Amy & Avery: Rebuilding After Life Changes — Chronic Pain, PTSD, and Fighting to Be Heard | Part 1
Sh!t That Goes On In Our HeadsOctober 06, 2026
3
00:55:5951.27 MB

Amy & Avery: Rebuilding After Life Changes — Chronic Pain, PTSD, and Fighting to Be Heard | Part 1

Amy and Avery Nubson share how a 2014 car accident led to chronic pain, PTSD, medical trauma, and a years-long fight to be heard by healthcare providers. In Part 1, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles explore invisible disability, men’s pelvic health, EMDR, patient advocacy, and the emotional toll of living with pain no one else can see.

One car accident changed everything for Amy and Avery Nubson — their health, their marriage, their business, and the future they thought they had planned. In Part 1, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with Amy and Avery for a raw conversation about invisible injuries, chronic pain, PTSD, medical trauma, and what happens when you know something is wrong but getting someone to listen becomes a battle of its own.

Awards & Downloads

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

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Mental Health Quote

“Pain doesn’t have to be visible to be real, and progress doesn’t have to be fast to matter.” — Inspired by Avery Nubson

Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder

This episode includes discussion of chronic pain, PTSD, medical trauma, medication dependence and withdrawal, invasive medical treatment, and suicide risk. Please take care while listening.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis in the United States, call or text 988 or visit:
https://988lifeline.org/

For crisis resources outside the United States:
https://findahelpline.com/

Episode Description

A car accident that looked minor on paper changed nearly every part of Amy and Avery Nubson’s lives.

After Avery was hit from behind while stopped at a red light in 2014, he walked away without broken bones or obvious external injuries. But what followed was anything but minor: debilitating pain, PTSD, panic attacks, flashbacks, bladder and pelvic health complications, sleep problems, mobility limitations, and eventually a traumatic brain injury diagnosis that took years to uncover.

In Part 1 of this deeply honest conversation, Avery tells G-Rex and Dirty Skittles what it was like to have his body become unfamiliar territory while repeatedly hearing that tests looked normal or providers didn’t know what came next. He opens up about male pelvic floor therapy, the shame surrounding intimate health problems, opioid withdrawal after insurance coverage changed, EMDR, implanted medical devices, and the exhausting reality of having to continuously advocate for care.

Amy shares the other side of that journey: watching the person you love disappear beneath pain, trying to understand symptoms nobody prepared you for, and learning how to support someone through a recovery that doesn’t follow a clean timeline.

This isn’t a story about magically “getting better.” It’s about persistence, invisible disability, medical self-advocacy, and finding hope in inches, not miles.

Keywords: chronic pain, PTSD recovery, medical trauma, invisible disability, traumatic brain injury, EMDR therapy, men’s mental health, pelvic floor therapy, chronic illness, pain management, healthcare advocacy, anxiety after car accidents, caregiver support, mental health recovery, patient advocacy

Meet Our Guests — Amy & Avery Nubson

Amy and Avery Nubson have spent more than two decades building a life, businesses, and creative projects together, but a 2014 car accident forced them to completely rethink what partnership, healing, and success looked like. Amy now helps women reclaim their voices and tell their stories, while Avery brings his background in design, web development, marketing, SEO, illustration, and game design together with a growing desire to speak openly about chronic pain, men’s pelvic health, PTSD, and the treatments that helped him rebuild his life.

Website:
http://www.nufiremarketing.com

Amy Nubson on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amynubson-business-coach/

Avery Nubson on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/averynubson/

Avery’s Games:
https://humerusgames.com

Key Takeaways

  • An injury does not have to be visible on a scan for the pain and trauma surrounding it to be real.
  • PTSD can show up in waves, through flashbacks, panic attacks, sleep disruption, avoidance, and triggers that may make everyday life feel unsafe.
  • Physical pain and mental health are deeply connected, and treating one without acknowledging the other can leave major pieces of recovery untouched.
  • Men’s pelvic health remains difficult to talk about, and shame can make an already isolating medical problem even harder to navigate.
  • Self-advocacy sometimes means asking again, getting another opinion, and refusing to stop simply because the first answer was “we don’t know.”
  • Healing may be measured in tiny changes: driving around the block, skiing again, traveling, sleeping better, or simply experiencing less pain than yesterday.

Actionable Items

  • Keep a symptom or pain journal. Track changes, triggers, treatments, medication reactions, and small improvements so you have something concrete to reference when progress feels invisible.
  • If you feel dismissed or your symptoms remain unexplained, consider asking what the next appropriate referral or specialty might be instead of accepting “nothing is wrong” as the end of the conversation.
  • When traveling with medical devices, mobility challenges, or other medical needs, research passenger-support options ahead of time and create a plan that reduces unnecessary stress.

Important Chapters

  • 00:01:57 — From Art School to 26 Years Together
  • 00:04:10 — The Accident That Changed Everything
  • 00:07:07 — When PTSD Arrived in Waves
  • 00:14:57 — Portugal, Pain Relief, and Feeling Safe Again
  • 00:20:05 — EMDR and Life After Panic Attacks
  • 00:22:03 — The Medical Problems Nobody Could Explain
  • 00:27:01 — The Reality of Men’s Pelvic Floor Therapy
  • 00:33:15 — Fighting Insurance While Fighting to Heal
  • 00:36:04 — Why Men Need Somewhere to Talk About This
  • 00:42:51 — Pain Medication, Withdrawal, and the Pain Pump Decision
  • 00:47:32 — Traveling With Medical Devices

Closing CTA

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#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #ChronicPain #PTSDRecovery #MensMentalHealth #InvisibleDisability #MedicalTrauma #PelvicFloorTherapy #PatientAdvocacy #ChronicPainAwareness #EMDRTherapy #TraumaRecovery #HealthcareAdvocacy #PainManagement #CaregiverSupport #InvisibleIllness #MentalHealthRecovery

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If You Need Support, Reach Out

If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.

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Audio Editing by NJz Audio


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