Hi,

Mark, that's interesting what you wrote about oxygenation. I've been doing different types of calming breathing excercises to try to get more oxygen into my brain, hoping that will help. It does seem to help me sleep and help me be more calm.

Shelly, it seems that brain injuries can also alter hormones and neurotransmitters. I've also had a lot of stress- so it's hard to separate things out. However, many of my hormones are out of whack, particulary adrenal hormones which have a lot to do with energy/fatigue. If you haven't gotten your hormone levels checked by an integrative doctor who knows how to look for subtle but important distinctions in test results and knows how to test for this, it may be worth considering. If your hormones are an issue, correcting this could help the fatigue. Just a thought...
-Hazzell

Hazzell,

First of all, I wanted to tell you that the way you described the brain fog in an earlier post is exactly what happens to me. It sort of validates the experiences that I am having with this PCS/MTBI. I hate the fogginess, but I am so used to it now. It is like a "companion".

It's interesting what you wrote about the adrenal glands. I do see a chiropractor who does muscle testing and uses alternative medicines. So I am taking something natural that she prescribed for the adrenals. There are two products that I use, both by Apex Energetics. I think that one makes you more relaxed and one is supposed to build up your energy. (But I am not having any success in the building up of energy...)

I do agree with you that the adrenal glands are affected by stress and by injury.

But the fatigue is from the injury. It is also my constant companion since I got injured. And it is what makes it impossible for me to feel like myself or be able to do much of anything. If you read Gail Denton's book, Brainlash, she has a whole chapter on stamina, fatigue and energy where she goes into more detail about fatigue and brain injury.

ShellyK

Hi Shelly,

I'm glad you found what I wrote about brain fog validating and thanks for letting me know! :)

Thanks for reccomending BrainLash- I checked it out online and it looks very helpful.

That's good that you have someone to help you address the adrenal issues and fatigue. Since you mentioned that your energy isn't building up, are you considering asking the practitioner about other products that may be more helpful to you?

I have also had fatigue, pretty much all my life (my injury occured when I was around 3) and it has been something that I've tried to fix in all sorts of ways. It's been a daily issue to push through but not push too much. And I didn't get medical validation until a couple years ago that it's related to the brain injury (which is a factor in why my adrenal system is not functioning so well.) I defintely relate to what you wrote about not feeling like yourself due to the fatigue- for me, I'd add brain fog to that too.

I keep experimenting with ways to help with both issues. Hopefully, I'll find some stuff that really helps.

-Hazzell