Hi all,

This is my first time posting, but I've been reading the forum every now and then over the past year.

Its been a year since my first concussion, sustained while boxing. Had 5-6 head bumps in the few months after it, each one compounding the problem. Also had a period of 1-2 months of insomnia, anxiety, depression, etc. My head was extremely fragile this past summer. Setbacks happened from the slightest wrong touch/scratch of the head. It was awful. I also have recurring neck pain and minor cervicalgia.

I finally was able to go a few months with no major or minor bumps to the head, starting this past september, but things like riding in a car or rapid head movements still gave me short-term headaches and occasionally slight nausea. Exercised for a few weeks in October and the headaches returned. One day in mid-October I overreacted and very quickly and forcefully ducked out of the way of a thrown paper ball (I work at a high school), and it felt like I had post-concussive symptoms again for 2-3 weeks, without anything actually bumping my head!

FINALLY was referred by a sports medicine doctor to get Vestibular Rehab Therapy. Turns out my vestibular system was jacked up and my ability to process motion, visual stimuli, etc. needed re-training. After a few months of this therapy it significantly improved my tolerance for motion, visuals, riding on a city bus, driving a car, etc. I was starting to feel almost normal again (at rest) near Christmas time.

I finally felt I was ready to start exercising again a month ago, but I must have jumped the gun (again!) and after just four light stationary bike rides of 15-17 mins with a peak heart rate of 120-125, my symptoms came back again. Dull headache, especially behind the eyes, trouble sleeping for several days, etc. I stupidly tried doing my vestibular exercises (moving my head back and forth rapidly while staring at an 'X' on the wall) when I hadn't slept in 2 days and ended up jacking my brain up again (just by moving it too quickly), like back in October.

So now I'm trying to rest as much as possible for a few weeks until my headaches go away, and then I can begin again the Vestibular Rehab exercises at home. And then hopefully in another month or two I can work back up to attempt exercising again. This time I'll start with an even lower peak heart rate. My brain just can't seem to handle much exertion or blood flow at this point.

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend checking out Vestibular Rehab. It hasn't healed me totally, but it did help a lot for awhile, and I'm confident that it will help me again as soon as I'm ready to start it back up.

Anyone else have trouble with physical/cardio exertion? I'm back down to barely being able to walk more than 5-10 minutes without a headache. Frustrating as hell!

Anyone else seem to notice that your brain is significantly more vulnerable and fragile when you had a night or two of bad or no sleep?

Thanks for your support. It means a lot.