Hey All:

Hoping to see if anyone here has some answers or direction for me.

I was in a car accident just about a year ago. Suffered a concussion that came on symptom-wise about 12 days later showing first as severe vertigo. I woke up with the room spinning. Then came the headaches and the memory failure.

Long story short, it took from September until February til I felt like I could take down the reminder sticky notes that were all over my house, my head began to hurt less and the dizziness subsided. I started to try to get back to my regular life. I am a mom of a two year old and a 7 year old. I am usually fairly active and lively.

As I began to start doing activity again, the pain would set me back. Maybe I just had one good month or something because March April May June and July have been awful. Head kills!! Dizzy is pretty much gone and my memory isnt amazing but getting better.

So, questions: Anyone have a concussion take a year to recover from? Do you get better? Can you start working out and not get headaches, maybe build up to being able to do an hour bit by bit? Does massage or acupuncture help?

I started taking Topamax and it has begun to relieve the head pain but has brought on its own side of fun.

Ladies: Is your head worse during your time of the month and do you do anything to help it out?

Lawsuit Questions: Any ideas on things I can bring to show that I really have been having headaches other than doctors visits and his notes. So hard to prove brain injury cases. Ugh! Just another thing to deal with. Wish I broke a leg or two instead of this!!!

Thanks! I know this was a lot for one post. We will see where it spins to and maybe I will post again with follow ups if some of the thoughts get buried.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out. Just really really in a funk over this.

Jc C,

Welcome to NT. You ask some common questions. Yes, hormone cycles can effect symptoms. You don't mention what you have been doing to help your injuries heal. Upper neck injuries often go untreated. They may appear to be asymptomatic but head aches and other symptoms can relate to upper neck injuries. A simple test is to palpate (touch with a bit of force) behind your ears. If this area is tender, you likely have muscle spasms that can contribute to your head aches.

Regarding lawsuits, Check out www.tbilaw.com and www.subtlebraininjury.com. Attorney Gordon Johnson has the best web site for head injuries.

The sticky thread at the top about vitamins and supplements has good information and links for you to check out.

My best to you.

Hi Jc,
Yes I'm Still recovering after one and a half years. i was injured in middle of February, 2012, and here it is August 2013. Sometimes I can't believe it but then, there you have it.

I must say, though, that I've gotten so much better. I can see a difference between now and three months ago, now And six months ago.

I seem to have lost a lot of the sensitivity to noise. I still don't go to malls, because the competing music and voices drive me crazy and will give me a headache. I am now able to go to a restaurant, however, which is fairly noisy and pay attention to my companions without a terrible headache and too much trouble.

The headaches have gotten a lot better. They're coming on with much less frequency, and I am on medication to control the pain.

I did notice that at the time of my Mensas I had very severe low mood drop. This has slowly gotten better with each cycle.

I do work out now. While previously I was able to walk my dogs 3 miles in about 45 minutes, I am now back to walking about 2 miles in about 35 to 40 minutes. The advice that's given here and that I would give over and over is, take it slow.

The main thing that continues to plague me is the fatigue. I still have not gone back to work, but I'm on workers comp and that's going along. If I have things I know I need to get done I try to do things in 15 minutes segments. I set a timer and stop and reassess how I'm doing at the end of the time. Then I either continue for another 15 minutes, or stop and rest.

My motto is to constantly think over the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race.

The key is definitely to rest as much as you possibly can.

Be blessed; hope this helps.

I can't give you any of the legal advice.

But I am at a year with PCS. Headaches almost every day. A few different meds throughout the day for headache. 2 to sleep at night plus my antidepressents.

I received acupuncture initially and it helped but only to a certain extent. I've has physical, speech therapy, and equine assist therapy with horses for balance.
I have also gone to vision therapy to strengthen my eyes back up from the concussion. About a month and a half ago I also got some Botox injection to help neck pain but I still have headaches.

As far as working out, my dr has me doing roughly 15 minutes on the stationary bike at a time. He prefers stationary bike because there's not as much neck and head movement versus going for a jog or using a treadmill or elliptical.

Yes it does get better.

In terms of working out for me I do aqua fit, I am very careful not to jar or more move my head too much. I do low impact while the rest of the class runs and jumps. I keep to the side of the pool as I am unable to do anything with one foot without holding on to the side of the pool.

In terms of working out I was told to use the number 220 and subtract my age 52 = 168 and use 60% of this as my target for my heart rate =100. You want to eventually work to 85% of this number =142.

A lot of the equipment have heart monitors or you can get your own. You have to play with things and see how they work for you. I was also told to work at 50% of what you are capable and work up from there even if that is 2 minutes on an exercise bike.

I did ask my concussion specialist (sport medicine) if I could prove that I suffer pcs symptoms and she did say there was a test that can indicate the symptoms but I can not remember what it was. Good luck with the law suit.

I would seek a NP exam. Have you had one already? NP exams I understand are quite expensive so if you have your own insurnace they should cover at least one due to your accident. I would think that is the best way to see how your brain is functioning. Did you hit your head or whiplash? MRI of neck at all?

Are you seeing neurologist? Is there a headache specialist in your area? Usually a neurologist but need to see one who understands PCS and mtbi. Trust me you need to treat with someone who takes your situation seriously

As Mark and Jinga have already stated, all good advice.

If you are looking for some free legal advice, or even searching for an attorney ; these folks were helpful in my questions and offering, even one attorney emailed me with advise and searched out lawyers for me in my area ( and he was in Maine) for my problems, for free.

Avvo.com -- disclaimer: I have no association with them other than stated... honestly.

Best Wishes,.............

Hi,

I have a few tips for you.

1. Keep a log of stuff that happens or better still have someone else write it. I found that I wasn't really accurate because I didn't see a lot of strange stuff that I did. My hubby did.

Take the log when you go to Dr's and take someone with you that can advocate for you. I didn't and wish I did.

2. Get Dr's that are very good. I wasted my time on Dr's who wrote inaccurate reports which got my workers comp case closed.

3. See a neuropysch or Occupational Therapist.

That's all I can think of atm.