Is 'Crashing' normal?
 

Hey, as stupid as it sounds, I don't want the Christmas holidays to arrive at the end of this week... I've been keeping myself busy and staying afloat mentally as I can. Yes, I know I should be resting, however with exams in early Jan I need all the preparation I can get. But I feel like I have a constant cloud in my brain!
The thing is, in the evenings now, I'm struggling to maintain awareness, follow conversation, tolerate noise/bright lights and, most importantly, continue studying. This always happened after my injury in October, however, I didn't suffer it greatly until 8pm-10pm.. some evenings, barely at all. It became early to approximately 7pm. And now, I'm on about 3pm.
According to my boyfriend, who's incredibly supportive, I got through phases of 'zoning out' throughout the day and in the evening/afternoons enter stages of 'crashing' where I become unresponsive, struggle to keep my eyes open and lose the abilities to talk. I'm apparently impossible to pull out of this state and it takes up to half an hour of gentle coaxing... in which I can become emotional and plead for him not to leave me. While I can remember these phases afterwards, they're hazy.

Is this normal? I'm probably working myself to hard and I realise I should rest, and I have really been trying by colouring and cutting out tv and music most of the time. Is there anything else I can do? I feel so frustrated, I want to get back to me as soon as possible.. (don't we all?!) But... I feel I'm fighting a never ending battle... I sometimes just want to give up..
Any advice would be greatly appreciated :) Thank you

ClumsyCharlie,

What you are experiencing is called sundowning. Your brain is becoming fatigued from your continuous efforts during the day. You may be pushing harder and harder as the days and weeks have gone by or you may be making your PCS worse by never giving your brain the chance to relax and "start" to recover. There is no way to know which is happening.

The business of Christmas with all of the auditory and visual stimulation may also be exacerbating your PCS. This has always been a rough time of year for me. Way too much stimulation.

The best thing you can do to help stave off this process is to rest during the day. The rest can be something as simple as finding a quiet spot and spending 5 or 10 minutes to just close your eyes and listening to some calming music to taking an actual nap. The more often you take these short time outs for your brain, the simpler they can be.

The key is to greatly reduce any visual and auditory stimuli.

You also should be avoiding caffeine. If you need caffeine to stay alert or awake, your brain is telling you it needs rest. Using caffeine to stay alert or awake is grossly fatiguing to your brain.

If you do not get some rest for your brain, your ability to be successful with your exams will be greatly reduced. Have you worked out any accommodations for your exam taking? You need extra time and a quieter environment than is normally provided.

I hope you can find a way to rest your brain. It sounds like you are only making your PCS worse.

My best to you.

wow, I can relate to 'zoning out', It comes and goes, but is mostly going..., hang in there