need advice for healing from PCS
 

I have been suffering from PCS for abut 4 months now and am concerned that the coming and going of my symptoms is not normal. I have been resting and doing light exercise here and there when I feel up to it (consists of riding the bike for a little bit.) I'm trying my best not to push myself, yet my symptoms still return. Is that normal?

I am taking a vitamin regimen every morning that consists of fish oil, B complex, D3, multi vitamin, and have recently started trying gingko.


Some days I wake up and feel myself again and get so excited that I am recovering and nearly forget about my lows. This usually lasts a day or 2 and then I wake up feeling as if I am back in day one of my recovery. (nausea, headaches, loss of appetite, anxiety, depression, irratibility, inability to concentrate, all that fun stuff.)

I write in a journal daily to keep track of my symptoms and it seems like nothing triggers it. The symptoms do not return after exercise or anything specific which is the trouble for me. Sometimes a gym sesh will do it, sometime they appear 3 days after working out, and sometimes I am doing nothing at all when they return.

Does anyone have any advice for this? I'm trying to do everything I can to recover speedy and properly, but do not know the correct steps to take to move forward and continue to progress.

I have given up caffeine, fast foods, extensive work outs, alcohol, and all of that fun stuff, yet my symptoms still come and go.

If anyone has any other helpful info or useful exercises that have helped them out I would really appreciate the advice because I am going crazy over here!

Kacee Williams:confused:

kacee,

Do you notice any sleep disturbances the night or morning before your bad days ? This can be waking during the night or stressful dreams or anything that is not normal.

Do you 'get busy' on your good days because you are feeling so good ?

A bad day can be the result of the day before being too busy. The brain has so much to process during your sleep that it does not get the job done. fyi, Each night during REM sleep, the brain journals the previous day and sorts the memories from the day.

I suggest you add Omega 3 fish oil and B-12 to your regimen. A B-complex does not have enough B-12 for a recovering brain. I take a 2500 mcgs of B-12, half in the am and half in the pm.

Female cycles can be a factor as well as birth control pills. Hormones can be out of balance.

Try looking back 24 hours for possible triggers.

My best to you.

Hi Kaycee

Have you had a neuropsychological assessment, particularly for the affective difficulties (concentration, anxiety, depression)? Testing by a clinical neuropsychologist may be helpful in identifying specific deficit areas, then you may benefit from therapy sessions with an occupational and/or speech pathologist.

This may be covered by health insurance with a referral from a MD if you are seeing one.

Another suggestion would be to see if there are support groups in your area. The Brain Injury Association of America may have groups listed for your state.

http://www.biausa.org/state-affiliates.htm

I tossed a little bit last night, but for the most part I slept rather well and the nausea and dizziness still hit around noon today. I had a great day yesterday as I did not experience any symptoms, yet I didn't do anything to push it. I spent most of the day laying in bed or watching television and still woke up feeling gross today.

I will add those vitamins and see if they help, I just don't understand wht approach I should take to healing when my symptoms are a roller coaster ride and not provoked by anything it seems

I have not had an assessment and have had little help from the doctors as I do not have insurance. I went to the ER twice where I was told I had PCS, but that was the extent of their help. Ive taken the recovery process into my own hands, but I want to make sure I am doing things right and healing myself properly.

I will however look into finding a support group, thank you for the link!

Hi Kacee,

I've experienced something similar, and I agree with what Mark said. I believe it has something to do with sleep. For whatever reason, I think our normal sleep cycle gets disrupted. As Mark said, if you had a heavy day the day before, and you aren't fully recovering while sleeping, it leads to symptoms the next day. When all this cognitive stuff started happening, I really freaked out, but then I realized that all my cognitive problems were the same symptoms that people with sleep deprivation experience.

Like you, I haven't noticed much correlation between my activities and the coming and going of symptoms, so I basically just live my life as I usually would. Sometimes I feel drained at the end of the day, other times not, but it's manageable.

Do you take any supplements to help you sleep? I feel like even some days after a great rest I still end up feeling horrible. The best way I can describe it is as a permanent hangover most days where it is very annoying to deal with but usually manageable. Thats why im worried it may not be sleep since I have been trying to sleep as muc as possible but I am willing to try anything!

I was prescribed a small dose of Remeron, which helps a lot. I would talk to your doctor. I've heard of other people using melatonin as well.

Before, I was sleeping 8-9 hours, but I would wake up in the morning yawning and feeling exhausted! Just because you are sleeping doesn't mean it's quality, restorative sleep.

sleep disturbance
 

I continue to deal with poor sleep - i take elavil and ambien at night - i dont alway take the ambien becasue i dont want to be hooked or require higher dose but often not always I awake and feel as tired as when i went to bed, I am not sure other than to keep a regualr schedule, drink a lot of water and dont nap if you can help it during the day

Thanks Ill have to try that. Im currently taking gingko though to help brain functions and I read that it may interfere with melatonin? should I stop that if I want to try sleeping aids?