I’m new to this forum, 6 months PCS and counting.

Things I wish I’d known, besides the obvious (rest rest rest!), would include:

*First and foremost, do not bump your head again. You may think a concussion is a one-off and you are actually a careful person, but you are probably wrong. As Mark and others have explained, even routine head-bumps become an issue with concussion. I advise rethinking everything you do, through the lens of what could happen to your head. When I bend down, I think about what is above me and stand up slowly. I anticipate other people’s movements, to make sure I’m far away from stray elbows and such. I’ve accidentally bopped myself once or twice in half-sleep, so I’ve ordered myself to think about all half-conscious hand movements; and I wear gloves in my sleep to reduce any such issues.

*Further to the point above: I installed an accelerometer app (“accelerometer monitor”) on my phone, to better understand impacts. It makes clear, for example, that when the head shakes, it does not really compare to a head-hit.

*I’ve had problems getting to sleep (and continue to do so), but classical music often helps me drift off.

*Audiobooks can be great for boredom.

*Re exercise: I do lots of walking. One doctor told me to make sure I got in some hills, to get my heart-rate up and oxygen pumping into my brain, which made sense.

*Swimming is helpful. I just started. It’s very relaxing, especially for those like me who may have anxiety issues, and I generally feel quite normal in a pool. You cannot be anxious while swimming, because you’ve got to focus on what you're doing. Of course I do not dive into the water.

*Do not despair. Concussion recovery is not necessarily linear. About two and a half months in, I suddenly started recovering my capacity for reading. In just a few weeks, I went from maxing out at 10 pages a day to spending an entire day at the library. I was astonished. Of course, I have bumped my head a bit since then (in ways the doctors ignorantly tell me not to worry about) but it hasn’t really diminished my reading capacity — mostly increased head pressure and, sometimes, head pains.

*Read Mark in Idaho’s posts! They are so wise…

Good luck everybody!