How Overdoing It Turned Me Into A Vegetable
 

When you have a concussion and you overdo it it makes your head more sensitive. When your head is more sensitive it's easier to overdo it. After 1.5 years I was almost fully recovered from a concussion when a small bump to the head snowballed downhill and got so bad that I had to eat, sleep, and poop in the same position for 9 months with my eyes closed staring at crazy hallucinations.

Doctors were so ignorant that they either didn't know what a concussion was, didn't know how to treat one, or prescribed medications that did more harm than good. The doctors’ treatment approach is the reason why my head got as bad as it did.

To see how this story pans out and to get an insight into PCS and why medications are a bad idea, read more here:
How Overdoing It Turned Me Into A Vegetable | A Post Concussion Syndrome Story - TheAndrewShelley

Do you agree with the lessons learned?

If you have scoliosis and MD, I wonder what other issues are making your symptoms worse. I can't imagine letting anybody touch my neck and spine without them being an expert in scoliosis and MD.

Wow, sorry you went through so much. I've also had "minor" bumps or jarring of the head that caused some serious setbacks. The good news is that since taking more fish oil, curcumin, and bioflavoids, my head sensitivity is much better, though it's not perfect. I can even run somedays.

You're truly an inspiration to me. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, it was really the perfect timing for me to read this as my doctor has me on app-amitryptaline and I have been doing more than usual because I haven't been getting the headaches (because of the Amitrypteline) but over the last two weeks have been feeling progressively worse. I'm not getting the headache that tells me when to stop and rest. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that.


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Similar thing happened to me when I had a bad setback and then started taking Xanax that made me feel much better and I overdid it so much that I've never fully recovered from that since.

Thank you all for reading my story. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks medications are bad. The neurologist had been telling me to take Nortriptyline for a year before I took it. He would say things like "you can take this medication (that has horrendous side effects) or you can do nothing..." (As if just resting was a bad thing!!)

When I was in bed I remembered Mark's video where he said his neurologist said to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling so I knew that's what I had to do. Thank you for making that video Mark.

Many people have had good results with Nortriptyline or amitriptyline, especially in small doses. It is a common, 'Try this' PCS med. Most tolerate it well even if it does not help.

I think you may be referring to the video on You Tube by John Byler called 'You Look Great.' John Byler is still struggling years later.

The information I've read suggests lying in bed should be minimal because it does not stimulate brain blood flow and works against achieving good sleep with all of the stages.

Note: Blog is at a new URL due to expiring domain:
How Overdoing It Turned Me Into A Vegetable | A Post-Concussion Syndrome Story - DrewDigital

I totally agree that total bedrest is unhealthy. While it may be true that bedrest is unnecessary in most cases, I don't think it is true in all cases. My parents couldn't understand why I couldn't hop in my chair and be wheeled outside. The reason has to do with stimulation/activity vs capacity. Getting out of bed and moving around is stimulation that the brain has to process. My head was so sensitive that just that little bit of activity was too much for me. So I couldn't do that otherwise my condition would have gotten worse.

To counteract the ill effects of bedrest I exercised everyday - arm exercises after breakfast and leg exercises before dinner. Since I couldn't go outside my dad brought the sun to me by perching a big mirror on a ladder outside my window and reflecting the sun into my room. (see picture below)

Now I don't have to stay in bed. Yesterday I went and saw the parade in our town which was a huge milestone because there were so many people and I was able to do it without aggravating my head. Albeit I only saw half of the parade because if I tried to watch the whole parade I would have aggravated my head and caused a setback. So you can say my capacity has improved to where my brain can process half of an independence day parade. That's way better than before!

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...al/Mirror1.jpg

If you can tolerate half a parade, you are doing better than me. I need to duck for cover within a few minutes. We have a lot of illegal fireworks here in Idaho. Over-stim city for the past week. It is finally over.

I'm sure that most people can tolerate medications like Nortriptyline, Amitriptyline, Effexor or Xanax just fine. I was ok with Nortriptyline for the first month and was even making progress.

It seemed like the medication made my head more "delicate" so that when I overdid it my condition severely deteriorated, much more than it would have without it. A head bump and a neck injury should not have resulted in me being unable to get out of bed for 9 months.

The same goes for JudyAnn's daughter and JoeInLA - http://www.neurotalk.org/traumatic-b...revention.html
JudyAnn's daughter has to stay in bed all day and can barely tolerate listening to people talk. JoeInLA's condition became so bad that he had to lie in bed staring at the wall for two years. They are also on antidepressants.

Granted, they had repeat concussions and head-bumps but even so that shouldn't have made their condition so bad. I had PCS back in 2005 and also had a repeat concussion. It set me back a month but it didn't leave me bedridden. Two years ago I got my head slammed while having PCS and again it just set me back a couple weeks. I wasn't on any medications at the time so I was ok.

It just doesn't make sense that some extra blows to the head would cause such debilitating symptoms for so long. I think the medications played a role. The benefits of those drugs aren't worth the risk of the side effects.

I apologize if this is a double post. Drew.....you made me wonder if PCS is the cause, or one cause, of Mulitple Chemical Sensitivity? I had several head and brain hits when young and was dxed with MCS which is very severe. The way we all seem to have trouble with meds and light and noise and sensory things.......I wonder.

I read your story and it AMAZINGLY similar to those with extreme MCS. I am also mad when they thought you were just mentally ill, bless their hearts. I went through that, too.

Did you know I stopped talking completely for several weeks? I even learned American Sign language which did not help because no one else knew it, so I just started to write things down. It helps so much but makes everyone uncomfortable and people think you're nuts. I may do that again. I find it helps so so much.

As for the "Word Barf?" HAHAHA! OMG! I get so annoyed when people just yammer on and on. Like a torrent of something ungodly and brackish and dangerous. STOP!!!

I do use the computer a lot because it stops the panic in my head. I did not use anything electric for a year!! Even went to the basement and cut off the electric to my room at night and cut the wireless. I went into such a profound, disconnected depression that I DID go crazy. I had no connection and no way to communicate and felt so alone.

At first I did meditate but then I got negative reactions to meditation which some people do. Lots of fear and terror.

So I got the computer back and leave the lights on and it is OK now. I do cut the wireless at night.

I hope you get better. I hope we all get better. Thank you for sharing your story. You have been through a lot.

Wow, Can MCS symptoms be caused by medications? How is it diagnosed?

I can totally relate to wanting to learn sign language! I actually considered learning Morse Code so I could tap out messages. But it would have been hard for people to understand..

I'm sorry but you've taken a small bump to the head, post concussion, and this lead to living life in the fetal position for the next nine months?

Sounds like there are some extenuating circumstances here, not just concussion.

There can be other head injuries prior or even other illnesses. A bump on the head is never just a bump on the head. Yes, it can and has triggered a series of events in certain people and can indeed disable them. It is scary and misunderstood, but the brain really must be treated with great respect. And Drew fought very hard. Read his story and you will see how much he went through.

Yeah that's basically what happened. So I do have Muscular Dystrophy, but that doesn't affect my brain. I did have a mild neck injury but that shouldn't have caused such severe symptoms.

I think it was the medications. The Nortriptyline caused dizziness, vertigo, hallucinations, and electric shocks. How can a medication like that possibly be good for you? The only thing I've changed is going off the medication and I'm doing way better now.

I don't think I'm the only one. I've heard other stories of debilitating symptoms with no explanation other than possible medication side effects.