Hello all,
I have had post concussive syndrome now for 4 months. I am happy that I finally found this forum also have felt largely misunderstood and alone in this experience. I actually just had a panic attack about 30 minutes ago but am now calming down.
I have good days and bad days and today is a bad day.
I get headaches, dizziness, nausea, extremely light sensitive and noise sensitive, mental fog, sensory distortion, and blurry vision. I can't go into crowded places like grocery stores. How am I supposed to buy my groceries? Buying online means I have to have computer light. Computer screens and tv screens make my eyes burn.
On top of all of this I am trying to teach junior high English. I'm overwhelmed and in need of support. Unfortunately, my family lives in Hawaii and not near me.
I would love to find an actual support group to meet with face to face. Does anyone know of support groups in Southern California?
I also am nots ute if I should go on disability for awhile.
I also need any helpful advice for who to turn to to help me, any supplements, and medication, essential oils.

Laelabelle,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles.

What you are experiencing is normal for PCS. To start, read the Vitamins sticky at the top. It has lots of good information.

It would be well worth considering taking some time off. At least to get a chance to see how you daily schedule and activities are affecting your recovery. Anxiety and stress are about the worst thing one can endure when trying to recover. They negatively tax the brain reducing its chance to heal.

Southern Calif is a large area. Can you give us a local where you would like to find a support group

Are you being treated/followed by a doctor ? Are you taking any meds for your symptoms ? Do you have access to a concussion clinic ? Many schools have them available to their athletes. A coach or school nurse may have a referral.

Regarding your anxiety attack. Was there anything that could have triggered it ? PCS makes it so things that were never a problem before can be big triggers with PCS.

How did you suffer your concussion ?

Most concussions include a subtle injury to the upper cervical vertebra. These can contribute to headaches. Gentle neck therapy (PT or chiro) helps many but it takes time to strengthen the neck. More on that in a later post.

f-LUX ( https://justgetflux.com/ ) is a software than can dim a computer display. My laptop has a screen dimming function using the function keys. Some find they need a behavior optometrist's assessment to diagnose and understand their vision issues. This is not a generic eye test like you get for glasses/contacts. Check out https://nora.cc/healthcare-locator.html for a referral.

Grocery shopping is often much easier late at night. A 24 hour grocery store may help as long as the stocking crew does not play loud music. Avoid the busy times. Avoiding busy traffic times will be helpful, too.

This is enough for now. Just know you are with people who understand.

My best to you.

To answer some of your questions-
Here is my story.
This is my fourth concussion. My first concussion happened when I was 7 years old and riding a bicycle down a hill. I crashed at the bottom of the hill, lost consciousness, and to this day have no memory of the incident. Fast forward to 25 years old when I was playing flag football and a Navy seal friend slammed into me causing concussion symptoms like headache, nausea, and a metallic taste in my mouth. Then at 29 I was doing laundry and hit the back of my head on the dryer lid (stackable washer and dryer). After this one I also had horrible headaches, fatigue, and emotional difficulties.
Now to the latest concussion - I was at a pub crawl and a guy friend was drunk and flirting with me. He slammed my head against the brick wall of the bar trying to push me against the wall and kiss me. I had a horrible headache the next day and continued to have one for the next week and a half. Since I did not have nausea, dizziness, or other concussion symptoms I thought it was not an actual concussion. So I went on a camping trip. On this trip a bunch of friends decided to all pile into the back of a pickup truck and go for a sightseeing drive. On the drive through the desert, the driver decides to drive crazy and speed up, stop abruptly, go up and down hills at a fast speed, etc. after the drive, I immediately felt off. I had blurred vision and then felt nauseous later that night.
The next day at work I went to the ER. He told me I just had a headache and sent me home. Two days later I saw my primary Doctor and she said I had vertigo. She said it will get better on its own. I started taking Dramamine every day for a whole month. I finally was able to see a neurologist two months after the jolty truck ride. He said I had a classic case of post concussive syndrome and he was sorry that my primary Doctor had not been more helpful. He told me that I should recover completely but he couldn't give me a time frame.
He also told me that he didn't think physical therapy would help me.
I decided to go to physical therapy anyways and boy did I luck out! My physical therapist specialized in difficulties with the vestibular ocular reflex. She did simple tests and told me that I had an impaired VOR. I had never heard of any of this before. I had never heard of post concussive syndrome until the neurologist visit either. Vestibular therapy with my physical therapist has helped tremendously with the dizziness and nausea that I used to have pretty badly.
I still feel overwhelmed though.

I think the panic attack may have been triggered by the realization that this may not go away anytime soon. I can't imagine living like this for a few years.

I live in San Diego.
I just started seeing a chiropractor who told me that maybe I should see a chiropractor from the Carrick Institute.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this!

Good information.

Your bike accident sounds like mine. I was 10 and spent 3 days in the hospital because I had slurred speech. I remember right up to when I hit a patch of sand. That was 1965. I did not regain consciousness until I was in the ER. They had to put me back under to clean the sand and dirt out of my severe road rash.

The Carrick chiro may be worth a try but they are expensive (not good with insurance) and they only help some with PCS. For others, they are just a big money drain. They advertise as chiropractic neurologists and functional neurologists.

I'd give the PT more time to help you. It appears your PT knows some of the Carrick protocols. You should ask your PT about a referral to a behavioral optometrist.

If your chiro is doing 'twist the head and pop the neck' adjustments, they may be too aggressive. You may need some gentler treatments, traction and manipulative mobilization and other gentle treatments will cause less trauma and inflammation.

I suggest you ask your doctor for some emergency meds. Maybe a prescription for clonazepam and/or propranolol just for when you are hit hard with an anxiety attack. Propranolol is a blood pressure lowering med than can help with the anxiety issues. It is safer and faster acting and does not leave you drowsy. Benzos like clonazepam or Xanax/Valium/Ativan can be habit forming and are rough on brain chemistry. Use them as a last resort.

You need to consider what you can do to reduce over-stimulation. Sensory over-stimulation is a big contributor to continuing struggles. You also need to focus on getting good sleep at normal times. It also sounds like you need to take a break from your friends. Just too much risk. You need to pursue a quiet life until you recover. Fighting against your struggles will only make them worse and last longer. Learning to live life within your limitations will reduce stress in your life and will help you recover .

We've had many here on NT who have tried to maintain their normal activities and kept struggling. When they slowed down and lived within their limitations, they saw great improvement.

Find some relaxing activities to occupy your time. Walks on the beach can be good. Nature sounds are much easier to tolerate that artificial sounds and voices.

If you can take some time off work, maybe you can do some one-on-one tutoring. The quiet environment would be good. You might find it very rewarding. That is good for your struggling brain. Many of us have come to understand others learning struggles when we have had some of them. Many students struggle to focus with all of the sensory stimulations in a classroom.

This can be a great time for you to gain understanding of how others may struggle, especially in a chaotic learning environment.

And please try to relax and let time and quiet help you heal. You will improve. It takes discipline to stay away from the activities and environments that are not good. Now that you know, you can move ahead.

My best to you.

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my post. I appreciate any and all helpful advice. I am currently taking Celexa an antidepressant and Ativan for anti- anxiety. My dosage of Ativan is only .5 mg and I have only been taking half of a pill a day. Today I took a whole pill though as I didn't want to have another anxiety attack.
What medication do you think would be best to switch too if my body is already used to these?
I also take B vitamins, lion's mane, omega 3 fish oil, and L-theanin. I take turmeric sometimes too.

If you are taking turmeric in the original turmeric form, very little curcumin is absorbed. Turmeric only has 7% curcumin and only a small part of that 7% gets absorbed. Curcumin 95 (C95 or C3 or such name) is an extract of turmeric that has a high concentration (95%) of curciminoids. If a C95 version with black pepper extract/Bioperidine/peperidine is taken, you will absorb much more.

What B vitamins are you taking and in what doses?

All of the anti-oxidant vitamins (C and E) are good as oxidative stress is counter to recovery. You should add D-3 unless you are getting lots of sun.

The Lion's Mane will be of little help if you cannot find a way to reduce stress in your daily activities. Stress shuts down nerve growth.

In case you have not already, no more alcohol. It stops nerve growth, too.

I am surprised you are struggling with anxiety if you are taking Celexa and Ativan. Your Ativan dose is small but Celexa is also an anti-anxiety drug. Unless you don't have anxiety struggles earlier in the day, you should be taking the Ativan first thing in the morning so you have it in your blood all day. But, that might make you drowsy or lethargic. Ativan stays in your blood for 12 to 18 hours .

You may benefit from some CBT therapy with an expert in post concussion issues. CBT is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and helps you reduced the problematic thoughts that contribute to anxiety. Learning to be acceptant of your current struggles will go a long way at reducing your stress. As I said before, fighting against your symptoms is counter to your recovery.

How are you sleeping ? Quality sleep is as important as anything else you do. Without it, your brain collects all the toxic results of stress.

I can't imagine what you must feel like after a day of teaching jr high kids. I would expect the stress and stimulation to be rather intense.

Belle,

Welcome to our special site! This place really saved my bacon as I thought I was alone and nuts when all that was wrong was PCS, and believe me, PCS is enough all on its own.

I'm sure Mark will chime in with some suggestions soon.

I apologize for not having much to say tonight but I did not want you to think yourself unnoticed on your first post.

Classrooms might be pretty tough with full blown PCS....there would be tons of stimulation and levels of concentration with distractions that can make an injured brain a bit spacey.

I missed 10 months of work. Not sure if it was the right decision or not having never been down that road before but I believe it was.

Hang in there and I'm sure you will receive some great advice.

Bud

It looks as if Mark and I were writing simultaneously...he beat me to the post.

Yea grocery stores are just killers.....They are designed to grab out attention, each product....So its very over stimulating for out brains....

I would say it took a few years for me to coup with them....I used to go with sunglasses on and noise canceling ear phones on....

Now years later I have noise canceling ear buds any time im in a store or public...

You are far from being alone!!!....Keep things simple and see what you can deal with.....Then form strategies to complete your tasks...