Seems all the same
 

I really feel like there is and never was anything I could "do" to make my healing faster. Seems I could reduce symptoms which doctors seem to be telling me will actually aid in my healing but I'm not finding any real correlation to what I do and how much progress I make in recovery.

I do think in lessening symptoms I feel better because I don't hurt but I don't see any progress that is faster when I hurt or dont' hurt.

So, I keep plugging away at work. I have worked till 1am the last three nights in a row because it's my busy season.

I have been doing my exercises. Bit by bit.

I am seeing baby baby baby steps in my brains recovery. It's all happening but it's taking it's ol sweet time. I'm 3.5 months into this I think.

I'm definitely getting better. I think by 6 months I'll be better enough to really say I'm better and I hope by a year to feel fairly normal again.

freezer -

Glad to hear you're getting better, bit by bit. I seem to be improving too, but it has been a slow process - literally two steps forward, one step sideways, one step back.

I've been trying to make sense of the rest versus activity conundrum myself. I know a personal trainer who has worked with athletes who have suffered concussions. He says that where the concussion or symptoms are mild, it can make sense to do some light exercise and "push through" the symptoms. The University at Buffalo Concussion Clinic seems to take a similar approach.

On the other hand, the prevailing view seems to be: physical and mental rest until symptom-free, then gradually introduce activities, so long as they don't trigger symptoms. As a respected rehab professor said to me, "the key really is to respect your symptoms, don’t engage in activity that provokes symptoms. That allows the brain to heal and usually decreases the overall length of symptoms recovery time."

I tend to fall in the latter camp. Rest seems to be working for me, albeit very gradually. But I can easily imagine a different approach working for someone else - this seems to be the case with some of the athletes and non-athletes who have participated in the UB program.

The University of Buffalo Concussion Clinic specifically does not promote the 'Push thought" concept. Their protocol calls for exercise that is well below the concussion symptoms level. To add to this protocol is the standard that they do not even start their exercise protocol until at least 6 weeks post concussion.

freezer,

It is very difficult to notice an faster recovery as a result of rest because recovery is always slow and like a roller coaster. Trying to micro-analyze recovery on a day to day or even week to week basis is a losing battle.

If you are in your busy season and must work, then I suggest you learn to live with your symptoms until you can take a much lighter work load. I don't see how you can expect any level of recovery while working the hours you need to work.

I would expect those hours to actually cause you to get more intense symptoms. At least it is what I have experience for the past 40 years. Any prolonged stress, finals, intense work load, new baby, buying a new house, etc. have always cause a return or worsening of symptoms. I actually plan for a need to rest for two weeks or more after the stressful event.

Thanks, Mark. That is a more accurate description of the UB approach.

It's interesting, though. If you watch the university's promotional video of one of the athletes who had success with the program, he says, "at first when I started exercising, I had a lot of symptoms come back...but I just kept going with it, and then eventually after about a week or two I started noticing the headaches kind of diminishing...the nausea was one of the first things that went away too."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUEmfnIIhwM

This is what made me think there was an element of "pushing through" symptoms, even if theoretically the UB approach has its patients staying below the symptom threshold.

The question is simple. Did his symptoms go away from the effect of the exercising or was it a spontaneous recovery? I have known people who have struggles than in one week or two, all their symptoms are gone. Some times, there seems to be a recovery threshold that is reached and suddenly, great improvement is made in short order.

It's possible he recovered spontaneously, but how about the success of all the other patients? It's hard to believe they all spontaneously recovered. And considering the credibility of the institute and the success they are having, there must be truth and reason to their methods.

I am somewhat lucky to be part of sport concussion study right now. In 6 weeks I will be given a regulated exercise program personal to my sport, current fitness level and symptom level. Regardless of the outcome, I'm excited to be part of the study and learn what happens.

yes that is what i'm finding to be so strange. I don't have any increased cognitive symptoms from staying up late and working long hours. I would have expected that I would - but if i walk for 15 minutes.... then i notice symptom exacerbation. weird. I wonder if i'm simply over the cognitive symptoms as maybe they are seperate in nature. I just can't figure itout. I would have thought it would all get better at the same time. In the mean time I'm enjoying my cognition being back to normal.

Someone was mentioning that no one stays to tell everyone they are doing better. I felt 100% normal for the last 3 days. That hasn't happened once through the last 4 months till now. Maybe I'm finally better. I'm also completely off elavil and still feeling this way. After the long nights I pulled recently, this is a shock! Pretty exciting though.

I walked about a half mile today and went swimming yesterday. No issues. It's a bit bizarre!!

That is fantastic news - how encouraging! Keep it going!

I just wanted to say that I agree with some of the things said here! For me, when I was recovering from my concussion, I could spend HOURS and HOURS watching TV or on the computer, or staying up late and I would get no relapse in symptoms. But if I ran the car out to a friend's house I would get overstimulated.

I think being in the car was just a whole other level of processing my brain was dealing with. It eventually went away. It's just weird that spending hours reading or on the computer was not stimulating....but doing errands was. I feel like some doctor really needs to take the reins on this and start with interviewing people with PCS. Hell, I would do it if that paid me to :)

Each of us is affected differently by our injury - though there are many similarities. We can't expect our recoveries to happen exactly the same way.

There are basic guidelines which seem to be true for just about everyone, but a lot of it seems to boil down to - what can my own body handle?

I have found this site to be wonderful for increasing my awareness about my own symptoms. I lived in a fog for many months and really had no idea what was happening or why.

The more I learn about others, the better I'm able to figure out what's going on in my own life - and thus figure out ways to deal with it.

The important thing is to figure out what does or does not work for your own recovery.

I know, I know - easier said than done!! :rolleyes::)

Freezer,

Just curious: are you still feeling 100%? Is there anything you think was particularly helpful in getting you back to a functional state, or was it just a matter of resting / carrying on and waiting? Did you build up to the physical activity, or were you just able to do it all of a sudden?

Not only am I happy for you, but am naturally curious if the same will happen to me. Prayers going out for many more posts like this.

Very interesting to read about healing here.

I'm definitely better and i do think it was the graduated exercise program. I am hugely better and moving towards that 100% mark all the time. For now, most people would consider this 100%. I"ll feel 100% when i can do a triathlon again but yes, for all intents and purposes i'm 100% now and ready to begin slow training.

I think it was the exercise program because my biggest issue was not being able to join the physical world around me. Once I got to walking about 20 minutes in the program, i felt I could fit in with any regular activity. I'm moving on now to about 30 mins and will start increasing my heart rate soon.

does that help to answer your questions? i'll reread in a minute.

I do sure hope and pray that it does happen to you. That was a very difficult thing for me to go through and I don't wish it on anyone. Instead I wish a speedy recovery for you all. I know my injury seemed minor compared to the rest but nonetheless I was in the same boat and now better so I assume there is hope for all who are truely only concussed. You should by all means get better.

happy to hear you're better freezer. just be sure to take extra caution as you go forth. eg. if ur shoveling snow, wear boots that have have good traction so you don't fall. when you're walking down the stairs, use the rails. eliminate excessive alcohol consumption. usually when pcs resolves (according to the literature) they shouldn't come back unless do something to bring them back on

freezer,

Did you keep up the graduated exercise program (I remember your description of it) even when you had some symptoms?

The thing I wrestle with is whether to go for a short walk (in the pool or outside) even when I have a slight headache or ringing in my ears (my two main symptoms). The classic advice is to wait until I'm symptom-free before doing this, but part of me thinks that some very light physical movement may help the healing process along.

I for one always, always feel better after exercise. The morning after days I exercise pretty hard, my headaches seem to be milder than if I go a couple days without getting my heartrate up. I don't know why/how, but everything is better after a 30 min run, a soccer game, or a 2 hr bicycle ride. Your mileage may vary, but I don't think a completely sedentary lifestyle is healthy, even with a concussion/PCS.

My neuro said it was better to medicate lightly to reduce symptoms and stay lightly active than to rest completely. Easy walking is mostly what I've been doing.

Greenfrog - i always started the exercise while symptom free. If I did not feel well, I would postpone the exercise. I was at a point in healing however, that the postponement did not last long.

I would sometimes feel symptoms by the time I was done with the exercise but not always. I would always rest after that however. Rest at that point for me did not mean laying down in a quiet room. I was beyond that. It meant doing something not incredibly tasking.

Hope that helps. Don't think about it too much. just do what works at any given moment. Feeling great? do your exercise. Feeling poorly, wait.

and yes, the elavil helped me to feel better to get to the point of feeling like it was okay to exercise. I was also getting better with time so there was that all through the mix.

Thanks Confuused. I agree. My injury happend in my kitchen and I've joked about wearing a helmet around the house.

I don't drink so no worries there...

I certianly won't do anything like riding a bicycle or get on a motorcycle, etc without a helmet. No way. Not now. I used to be more free about those things. We have a small plane and I feel differently about it now. lol. I have to get over it.

OK, last question for freezer. Are all of your symptoms gone now? Did all of them go away at the same time? I think you mentioned ringing in the ears - has that gone too?

I'm just at a better stage of healing. I'm not completely done. I stood right between the drummer and guitar player of a live band the other day just for a moment and it made me feel a little funny and tired for about 10 mintues. I had to pass by them to get to the door to go to the beach so it was worth it. : )

I don't have ringing that I notice anymore but if I stop and listen it is there a little.

Everything is better but not completely 100% gone. However, it's not part of my thinking anymore. I say yes to whatever social activities I need to, I go out and walk the dog and don't think twice about it, I pick up my daughter and spin around as fast as we can, etc. Life is back.

Hope that helps.

You asked if they all went away at the same time? More or less but my physical symptoms seemed to linger longer than cognitive symptoms.

This is how I felt the last 3-4 days. I felt better for a few days in a row and noticed it but didn't want to push anything. I up and decided to ditch the Elavil. Why should I need a drug to be better? I stopped cold turkey.

About a day and a half later I felt my once permanent headache move from the top of my head down to the base of my skull. Later that night I felt my arm get weak, shaky and cold. I could barely lift my arm, let alone pick up a pencil. I alerted my family I may need to go to the ER, because then "it" moved to my upper arm and down my body into my left leg. Cold, shakey, weak, etc. This went on for about 20 minutes and then it was done. After that I was fine. I was better, I felt majorly healed.

Sounds weird I know. I was hesitant to post it because I don't know if it's all related. Who knows, maybe I was having a stroke. : ) I doubt it but who knows what that was.

Nonetheless, that's what happened!

I hope it helps. I know everyone is different so I didn't post that earlier but some of you seem to be curious.

In my opinion, the graduated exercise and extra aspirin I was taking (low dose - I take it for a blood clotting disorder that is genetic but i've never had a clot or any sign of trouble - they gave it to me after a DNA scan) simply helped my circulation regain it's pre-concussion state. I was clearly not getting enough blood in my brain when the symptoms were so bad. I think those two things and TIME (you cannot discount the simple fact that it was 4 months post injury) healed me.

Best of luck to you.

see this thread

My Mood: AGGRESSIVE!!