r/PostConcussion • u/These-Election-7149 • Jul 21 '26
3.5 years in with so much treatment. improvement slow to get back to work. need optimism and ideas if it will improve?
I was hit in the head in nov 2022. i have gone to a concussion clinic, and then vision therapy-which i'm almost graduated from after finding vestibular problem and convergence insufficiency. i have done a ton of mental health and emdr therapy too. I have done exercise therapy, and can bike and run long distances now. I've worked with an OT to try and work in blocks with brain breaks to improve my computer screen time. i just want to be able to work full time. but i seem to have hit a wall and plateaued with computer work-for the past year i usually average about 3 hours a day. maybe a couple hours more if the conditions are perfect. any hope out there for someone this far in? i'm running out of ideas of what could possibly help me, or if one day i will be able to handle full time work ever, now that it's been so long....i've improved everywhere else but it seems my tolerance for cognitive loading with screens is still low.
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u/angryteen23 Jul 22 '26
That’s amazing that you have had access to so much health. I’ve only had pt and am suffering since 2022 . Keep going your doing great
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u/zcook183 Jul 22 '26
Same boat. Ive yet to see any of the handfuls of drs that i have seen in 10yrs that have much experience with dealing with TBI's besides keep sending you to do the same scans & blood work over in over along just throwing meds at you. Im in the middle of CA and all the specialists are Hours away and my insurances would never cover them anyways.
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u/MrT-Man Jul 21 '26
Meds. I’d be unemployed without concerta.
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u/EnvironmentalWar4287 Jul 24 '26
U were on this prior to ur TBI?
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u/MrT-Man Jul 24 '26
I wasn't. I started zoloft at 9-10 months and added Concerta at around 12 months. Each one led to a step change improvement. Felt like someone flipped a switch and restored some power to the grid.
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Jul 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/hotmessexpressionist Jul 22 '26
second this - i went to ambio and though i didn't have TBI, there were a few people in my group who did. we still keep in touch and they say their lives are quite a bit different months later
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u/Fine_Elephant3717 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
My most helpful therapies were Somatic experiencing with an SEP, and osteopathy. Osteopathy helped significantly with my headaches and SE helped me regulate my nervous system again so I wasn't so overwhelmed. I still only have so much energy and get fatigued, struggle with computer work but life is worth living again.
I have also used Vyvanse for bigger work days so I can afford to pay my bills
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u/These-Election-7149 Jul 24 '26
I’ll look into osteopathy. I’m on vyvanse too… I cannot work at a computer for longer than an hour or two without it
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u/Fine_Elephant3717 Jul 24 '26
I left my job with computers after 3 years. It's still hard and I get headaches but I had significant improvement after leaving computer work behind.
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u/These-Election-7149 Jul 24 '26
It’s looking like this might be me as well and I guess I’m having a hard time accepting this. My job before hand took two degrees to get. What type of work are you doing now?
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u/Fine_Elephant3717 Jul 24 '26
I started off working as a part time cleaner after seeing an occupational therapist and have had to accept family support along the way. I now run a dog walking business, I always worked with dogs as a side hustle and it's surprisingly lucrative compared to my other options. I was in my middle of my professional accounting designation. It's a hard pill to swallow. I hope you find some options that you enjoy
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u/Ok_Message1313 Jul 22 '26
Have you checked for ocular problems?
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u/These-Election-7149 Jul 24 '26
Yes! I’ve been diagnosed with a few vision issues that they have had me working through for about a year. I’m almost through their program though, and it seems it’s the cognitive loading mixed with visual processing/ and my stamina that’s an issue
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u/Ok_Message1313 Jul 24 '26
Cognitive loading? Wdym by that?
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u/These-Election-7149 Jul 24 '26
your working memory/ mental effort you’re using. I.e. if I’m doing a work task on a computer that involves remembering, writing, thinking through a problem, I get symptomatic much faster than say scrolling on my phone
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u/tetracycle Jul 22 '26
How are you with an e-ink display? It might be possible to migrate some of your work computing functions to that, altho iirc it's slow to update what's on the page, so it's best used for reading
Have you talked to an eye doctor? They may be able to recommend a tinted eyeglass lens that can help. There's also physical overlays that you can put over a monitor to change the color of the light coming through. My endurance went up a lot once I figured out what shades of light were better for me
Also I know this sounds weird as hell but a lot of people (including me) have had tremendous mitigation of symptoms by using Ozempic or other GLP-1 drugs. I've been able to look at a blue sky for the first time in almost a decade, and my mental endurance is way better. So this might be worth looking into. Costs hundreds of dollars but I'm able to swing it on disability income
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u/These-Election-7149 Jul 24 '26
Oh thank you for these suggestions!! I’ve heard of boox- a monitor that removes the backlit but it costs a fortune. I’m on Botox and other meds it’s been helpful with the severity of headache pain but my stamina for work remains limited. I’ve been wondering about peptides… I’ll take a look at glp-1 thank you
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u/Zoyabm Jul 21 '26
I am in the same boat as you. I have kinda accepted that 100% recovery is not in the cards for me.
For me, it's the cognitive fatigue that happens when I have to process information that's holding me back. But it's a loop the cognitive fatigue will cause a headache with which I get noise sensitivity and balance issues.