6 months out and my body keeps finding new ways to fall apart — is this normal?

The tinnitus after a crash is so real and so dismissed — I had the same thing and doctors kept telling me it would resolve on its own. It's been over a year for me and it's quieter but not gone. You're not imagining any of this. The "new symptoms showing up late" thing is also super common with head trauma, which doesn't make it less terrifying, but you're not alone in experiencing it.

As someone who works in a clinical setting — what you're describing with the numbness in your fingers is something you want to push on with your doctors sooner rather than later. Radiculopathy (nerve compression in the neck causing arm/hand symptoms) can sometimes respond really well to early treatment but it's the kind of thing you don't want sitting on a waiting list. If your current doctor is slow-walking it, ask specifically for a referral to a spine specialist or at minimum get that MRI expedited. Document every symptom, every day if you can — even just a quick note in your phone. That record matters.

Please be careful about what you're saying to the other driver's insurance company right now. The fact that you're still discovering symptoms six months in is EXACTLY why you don't want to settle anything yet. Adjusters are trained to close files fast, and once you sign a release, that's it — doesn't matter if your back gets worse next year. Don't let them pressure you into a number before you know the full picture of your injuries.

I used to work claims and I'll be honest with you — files like yours, where there's ongoing treatment and the injured person hasn't returned to work, those get flagged for closer management by the carrier. That doesn't mean anything shady is definitely happening, but they are tracking your file closely. If they ask you to do an Independent Medical Examination (IME), know that the doctor doing that exam is hired by them, not you. Their report doesn't always reflect your actual condition. Just something to be aware of going in.

A few practical things that could really help you later: First, keep a daily pain journal — even short entries. Courts and adjusters take these seriously as evidence of how your life has changed. Second, make sure your employer is documenting your missed time in writing. Lost wages are part of damages but you need the paper trail. Third, if you haven't already, get copies of every medical record, every bill, and every correspondence with any insurance company. You want your own copies, not just to rely on whoever requests them later.

Not legal advice, but I'll say this generally — the combination of ongoing symptoms, inability to return to a physical job, and documented head trauma is the kind of case that warrants at least a free consultation with a personal injury attorney before you do anything else with the other driver's insurance. Most PI attorneys work on contingency, so no upfront cost. The statute of limitations on injury claims varies by state and people miss it more often than you'd think. Worth knowing your options sooner rather than later.

Six months feels like forever when you're in it, I know. But the fact that you're still actively in treatment, still advocating for yourself, still getting new referrals — that matters. You haven't given up and that's actually a huge deal. Some people check out of the process because it's exhausting and then they're stuck without documentation or care. You're doing the hard thing.

I just want to say I'm really sorry. Reading your list of everything going on... that's so much to be carrying. The cognitive stuff especially — I can only imagine how disorienting it is to feel like your brain isn't working the way it used to. Please lean on the people around you if you can. This is genuinely a lot for one person to manage alone.

I don't doubt you're going through a lot, but I'm curious — has any doctor actually connected all of these symptoms back to the accident in writing? Like formal causation documented in your records? I ask because if this ever goes further legally or even just through insurance, having a physician explicitly link your tinnitus, your disc issue, your post-concussion symptoms to the crash is important. "Probably from the accident" in conversation is very different from it being in a medical record.