Thanks.

I forgot to mention a few symptoms yesterday too... Light sensitivity... so yes, grocery shopping is horrible. Most of the time I can convince my husband to do it without me, but sometimes, he just likes the company. IT's always a setback though. Even just riding in the car can bother me. Just too much going by.

When my headache is bad, speaking gets harder. I sometimes lose a word... ie know the meaning of it, but cannot find the word... or I know the word after searching a moment, but then I cannot get it from my head to my mouth.

I currently have a physiatrist appointment for July 27th, but my doctor is looking into another physiatrist who specializes in MTBI and can hopefully take me sooner.

LAst weekend I really did too much, and I know that now. I'll be cutting back for the next while, in the hopes of helping my recovery along.

I do enjoy crafts, and have recently taken an interest in embroidery. I'll pick that up again to pass the time. My biggest challenge is patience. I simply have none. I am an active person in general, have a very physical job (although I've been off since I hit my head), enjoy social situations, and crave mental stimulation. Sitting around twirling my thumbs is NOT something I enjoy...

Sorry, one more set of questions. I could go to see a naturopath, would you recommend this? what about massage therapy or accupuncture or reflexology? Honestly, I would try almost anything at this point.

camyam,

Something that might be helpful would be some upper cervical work. You likely have some injury to the C-1 and C-2 area of your neck. This can be a big cause of head aches.

You also need to get some foam ear plugs. they will help with auditory over-stimulation.

Dark glasses/sun glasses also can help. I always wear a wide brim hat when outside or in well lit places.

Some have seen a benefit from acupuncture is it can help with neck-skull muscle spams.

The 'word finding' is a commo0n symptom. Try to not push to remember. The stress is counter productive.

There are two good online resources. the TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com can be downloaded and printed out (84 pages) the YouTube video series 'You Look Great' by John Byler is also good. It can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be It is 6 segments long at takes about an hour in total for all 6.

These should be a good start.

More later.

My best to you.

Thank you. I'm going to do a few things differently. Get a referral for massages, stop multitasking (I tend to have computer and tv on at the same time), get accupuncture... I'm also going to take a break from ttc if no baby this month... give my head at least a couple of cycles to repair and renew...

Truly appreciate the advise.

I understand about the TTC and your age. Much luck to you!

Also, I hate to say this, but your statement "I won't allow this to change my life" sounds very head-injury-like. You really have no control over whether you will have to change your life or not. Of course, I'm very hopeful that you will succeed and not have to change your life at all and that you heal very quickly!

I was also a very active person before the accident I was in - I worked more than 60 hours a week in a fast-paced, mentally and physically demanding career. I loved my life! I was VERY happy!! I would not have changed it for anything in the world; my life was what I had always dreamed it would be. But now my life is different. I had no choice but to succumb to the effects of the injury I sustained. I am still hopeful that I can reach a modicum of what my life and self were once like, but that's not within my reach at this time.

I posted an article about homeopathy in the stickies at the top of the forum.

I tried taking Calcerea Carbonica for a little while. I'm not positive it really helped - but it didn't hurt.

I take the following supplements and I believe they help me:

CDP Choline
Phosphatidylserine
BCAA's
Acetyl L-Carnitine
D Ribose
Omega Oils
MultiVitamin
B Complex
extra B12 sublingually- my neuro thinks daily injections are best but no one can administer them for me, so sublingual is second best according to her

I'm also considering taking CoQ10.

Check with your neurologist or PCP to make sure none of these will react with things you're prescribed to take if you want to try them.

Also, the chemicals in the brain that cause stress, worry, anxiety and depression are not good for a brain that's recovering. Talking with a therapist has been very helpful for me to relax about this whole situation and it might be beneficial for you too.

thank you... I tend to be an eternal optimist. I've been through a lot in my life, and well, this is just one more thing. I just trust my gut that this isn't going to go on forever... As stated, I AM going to try and take some time off from TTC next cycle if no baby on this one. But, I wonder why women are told to take progesterone to help with PCS on a more regular basis. I know it has side effects... Anyways, I'll be on it next week, so we will see if there is any improvement...

I totally understand! I'm a very optimistic person too - actually a lot of brain injury experts believe that the people who are the most motivated to get better have the best recoveries. But I've been dealing with the injury I sustained for more than 20 months and it's made me change my life so far. I still hope that I will make a full or very close to full recovery so my life can go back to what it was. But many things are not possible for me in the interim.

I guess I mean more that I'll find work arounds rather than it won't change my life at all... I've been feeling pretty low this week because I did too much last weekend, and have been suffering because of it. It's just so hard to have to turn down family events because of this. But - I do know that I am slowing improving, which is good.

I did have an interesting phenom last night for the first time... I couldn't stop my brain as it remembered everything that happened as I fell and the moments afterwards, and I could feel the panic creeping in... I had to reassure myself that I was ok a few times, and it took a bit to come down off of the fear, but I did manage not to let it run away on me. See I fell, while alone, outside. While I was laying there crying, a car drove up, dropped someone off, then drove not five feet from me without even stopping. I am so fortunate I wasn't knocked out, or bleeding! Anyways, it just brings panick when I think about it, so I'll stop now.

Hi Camyam73,
Wow, I'm so sorry to hear of your injury and the miscarriage. It's unthinkable that someone didn't stop to help you after you fell.

The good news is it seems you have a great support system with your husband, and your optimistic attitude will help you get through the lows. You just want to try to maintain a balance between being optimistic and not denying your brain has been injured.

Believe me, that is something I have struggled with myself. My doctor sat me down and told me I couldn't continue with my superwoman mentality, or I wouldn't let my brain heal. He was right about that.

You have found the best forum for advise and support, and you have a good motivation to recover, and that is half the battle.

Best Wishes