by BullFrog » Tue May 28, 2019 4:44 pm
AnnaK,
I would avoid fish oil (it might have metal contaminants which is definitely bad for the brain). Better to take omega's from organic flax oil (or just sprinkle milled flax seed on your cereal/oatmeal/spaghetti sauce or whatever). Also glad to see another religious person, I am too (Eastern Orthodox Christian). I will include you in my prayers as well.
@SparkleFly12,
Arguably, the waves of PAWS is the most demoralizing aspect of the whole process. You start to feel better and, for some, even outright rid of ALL symptoms and then BAM...it's back. It's the nature of PAWS and 95% of everyone who has posted about PAWS has described this reality. So I would respond in two ways: 1) take heart, it's extremely common and 2) take the good with the bad - meaning, at least you got to experience good days! After all, would you like to have ALL bad days for the 6 months to 3 years of paws? Or would you like to have days, weeks, or even a month of two of relief alongside the waves of bad symptoms coming back? I know I would choose the latter as opposed to the former.
@Ashwarrior has catalogued the nature of "waves" of PAWS a lot and rightly observed that you should expect this throughout your recovery. Embrace the good days and stay strong when the bad ones come back. But also take notice that over the months, there USUALLY is a little less of another symptom when a new wave hits you. I have been dealing with waves for almost a year of an odd "buzzy/slight dizzy/head fog" but in the last few months I rarely feel head pressure (which was one of the two last symptoms of PAWS I had). So while I kept focusing on the terrible waves of the buzziness in my head, I didn't realize that the pressure symptom was virtually gone!
The first 80 days was the worst for me. Then 90% of the symptoms were gone by month 4. But I didn't realize how much was gone because I was focused on the 2-3 symptoms that were there from the beginning. I didn't realize I had my appetite back, my brain didn't randomly forget what I was saying in mid sentence anymore, I could stay up later, anxiety was reduced by 90% and so forth. Best to catalogue ALL symptoms that you have experienced because of PAWS (and be detailed!), and then revisit that list every 30-60 days. Then scratch off ones that are gone and, for those that are left, write the percentage of intensity you are feeling those symptoms as compared to 30-60 days ago. Overtime you will see progress (and yes, some you will have to say are back or the intensity is back since this process of healing is not a perfect linear line, but rather a wavy messy line that slightly points downwards).
Fight on!