13 weeks on from a light car crash didn’t bang my head I’ve posted on here before.
Still got the same symptoms pressure in my head pressure in my ears ringing in my ears clicking in my ears constant fuzzy head feeling. And fatigue. I know 13 weeks isn’t really that long compared to some people on here but I’m just wondering now if I’ll ever get any better.
I’ve been at the doctors the hospital. A&E. Been given tablets all of it with no joy. I understand it’s about the resting and sleeping often keeping off the screen and a good diet. I’ve been doing all that. I’m currently on the sick now because I can’t do my job as I am a driving instructor and I just can’t concentrate or mentally do my job.
It was hard enough to get a sick note of the doctor I just felt as though they thought I was making everything up. I had a MRI scan and my bloods done three weeks after the accident and all that came back clear. Which is a good thing don’t get me wrong.
All the problems just seem to be from my neck upwards. Everything lower is fine. I’ve been to physiotherapy sessions as well but that’s just not doing anything at all
I just don’t seem to be getting anywhere with the doctors they have referred me to ENT and a neurologist but it’s a seven month waiting list on the NHS.
Just got to the point now where I’m thinking what’s the point
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LewisThomas
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Hi I don't want to dishearten you but I had my accident 2 1/2 years ago and I was knocked unconscious, my recovery has been slow but I am getting there. I was unfortunate that mine occurred with lockdowns and covid so it wasn't easy to access healthcare. I have seen an osteopath for years and he got me an appointment wiht one of his colleagues who does cranial osteopathy and she's been a great help. I was eventually referred by my GP to a neuro physio who was excellent and really helped with the dizziness and then a program called graded exercise therapy to help me increase activities.
Yes you need to rest, but it's all about listening to your body and stopping before you get really fatigued, I still have 2 x 25 minutes rests a day plus other 15 minute ones if my headache starts to come on. If I don't stop I end up feeling sick.
I would say keep pushing for help, maybe see if you can get to see a neuro physio or cranial osteopath, please don't give up. I've been where you are and I know it can seem hopeless but there is hope. I would also say we are all different and I've been told that PCS is worse in women Take care
There is the injury you get from being shaken back and forth, no hitting of head is required.
You are going through the tough part, to be sure.
In the very long range things will improve. Healing happens fastest in the first 3 or 4 years.
Hopefully that will get you more functional. Even if it doesn't you will make improvements slowly over time, and there will residual things. I can't recognize myself from where I was in 2008, though no way I could go back to work. Some are luckier than that. You just don't know what you are going to get. The uncertainty makes it hard, the difficulty in getting a diagnosis also makes it hard.
Do you have access to a vestibular Physio ? Or any Physio? If you have tightness in your neck even a massage done correctly could relieve some stress and symptoms 😀 I also got a shakti mat - an acupuncture mat to lie on and that helped a bit. Also possibly a chiropractor ?? Yes to rest and breaks and less screen time etc too so well done 😀 my vestibular Physio did lots of work on my neck up behind ears after car accident - whip lash can even cause a brain injury 😬 good luck
Hello Lewis, I fell down stairs last Oct and as a consequence have PCS. Your post really resonated with me because I can remember feeling exactly as you do. Wondering if I would ever be well again and able to work. I’m not going to say it’s been easy because it’s been the hardest 8 months of my life, but I do want to give you hope. After trying lots of different medication I finally found one that eased the throbbing pain (Pizotifen) I recently stopped taking it and am feeling SO much better tinnitus almost gone (only occurs when I’m tired) headaches improved massively, head much clearer and energy levels much better too! So many people told me it was about time and rest, listening to your body etc and I used to feel SO bloody frustrated by this but it is actually true. Try and give yourself up to the recovery process, let go of expectations and it WILL happen. I’ve just begun a very slow gradual phased return to work (which on my darkest day I never thought would happen) and life is beginning to feel worth living again. Please don’t give up hope. I wish you all the best with your recovery, focus on today, the next hour, the next minute. The future is still there and waiting for you when you’re ready xxx
Hi Lewis, as said above you don't have to hit your head externally. Your brain slops around inside your skull with the acceleration/deceleration action in an RTA, generally called whiplash. youtu.be/0aETYN4EtQo
This causes micro damage to neural tissue that is not evident in MRI and CT scans.
The other issue with whiplash is damage to intercranial nerves and tissue extending from the skull and into the neck and down your spine. This can cause tension headaches among other things such as sensations in your face and the feeling of droopy skin. youtu.be/QRixkfDUxbU
You may want to find help in the private health sector as most treatments are not available on the NHS.
Hi Lewis,. this is really tough for you, not least because of your work situation, but everyone's timeline really is different - when you think about it, the people that have written on here about their PCS and healed up within the first year, probably aren't posting on here anymore. (And there is something about being older and female in having longer recovery times, so those at least don't apply to you).
Your GP is taking you seriously because they've referred you, which is really good, so they know you aren't making it up - MTBI doesn't show up on MRI or CT scans - only on the newer MRI scanners used in research settings.
I think it's really hard for any of us after an MTBI to cope with what's happened after what often seems to be a trivial accident - speaking for myself - the uncertainty is very difficult to deal with, there's no clear medical results to justify what's happened, and it's usually the longest time you've ever been unwell - particularly if you've gone past the magic three month period when everything is supposed to have just miraculously cleared up. Depression and anxiety are often triggered both by the injury itself, and with the difficulties of dealing with it - a sort of double whammy - it's important to get help for this sooner rather than later - preferably having therapy, and pills, rather than just pills -this is better from a neuropsychologist or neuropsychiatrist as they understand the physical nature of the BI, and will be really frank that what you're dealing with is a brain injury - but talk to your GP about this
(By the way,I know recovery is meant to slow down after three years, but actually I've just got to the four year mark, and a year ago I really couldn't have done what I'm doing in my life now. )
Find out if your GP can also refer you to a neuropsychologist, they can both do tests to see where you are having difficulty, and give you practical counselling and strategies to manage fatigue and the effects of the BI. Mine was brilliant.
Your neck may well be causing part of your problems so specialist physio may help too. But oculomotor and vestibular problems, which you need to do exercises for, can also contribute to the general picture.
We can also tend to become exercise intolerant - this takes practice - but the idea is not to push your heart rate to the point it is triggering any post concussion symptoms like nausea and headache, but to exercise below that point, and to slowly increase your tolerance. The best advice I had was from the neurologist who told me to get a secondhand exercise bike or elliptical and exercise a little every day - because everything else can get complicated by what they call deconditioning.
See If you can get The Ghost in my Brain by Clark Elliott from your local library, and Mindfulness and Stroke - by Jody Mardula and Caroline Vaughan - Vaughan is a neuropsychologist, and contributes a very practical section on useful strategies after brain injury in the second hall of the book. While my BI wasn't as bad, both provided me with valuable insight - and in a weird way, reassurance.
Have you rung the Headway helpline yet? They're open on office hours and provide informed advice and moral support - it makes a huge difference to talk to someone who really understands the effects of BI - 0808 800 2244
Finally just know that you can write on here anytime, and we will understand. You're going through a horrible time, but things will improve with help.
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