Yeah, "she," is the neurologist I've seen. I picked her out of a list in google. I think she has been good but she is no expert. She does deal with this a lot she said. She has some patients that go 2+ years to recover. She gave me that time line because she is hopeful but I pressed her for it.

She gave me prednisone when I told her I was taking 10 advil a day and my kidneys were starting to feel a bit sore. Then she gave me elavil way after the prednisone was done and I told her I'd be resuming the advil. She didn't prescribe anything unless I asked for it. I would still be on no medications if I had not asked or indicated that I was taking over the counter remedies myself.

The expert I saw is a "he". They are different doctors. I've had only one visit with him and no drugs were given. I had about an hour with him and two other doctors attending to me at the same time. I wish I'd been more prepared for that meeting but I did get what I wanted out of it so all is well. He gave me the exercise plan to work on.

"He" was hopeful as well that I would get better soon. No one will give me a time line. I just ask... "so do you think I'll be better by 3 months?" They nod and say, "Yes, I think so." No one will simply just say, "yes." I still take it as a yes because I want to believe it. He did tell me the headache could last a year or longer but I pressed him and said, "so in two years I would be better completely?" He thought so. I'm good with that. That is not a death sentence. If for some reason this goes on past the time I expect, I'll deal with it then.

On a bit of an emotional tangent --Unlike a lot of you, I didn't have a car accident or anything like that. I simply stood up into my freezer door. Didn't realize it was open by someone else in the family. It hurt but not too badly... but I blacked out for a second and sat down. I was a complete wreck for the next three days. Freezing cold, laying down, moaning, lol, the whole thing. Couldn't talk, think, felt like a complete imbicile. I got significantly better by day 4. Then by week 2 I was significantly better cognitively but not physically. Yes I have ringing in my ears, all that, big woop. The thing I want to fix is this inability to get my heart rate up. I've been working on that since before I went to this expert. I've been working on it for a few weeks now and already see improvement. I'm very hopeful. If I can get my stamina and ability to move around and exercise back, I'm golden. My only concern is the headache. It's still there. The elavil is masking it. The expert told me to not be on it for very long. Maybe 2-3 months tops. Oh well, you can't win them all. I'll deal with that later and just figure it out.

Mark - also, btw, they have all asked if I had any previous depression or ADD, or any brain chemistry imbalances. My answer is no. I have not had any brain chemisty imbalance that I know of. I have been very healthy without issue. I also do not know of any previous injury. Certainly, I do not remember any head injury of any kind. I've never even broken a bone. I'm nearly 40.

In your time researching PCS. Does this seem normal to you that I would develop PCS given how I injured myself?

The expert was concerned but we couldn't come up wiht answers on a discussion of my background. You could see his gears were turning and turning but we eventually let it go and moved the conversation on to healing.

Have you tried acetaminophen (Tylenol)? I use it for the head aches. It also has to be watched because of liver issues. I mix Tylenol and enteric aspirin. Combined, they give relief like codeine.

My concussion in 1996 was similar. I had to turn the water supply to a house off. It was outside (California) next to the wall. As I stood up, I hit the back of the top of my head on a low 4 x 10 beam extending off a low projection from the roof. Wow, did I see stars. I had to lay down on the lawn for 20 minutes.

That was the start of my journey trying to get medical help from M.D.s. Tried a few different drugs for the insomnia and head aches. Finally, after a few years, I was recommended to joint the head ache group class/consult. It was more toward learning to deal with the head aches and reducing stressful events. Sort of like Brain Injury Support group.

I think a lot of doctors give prognoses based on their own patients' experience. After coming to see the doctor and complaining for a few months, many just give up and deal with the concussion symptoms themselves. This is received as recovery since the doctor does not see them any more. Often, drugs are prescribed to assuage the patients concerns/anxieties, etc.

The 'try this and call me if it does not help' method of prescribing is the rule.

Wow, someone with a similar experience! My friends have all made up a better story of me as a navy seal or something. Anything but the freezer door story. It's just too simple.

No, Tylenol for me is like taking water. It's never worked. I take it for fevers. It works well for that. Although, I rarely mess with a fever. Better to get in a hot bath and make it really work!