Hello Everyone,

I have been lurking the Neurotalk forums for the past 2 months in search of hope that I can get better.

On Thursday, June 28th, 2018, I was awoken from a deep sleep with a leg cramp in my calf (a charlie horse). I am most defiantly sure I was dehydrated. I jolted up out of bed and stumbled down the hall to my kitchen to get a glass of water and try to walk off the cramp. However, when I got the kitchen I passed out. When I came to, there was blood on the ground, my ears were ringing, it seemed as if my vision was just in slow frames. I am not sure how long I was out because I was alone when It happened. Eventually, the ringing stopped and I sorted myself out and realized I had taken a solid fall to the ground.

It turns out my chin took a lot of the hit. I had a huge gash that ended up needing 3 stitches. I bit my tongue but not horribly. My jaw was a little sore. I went to the urgent care a little dazed but not to bad. They did a cognitive test and I passed. I took the day off of work and just hung out at home. I felt perfectly fine the next day! I was a little shaken but felt rather normal. I went back to work that Friday and had zero issues. The weekend went as any other weekend I had ever lived.

On Monday I went to work and had another normal day. However, just 5 days after the fall, on Tuesday, everything changed. I was grocery shopping and when I got to the check out line it hit me like a sack of bricks. I had a massive anxiety/panic attack and felt like I was outside of myself. I white-knuckled through it and then finally made it to my car. I sat there wondering what the heck just happened. I went home and things went back to normal.

Then the next day was the 4th of July and my fiance's mom invited us over to BBQ. As we were about to leave I sat down and looked at my fiance and told her "Something doesn't feel right, I just don't feel like myself". I explained that I felt like a weird layer just got placed over my reality. I can see 20/20 but everything just seemed off kilter. I feel alienated. The following week after the call I developed a pain on the right side of my neck (I've concluded that I also may have twisted my neck in the fall). I ended up taking 2 weeks off of work hoping it would get better. It's been 2 months and nearly nothing.

In the time off I went to the doctor to explain what I was experiencing. They recommended the time off and due to my neck pain, they have me doing PT. I read the supplement sticky on this page and other websites. I started Taking Fish Oil, Turmeric, NAC, B-50 Complex, Vitamin D, and Magnesium. I have seen very little progress. From my understanding of what I am experiencing is depersonalization.

In terms of physical health up to this point, I was in amazing shape. I felt very sharp mentally. I am normally a very outgoing person who is not shy. I don't experience any anxiety out of the usual life stuff I think we all experience. However, these days I feel like I am in a fish tank. I am always anxious at work. This feeling of alienation is taking a toll my hopes.

Tomorrow I will be seeing my Doctor because my Physical Therapist has requested imaging of my neck to see if there is damage. From what I have read here and all over the internet it could be both my brain and neck causing these issues. I am hoping to hear some recovery stories or suggestions on what I should be asking doctors.

Before this fall I was such a happy and compassionate person. These days I feel so sad an isolated in this glass cage. It's hard to communicate this to my fiance because I look perfectly fine, but inside I feel like I'm stuck in purgatory. I feel so sad and miss how life used to feel. If anyone has a recovery story please share.

Warm regards,
John

Hi John

Welcome to NeuroTalk .

I am sorry to read about all that you have experienced.

The TBI/PCS forum is very active so I am confident that you will get lots of support and helpful suggestions from other members.

Best wishes.

I have been dealing with this feeling (disconnected) for almost 2 years now. It has been slowly getting better though.
In my opinion, it has to do with anxiety and vision issues (even though you see 20/20), maybe also neck issue.
I can't really tell you whats exactly been helping, other than just time, exercise, and supplements.

One of the worst things about this condition is that every injury is different, and no one can tell you how long your recovery will take, or, for that matter, if you'll ever fully recover. That said, you're only three months in -- which isn't very long, for a significant brain injury. So I think there's a very good probability that you'll see some level of improvement over the coming weeks/months.

I'm eight months post-injury. I'm still struggling with significant issues, and I'm far from being fully recovered, but I can say for sure that I'm in better shape than I was at three months. Depersonalization was one of my symptoms -- I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the weird layer over your reality -- and I think that largely went away for me somewhere between 3-6 months.

If you've been lurking on these forums, you might well know what else you should be doing. Exercise is important (research the Buffalo Protocol, if you haven't already) as is rest.

Consider seeing a vision and/or vestibular specialist, even if you don't think you have any vision/vestibular issues, because you might have something subtle going on which you're not necessarily aware of, in which case physiotherapy might help. For example, my eyes weren't converging properly, but with all the other symptoms I had, I didn't really realize it until someone specifically tested me for it and found the issue.