Cardio good against fatigue?
 

Hey everyone,

It's been almost 6 months after my concussion and i feel close to normal again. I only have some mild tinnitus and fatigue left that has gotten way better with physio. But my question is the following. Can cardio training help against fatigue?

Now the fatigue is day and night difference conpared to the first 4 months. Initially i did not have to strength to go on a 5 minute walk and this isnt exaceration. Now i have picked up normal life again and I'm very happy. But i still have some leftover fatigue and always look tired when i see myself in the mirror. I already do some muscle strengthening excersises that i got from physio. This is lifting 8 kilo weight 40 times and 30 times superman position (sitting on hands and knees and lifting 1 arm and leg at the same time). I do this twice a week and have not setbacks. So I'm not afraid to do dose excersises. But i am a bit holding back on cardio because i find that more intense and i don't want to overdo it.

What do you guys think? Does cardio help against fatigue? I personally think I'm not only fatigued by the concussion itself but from months of extreme resting that brought my stamina way down.

No one has tips against fatigue? Up untill now i had the luxury to stay at home. But soon i will start a new job which i about a 2 hour drive. Meaning 12 hours a day devoted to work and being on the road. With this fatigue I'm a bit weary to start

Have you tried increasing your stamina by walking and standing for longer periods of time? perhaps even gentle movement like stretching - anything to just move more? I purchased an exercise ball to help with balance issues and to continue my PT activities here at home - AND gentle movement.

This is going to be my next big goal - to simply move more & sit less - but it's hard to get motivated with the relentless headache. It'll be easier to get motivated when the weather improves (it's extremely cold and snowy).

I kept trying and if I fell apart I would wait for a couple of weeks before trying again.

I was able to swim way before I could run again so I went with that. It was several months before I could get away with an extended elevated heart rate.

Your body will let you know when it's ready for the next level if you study it's signs without obsessing over them.

When I first started trying to reintroduce exercise to my day I could walk maybe 500' before exhaustion and I used 12 oz soup cans for weights. It was truly humiliating but I did manage to persevere as I was able.

It's all much better now, worth the struggle.

Bud

Bud

Thank you bud! I am indeed a bit worried of relapsing. It happened many times before. But now i feel i can take it up a notch since I'm finally functioning normal. I will be carefull in reintroducing excersise. I hope it can counter the fatigue.

Btw I'm not only asking this for myself but for a friend who is also going to pcs. For her it's much worse. She has it for over 3 year and told me it only got slightly better after 2 years. Her biggest problem is fatigue. I feel heartbroken to see someone suffering so badly for so long. Im meeting up with her soon so we can discuss some strategies that can hopefully help.

Yep the cold weather isnt helping much. Ive been gently introducing movements over the course of months. The doctor told me to try to resume daily life as much as possible. It took 5 months to finally be able to do household chores again and to go on walks without serious relapses.

If you haven't seen it yet, google "TBI Buffalo Protocol" and search this forum as well.
I've done something along the lines of that protocol at home on a stationary bike. The basic idea is to start at a very low heart rate for a short period of time and gradually increase it.

I think I started by keeping my HR below a 100 and for like 4-5 mins and seeing how that went for a couple of weeks. Then very slowly increased HR and time over the course of months.

Honestly I didn't really see any huge benefit in terms of improving my symptoms, but it did make me more confident in handling increased activity levels. Over the course of a couple years I was able to get on an actual bicycle and push my HR to the max on a 15 mile course.