing that. Doctor seemed to be guessing. I think it's used in Meniere's Disease more commonly.

One trick when walking though is to concentrate on a spot ahead in the distance. I pick a spot at eye level and concentrate on that.

You're young. My advice would be to find out what's exactly going on, as difficult as that may be. I wish I had done that years ago. The more I read here and the more I think about my falls, the more I realize how severe they would have been on my neck as well.

Interesting. What would you suggest as the method to really dig into the problem? Multiple doctors? If so what kinds would you suggest? I found that most just do a cursory look at my neck, maybe feel for range of motion but that's it. Multiple vestibular therapists? Maybe see an ENT?

I'm not in your country as far as I know so it's probably a little different. In my case I would go back to see an ENT. They would hopefully be able to differentiate between vestibular and non-vestibular reasons for the vertigo and go from there.

Other members here have been through these processes in the US and Canada, so they will hopefully chip in with some more specific details for you..

I've never had my neck examined. I should! I've only had my head examined [LOL sounds funny saying that.]

BTW, I also have migraines. That complicates the issue as a fairly large percentage of people with migraines will have head motion intolerance and episodic vertigo. There are many different types of migraines. Some even come without the actual headache that most people think of when they hear the word migraine.

interesting: what are the ones without a headache?

Lots of links and reading sorry.
Just thought a few of them may be helpful for you as you sort out your situation post concussion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acephalgic_migraine
Acephalgic (or silent) Migraine

http://www.braininjuries.org/
Vision Problems Associated with brain injuries.

https://nora.cc/
Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association
Links down the bottom

http://vestibular.org/node/2
Causes of Dizziness, vertigo and disequilibrium

http://vestibular.org/migraine-associated-vertigo-mav
Vestibular Migraine (a.k.a. Migraine Associated Vertigo or MAV)

Vestibular Migraine
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neuro..._migraine.html


UB Researchers find overlap between concussions and neck injury
University of Buffalo - concussions and neck injuries

ibr,

Have you ever heard of a system called GyroStim ? It has been used for a variety is symptoms related to vestibular issues. Mayo in Scottsdale did some work with one.

There was also a system when they looked at the subjects eyes while moving him into different positions. The idea is it points to the neurological deficit. I wish I could find my reference to the protocol.

I googled and found 'rotary chair testing.' It is also used in videonystagmography or electronystagmography.

There are migraines that cause visual disturbances without the head ache.

Mark: I haven't heard of that system though I just googled it now. They did BPPV (sp?) testing on me and I didn't have it. But they haven't done any other type of tests. I still have no clue whether my dizziness symptoms are visual in nature or caused by neck or maybe more serious defect in the inner ear. I really need to find a facility that has the technology to do this. Maybe the VNG system that you mentioned is the right thing for me.

Lara: thanks for the links, good info!

Mark,

You say that getting 100% better is impossible?! Really? I have not been told this before and have made to believe that I will get 100% better?!

If there is a possibility of whiplash or neck muscle injury, I would ask about some expert PT before going thru a lot of extra testing. Perhaps upper cervical chiropractic, or an expert multi skilled chiropractor.

Is your neck , shoulders, upper back sore, do you have tight or rock hard muscles or trigger points?
Any of these can cause quite a mix of symptoms and referred pain /headaches.

Highly skilled therapists, chiros should be able to assess & treat , and you may find many sx resolving.

A trigger point info thread -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread125577.html

Dizzy,

Every concussion will leave some residual problems. For the vast majority, these problems WILL NOT interfere with everyday life until there are stressors or another trauma. The concussed brain will be more sensitive to impact after each new trauma. The concussed brain will be more sensitive to chemical stress, alcohol, caffeine, MSG, artificial sweeteners and anything that can upset the delicate chemical balance of the brain. Some think this is due to injury to the blood brain barrier that never quite heals 100% leaving more opportunity for the brain to be chemically stressed.

For those of us with PCS, it suggests the brain is struggling to regain its delicate chemical balance. The vitamin regimen is supposed to help the blood brain barrier strengthen so this balance can be restored.

It is not uncommon for someone who could tolerate a large volume of alcohol to become very sensitive to alcohol after a brain trauma. In many, this sensitivity never goes away.

A wise man once told me don't borrow trouble before it gets here. It's a day at a time thing for me. Today I accept I have a lot of PCS stuff going on, and I just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Really, today is all any of us have, the moment right in front of us.

I have got to keep it simple or I create confusion, anxiety, and more depression than I already have.

so true - sometimes it's hard to remember to put one foot in front of the other and just keep moving. but i suppose that's how marathons are run.

Zoo,

There are times where I have to maintain focus solely on the moment now. Sometimes I can get really anxious if I allow myself to go beyond what is right in front of me.

It seems funny to have to sort of be relearning some things such as being able to think about two things, but, whatever it takes!

Bud

injured but recovering
 

Suggestion; Research Atlas Orthogonal Upper Cervical Care chiropractic practitioners. **

Also, Dr. Elster, Maui, HI

Chances are when you turn your head far to each side you have a crunching sensation meaning your skull is partially turning in the top of your atlas vs. your skull and your atlas turning together with the atlas pivoting on what is below the atlas thereby allowing the bottom of your atlas to be a "washer" with smooth pivot's.

Do you research. It will pay off. You had a trauma event.

Happy Jack,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

This thread has been dormant since March 2015 although injuredbutrecovering is still around.

We have mentioned upper cervical chiro many times, both NUCCA and Atlas Orthagonal. It helps some but does not help others.

What has your experience been with it?

How are you doing ?

Is there anything we can do to help you with concussion issues ?

Please feel free to start your own thread with the New Thread button

I seem to be struggling with the same thing even though I just started out. I was always a very go go go person and now it's a struggle to do ANY activity.