The longer one can remain symptom free, the more chance the brain has to heal. But for some of us, that healing will not be complete. It will leave us sensitive to triggers. Many in this situation learn to recognize those triggers just before they reach critical mass. We can remove ourselves from the triggering situation and avoid a prolonged recovery.

For me, it would be any of a few things. I may need to reread a line of text, I may struggle to understand something I was hearing, my eyes may go a bit screwy and struggle to focus, and a few others that I can't remember at this time. But, as soon as I start to notice this struggle, I need to remove myself from the situation so my brain can get a break and reset.

Sometimes, I can stay in the environment but redirect my mind to prevent the chaotic thinking struggle. I might close my eyes, I may need to tell everyone to stop talking for a moment. I do this by calmly redirecting the conversation with something like, "Slow down please. I am struggling to understand what you are saying." If I say it calmly, most will respond calmly. That helps.

The gist is that many of us get back to a more normal life by learning to moderate our environments so the triggers are less frequent.

A good day does not mean we can get busy and try to exceed our normal limits. This often results in that next day crash. The frustration at the next day crash can cause that recovery to be prolonged.

In my case, things improved very slowly such that I would finally notice that I could endure a trigger without a need to adjust and leave or such. I can go to any restaurant without my earplugs. It took 10 years for me. But, I have also learned how to respond to the noise.

It is frustrating but getting frustrated will usually make things worse. Taking a quick but calm action and starting a new step works best for me. Like, if I bump my head, I acknowledge the bump (ouch, or some short term response like 'whoops, that wasn't smart.' or I check my self thinking I bumped my head, I'm not bleeding, no big deal, let's move ahead) but it is a response that is finished. Not, "When will my head stop reacting to bumps? or other open ended responses. Open ended responses just feed anxiety.