Fatigue after 4 years
 

Hi-it's been 4 years since my accident. I fell and hit my head on a cement basement floor. My doctor says I had a mTBI and have Post-Concussion Syndrome. The symptoms I still have include fatigue, balance problems, short and long term memory problems, loss of focus and attention, and sometimes it is hard to get words out that I am trying to say. Also, I have weird vision problems. If I look any way but straight ahead, I feel off balance. This happens even if I keep my head perfectly still. For instance, if I am typing, and have to look some other place on the screen, I'll start getting dizzy and have to shut my eyes for a moment to feel right again.

Lately, my biggest problem is fatigue. For instance, I'll get up around 8:30 am. I'll feed my cat and dog and have my breakfast. While I'm eating, I read the news on CNN on my computer (I don't have a tv because on SSD, I can't afford it). So say I give myself an hour catch up on the news. After I've read that, I'm so tired that I have to take a nap. This is after being up only a couple of hours. That's crazy! After I've rested, then I'm better. It's the same in the afternoon. After doing anything, but especially reading or working on an article (I work - barely - as a freelance writer), my eyes just get so heavy they practically close on their own. Then in the evening, the same thing happens, only it's ok because it's bed time.

I know when I was first hurt, my neuro said that my fatigue was due to my brain trying to fix itself, and that any time I felt tired, I should take a nap. But it's 4 years now-shouldn't my need for these naps be gone? Or does just doing a small amount of reading or typing tire my brain out just as much as it did in the beginning?

Sometimes I feel that I just am lazy because I want to sleep so much, and I'm sure people must think the same thing.

Anyway, that's my question. Can fatigue be almost as strong after 4 years as it was when my brain was first injured?

Thanks for any help you can give me. (I'm ready to close my eyes now, just after typing all this--it's crazy, right?)

Just so you know, I am 63 years old.

Kathy

wow. I have problems six years later and fatigue is one of them. also, soreness, confusion when I wake up that lasts for a while and other things. this thing is a nightmarish gift that keeps on giving. from what I understand, the brain works harder to do things that it used to do with relative ease and that causes the fatigue.

iim interested to know if you're on disability for the tbi. I am on disability for depression but the depression is caused by the symptoms of the tbi. also what do your doctors say? do they still have hope for improvement. I have lost most hope and am just wondering after 6 years if ther's any chance for improvement.

I've had Chronic Fatigue for 36 years now. It has shown improvement. At its worst point I was fatigued 100% of the time. Now it's just one of the many symptoms I juggle; basically I need about twice as much rest as a "normal" person. For example, if a normal person needs 8 hours sleep, I must have 16.

Not trying to scare you. Please understand that I consider my situation to be a worst case scenario.

vitamin thread
 

Maybe if you add some vitamins and supplements to your diet, it might help some. I know that vitamins and supplements are no cure all, but see if you can do anything with nutrition to help yourself out.


sincerely,

pm

Kshort,

Your problem is very simple to solve. Stop reading the news for a hour. Try setting a 10 or 15 minute limit on reading the news. You will notice long before you become fatigued that you start rereading lines. As soon as this happens the first time, turn your screen off. Take a break for a few hours before returning to the screen to read.

At 63 or even 59 when you were injured, your brain was already in a deteriorating state, just due to age. The vitamin regimen at the top in the sticky should help your brain.

You may find that relaxing to soft music can help reboot your brain If you listen to music that has lyrics or a melody that you know by memory, your brain will not work to process it. It will be able to just follow along and enjoy the music without the stress of processing it as new information.

This should help you. I doubt you can tolerate more than a half an hour of reading in the morning. My wife made me cancel the newspaper because it was fatiguing me.

My best to you.

I wonder if you have ever had your vision (brain part) assessed by a neuro-opthamologist? Many people with brain injury/concussion have visual deficits. Sounds like you have something because of the reading problems.

If not, check out posts on neuro-opthamology, vision therapy, google NORA and vision, etc.
Good luck! Too long to suffer if there is something you can do for therapy.