NeuroTalk Support Groups - New here/hoping to find help with my PCS and PTSD

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- - New here/hoping to find help with my PCS and PTSD (https://www.neurotalk.org/traumatic-brain-injury-and-post-concussion-syndrome/221827-hoping-help-pcs-ptsd.html)

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Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho (Post 1149991)

You can get blood work to check for deficiencies. B-12, folate, D-3, magnesium, calcium, Thyroid levels (4 tests I think), hormone levels, are a good start. Most docs use low levels as OK but many with TBI issues need to be at the top of the range.

It's unfortunate you feel so awkward around alcohol. There are plenty of people who abstain 100% without any guilt. In fact, there are those who look at those who drink as weak. So, you can only make decisions for your own well being. When your GF asks if she can order a drink, you could say, "Sure, I'll drive you home." You have more important issues than whether she has a drink or not. Please, try to let that one go.

It sounds like it would help if you decided on a plan for yourself. You appear to be wandering in the wilderness of PCS. Vitamins and supplements at the dosages we use have very little risk of adverse reactions. The flush from niacin is expected. I was prescribed a regimen similar to the one I have on the Vitamins sticky by a psychiatrist 32 years ago. I was a PCS and depression basket case and he got be back functioning in less than 8 weeks. He had me on much higher dosages of many of the supplements.

I was on AD/AX meds for 14 years and now do great without them. I wonder if I suffered damage from using them long term. Some doctors suggest that is the case. I do have some residual side-effects that first manifest when I started the AD meds that have continued after quitting them. Any time there is a possibility of avoiding AD meds, it is well worth trying. That is unless one is in a crisis situation.

I hope you can find the strength to make some decisions to move forward with.

My best to you.

I see your point regarding drinking. I've always been a wall flower and in most social situations for work I prefer/try to "fit in".

I ended up going to the doctor today because I was really foggy all day yesterday and then went to sleep around 7, waking up around 7am. It's probably been 10 years since I have slept 12 hours (given my insomnia). I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept and foggy. The Doc called my Neuro and asked that they squeeze me in asap, which happens to be tomorrow. They did take blood to test vitamin levels/allergies/and a few other things and I should know in a few days. He also wrote me a script for Cymbalta (sp). I've heard commercials for it and he said that besides being an AD, it does have some neuro benefits as well. I'm going to wait to hear what the Neuro says before picking it up. I'm really not a fan of (non-suplement) pills if at all possible.

"wandering in the wilderness" is very fair to say. I'm frustrated with the constants of people not knowing whats wrong or how to treat it. I'm a pretty black and white guy, if it's broke....fix it lol. I have a tough time remembering that things like this probably can't be easily "fixed". That's what drew me to this forum... the ability to read and learn from others on different approaches and what others are experiencing. Just reading others describe what I'm going through actually makes me feel better (in a guilty way) because I don't feel like such a standout.

For those curious, the appointment with my Neurologist was good, I guess. He said that I HAVE to learn how to relax. That my lack of sleep mixed with the triggers of anxiety and stress over the past 2 months are causing these migraines that manifest in different ways. He said that PCS is a temporary thing, based on an event to the head. I've not had that (recently), so he said he wants me to get with a psychologist again to work on my PTSD, etc...asap. I need exercise (more than I do coaching roller derby, though a workout) along with adding yoga, acupuncture, etc or I'm going to pop. As for my doctor yesterday wanting to put me on Cymbalta, the Nuerologist said that I can't take it and the nortriptyline. He wants to up my dose of the Nortriptyline vs having me try a new med altogether. Also, it has sleep-aid properties to it that Cymbalta doesn't.

What symptoms are the doctors hoping to treat with the increased nortriptyline ? What symptoms are you struggling with besides insomnia ?

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Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho (Post 1150569)

What symptoms are the doctors hoping to treat with the increased nortriptyline ? What symptoms are you struggling with besides insomnia ?

His thought is that the "foggy head", migraines, difficulty focusing, depression and sleep issues are a part of stress/anxiety and a lack of sleep. The nortriptyline apparently has some anti-depressant and sleep-aid properties. I was on 10mg of nortriptyline, which as he said "is something I prescribe to 90yr old people"...so he saw value in increasing this vs throwing a new medication at me and taking me off of this. I will say that since I've been making a strong focus of getting to bed at a certain time, I do feel a tad better already. I know it will take a couple of weeks possibly before seeing advantages of the up'd dose.

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I wonder if anyone on here has found that they can drink certain types of alcohol but not others (wine vs beer, hard cider vs beer/hard liquor), etc.? I'm guessing that each person is different?

Reading a book on the Wright Bros....Wilbur was hit in the head at 18 with a hockey stick.

He was headed to Yale but that was eliminated due to what to me are obvious signs of pcs that had him home bound for 3 years. He had depression, headaches and sleep problems as well as the busted teeth.

Found it a bit encouraging...I wonder at times if I will ever be able to fly again. Maybe?

Bud