I've learned to deal with the symptoms you see in my signature...you know, the classic symptoms of PCS. It's the disturbing, unexplainable symptoms that bother me the most. I think I have more complex symptoms than anyone here on this forum because I've never heard of anyone complain about more than just typical symptoms...I'm going to try and explain.

I have this problem, some days worse than others, where I'll repeat the same same thing over and over in my head. It's like, I'll think of something or say something to someone and then I'll repeat the last thing I said or thought of over and over. Some days I'll have a phrase stuck in my head all day. Sometimes I'll repeat one word over and over to the beat of my heart. Weird? I think so.

Yesterday, started out as a bad day...then I turned it around and I had a few good hours. Then, while playing a simple little game on my smart phone to keep myself busy, I suddenly felt different. I felt very very uncomfortable. My thoughts slowed down, I couldn't think straight...I was just blank. I called the ex-fiance because I needed someone to talk to...but I couldn't talk. I ended the conversation quickly by saying "I'm just gonna go bye goodnight" and hung up the phone. That's all I could get out.

Today...I wake up, eat breakfast and then lay back down. I started having delusional thoughts. For some reason, this thought about putting the waffles in the toaster or I couldn't go to sleep got stuck in my head. Does that even make sense? It doesn't to me lol. Now I just have this uncomfortable feeling, I just don't feel right...it's so hard to explain. I'm just in a completely altered state of mind. Nothing seems right.

I don't think it's anxiety, but it's sure causing it which makes things worse.

I guess some people may go through similar things and just don't post about it because they don't want people to think they are crazy...or they don't know how to explain it? I just wanted to put this out there because these things bother me and maybe someone can put some sense to them.

All sounds a bit OCDish to me. I've certainly noticed I'm more likely to pointlessly check whether I've locked the door or turned the oven off since my injury, though it's not a major problem. I think I've seen a few others (maybe Mark?) with OCD in their list of symptoms, so I guess it's something that happens with PCS.

I think in general you worry way too much about your symptoms being somehow unique and terrifying. The brain is extremely complex and we all have bizarre symptoms, obsessing about each one will do us no good at all.

Best wishes!

In terms of having OCD as a symptom, I was told it compensates for other deficiencies such as memory.

Nick,

This symptoms of repeating things in thought is an anxiety issue. Yes, the term is OCD but not the normal variety of OCD. I call this symptom LOOPING. I can get stuck looping very easily. I need to avoid exposing myself to repetitive auditory stimuli.

I take paroxetine at maximum dose (60 mgs per day) specifically for this symptom. Before the paroxetine, I could get stuck looping for as long as a day or two. Sometimes, I could push the loop aside to do other thought tasks but it would return. I could also "juke box" between different songs to lessen the fatigue of looping the same song.

I would get stuck looping a license plate number, the words to a song, the spelling of a word, etc. I learned to let songs on the radio finish before getting out of the car otherwise, my brain would keep trying to finish the song.

It was exhausting and disabling.

Oddly, I have learned to use music to interrupt the looping. I have a few CDs that I can play that will become background sounds for my brain.

How long and often have you struggled with looping?

sorry that sounded a bit pompous. I mean, in a non-pompous way, try not to worry so much!

This started in October, when I moved in to my mom's and had more peace and quiet...I guess my brain started getting bored of me just sitting around doing nothing. I've had this problem since. It was at it's worse I would say in November...once I upped my dosage of Mirtazapine it got better...but definitely still there.

Sometimes I can feel my heart beat in my throat...when this happens I'll start repeating the same word over and over to the beat of my heart. "Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep."....lol. It's annoying. I could get stuck looping for a day or two as well....songs, phrases, words...you name it.

I've used music to deter my looping, but sometimes that backfires and I'll have the chorus or just one part of the song stuck in my head for hours/days.

Do you ever suddenly go from being okay to having a completely altered, uncomfortable state of mind? I wish there was a better way to explain it...I'm pretty sure it isn't anxiety. I've had this weird feeling since breakfast. I've learned not to focus too much attention on my symptoms but it's hard when your entire state of mind has been altered.

How about "delusional thoughts"? I guess that's what they could be called...my thinking gets distorted sometimes and I'll have weird thoughts. I haven't seen such a thing listed as a symptom of PCS. Maybe schizophrenia, psychosis or dementia...but not PCS.

Haha, no offense taken. I've learned to not worry about the regular ol' symptoms, it's just hard to not worry when your having delusional thoughts that don't make sense. Makes me feel like I'm losing it.

Some of the delusional thoughts can be caused by the meds you are taking.

Something you need to seriously consider is fixing a constant of meds and supplements. It is seriously counter productive to be frequently changing your meds (dosage) and supplements.

It is no better that constantly being aware of a new or recurrence of a symptom.

As a TBI friend says, "And then that happened." He uses this term to disregard the ups and downs of symptoms.

You may need to try a different med to help you get out of the looping, especially if you loop about a particular symptom.

My psychiatrist focused on my looping first thing and got me up to 60 mgs of paxil (paroxetine) within 2 or 3 weeks. He had experience with OCD and looping and knew a lesser dose would likely not help. I have tried reducing to 40 mgs but the looping returned with a vengeance.

I just read a research article at NIMH (National Institutes for Mental Health) that showed combining paroxetine with Mirtazapine doubles the effective rare of decrease of anxiety/OCD symptoms. I googled "Mirtazapine OCD paroxetine" The literature seems to suggest the paroxetine or other SSRI's alone are more effective than Mirtazapine alone.