4 3/4 Months in...
 

Well, here I am coming up to 5 months in 7 days time. Like most here my recovery is progressing slowly, but it's progressing so that's good. This last month I've felt more my self and for periods recently perfectly normal.

Sometimes I forget how bad I was. In the first two months I must have got all the symptoms on the check-list. High anxiety, vertigo, nausea, fatigue, tinnitus, fast pulse, insomnia, weird feelings in the head. Now I'm left with the tinnitus which isn't as bad as it was and the broken sleep which is proving the most stubborn to resolve.

The sleep issue may have been made worse by the fact I used an OTC sleep med for about 3 months, namely diphenhydramine, way longer than I should. I stopped taking it completely a month ago because it stopped working and I'd just developed a psychological dependency on it. Apparently diphenhydramine works similar to benzodiazepines so can take 1-2 months before your brain rebalances itself after stopping taking it, as if my poor brain hasn't enough to deal with. What a roller coaster ride PCS is!

Superelectric, I have the same exact symptoms like you and I am 4 months in. Tinnitus, broken sleep and fatigue being the most stubborn and hard to deal with. It's so nice that we can share our journeys through this site. This site has given me immense support and people on here are so lovely and friendly. We are a family no matter what type of brain injury we have. It's saddening to realise that docs still don't know much about all this and how much ignorant they can be sometimes. It's easy to blame everything on anxiety when they don't know what to do about the situation. I just returned from my PCP's clinic because of fast pulse and I realised he knew nothing about concussions! He denied I had any kind of brain injury and told me to indulge into sports and activities and distract my mind as he thought it's all psychological! Damn..I felt like punching him in his face and giving him a concussion I swear! Brain injuries are not all about hematoma and fractured skulls!! How little they know, specially PCPs..but it's good to share and know people on here will understand...mark, hokey and some others are very knowledgeable and know this stuff.. Hope you continue to recover...god bless

I hear you on the broken sleep, cannot even remember the last time I slept through the night or even got any kind of quality sleep.

My old Dr told me it "all takes time", even almost a year later when all symptoms were still rampant! got a new doctor but still she doesn't understand, it's tough.

One thing I've never had is the tinnitus so sorry you both have that.

I wouldn't wish PCS on anyone but it's good to know we're not alone feeling how we do. This is the only place that understands :)

The majority of doctors don't understand. Judging by this forum anxiety is the common denominator with PCS. The cause is physical damage to the brain, how do I know that? Doh, because it arrived with the bang on the head doctor!

Fatigue is annoying, I'm usually wiped out by early evening making a social life difficult unless I have a good day. I think what has helped with my fatigue and anxiety is regular walking, slow in the early days then working up to brisk 2.5 Km. I have energy in the daytime now which I didn't have before.

I've now read that sleep disturbance and tinnitus are the last symptoms to resolve, I can't help feeling they are connected in some way. Re sleep I have no idea why I wake after 2 hours sleep, I wake up feeling really tired which after a minute or two wears off and I have to get back off to sleep again. This happens twice in the night, why twice? Maybe after I've finished a sleep cycle I wake instead of starting another? Anyway, here's something I read that fit's me to a tee...

"People with irregular sleep-wake syndrome usually sleep one to four hours at a time. They have several sleep sessions in a 24-hour period. The longest period of continuous sleep is typically between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m." source

The article suggests it's my circadian rhythm that is out of kilter. The Headway literature I was given mentions damage to a deep part of the brain that regulates hormones (including melatonin) so it ties in with fatigue. I've not found out how to fix this apart from going to bed and getting up out of bed the same time every day and strictly limiting time in bed. Another method might be flying to Australia to reset my body clock, but I heard 6-8 months mentioned regarding healing this part of the brain. I'll post any changes!

I'm going through this behavioral cognitive therapy course on sleep right now. I've never been the best sleeper, and the concussion has made it worse. It's a bit better now but still relying on some ambien most nights to get me back to sleep around 3am.

This website is a mess, but the actual course info is pretty straight forward, just read a word doc every week and keep a sleep journal http://www.cbtforinsomnia.com/ It doesn't account for brain injuries, but it's good info and teaches good habits