Is this PTSD? PLEASE help me figure out what's happening to me.
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi everyone! Honestly, I have no idea what's been happening to me but I'm going to try really hard to explain it. Please bare with me, please give me advice, please share personal experiences, please just help me figure out what's going on.
Here's my story:
Long story short, I got into a head-on collision with another car going around 35mph and although I didn't hit my head, I got really bad whiplash and a really bad concussion. I had the usual concussion symptoms: PIERCING headache, light sensitivity, weak, dizzy, mind fog, hazy, etc etc etc for 1-2 months. After that, something really weird started happening to me... I started getting these dissociative dizzy episodes. The first few (and by few I mean a lot) times it happened, it was triggered by something as simple as me turning my head too quickly or standing up too quickly, then it became physical activity, and now it's become driving. I'm having a really hard time pin-pointing the trigger(s). Anyway, my symptoms/triggers now go as follows: I'm driving and I notice that everything around me is moving really fast and I can feel that I'm moving really fast (I'm usually on the freeway) and I start to get dizzy and nervous at the same time and both feelings keep getting worse and worse until I feel like I'm in a haze, I feel like I can't concentrate on anything and because I can't concentrate on anything, I can't keep track of my thoughts or even my actions - like in times like this, I find a way to get myself back home or to my boyfriend's and I have to rush to lay down and close my eyes and try to take a nap or else I start having a full blown anxiety attack. And what do I mean by anxiety attack? I mean I start freaking out that I can't remember anything that I start forgetting more and more things (like today when I had one of these episodes, I couldn't remember where I put my keys once I got home and when I tried to backtrack and retrace my steps, I realized I couldn't even remember the details of how I got into my house - like I know I did and I have a general idea but I don't remember my specific actions. I don't remember looking for my keys in my backpack or finding them or putting them into the doorknob or turning the doorknob or opening the door or taking my key out of the door) and then I start freaking out about how I'm losing my memory and my mind and I start thinking about every emotionally traumatic thing that's ever happened to me and I can't stop my thoughts from racing! Honestly, if I don't go to sleep and I start psyching myself out, it feels like I either smoked too much marijuana or took too much adderal and am having a bad jittery anxious high.
So... this is super embarrassing for me to admit. I honestly am not sure what came first: the mental fog/memory or the anxiety attack-ish symptoms but somewhere along this road to recovery from my concussion, they've very well meshed together and aggravate the other and at this point, I think I've developed PTSD or something along those lines. Does this sound like ANYTHING familiar to what any of you with PTSD are going through or anyone who has had a patient or family member or friend with PTSD? I seriously can't tell what's happening to me and it's so scary! Imagine getting in your house and not remembering how you got there!
P.S. I've been trying since JUNE to get medical and psychological and psychiatrical help for these symptoms but I have the lovely MediCal insurance and every profession I even try to make an appointment with either has to put me on a waitlist of at least a month or won't even consider making an appointment with me because it's MediCal. It's like, because I have MediCal, my symptoms don't matter.
0 likes, 2 replies
Buckaroo lizb28
Posted
Hi,
I have self-recovered from clinical depression, complex PTSD. I have also problems relating to my neck and head.
I am not a medical expert but I do have personal experience.
I'm just writing from the top of my head so things may not be in order. I am also from the UK so my spelling on certain words may be a little different.
Is This PTSD
I have suffered from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and what you describe doesn't appear to be PTSD.
However, you are feeling a lot of anxiety from the trauma of your car crash and your whiplash.
You are unable to understand your feelings or behaviour, which is leading to increased anxiety and nervousness. The more you think about it and don't know what to do makes it worse for you. Without medical help and professional direction, it ends up a vicious circle.
Head and Neck
I have experienced whiplash and currently suffer from cervical spinal problems just below my neck that causes dizziness and other problems.
You have to be very careful when you suffer from whiplash and the affect is has on the cervical spine below the neck. As the neck and vertebrae below the neck are linked to your spinal nerves, which lead directly to your brain, any trauma in these areas can cause dizziness, memory loss and other problems.
Memory, Dizziness, Concentration
Whiplash and the quick movement of your head can cause injury to your neck. Also, depending on the severity of the whiplash, the brain is bashed against the inside of the skull. This leads to concussion - post-concussive syndrome, which is quite a complicated condition that produces different symptoms such as headaches and dizziness.
Overall, from what you have said it would appear that you may suffer from a “mild traumatic brain injury”.
The symptoms following serious whiplash are normally:
Headaches
Dizziness
Fatigue
Irritability
Anxiety
Insomnia
Loss of concentration and memory
Ringing in the ears
Blurry vision
Noise and light sensitivity
Rarely, decreases in taste and smell
Some of these tend to fit in with what you are going through.
Post-concussive symptoms can last from days to weeks and months or longer depending upon the severity of the trauma.
So what you describe about memory, being nervous, dizziness and feeling anxious or panicky are all related.
What To Do
The most obvious thing to do is to see a doctor ASAP.
It is dangerous for you to drive so try and get someone else to take you places.
If both the above fail, do what I do and wear a soft cervical collar. I do this when I drive. Although this will limit the movement of your head, you can still turn it. It will also relieve the tension and give your neck and head a rest. I wear mine everyday but when I am in my house, I only wear it when I need to.
If you must drive be very, very careful. With mine and even with a cervical collar, suddenly turning your head can lead to dizziness and possibly blackouts.
As the tension in your neck and head will be reduced, it should also reduce the tension in your body.
Your thoughts lead to your anxiety and nervousness and without a medical diagnosis you feel lost and anxious.
Until you get medical help try to relax and understand what has happened.
You had a car crash that produced serious whiplash. This has affected your neck and possibly your cervical vertebrae. It has also affected your brain causing confusion and amnesia.
You have to be careful in what you do.
When I walk I don't move my head a lot, I turn my head with my body. I do this to not put pressure on my head and neck.
It also reduces the risk of becoming dizzy.
This is What I Do
Relax my shoulders, stomach and breath from my abdomen. Take time to breath from your abdomen, slowly while inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. This kind of abdominal breathing should help you to relax.
Don't think about why you feel the way you do, just understand what has happened.
Until you see a medical professional, apply self-care. I know it can be difficult but you have to take control.
We are what we think about all day and when you suffer trauma it can be difficult to take your mind of it, but for your own health you must change your thinking. Change it by putting you and your needs first.
It is trauma from whiplash that can cause a variety of symptoms and it will take time for you to recover. So instead of dwelling on what you feel like, fully concentrate on doing the best you can to look after yourself until you see someone.
In bed, make sure you have an orthopaedic pillow as this can provide the essential support for your neck and head. I use one.
If you feel you need to have a rest and lie down then do it. Just close your eyes and don't think. Negative thinking produces more negative thinking that will make you feel worse. This will in turn exacerbate your condition and it will take much longer for you to recover.
While you are recovering, it would be best for the people around you to understand what you are going through and ask for family support.
Your life is important so until you recover put yourself first and don't take any risks. If you need to take time out then take it.
Practice relaxing, understand what has happened to you and know that looking after yourself is the best thing you can do.
Take Care
sam18386 lizb28
Posted
Hi lizb, I think reading what I have off you you have definitely developed ptsd or so I think, but I am not a doctor or clinician at all. The definition of ptsd is someone who is suffering with extreme reactions to a past trauma which has deeply affected their lives and keeps living it over and over again as though it is stuck in a loop! You need to find out properly what this, is it sounds a bit different from anxiety and panic attacks. I have ptsd and the trauma I endured is still after this may years stuck in a loop in my head which I understand after months of complex counselling but didn't initially. Good luck ptsd isn't funny. I hope you get this sorted!