Car Accident, Eid Holiday, and Medication Increase

Last Saturday, I got into a car crash with a pick up truck making an illegal left turn not observing that I was in oncoming traffic. Thank God everyone was OKAY. My wife, Mariam (who is five months pregnant), was in the passenger side and got out of the car without any injuries and called for help. When I looked back at my four-year-old he was covered in blood, my mother-in-law, Farhat, had broken her nose and was bleeding profusely. My son, Ali, was fine and it was Farhat’s blood that was on him. I was rushed as a trauma patient because I couldn’t move my legs and couldn’t feel any sensation. I felt something sharp hitting my head when we collided (I had swerved to the left). In the ambulance the sensation started coming back gradually but I was more worried about my wife and Ali. We were all discharged by the morning.

Thank God we all survived.

Tuesday night marked the end of Ramadan and we celebrated Eid at my sister’s house. Lot’s of food, kids, and confusion- I couldn’t really pay attention to much that was going on.
Still, I’m getting confused very easily, having cold sweats in the middle of the night, and have severe head, neck, upper back pain, and pain in both arms. I am sleeping for hours on end (I’m surprised I woke up for the Eid prayer!) and I keep having this recurring nightmare that the entire city of New York and Long Island is stuck in gridlock traffic because there’s an accident at all intersections/major highways.
I was very frustrated this past Eid as there were terrorist attacks in Madinah, Bangladesh, Baghdad(250 dead), Istanbul towards the end of Ramadan and earlier in Orlando, Florida. This is the month where Muslims abstain from sins and bad deeds, from cursing to gossiping, from sexual intercourse (during daylight hours) to indulging in alcohol, yet there was more violence and bloodshed during this Ramadan than I can recall.

My psychiatrist, Gerallynn, thinks I have PTSD, but it can only be PTSD if it lasts longer than 4 weeks (that’s what I learned in Abnornal Psychology- so it’s acute stress disorder-most cases ASD leads to PTSD). She’s advised me to continue with the Haldol twice a day because of all the stress I have and added Propranolol to take on days when I am getting into a panic. My general physician tried prescribing me some painkillers (Tramadol or Percocet) but was unable to because they contraindicate with the other medications (Ativan and Klonopin) that I take. It really helped the hour that I spent in therapy with her- I had walked in in a panic and left relieved.

My next appointment with Gerallynn is in three weeks and I’ve gotta go for physical therapy three times a week while dealing with adjusters and appraisers while taking an online Summer course in Organizational Behavior which started on July 5th and ends July 29th. Glad that it’s online… I do have to get to ALL of the work done and it’s the 9th! I’m glad that I got a rental car (panic ensued!) yesterday which will make this upcoming week a little less chaotic.