[Wildrose55]

Hi all,

I have a 17 y/o with PCS....she's been off school for the past two weeks and will be off this week also.

Her headaches are getting worse and there is nothing that seems to touch them.....she has told me that over the past two nights the headaches has kept her up at night when trying to sleep and is so severe almost brings her to tears.

We are seeing the doctor this afternoon and she's having a CT scan tomorrow a.m.....The doctor last visit put her on neproxin and Tylenol 1's but they aren't touching the pain.

School is sending home some work for her to do as she's able and I know she'll try as she is bored stiff at home....since the headaches aren't getting any better should I allow her to do what she's able to??

She says the headaches are there all the time - there are times I look at her as she's giggling about something and it seems hard to believe she is actually having a headache....she says Mom its always there and her head is killing her.

She's handling it much better than some I guess but I'm sick over the situation and wish there was something I could do for her to give her even one day let alone one hour of relief from the headache.

Thanks for listening and for all the valuable advice given over the past week.

Joan

[Mark in Idaho]

Sorry to hear of your daughter's struggles and pain. She sounds like a trooper as she deals with the pain.

Has her doctor tried amitriptyline in small doses (10 mgs)? It helps some with PCS. Is her blood pressure in a normal range? It can cause the headaches if it gets too high.

If she is going to try some school work, be aware of any frustration she may have. Stress (frustration) is bad for recovery. Also, if she gets concerned about falling behind, that anxiety is not good.

Help her find some relaxing activities to do. Things that involve using her hands tend to be slow and non-stress. Knitting, sewing, crocheting, painting, or any simple hand crafts can be good. The hands cannot work too fast for the brain. Handicrafts is a common therapy at brain injury rehabilitation clinics.

Regarding pain relievers for the head aches, her problem is very common. I use a mix of Tylenol and aspirin for my worst head aches. I too, live with headaches to the point that I have learned to ignore them.

Sounds like she is handling things pretty good. All you can do is help her keep the stress levels down.

My best to you.

[Dmom3005]

Also its possible the headache is there all the time. But that its not
as bad it times. Have her try to explain what she means by this.

It could be important to the doctor also. I would also recommend
a maintanance drug for the headaches they might help.

Donna

[Margarite]

The CT is a good idea because it will assure you that there is nothing going on that could cause some bad long term things. For me, getting to a Neurologist was the thing that helped me to come to terms with my headaches and realize that I was OK, just with some side effects.
My headaches are almost all the time as well, they are less and worse at different times depending on the whim of my head or the things that I am doing.

School work is frustrating and difficult, but you have to finish high school (for me I have to finish college). It really helped at the beginning if someone read my books out loud to me rather slowly. It was too hard to keep my eyes open and focused and at the same time understand the meaning of the words. 6 concussions later and a full year since the last one I am starting to feel much better.

For a lot of people, including me, the most frustrating part of the beginning was thinking that I should be getting better fast and it was taking too long and wondering if there was something really wrong (like pooling blood in my brain or something) and the 8 doctors I saw didn't seem to care, and my family and friends did not understand and why wasn't I better yet.
The thing that really helped me to move on with my life was to realize that it might be a long time before I healed and that I needed to find ways to live with that. I have. I live a different life, but it is good and I am going to graduate from an intense 20 credit/semester college in a year. My grades dropped dramatically immediately after I hit my head but they have improved since then.

Basically realize that this might be a longer road than you have hoped, but there is always hope that next month she will be back to normal. The key is finding triggers that start the headaches or worsen them so that she can avoid them. Lastly, don't get another concussion, with every bonk or jostle the recovery time lengthens.

Good Luck! If she needs study techniques just pm me.
Margarite

[PCSLearner]

As for pain relief...try reflexology. You can print off a "map" of the foot. Use no- or lightly-scented lotion.

Also find some info. about accupressure. The emotional stress of everything going on can cause a lot of physcial stress around the jaw muscles and around the forehead and eyes. I used a lotion made for faces (don't need acne on top of everything else) for my daughter.

These two things helped more than any of the pain meds. There were days I did both literally for HOURS. Once you start relieving the muscle strain in the jaw especially it really hurts when it comes back. It takes a few days/weeks to get it to stay gone.

[Dmom3005]

The other thing is you might try a hot heating moist pad. Get the
biggest you can find. And if at all possible fix it so it goes around
her head. I've been doing this in physical therapy and its helped
some wicked headaches.

Donna