Quote:
Originally Posted by ProAgonist
but I've heard cases of people that their symptoms completely disappeared after a few months, and then they went to do some physical activity which caused their symptoms to return and stay there for a very long time (one user in this forum said that he healed after 3 months, went snowmobiling, and his PCS symptoms returned for at least 2 years even though he didn't hit his head while snowmobiling). That sounds scary, so how much do you think I should wait? As I mentioned, symptoms can return after heavy physical activity, even if you feel fine. So how do I know in 2 months from now if I can go to that field trip or not?
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You have to realize that everyone's injuries are different even though many of us have very similar symptoms.
I think my main mistake with that snowmobiling trip was that I went from like 10-20% activity level (Only activity I did were the 20-30 min easy walks every day) to 90-100% within one day.
Another thing to keep in mind that some people might have actual injuries to other organs in the head, not just the brain. For example I was diagnosed with a fistula in my inner ear recently, and that would explain why every time I exerted myself I felt way worse for a while (fistula reopening and then slowly healing again).
I understand what you're going through right now, trying to find all the answers, I think all of us on here were in your shoes at the beginning.
The simple truth is that there isn't a set of rules for recovering from PCS, everyone's situation is different. I have friends that suffered head injuries that were way way worse than what I had and they recovered within 1-2 months.
One advice I can give you is start very easy exercises, like walking for 15 mins and see how you feel the next day. Do that for a week, and if you feel fine move to 20-25 mins walking.
Then try a stationary bike with a heart rate monitor. Try to keep your heart rate elevated for 5 mins at first, again see how it feels and slowly increase after one week.
I started with like 80 bpm for 5 mins for a week and went up from there very carefully.
There is research from the University of Buffalo (
http://concussion.buffalo.edu/) that seems to show very positive results from careful cardio exercises (usually over a span of 3-4 months).