Hi all. I was in a car accident on February 26, 2012. I got a concussion from the whiplash - even though I wasn't symptomatic until a few days later.

My GP referred me to a neurologist, who put me on midodrine to raise my already low BP. He also said I could have as much caffeine as I wanted. It seemed to help for a while, but then it just started giving me tension headaches. Now I'm off the midodrine and am not drinking any more caffeine. I'm not so sure I trust my neurologist, but am not sure who else I would see.

I'm at 3months out and while I tried to work part time for a while, I didn't really feel like I was healing quickly enough, so I'm back out until the end of the month.

I'm doing a little bit of light yoga in the morning and taking walks at night - being very careful not to overdo it and they both seem to be helping.

Any tips from anyone who has recovered from PCS? I feel like I'm progressing, but I'm getting impatient as I'm getting more and more removed from my normal life. How long did it take?

As many here will tell you, caffeine is not recommended when you have a TBI. Neurologists without a lot of experience with TBI seem to think it's no big deal, and you'll be better soon. While that might be the case for many people, it is not for all. And it seems like a bad idea to stimulate your brain with caffeine when it is trying to recover from an injury. You want less stimulation, not more.

Can't offer more on a time frame. The adage around here (courtesy of Mark) is, "Once you've seen one brain injury, you've seen one brain injury." Good luck recovering. Keep resting and taking it easy.

esully,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your struggles.

It sounds like you have been making some good choices. You were ahead of the neuro with stopping the med and caffeine. If you struggle with dizziness when getting up, try taking it in two steps. Move to a position to stand up like leaning forward in a the chair or such. Then, with your feet almost under you, take the next move to stand up. Making getting up two steps gives your brain a bit more time to control intracranial blood pressure.

Have you tried any nutritional supplements to help your recovery? Many of us have a supplement regiment of B-12 (500 to 1000 mcgs daily), a B-50 complex, a good potency multi-vitamin, D3, Omega's, Magnesium, calcium, and all of the anti-oxidants. Good protein helps with essential amino acids (pork is a good source)

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, MSG, artificial sweeteners (aspartame, Equal, Nutrasweet is the worst), and high sugar content foods, especially high fructose corn syrup.

And as you mentioned, keep up with the quiet rest.

If you are going to be involved with litigation, you need to be careful to find an attorney with good knowledge of concussion/mTBI/subtle brain injury. If you need help getting a referral, post what area you live in and I'll research your area.

As wakey said, there is no way to prognose a time line for recovery. The spontaneous recoveries usually happen in the first 6 weeks. The rest tend to be slower recoveries that may have a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

So, try to keep stress low and get plenty of quiet rest. And, let us know how you are doing.

My best to you.

Thank you both for your responses - I very much appreciate the support.

I've been taking fish oil, a B stress complex vitamin, and my standard multivitamin. I think they're all helping.

Mark - thanks for the recommendations about the food. Those are all things I should probably be better about avoiding anyway.

As far as litigation, I'm actually an attorney myself. I work in litigation, but I don't do personal injury law. I'm pretty familiar with the attorneys around town and know who I will go with. However, being a litigation attorney, I'm concerned about going back to work too soon. I don't want to go back into a stressful environment too soon.

Have you seen the information regarding the regulated exercise studies out of the University of Buffalo? I tried to post a link to one of the articles, but I haven't posted enough to be allowed to post a link in this forum. Do you have any thoughts on this? I was going to try to get into a practitioner who does the impact testing. Do you have thoughts on that testing? Is it too late?

The Buffalo Protocol has been discussed here many times. Its value is for developing a tolerance for exercise and physical stress. It has shown no value for the cognitive issues.

ImPACT testing and the other CCT's (Computerized Concussion Tests) are of limited value. They are helpful at getting a player removed from play but do not accurately predict the brain's healing and tolerance for another concussion as in when to return to play. I would never use CCT's in a litigation situation.

As an attorney, you will get benefit from reading the information at www.subtlebraininjury.com and www.tbilaw.com Attorney Gordon Johnson has collected the best concussion information I have seen online.

Depending on your cluster of symptoms, a NeuroPsych Assessment is usually the best diagnostic. There has been use of qEEG for diagnosing head injury issues. The qEEG has been able to pass the Daubert and Frye standards but finding a qualified qEEG examiner is difficult.

What are your most severe symptoms, especially those that cause you to not return to work?

btw, You should probably add the B-12 tablet to your regimen. Most multi's and B-complexes are too weak in B-12. Plus, many do not absorb B-12 adequately.

As far as B-12, best absorption usually is from sublingual tablets. If you can get it in the form of hydroxycobalamin it also acts as a detoxifying agent just in case you have any toxins built up in your body.

Here are some natural things you can do to strengthen the brain:

- Eat a whole foods (clean eating) diet high in omega-3s and tryptophan. Take 3 tbsp of ground flax seed in juice every morning for a complete daily dose of both and then whatever you eat during the day is bonus.

- Be sure to stay well hydrated. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily (i.e. if you weigh 100lbs, drink 50 oz. of water). There are also hot and cold water treatments you can do to increase circulation to the brain.

- Sunlight through the skin is good for vitamin D and through the eyes is good for melatonin (sleeping at night).

- Listening to baroque music (such as Bach) can help strengthen frontal lobe function (provided it does not increase symptoms).

- Exercise (even light exercise such as walking) can reduce harmful biochemicals and release endorphins. Again, be sure you are keeping it gentle enough to avoid symptoms.

- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and other non-prescribed drugs.

- Avoid or strictly limit television, video games, smart phone, and computer usage.

- Get fresh air daily and take 10-20 minutes specifically to do deep diaphragmatic breathing.

- Try to have regular times for sleeping and waking.

- Connect with spiritual practice, even something as small as making a list of 3-5 things you are grateful for.

These things will strengthen the brain naturally and shouldn't interfere with any medications or treatments your doctors want to use.

Medically speaking, the two things that helped me the most were having my vision evaluated for vision therapy and seeing a physiatrist. These links may help you find practitioners in your area.

http://www.braininjuries.org
http://www.nora.cc
http://www.aapmr.org/patients/findph...s/default.aspx

Again, thank you all for the information. I'm doing my best to make this as speedy of a recovery as possible. I'll check out the B-12 supplements. I've seen a couple places that people recommend taking over the standard "recommended" amount of fish oil. Is there substance to that?

I'm drinking massive amounts of water, have a sleep mask, and am working toward a regular sleep schedule. For a while, I was sleeping when my body wanted me to sleep, and then staying awake after eating when I quit drinking caffeine was difficult. I'm almost there.

The MRI showed a clear bruise on my brain -- I'm trying to pull my records so I can figure out exactly where. Both doctors haven't really seemed to want to tell me where it was. At first, I had a lot of difficulty - slurred speech, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, bad short term memory, and an exercise intolerance. As I got better, I noticed I was incredibly sensitive to light and sound.

I've gotten a lot better about the concentrating and the memory - even the exercise intolerance. It's prolonged concentration, like the kind I have to do for work which seems to set me back. Too much exercise also sets me back. I'm still sensitive to light and sound, and get overwhelmed easily if there's a lot of activity. I concentrate much better in the dark. I get pretty bad tension headaches after concentrating or exercising for any extended period. Like all my other symptoms, these seem to be slooooowly waning.

If I don't do my yoga in the morning (its very light - foundational), I have a much worse day than if I had done it. I really think the walks at night are helping as well.

My neck is still a little bit stiff - and I've been doing some exercises the neurologist gave me which seem to be helping, but I'm wondering if there is someone else I can see about this. It all seems to be inter-related. I don't tend to trust chiropractors, but maybe physical therapy?

Thank you for the litigation information. I'm in Indianapolis, and I'll likely end up signing with Bruce Kehoe of Wilson Kehoe and Winningham. He's pretty much the brain and spine guy around here, but if you have any other suggestions, I'm willing to look into it.

Thank you all again for responses. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but I know it requires me to take care of myself and to continue to take care of myself when I'm healed. Any suggestions on transitioning back to my active, busy, normal life are appreciated.

As far as Omega-3s go (whether by fish oil or a plant-based source such as algae or flax seed), there is a recommended dose for heart health (I think 200 mg?) and a recommended dose for brain health (900 mg). The higher dose is necessary to see impact on cognitive function.

Regarding your neck issue, this is the type of thing a physiatrist could help with. They specialize in rehabilitation and could help isolate the issue and/or refer you to a physical therapist if necessary.

Several users on the board who have neck issues have had good success with NUCCA chiropractors. This is a much more gentle type of therapy than traditional "twist-and-pop" type treatments. You can look up a practitioner here: http://www.nucca.org and hopefully someone who has done this type of treatment will chime in with more info.

As far as going back to work, check out this booklet from Mayo Clinic: http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/re...-employers.cfm

Also, plan ahead to take things VERY slowly and gradually and to play it by ear as far as backing off when needed in response to worsening symptoms. You are going to have to do whatever you can to stay symptom-free, whether that means a shorter workday, taking breaks throughout, lighter workload, etc. It may take a long time to transition back to full-time, full-stress workload.

I tried to go back part-time this fall (I am a teacher) in a one-to-one instead of classroom setting and found it was ultimately still too much, so I have been off again since mid-year this year.