Relapse after being "fine"?
 

Hi everybody (long time no see!)

I have a question about relapsing. I first got a concussion at the beginning of February 2012 (some of you may remember me from my visits to this board around that time.) I was doing a fairly good job of recovering until around August or September (?) when I got a second concussion (talented, I know.) It didn't seem nearly as bad as the first and I thought I was fairly recovered within a few weeks.

Recently, however, I was going back over some work I had done during 2012 and as I reviewed it, I realized that even during months when I was "recovered", work records reflected huge gaps in my memory and reasoning (oh hindsight...) Since then, I've tried to be more aware of how I'm doing concerning memory in particular and I've been noticing areas where I'm still struggling. Now today/yesterday (the 4th) I've noticed bigger problems with memory, simple math skills, mental fuzziness, etc. That head "aura" thing came back too, where I feel like there's a cloud around my head that puts pressure on my brain and keeps me from thinking. I've also felt emotionally brittle.

Anyone hear of PCS symptoms "hiding" then popping up noticeably months later for no apparent reason?

Couple of ideas here:

1) Have you recently experienced a stressful or emotional event?

2) Had the flu or been sick?

3) Experienced stress over the holidays?

4) Gotten away from eating right/taking vitamins?

5) Not drinking enough water?


Any of these can really take a toll on your brain and cause you to relapse. It's scary, I know. But go back to whatever worked for you the first time. REST is key to this! :)

I have been stressed but not in a way I would think is outside the normal level of craziness? Haven't been sick, the holidays were fairly low-keyed this year, and I'm diligent about my daily water consumption. My eating habits have been shifting some but I would say probably in a better direction than they have been? I've struggled with anorexic tendencies off and on and I was fighting a flare up in recent weeks so I've actually been eating a bit *more* than usual and being more relaxed about eating choices instead of being hyper-"healthy" (read: eating more like a normal person) and feeling better.

My version of "normal" in terms of stress involves quite of few intense stressors that are just fairly constant in my life, been like that before the concussions and have resumed if not ramped up since then, though I did try to take downtime to recover especially after that first one that was so intense. I guess I'm just puzzled that I've been "handling" all that stress until suddenly it seems like out of nowhere I've reset to months back?

That doesn't sound abnormal to me. I've heard of cases in which symptoms go away for awhile and then return later for no apparent reason. My own case is a little different: I suffered a severe relapse from computer work that left me far worse off than the initial injury. But my understanding is that it is not unusual for people to experience minor setbacks after feeling fine for months. As long as you take it easy during these setbacks and don't push yourself, it's probably nothing to be alarmed about.

Thank you for sharing! It's interesting that you mention computer work setting you off. I'm a freelance graphic designer so my work life plus extra I do as donation at my church is spent on a computer. These past few months have been filled with lots of fast-paced design projects. Maybe it's not that I've done too much overall but I've done too much of one thing? Or maybe like you said, there isn't a reason to be found other than "you hit your head and you're still recovering!"

absolutely! I was practically symptom free all of 2009, then boom mid-2010 i was hospitalized many times, for random stuff like hypersomnia, couldnt sleep for 6 days finally had to be IV medicated to sleep, a few for insane anxiety attacks, a few more for excruciating headaches, once for mood instability. Symptoms do go away at times but there almost certain to return at some point unfortunately and they usually hit pretty hard on their rebound. Certain things can trigger it like stress but other times its brought on for no particular reason.