[QUOTE -Thank you so much for your support.

I completely agree that trying to accept your 'new normal' is quite hard to do. I keep thinking that I became that person and athlete I was with the same brain that I have now. And if I continue to focus on healing like I did on racing events, then I can know I will get better despite the injury.

Not exercising at that level is extremely hard. Getting fatigued after 15 minutes gets pretty frustrating. Have you found exercises you can do that you can sustain for longer periods of time?

Also, what is your supplement routine like currently?

The social thing is very hard as well. Thank you again for your candidness. What you are going through is exactly that which I am adjusting to currently. It's hard but there has got to be a silver lining in here somewhere!![/QUOTE]


As athletes, we train longer and harder to improve, so going to the exact opposite where we need rest and patience is tough. It's hard to get excited about 15 successful minutes of exercising when it wears you out.

I had to quit looking at my old training logs and start from where I'm at. The old logs just depressed me, but the new ones help me to see my progress. It's still a struggle to accept it, but what choice do we have? I remember being excited the first time I swam 200 yards and a few seconds later I was in tears because I shouldn't be excited about 200 measly yards.

As you know by now, every concussion is different, plus the "extra" injuries complicate things. In my case, we learned that when my heart rate increases, my symptoms get worse. At first, the only exercise I could do was walking, very slowly, and if I went up even a slight incline, I had to stop and rest. Every few weeks we'd re-evaluate on a treadmill.

Over the last year, I've gone from being able to tolerate a HR of 90 to 150, but I'm more sensitive to heat. I could probably go longer on a treadmill, but I want to be outside!! My neck and shoulder issues complicate my attempts to return to cycling, but I've gone from being able to ride 7-8 miles to 20 miles before it's too uncomfortable. I'm facing shoulder surgery soon so will be putting my bike on the trainer, but it was important to me to face my fears and get back out there.

I started out doing my PT exercises at the gym after I was discharged. A PT friend who does training on the side helped me come up with a strength and flexibility routine, and that's been a lifesaver. I like the feedback I get - when I started I could lift x pounds or do x squats, and now I can do more, or it's easier, or I don't get as dizzy....

I'm following a lot of the supplement ideas from the thread on this site. I also tried something called Cellgevity that is supposed to help with production of glutathione which is supposed to help our brains. I took it for about 2 months and didn't see any benefits, and it was expensive so I dropped it. I have seen glutathione mentioned in a couple of other articles recently but haven't looked into it - the science confuses me and makes my head hurt

Social stuff - I volunteer at a lot of races - it's hard sometimes because I want so badly to race, but I think it's good for me. I allow myself a few seconds to be sad that I can't race, and then suck it up, cheer for everybody, and try to encourage those who are struggling. I get dizzy when a lot of people are going by, so I have to work around it and sometimes walk away, but that's ok.

I joined a group called Team Red White and Blue (Team RWB) as a civilian member. Our goal is to help veterans returning from duty to assimilate back into society through sport and social activity. I've met some awesome people, and it's been interesting because even though I can't understand what they've been through, a lot of them totally get the PCS issues and are so supportive.

I also found a support group - most of the people had more serious injuries than I did, but they don't hold that against me. We meet once a month just to talk, share tips, vent, or whatever.

Sorry my posts tend to get really long - hope I didn't make your headache worse!!