[Sara from Minnesota]

Hi Friends...

I am having a very tough day today. I am so sick of being sick and realizing that the Holidays are going to be devastating.... How have some of you gotten through the holidays in the past? Do you just skip all of the holiday functions? Also.... when does the "acute" phase of Post Concussion end? Can the constant nausea/off balance feeling/dizziness go on for a full year or more? I am just sad and MAD to be in this state. I just want my old life back . Sorry to be such a negative Nancy and be stuck in my own pity party.... but this is WORSE than labor hands down/no question. I know everyone is so different but did any of you have CONSTANT issues. Everyone talks about only doing things until you get symptoms.... but what if you ALWAYS have symptoms....

[Abel_in_Fl]

I know exactly what you mean, I cried numerous times today wanting to feel like my normal happy self, I too have constant symptoms and I know what you mean about everyone saying not to do anything that brings on your symptoms

what do we do when we always have them? Don't worry about having a pity party because no one else knows what its like, this is gonna be my first holiday too since my fall and im not looking forward to it, sorry I don't have any sound advice

heres to hoping all of us see some sort of relief

[Sara from Minnesota]

Originally Posted by Abel_in_Fl

I know exactly what you mean, I cried numerous times today wanting to feel like my normal happy self, I too have constant symptoms and I know what you mean about everyone saying not to do anything that brings on your symptoms

what do we do when we always have them? Don't worry about having a pity party because no one else knows what its like, this is gonna be my first holiday too since my fall and im not looking forward to it, sorry I don't have any sound advice

heres to hoping all of us see some sort of relief

Abel... can you share your story with me? I cry everyday... I feel like this will never end

[claritan]

ive been dealing with this PCS crap for 9 months. im a lot better now but i know how you feel like it never ends

what sucks is that you get into a feeling that this is the new normal and there is no end in sight. im actually starting to forget how i used to feel. im still holding on hope

and these holidays are gonna be tough i usually have huge family parties to go to and i know the whole time im gonna be wondering if im gonna have a PCS flair up.

["Starr"]

Same boat here.. this will be my first holiday since my fall. Already trying to figure out how to manage Christmas. Mostly its quiet here, no little kids and very little family, but just before Christmas, my parents come to visit for a weekend.

They were here in May and it was way too much and it took a long time to recover from that. I don't want it to happen again and I'm trying to figure out how to tell them not to come, but its hard when you only see them twice a year and they live 6 hours away.

They don't get the whole brain injury thing and when I try to explain anything, they would rather just lecture me on how stupid it was for me to get injured in the first place. I'm 41 for goodness sake, no need to lecture me!!

Crying seems to be a part of the whole thing... I was never a crier before, but now... gah. Its embarrassing.

Best of luck... we just have to keep holding on... that's all I am doing right now... holding on until something changes... things always change eventually and while that's not usually comforting, when you're at the bottom of the pit, its very good news.

Starr

[Abel_in_Fl]

well back on sept 30 I was downtown at a bar with some friends and went to leave, being in a drunken stupor apparently I was standing on the back tire of my buddy's truck and jumped down fell back and lost my footing and hit my head against a brick building

this was told to me the next day as I have no recollection of this at all, the sad thing is I don't know if its from the alcohol or the fall, more than likely a combination of both, so sadly this was brought on by my own stupid actions

a few days go by and all of a sudden I start to get a feeling of pressure on the left side of my head thats been there since and is now pretty much a feeling all over and severe almost like a my head is in a vice

I currently suffer severe insomnia, not getting more than 45 min of sleep at a time if any at all and the emotional changes have been drastic to say the least, my personality was essentially destroyed

Im suffering severe depression and and my mood is constantly apathetic, im almost robot like, I have to force myself to eat as I haven't had an appetite, I lost 30 lbs in about 2 or 3 weeks, although I need to lose weight that isn't the healthiest way to do it, there's also numerous other symptoms i experience those are just some of the more extreme ones

I too feel like this is gonna be lifelong and that scares me everyday but I try to be as optimistic as i can be but sometimes like your thread is titled, we just have a bad day

[Mark in Idaho]

Sara,

Have you tried to get a vestibular function exam? It may just change your PCS life. Nausea and dizziness are one of the few symptoms that can be treated.

I do not get too involved in holiday festivities. Maybe the fact that I reject the materialism of Christmas makes it easier. I just focus on quiet times with family. It is a bit different when little children get so hyped up about Christmas.

I know it is a struggle. many have been through it before you.

My best to you.

[rmschaver]

Holidays or events that are overly stimulating can be rough. Depending on what your challenges are limitations should be considered. So if big gatherings are part of what you did you may want to reconsider this year.

On a different note there are relatively few really longterm posters. What I have noticed on the past 6 months is a lot of turn over. The first 3 to 6 months seem to be the worst with improvement to follow.

Will we be what we once were. I don't know still recovering here. But I feel better with the direction my care is going. For all those who are struggling with the PCS beast and feel like you are losing ground. My heart goes out to you.

If you are christian have faith that no burden you are given is too great. If you are spiritual look for the divinity in the moment. If you are agnostic the body heals and the mind is plastic.

My prayers for you.

[Lightrail11]

Originally Posted by Sara from Minnesota

Hi Friends...

I am having a very tough day today. I am so sick of being sick and realizing that the Holidays are going to be devastating.... How have some of you gotten through the holidays in the past?

Hi Sara. While I have mostly recovered (at least cognitively) form my TBI, I still get SAD type symptoms around the holidays. My accident was the Monday after Thanksgiving 2010, and I have no memory of Thanksgiving that year due to retrograde amnesia, and I was still in ICU over Christmas, so I have no real memory of that either.

Last year was very difficult. This year I am attempting to use more checklists to get things done earlier, and I am going to make my best effort to examine those checklists to make sure I am not trying to do too much. One list I plan to make is a gratitude list.

Communication with the family will be key also. While outwardly I seem to be my “old self” on most days, it’s important for me to ensure those close to me understand that things just “don’t feel right” as the holidays close in.

Every morning the sun comes up, and every evening it sets. After about 36 more times this happens, things that seems critically important now will be history. Until then, I will try to be grateful that I’m still alive to be with family and friends this time of year.

[PCS Mikey]

Sara,

Sorry you are having a rough day. Many of us do understand the rough day, followed by another rough day. For a while in 2010 if felt as if some cruel person was booking me in all day meetings with the rough day committee.

I had no relief until I sucked up my pride and accepted the findings and recommendations of my neurologist saying that the MRI, MRA, etc. were all good and that my brain just needed some time to heal, and that most doseages of Nortriptyline starts at 20mg but that an increase might be the case until they find the right dose that cuts the headache, and that I could take ginger caps for the dizziness. Everybodies doseage is different, like everyone's concussion is different.

People don't understand what it's like. I never did before my own injury. I often tell people it's like this. If they've ever had a little too much to drink, that sometimes the symptoms are like that. Exactly like that. Dizziness, headache, mood, inability to clearly think. They often then get the picture.

My holidays were short with family, especially my family. Sometime I why aren't they on meds! (Just kidding~). Limit your time to stressful surroundings, be able to get to a quiet place when you need to to rest your brain.

It is hard when part of our brain knows and is aware of the fact that another part of our brain is just not working as we are familiar with. It's not fun, we want that 'normal' back. We understand.




Mike