[Jhovattz]

I guess everyones story starts somewhere. I wrecked snowboarding prob going upwards of 40 plus mph witch I landed backwards and the impact threw my head into the snow I was knocked out but didn't realize it my memory was shot so this is my second concussion first very minor went away in 3 days all though mine got better after the first week only 3 days later it came spiraling back with even worse systems

I am one week 4 almost 5 currently and realy starting to get the emotional anxiety and stress from it not Wong able to work is a big one but one day or a couple some times I start to feel better I get things done around the house get out of the house just to realize the reality when the next morning I awake and the whole room is shaking I get blurred or shaking vision for majority of my days have noticed all symptoms are at there minimum for the day mid day nights and morning are terrible

I have countless headaches and still have tension headaches from a torn back muscle I got 7 months ago it won't heal either but that's another subject workmans comp worse pain I've ever had a few broken bones and sprains and my back tops them all 100 percent since it was a bwc claim I got treated terrible and no test just it would heal 7 months later it still will either pull or retare from work I'm a 24 year old mechanic so back is involved bent over much but none of the doctors would even suggest pain meds I dunno if its from new laws or what every other injury they've always offerd but none will now and I always tell them how much pain it causes

it's been the most stressful time of my life 1 month after back injury my best friend sine 15 and was current roomate died in a car accident so Ive already had by far the hardest time in my life and now to add on this is just to much luckily I have afflac but it only will cover up to a few months and is only 65 percent of my normal pay so not only am I annoyed of not feeling good day after day laying down the majority going insane possibly but then the financial stresses

I've tried to go back to work on my better feeling days and not made it through half the day considering my job dosnt have an office setting constantly standing I get dizzy nausea but I think the worst is anxiety and stress I'm guessing causing my sleep disorder like right now 8 am and still can't sleep some nights I sleep 14 hours without waking up some just 5 or 6 but always feel worse with less sleep

I just want advice memory still not sharp forget little things but not unmanageable reaction time still slow I can notice from video games are alot harder but I can play and it not make me sick it actualy seems to help most the time I dunno if it's cuz I'm focused and using my brain or simply not worry about how I feel

my gf thinks i lie just to play but it is quite boring at home atleast 5 days a week not evening leaving my doctor has just now 3 day ago agreed with me that I had pcs after I researched n seen all my symptoms on there I knew about 2.5 weeks in he put me on preslosone or whatever it's called a steroid but it's making me feel worse

dunno what to do emotional wreck physical wreck mentally and back and not using my back as often makes it worse my doctor did prescribe me bubetanol for tension headaches from back causing me no sleep but only worked for a month and if I take more it just makes me tired n isn't helping headaches even before concussion

I just don't know what to expect a month in and notice I'm pretty much the same my whole personality has changed I snap at little things and hate that cuz I was I'll temperd growing up and learn to cope n fix it now I can't controll it but somedays the old me is back and I feel ok get laundry and little things done

I'm just worried like anyone exp if it's long term if I can't work would disability approve me and I've heard its a long process for most people I'm scared to loose my house an things because I can't pay my bills so that dosnt help and I know Ur not suppose to stress but saying and doing is another I already was stresfull before concussion

I'm just looking for ppl with advice and just to talk as I think it will help me cope some it's also hard to get coworkers and friends to understand how real and serious it is alot have had concussion and never had pcs tell me I'm a ***** and to be a man I want to punch them cuz this is the worst thing that's happened to me mentally added with worst physically (back) so both play a role nice to see u guys come together for people

my names Justin and look forward to hearing from you sorry for typos and no punctuation I'm typing from iPhone an my heads messed up thanks for reading

[EsthersDoll]

I'm sorry. I can't even begin to read your post. There is no punctuation. In addition, it is all clumped together - if you can't figure out how to make a paragraph (which is understandable since you have a head injury) just try to separate every 2-3 sentences with a space so it's easier for us (who are also dealing with head injuries) to read.

I hope you are ok.

[Chemar]

Hi Justin
welcome!
I think you did a pretty amazing job typing all that on your phone!!

I added some paragraph spaces to make it a bit easier for the other members to read

So sorry to hear of what you are dealing with and hope you can find help and support here

[Mark in Idaho]

jhovatz.

Sorry to hear of your concussion and other injuries.

Your struggle to get strong pain meds is not uncommon. There is a concern about people faking pain just to get pain meds like oxy or Vicodin.

Do you have access to a chiropractor or maybe a Physiatrist (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist)? It sounds like you may need your back worked on by somebody who can manipulate and align your spine.

Your head aches and insomnia may be treatable with amitriptyline (Elavil). Usually a small dose of 10 to 25 mgs before bed helps.

Carisoprodol (Soma) may help with your back while it heals. It can be addictive so it should be used as little as possible.

I don't recognize your head ache meds so can't help you there.

You may want to try combining full strength Aspirin ( 1000 mgs) with Tylenol/acetaminophen (1000 mgs). They are safe to combine and work about as well as a full strength codeine and Tylenol. You could take the combination twice a day, more if your doctor says OK. It works for my worst head aches.

You did not mention what state you live in. Work Comp varies by state. You often have access to select your own doctor after a set length of time, 3 to 6 months.

Your PCS needs rest and no stress. Your back pain is likely working against your PCS because it causes so much stress and discomfort. If you can get some help with your back, your PCS will be easier to treat.

Hope you have found some rest before reading this.

My best to you.

[EsthersDoll]

Thanks for the edits everyone!

I'm also impressed you typed all of that from your phone!

Take it easy. I think your brain's healing is WAY more important than any possessions, like your house, or anything else in your life. That's the conclusion I came to about my own life. You can get another house someday or try to fix or work around any problems that are created from all of this, but you only have one brain and if you mess it up, fixing those problems will be super difficult. I've been dealing with PCS for about 19 months now. It has been really scary for me at times, but my #1 concern is getting my brain back or close to "normal" for me and at this point not much else matters to me. I miss my brain and regret taking it for granted.

Make sure you eat healthy food and take B vitamins and Omega 3-6-9 Oil. Your health and nutrition will have a distinct effect on your brain's healing. There are other threads with oodles of information about it on this forum.

Check out the links in the sticky at the top of this forum - there are a lot of links with some very good information in them.

[Jhovattz]

Thanks every one lol sorry so hard to read I just tried wow! I feel dumb no sleep high stress caused that. I've been reading info got alot on here. And yes I have had spine realignment and such messages but my main doctor that does not take bwc says physical therapy is my route. Now to find a bwc doctor that will agree. I live In Ohio and from the get go the docs got switched and treated me like a drug addict. Without ever putting a hand on my back. Which if they did, they would have seen it was as big as a baseball from bleeding. The doctor even told me it was time to switch from ice to heat and stretching, while it was still swollen and bleeding heat made it so much worse. I'll try and get the ball moving since I'll be off for awhile. A few other questions I've had slight anxiety problems in the past but nothing that stayed. I noticed that alot of my symptoms get worse with anxiety and stress, rapid heart beat dizziness insomnia. I'll try not to stress so much but it's hard at first I must say you guys are so strong dealing with it for so long. Has anyone had anything that has helped with ringing of the ears? It drives me nuts and as far as anxiety should I ask doctor for anxiety meds or just try to cope? I wouldn't want to be on them for along time I know there addicting. But I've noticed it seems like my main problem, atleast makes me worse feeling. So if something will help I'm on bored I'd honestly rather withdraw from something for a few days later and hate it for a short period of time, rather to feel like this for along time. My family doctor hasn't been much help always short with little or no answers. But i have realized there's not many doctors with experience with pcs. I understand but should I ask for a referral to a neurologist or someone that has experience with head trama? I just find it odd that he just now has tried a steroid, instead of trying to help my worse symptoms. The steroid has seem to make it much worse honestly! Thank you for putting up with my improper grammar I am still posting from phone I don't have a pc at this time. Thank you for your time. ~ justin

[EsthersDoll]

Hi Justin,

Try to remember to use punctuation and to separate your lines of text when you post here. I was able to get through that last one with some difficulty - but I know there are folks here who are going to have too much trouble reading it at all when it's posted like that.

Tinnitus is a horrible thing. I've got it. I've had it since the accident I was in. I'm a professional audio engineer and technician so it totally drives me nuts and makes me very worried that I'll never be good at mixing live shows again, if I even get well enough, cognitively-speaking and physically, to try.

I've posted some links about it in a thread nwsmith started (I think) at some point in the last couple of months.

The tinnitus I have has gotten better since the accident. I still have hope that it will eventually go away.

But at this point, it's really the least of my worries, although it is very annoying and a constant reminder of what has happened to me.

If you find ANYTHING to help reduce or eradicate it, PLEASE post it here on this forum. I know I'm not the only member here who wants to be rid of it for good.

I don't think any of us care about grammatical mistakes since we probably all make them. So don't worry about that. But our brains are struggling to do even the simplest of tasks so again, please try to make your posts easier for us to read.

[Jhovattz]

I'm sorry I didn't write in paragraphs how can I edit this? The phone makes it hard Ohh my my. Im not the sharpest tool in the shed but I feel like a piece of straw after doing that again.

I realize that once i start typing I don't want to stop until I'm finished. It's unusual for me although I normally do not write multiple paragraphs from my phone, but my computer is shot. I promise I will try and slow my self down and pay attention next time. It is odd how I didn't even notice it but tried to punctuate which I still did a terrible job. I def will work on my attention span

[Jhovattz]

[QUOTE=Jhovattz;860118]Thanks every one lol sorry so hard to read I just tried wow! I feel dumb no sleep high stress caused that. I've been reading info got alot on here. And yes I have had spine realignment and such messages but my main doctor that does not take bwc says physical therapy is my route. Now to find a bwc doctor that will agree.

I live In Ohio and from the get go the docs got switched and treated me like a drug addict. Without ever putting a hand on my back. Which if they did, they would have seen it was as big as a baseball from bleeding. The doctor even told me it was time to switch from ice to heat and stretching, while it was still swollen and bleeding heat made it so much worse. I'll try and get the ball moving since I'll be off for awhile.

A few other questions I've had slight anxiety problems in the past but nothing that stayed. I noticed that alot of my symptoms get worse with anxiety and stress, rapid heart beat dizziness insomnia. I'll try not to stress so much but it's hard at first I must say you guys are so strong dealing with it for so long.

Has anyone had anything that has helped with ringing of the ears? It drives me nuts and as far as anxiety should I ask doctor for anxiety meds or just try to cope? I wouldn't want to be on them for along time I know there addicting. But I've noticed it seems like my main problem, atleast makes me worse feeling.

So if something will help I'm on bored I'd honestly rather withdraw from something for a few days later and hate it for a short period of time, rather to feel like this for along time. My family doctor hasn't been much help always short with little or no answers. But i have realized there's not many doctors with experience with pcs. I understand but should I ask for a referral to a neurologist or someone that has experience with head trama?

I just find it odd that he just now has tried a steroid, instead of trying to help my worse symptoms. The steroid has seem to make it much worse honestly! Thank you for putting up with my improper grammar I am still posting from phone I don't have a pc at this time. Thank you for your time. ~ justin

Fixed sorry that better think before I type again sorry

[Mark in Idaho]

jhovattz,

It you just as a double space before you fill the screen of your phone, you will have plenty of spacings.

Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is extremely common with PCS. The first way to deal with it is to ignore it. The more you let it get your attention, the louder it will appear. Mine is extremely loud right now, if I pay attention to it. But, if I focus on something else, it seems to go away. Then somebody can mention tinnitus and it gets very loud again.

The pharmaceutical companies and other entities have been looking for a cure for decades. The only one that works requires nerve work that can cause deafness. It is done by locating the specific microspot of cells in the brain and destroying it. Very high risk and only for those whose tinnitus is so bad and loud that they can not function. I'll take tinnitus over brain surgery.

Anxiety usually makes tinnitus worse.