how long
 

Hi all,

I am 4 months into my PCS symptoms and 5 months since my concussion, I have shown vast improvement in the last month. But I still have a constant headache and my symptoms are still lingering.

I know its hard to tell how long it will last and if I will ever be back to 100% but thats what i want to know! having a time frame to work to i believe will help my recovery so so so so much!!!!! so my question is how long do most pcs symtoms last?? and when will i be back to ''100%''

markmark,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. As you already said, you will never be back to 100%. But that should not stop you.

The time question is as irrelevant as it is impossible to answer. The more important question is what have you been doing to facilitate your continued recovery.

Please tell us about your injury and yourself. Do you have a history of contact sports or other concussions?

What like of lifestyle do you lead? Do you party and drink?

These all contribute to your prognosis. Understanding how these thing effect your recovery and future possibilities of relapse is important.

So, tell us about yourself and the other details and we can offer support and suggestions.

My best to you.

what do you mean by never be back to 100%?

No one is ever the same after PCS/TBI. The best one can do is make work-arounds and even then symptoms will surface at least now and then.

As roadrunner said, you will encounter a return of symptoms from time to time. Stress will cause a return of symptoms. You will be more sensitive to future head impacts. You will likely have more and different hang-overs if you drink alcohol. Nobody can predict when the ups and downs will come. Just that when they do come, you will need to reduce stress levels and maintain good brain nutrition.

I have lived with this roller coaster for 40+ years.

I consider a full recovery from TBI/PCS to be when you understand how to play the cards you were dealt, your coping skills will get better, you threshold of headache pain will improve, you learn ways to trigger your memory easier, you'll accept that you are no longer the old you, that's when you're 100% again, its 100% a different you though. Not sure the extent of your symptoms but I'm 7yrs 1mo into my severe TBI and I still have many problems (memory, anxiety, ADD, 10-15 day/mo headaches, sleeping for 24hrs straight, not sleeping for 4 days straight, depression, the list goes on) you learn to adapt honestly. The worst one are the headaches, I hope the best for you with those. You will improve greatly over time but never think you are cured or in the clear, there's always the chance of set backs and when they come they seem to hit fast and hard, not to be a buzz-kill about it but you should know it is a possibility. The first time I had a relapse in symptoms I completely broke down mentally and emotionally, I couldn't believe after all the work, doctors, meds, effort i put in I felt as bad as I did in the beginning its devastating especially if you don't know that it can happen at any point. Again I don't know about your injury, your symptoms or severity but that's my personal experience with my head injury (i was a 6 or 7 on the Glasgow Coma Scale)
I hope the best for you on your journey! Good luck with your symptoms, if they persist look on this site for ways to reduce/ deal with them. I find the community of TBI/PCS people who've been dealing with the same issues more helpful than doctors these days :)