sucks
 

Hey guys

rough couple of days folks. I went to the NUCCA and he took a bunch of
pictures and told me I was misaligned and such and that he thought this may very well be causing my brain fog/dreamy state. *Kyle got very excited* He then proceeded to adjust me anddddd..... nothing *Kyle got very sad* He said he though it would be around 2 weeks before i started to see improvements in my head. Any thoughts on that?

Ive decided im going to do my best to stop hoping for cures, and start having faith that someday, somehow, it will all be better.

I know im still early on in this thing (2 months) but its so debilitating and pervasive that i just wanna kick the crap outta something.

Additionally, does anyone have any good ideas for controlling stress? Im trying to stay away from the bottle but its pretty tempting

Hope you're all having a good day and im praying for all of you,

Kyle

I know how you feel, I've tried A LOT of things (acupuncture, NUCCA, HBOT, cranial-sacral therapy, vision therapy, PT, neurofeedback, etc.) and none have offered any truly noticeable/lasting improvement. Granted there have been times in my recovery that I've had stretches of making progress, so I can't rule out that none of these things helped, but there certainly haven't been anything that I can positively point to saying "That helped" (except for cranial-sacral therapy helping with some minor dizziness)

Earlier on I definitely got my hopes up that something would be a "cure", and I'd be devastated if it didn't work. I think I've gotten better at not getting my hopes up as much for treatments (which I'm still searching for), and so I don't feel quite as bad when they don't do anything to help me. I keep trying things though because they provide sort of infusions of tempered hope. And, lots of random things seem to have really helped certain people, so the way I see it, something out there might help me too. My neurologist (who himself suffered from PCS-like symptoms for a long time after a car accident) suggested this too, saying in his practice he sees people helped by random things, and that you just have to be open to trying.

It certainly isn't helpful to get too attached though, so the best route in my experience (which I don't alway get right!) is maintaining an openness and sort of detached hope.

As far as "controlling stress", I've found you can't really "control" it. Mindfullness/meditation has helped me a lot with this. I'm going to get anxious and stressed out about all this crap, but in my best moments I can just sort of acknowledge those feelings and let them pass. When I just can't do that, sometimes I just have to sit in a pit of being depressed for a while, knowing that eventually it'll pass. Or, I distract myself by doing something (listening to a lot of audiobooks/podcasts).

As you say, you are really early on in this and statistically have a great chance of recovering sooner rather than later. But as we can all attest to, it still sucks.

First, NUCCA is a process not a single treatment. There is inflammation associated with the upper cervical injury that has to settle down. Then ligaments need to strengthen. This takes time. You should be icing after each treatment. You also need to be very disciplined about head and neck posture so you don't undo the work the NUCCA did. Most important is posture during rest and sleep.

Second, you need to find a way to accept that you are currently messed up. No quick fix to that. Your struggles are real. Accept them as real and learn to work around them so that your stress levels are reduced.

Those who appear to struggle the most tend to be very driven. This drive can be used to refocus and redirect thoughts.

I honestly think you should temper the NUCCA's comment about the misalignment causing your symptoms. More likely, it is just a contributor to your symptoms. You will likely find other issues that, once addressed, will help you move forward. Resolve the neck and step forward to the next issue.

One more question,

For those of you who have recovered/mostly recovered, was your recovery pretty linear, or were your symptoms constant for a long time and then you suddenly just started getting better quickly?

The thing that worried me the most is I honestly can't tell much improvement between the day I woke up after my concussion and today.

Thanks.

There are no common timelines for recovery. There is evidence that says recovery happens best when we stop fighting our symptoms and learn to accommodate them. When we have learned to moderate our triggers so the spikes in symptoms are less, we tend to do better.

Also, it helps to accept that recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. There will be a roller coaster ride that slowly flattens out.

Mark,

The problem with my is that my symptom ( emphasis on it being singular) is that it's constant. It doesn't get better or worse with activity. It just always is. 24/7.
I'm constantly in this foggy dreamland which is unnerving for a 21 year old.

You are barely 8 weeks post injury. Stop being so impatient. What has you drinking history been like ? Did you binge as a teen ? How often did you get smashed ? Any marijuana use or other intoxicants ?

Have you read the Vitamins sticky at the top ?