I have taken on the role of the person of support for my husband who suffered a strike to the head and subsequently was diagnosed with PCS. He has been out of work for five months and the symptoms don't seem to be getting any better. It's now making me question whether it's psychosomatic or not. I have looked up different options in order to help him cope with his dizziness and irritability which includes visiting his physical therapist that he has been seeing for his back.

I read some articles which state that it takes longer for a person who lives with chronic pain (his back) to recover from this but I am now starting to worry that he has convinced himself that this is going to take atl east a year if not more to totally heal.

My husband refuses to listen to my suggestions and it is frankly affecting the whole family (I have two daughters). I don't want to be unsupportive but a part of me wants to just slap him out of this funk and tell him to get it together!! There are times I can see that he is still not feeling well but he doesn't help himself when he is pushing himself and not listening to what his body is telling him to do. Now they want to put him on antidepressants for his mood swings but he isn't the type to take any sort of medication and I can't find any "natural" remedy that could help him. Is there anyone who had their PCS last more than six months without any progression in healing? I feel he is stuck in a hole unable to get himself out of it!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Sorry to hear about your husband. I've had pcs for over 3 years, and am still going through meds to get things straightened out. It's really just guess and check with medications.

I know how hard it can be on relationships, especial the one without pcs - my last gf had a harder time coping then I did, but I never really understood what she went through I guess.

There are weeks when I feel great and getting better, then the next week I feel like I'm back to were I started. And yeah, I've definitely felt stuck in a hole plenty of times.

What always helps me through the bad ones is just taking a break and spending time with a good friend - just having plain old fun. For example, just watching a movie my arm around a gf or going on a long road trip with the guys always makes a good day.

hi ff

its is hard for the partner i was a very busy manager and now i have to get help with just sorting out the basic things it is called loss of executive function and for highly motivated people it is a crushing blow and is gona be depressing and for the partner its seems that we just don.t care any more and from the outside looking in ,that is hard to take I can no longer work, and our family is struggling but I try not to mope and be fun but it is hard when you are in pain and your brain just dosn,t function as it used to, but many docs just think its depression, they have put me on prozac and pain meds these don,t help with cognition, in fact make it worse in my opinion ,I think its about finding ways round, the part that well ,just is ant there ! or not functioning yet , I have not lost my intellect, my processing of information is slow, I get overwhelmed by visual input and can,t make a choice, I am down to see a nuero psychologist there is a set of testes that identify the areas of the brain that is affected and they devise means of geting round the damage I feel like slapping myself sometimes if only it were that simple hope this gives you some insight . nuero psychologist may be the way froward and St johns wort herbal anti depressant or coffee ,hydration or energy drinks with caffeine in but go easy on these or he will get the hebi gibees and I would not mix with the st johns wort so one or the other maybe read up on them to see if you think they may help

kind regards Vini keep us posted

Hey FF..
I am so sorry to hear what your going through. I can totally relate, my boyfriend of about 6 months is on Year 3 of his PCS.. And not to discourage you, but we are still trying to get the medications right. Sadly, I think that if you husband doesn't surrender to the Medical world he will suffer with his symptoms possibly forever. The medications are definitely trial and error with each person. Some PCS sufferers can go through tons of meds before the find what owrks right for them, and sadly there is NO natural remedies for this.. Your husbands brain has had trama and there is no way to fix it.. He can only learn to cope iwth it. I can understand that some days you just want to slap him.. OH BELIEVE ME, I KNOW! LOL I have thos edays myself... but always try and remember that he can't help it. His brain has a mind of it's own now and sadly the outbursts, depression and anxiety and all apart of the PCS life... I would highly suggest getting your husband to sit down at these boards with you and talk to pelple together. . You said he doesn't like to take medications, and neither did my BF.. But, once they feel and see what those mediations can do for them they will usually come around. They definitely make life more tolerable for them and you! If you haven't already, i would seek the advice of a doctor other than a physical therapist. ANywa, I wish you the best of luck and I just joined these boards today, but I can see already that it will be a great support system for mea nd my BF....
Hugs,
Andrea

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. Until now I have felt that I have been on my own with my husband's PCS but it was great to see that I am not the only one who is having to deal with this!! I truly appreciate it!!

Hi Vini - Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. Much of what you stated is exactly how my husband feels!! I will try the st. john's wart and see if that helps him. I think the most scary thing is to see a person who was always the "leader" fall back into being the "follower". I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and I wish you the best of luck with the nuero psychologist - I'll keep you posted and please keep me posted!! Thank you for your insight it gives me the strength to go on.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me, it makes me feel like I am not in this alone!! I am now trying to get my husband to try and herbal remedy that vini had suggested and see if that can help with his depression. Thank you again for your insight I truly appreciated it!

I really need to be more active on this board because it was such a comfort to me when I first hit my head.

Is your husband seeing a neurologist? If not- then I suggest that he make an appointment with one. I was fortunate to be assigned a wonderful neurologist while I was in the ER who has been following up with me for 16 months now. I've been seeing her every 90 days while we worked with this medication or that and now that my meds seem to be exactly right, I'll be seeing her every six months.

I was kind of angry with her in the beginning because she wouldn't authorize me time off work. My job is very challenging mentally and it caused me a LOT of frustration. I felt as if I'd lost at least 50 IQ points and this was a real blow to my ego. She told me that taking time off work was the worst thing I could do with a brain injury. My family and friends wanted me to get a different neurologist, but I really liked this one because she seemed very smart.

Fast forward to last Monday. I had my regular appt with her and I told her that I finally understood why it was so important that I continue working and pushing myself. She said that a lot of times after a brain injury- if someone just let's it all go (quits work), the brain quits working and won't ever get back to normal. It's as if it's thinking "Oh- I guess you don't need me anymore..." I feel relatively normal now unless I'm under a lot of stress. I'm on a regimen of drugs (klonopin, requip, seroquel) that keep my emotions 'level' and help alleviate the stress.

It took me a good year before I had lots of good days in a row and the bad days really frustrated me. Instead of being angry- I cried. I cried a LOT. My neurologist told me that it could take up to two years to be completely healed of the injury to my brain. If I'm not fully healed by then, then I'm pretty much stuck with it for life.

I'm hoping to be healed, but if this (being how I am today) is what I'm stuck with, it's livable. My symptoms only show up when I'm under a great deal of stress. I've made sure that people I work with and my family know this about me so they understand why I've suddenly gone daft.

I've learned that when I'm under stress, I regress. It used to frustrate me more than it does now because I can now see the pattern. I know it'll get better if I can resolve the current issue causing the stress. It's a good life lesson for me, frankly.

There are lots of folks who don't like to take drugs. I'm not one of them. I feel that the drugs I'm currently on have been a miracle to me. My husband is like your husband- won't take drugs and that frustrates the heck out of me. I want to sometimes tell him, either take the drugs the doctor suggests- or complain to someone else. But I keep my yapper shut about that.

Again, I highly suggest your husband see a neurologist. That way, he'll hear his prognosis from a professional and maybe will be more apt to take medications to help with his symptoms.

You're a good wife, doing all the research and trying to help him. I have been very fortunate to have a good supportive husband- and know how lucky I am.

I hope your husband gets the help he needs so you aren't living with all that pressure.

Hugs,
Lori