I like that 10,000 wishes quote... I might save that one. Well put.

Let's see, over the course of my run with this stuff I've done chiropractic (didn't work), accupuncture (occasionally helped, but the effects seemed pretty temporary, though my accupuncturist was not all that good), some weird physical therapy called "matrix repatterning" (worked a little, but not much), somatic/gestalt therapy (helped a bit with anxiety, but not much else), anti-depressants (didn't help at all), hypnotism (caused me to have a complete breakdown the first time I did it, but now I'm doing it again and it's doing GREAT things), cranio-sacral therapy/bodywork (has done absolute wonders for me), and a kind of light therapy that my practitioner calls "fight or flight therapy" (basically ended my pronounced panic attacks, and I believe made the cranio-sacral therapy and hypnotism therapies far more effective than they would have been on their own).

There are a couple of other therapies that I am investigating right now in case the stuff I'm currently doing doesn't completely get rid of my ills... there's a new kind of brain wave therapy called Brain State Technologies that an old therapist of mine is using (he claims to be getting really positive results from car accident people, which is the group that most PCS people can be lumped in with as far as general traumatized people go). Also, my light therapy guy recommended something called Eyelights, which are these glasses that you wear for half an hour a day or something that flash lights in front of your eyes and have the end effect of exercising your brain. That same light therapy guy is also treating people with this new kind of supplement therapy, that apparently is the first attempt by medical science to treat people's problems using the principles of quantum physics... it sounds really interesting, but I don't think I'll try that one unless I've got nowhere else to go.

All that said though, I'm really close to being completely back online, I can feel it, and I seem to be getting better each and every week, so I think at some point I'll go in for therapy and realize afterwards that there's just nothing left to be fixed. That's gonna be a good day.

Applesap, I'm not sure that I've heard the story of what caused your brain injury in the first place... if you're comfortable talking about it I'd be interested to know what happened.

Thank you to everyone for sharing their experience. I think it really helps others to know that they are not alone in feeling this way especially as it looks like there is no simple cure to PCS.

My symptoms are the typical ones experienced by others with PCS:

Extreme fatigue on some days where I struggle to do anything other than lie down.
Poor concentration and memory
Depression (it seems to happen randomly, though I am not suicidal)
Headache at the top of my head
Vivid dreaming every night (but not nightmares)
I've also experienced head pressure at the back of my head but only once.

I have good days and bad days. I have continued to work but some days it is a struggle to concentrate on what I am doing and feel very tired. I feel as though I am not performing at my best and could be doing much better. I am hoping that my PCS symptoms will go away soon and that my life will be back to normal again. I will be so happy when that day comes...I don't want to give up but I am anxious that this will not happen.

I've been keeping track of how I have been feeling over the last few months to see if I am getting better. It looked like I was slowly getting better but then things took a step backwards when I tried exercising again (I was originally injured doing sports) and now it feels like I am starting the recovery process all over again!

Yes, great quote. It really sums up how I am feeling.

also thank you Mint & PCS McGee for your posts! i find it very helpfull to meet other PCS people, it really changed my mood in the last couple of days, and i'm more possitive then before!

@ PCS McGee, is the Brain State Technologies a sort of Neurofeedback therapy? as you know by my previous thread i'm very interested in this kind of therapy! If my prism glasses & chiropractic won't work i'm thinking serious of doing the neurofeedback thing... yesterday i had one cranio sacral session, it was relaxing, but didn't do that much for my dizziness etc... Did you have quick results with the cranio-sacral therapy?

the story about how it happened is really like a stupid home accident, 6 months ago i hit my head against a thick massive construction pole with a big point, ( i don't know the correct english word of these things, they are the wooden pieces sticking out in the wooden frames of old 18th century houses in a attic seeling) it went straight into the back of my head. I was sitting squatted and someone called me so i stood up really fast... and BANG!! After this i got really dizzy and felt sick, had the feeling of trowing up, i didn't passed out. So i went straight to bed, hoping it will go away in the morning, but it didn't. So the next morning i thought, maybe if i'll rest till after the weekend it will be ok! I called my doctor, and he said:' oo don't worry, it's just a light concussion, don't panic, just relax for a couple of days and you will be ok!'

unfortunally this was not the case, the first 6 to 8 weeks i had really troubles with watching TV or sitting behind my computer. Then for a while it went quitte ok, i felt no extreme dizziness and my mood was almost as normal as before the accident. So i thought let's go for a swim in the pool, but that wasn't a good idea. The pressure of the water made me feel worse, and the symptom came immidiatly back and since the swimming thing, i bassicly have no improvements at all...

@ Mint, don't you have the continuous dizziness? and do you feel lightheaded of more vertigo?

I'm not sure what Brain State Technologies would be classified as... you can check out their website (www.brainstatetechnologies.com) if you want to, that will probably have more information than I could provide. From what I've heard though, a BST machine basically runs all of these diagnostic tests on your brain, and maps out the way that each section of it is operating on a brain wave level (I don't know how this is done, but apparently it's pretty accurate). The machine then provides a counter balance to your brain waves to bring them to where they're supposed to be (there's a certain frequency and wavelength that brain waves operate on when a person is in a state of good mental health).

This probably doesn't make any sense... but to over simplify things, imagine that the left hemisphere of your brain is supposed to be producing brain waves that would register as a 5 by this BST machine, but instead it's producing brain waves that register as an 8. The machine then produces a counter balance of waves at a 2 level, which eventually pull your 8 back down to a 5, where it's supposed to be.

I don't know if this is anything like neurofeedback, as I've never tried that stuff out or heard anything about it, but you can be the judge of that.

As far as craniosacral stuff goes, it was obvious to me after my first appointment that the work was doing something positive, though I didn't start to get the really profound effects until a few appointments later. I kept waking up in the middle of the night (this was not at all rare for me at this time) and it was like my body had a craving for more of the therapy (sort of like when you wake up and you really want a glass of orange juice or something, except I was craving this therapy). So that's when I knew it was working for me. Nothing works for everyone of course, especially when it comes down to matters of the brain, so it might not be the answer for you (it hasn't been the entire answer for me, just a very very large chunk of it), I just highly recommend it from personal experience.

Thanks for sharing your story, by the way. It's good to know that someone else's story is as random as mine.

@applesap

A similar thing happened to me. I was starting to feel better, enough to try to do some exercise since I hadn't done anything for a long time but it turned out to be a bad idea and as soon as I got tired my head started to hurt again and the symptoms all came back. I'm going to take it easy now until I am very sure that I am better.

I was dizzy the first 10 days after I hit my head but then I haven't been dizzy much since, maybe only slightly when I am very tired. I haven't felt vertigo or lightheaded. My main problems are the tiredness (but difficulty falling asleep) and poor concentration. I am very forgetful and it is hard doing things in front of the computer. Do you experience these problems too?

I am into my fourth month since I was whacked in the head. I have been back to work for about 15 hours a week (some less, no more that 20 in the 5 weeks I have been working again)

Fatigue (staying awake for days getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night)

Waking Hangovers - When I do sleep and wake up I feel like I have a really bad hangover that lasts from an hour to a few hours in the mornings

Vertigo- Mainly in open spaces, driving, and quite noticable when walking

Nausea

Flashes of Temper- which I have termed as Red Rage from very minor incidences

Ear Pain

Vision problems- periphrial seems to be the main problem as I can not always tell where things are and feel lost in space at times

Migraines - funny enough I have had them so consitently, I really only notice when I DONT have one

Balance Problems

Word recall- for some reason this affects me mainly when I am typing. I will type random words and only realize it makes no sense when I go back and reread

Random forgetfullness of what I am doing, or rather what I intended to do lol

Concentration - Most of the time I can focus just fine on things, but I do seem to have a higher tendency to be flighty on bad days

Concussion girl:

If I remember correctly, you sustained your brain injury at a bar, right? If so, and if you don't mind my asking, were you drunk at the time this happened? (may seem like a stupid question, but I don't know if this incident happened at 9pm or 3am).

I ask because my concussion happened when I was drunk (drunk as hell actually, it was my 21st birthday), and since then whenever I go out with my friends I wake up the next morning with these horrible hangovers, despite the fact that I haven't had a drink in years. I thought I was the only person on the face of the earth dealing with this phenomenon of hangovers without alcohol... eesh, now I kind of feel like we're a pair from some sort of noah's ark of horrible brain problems.

Regardless, it took me 2 years to realize this, but this was occurring for me because of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which, depending on which brain scientists you listen to, is the reason that my concussion hasn't completely healed in the first place. Now, your situation seems a little different since it's just happening every time you get sleep, but PTSD therapy (talk therapy, EMDR, whatever you feel inclined to do) might be something worth looking into.

Hi, I'm glad to read that some of you are getting better. It's been three month since my accident and I also have good days and bad days. Today seems a little better and my head doesn't really hurt, but I still feel lightheaded. I still find it hard to drive my car and using the computer or doing other work that requires concentration for any lengths of time. Some of my symtoms are much better, like I don't get nauseated any more and I can taste food again. I was on anti-anxiety medication for a short time and that really helped me get back to a normal sleep pattern.

Like Applesap and Mint, I also got a lot worse after trying to get back to exercise. It happened about a week and a half after my crash and my doctor thought it would be good for my legs to go on an easy bike ride (I had a lot of bruises on my lower legs.) The ride went well, but the next day I started to feel worse and went back to the ER the following day thinking my head was going to explode.

Like Applesap, I'm also from Europe, but have been in the US for over twenty years. I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions on what to take for the tension headaches. Mine seem to start from the back of my head and I'm still taking Fioricet (Butalbital/Tylenol/Caffeine) every day and sometimes they don't seem to work at all. Is there anything that can help with the lightheadedness? Like some of you, morning are usually the worst and it takes me hours before I can get going, also I don't feel fatigue. I'm going back to my doctor on Monday.

One more question, does anybody have any experience with Elavil (Amytriptyline)? A nurse friend told me it might help with headaches.

Sorry to be asking all these questions, just desperate to get back to normal again.