[SpaceCadet]

Am I getting better or am I just dealing with the situation I'm in better? I found myself asking this question the other day while out with my mother. I'm not really sure. I know the past couple weeks since I've been doing NUCCA that I've been feeling a lot better about the situation I'm in...I get huge relief from my cognitive symptoms when I get adjusted...and feel/look more alive afterwards. Only lasts 24 hours or less. I've developed work arounds and I have caution signs up to avoid activities that cause problems...but am I just feeling better because I'm avoiding things that cause problems and my anxiety is lower?...or are these lasting improvements?

I especially wonder about this question when I try to do something that caused me problems...and it has the same results as before.

8 months out...still have trouble filling out paperwork (at the doctor's office, unemployment claim, etc.). Still gets me spaced out and weird feeling for 15-60 minutes or more afterwards. TV (unless its a couple min at a time with no background noise), games...still make me uncomfortably foggy/weird feeling. Still have trouble in conversation/expressing myself, putting thoughts to words.

Any ideas on how to notice improvements?

How do you track them?

Thanks, hope everyone is having a pleasant day!!

Nick

[rick92]

i ask myself the same thing everyday!

it seems like im slowly improving but im not sure if i really am or im just getting better at dealing with the symptoms....who knows

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by rick92

i ask myself the same thing everyday!

it seems like im slowly improving but im not sure if i really am or im just getting better at dealing with the symptoms....who knows

Lol, yeah. I think I'm making progress slowly but surely. It's just hard to tell sometimes because the process is so slow. My situation was quite different than others, too. My symptoms didnt fully manifest until 3 months after the injury. They got worse, too, in November when I was no longer able to watch TV and play games.

So its just been a long and confusing recovery for me.

I'll survive. So rick92, what symptoms are you dealing with nowadays? What are your current struggles? Have you gone back to work or school?

[SpaceCadet]

Another thing I want to know is...should I count my recovery starting when the symptoms showed up or from when the injury happened? I'm asking because I didn't start feeling screwed up until 3 months after and it got worse at 5 months after. So should I count from when things were in full force?

I know there is no timeline on recovery, figured that one out already. Just wondering when I should say I started healing. If I started when things were the worst then I've only been in recovery for 3 months .

[rick92]

Originally Posted by nwsmith1984

My symptoms didnt fully manifest until 3 months after the injury.

thats really interesting to me because i felt completely fine until one month after my concussion. it all started the week i got back into working out

i still deal with daily constant headache, dizziness at times, messed up vision, and light sensitivity. i get really bad headaches when i read anything up close, such as using my phone or reading a book

i havent gone back to school or work yet wbu??

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by rick92

thats really interesting to me because i felt completely fine until one month after my concussion. it all started the week i got back into working out

i still deal with daily constant headache, dizziness at times, messed up vision, and light sensitivity. i get really bad headaches when i read anything up close, such as using my phone or reading a book

i havent gone back to school or work yet wbu??

Nope. You see my signature? Yeah...thats what I deal with on a daily. Not so much the anxiety and panic attacks anymore...but just about everything else. My cognitive skills are garbage right now and are worse with stress and any form of stimulation.

I was originally set to start school in November...but things got worse for me so I rescheduled my start date for March. Things are still looking pretty bad so I'm probably going to be bumping that date back up a few months.

Go away PCS.

[xanadu00]

If you're able to keep a journal without aggravating your symptoms, this can help to keep track of your progress. I've found it most helpful not only to record my symptoms (e.g. "moderate headache off and on all day), but to record the specific activities I was and was not able to do. When I look back over it later, this jogs my memory and I am able to recall certain experiences and compare them to how I'm doing now.

For instance, the other day I recorded that I was able to look out the window on a cloudy day, with no snow, with my light sunglasses on, without it hurting my eyes. That hadn't happened in at least a month. Even just writing down, for instance, that I had a conversation with so-and-so will often jog my memory as to how I was feeling then, even weeks later when I re-read it. I also find it helpful to try to record how I feel after certain activities, and for how long. If I go for a walk outside, I'll try to write down any increase in symptoms I experience afterward, and how long they last.

Routine activities that you do every day (e.g. showering, brushing teeth, whatever) can serve as good baselines for gauging your progress. If any of these routine activities make your symptoms worse, or if you have to use certain accommodations for these activities, you can record that every day. If you post on here every day, you might make a brief note each time regarding any difficulties you had thinking, word finding, or looking at the computer screen.

For awhile I had to keep the living room blinds completely shut all day every day. Now I can turn them slightly to let in some ambient light without it hurting my eyes, so I know my photophobia has eased up a bit. Try picking some daily activities like that and keep brief notes of how well you tolerate them.

I understand that all of this could be tough if you have problems with memory, organization, and/or writing. Just offering the best I can come up with.

Pete

[rick92]

sorry to hear that...so someone randomly just punched you in the head? thats insane they should be in jail...

yeah i started college last august and 2 weeks in i had to call it quits. tough decision forsure

hopefully we heal here real soon and can go back to our normal lives

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by xanadu00

If you're able to keep a journal without aggravating your symptoms, this can help to keep track of your progress. I've found it most helpful not only to record my symptoms (e.g. "moderate headache off and on all day), but to record the specific activities I was and was not able to do. When I look back over it later, this jogs my memory and I am able to recall certain experiences and compare them to how I'm doing now.

For instance, the other day I recorded that I was able to look out the window on a cloudy day, with no snow, with my light sunglasses on, without it hurting my eyes. That hadn't happened in at least a month. Even just writing down, for instance, that I had a conversation with so-and-so will often jog my memory as to how I was feeling then, even weeks later when I re-read it. I also find it helpful to try to record how I feel after certain activities, and for how long. If I go for a walk outside, I'll try to write down any increase in symptoms I experience afterward, and how long they last.

Routine activities that you do every day (e.g. showering, brushing teeth, whatever) can serve as good baselines for gauging your progress. If any of these routine activities make your symptoms worse, or if you have to use certain accommodations for these activities, you can record that every day. If you post on here every day, you might make a brief note each time regarding any difficulties you had thinking, word finding, or looking at the computer screen.

For awhile I had to keep the living room blinds completely shut all day every day. Now I can turn them slightly to let in some ambient light without it hurting my eyes, so I know my photophobia has eased up a bit. Try picking some daily activities like that and keep brief notes of how well you tolerate them.

I understand that all of this could be tough if you have problems with memory, organization, and/or writing. Just offering the best I can come up with.

Pete

This is very good information, thanks bro.

I was keeping a journal for almost a month...and I slowly but surely stopped writing in it. I think it's been about a week or two since I wrote? Maybe I should get back into it. The reason I started in the first place is to keep track of how I was feeling (good/bad/okay days). Also, it seemed like the days were just flying by...and I couldn't remember what I did throughout the week.

I can look back on some of my posts here and see that I've improved in some departments. I'd say that in the past two weeks my anxiety has definitely improved. I think that I'm handling things a lot better now. NUCCA has a lot to do with it...and probably my medication being upped.

Thanks for the info.