After suffering a small hemorrhage and a nasty concussion I rested at home for a few weeks and returned to college feeling OK. I laid low and finshed the quarter and returned to Spring quarter feeling good as new. I resumed my usual activity slowly but surely including drinking, smoking, and going to the gym almost every day. For about 6 weeks it was great and it felt so good to be back to normal. One morning, however, I woke up and the dizziness and the fogginess returned and I have felt this way for about 2 weeks now. I'm scared because I didn't ever imagine the symptoms could return after haveing them for about a month after the incident. Can anybody help explain why they returned? Also does alcohol and/or going to the gym make the recovery slower? Any help is greatly appreciated

Matt22,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear you got hurt. But, I am not as sorry your symptoms returned.

Yes, you over did it too soon. The alcohol and smoking are the biggest problems. When you work out, you do not want to push to fatigue. The muscle break down and such toxins with out you on your butt.

If you relapses so quickly and so intensely, you probably need to start living a much cleaner life. You have shown that your concussed brain is intolerant of stress and toxins. This is not uncommon with PCS.

I bet this is not your first concussion, or at least not your first head impact. All concussions leave you brain with some unhealed injury. This accumulates as concussions and sub-concussive impacts accumulate.

If in the past, you have drunk to a stage of blotto, this also contributes to your accumulation of brain injury. You will do best to limit alcohol to one serving per day.

Also, limit caffeine to one serving per day and avoid artificial sweeteners, especially Nutrasweet/aspartame/Equal.

There are other nutritional suggestion many of us follow to help our brains recover and strengthen but we can discuss that later.

This should help you get started in the right direction.

My best to you.

I want to thank you so much for your insight! It was foolish of me to think I was 100% ready and im glad i know now that my body is not nearly ready to do what i did before. My body is the most important thing iv'e learned. Thank you for the nutritional help as well! You made me feel welcomed to the forum and I just have a few more questions. Do you think it's ok to start doing light aerobic exercise because I heard that can help? Also will anything make it worse, or will the recovery time just be prolonged? Such as working outdoors for a summer job. Again thank you very much!

Matt22,

If you want to do light aerobics, you should wait until you settle down. A light walk with soft soled shoes or on grass should be OK. If you start to notice any symptoms at all, stop. By any symptoms, it can be just a moment of feeling lost, or difficulty focusing, difficulty remembering which way to turn at a corner, getting glassy eyed, etc. Learning to recognize the first signs of a return of symptoms will become a valuable skill. Once you can recognize that, try to figure out what the trigger was.

For me, getting startled by someone honking a horn unexpectedly can cause me to need to stop and refocus. If you are reading, needing to reread a line is a sign. Losing track of what someone is saying can be a sign.

When these events happen, rather than getting frustrated or mad, just pull back and refocus. Then look around for the trigger. You will learn to be much more observant of your surroundings.

For nutrition, start with a B-12 (500 to 1000 mcgs), a B-50 complex, D3, all of the anti-oxidants, Omega's, magnesium, calcium, good protein for the amino acids (pork is the best), and stay away from high sugar foods, especially high fructose corn syrup.

If you like to work out hard, this nutrition regimen will help maintain a strong blood-brain barrier to protect your brain from toxins in your body.

If you are going to work outdoors, stay well hydrated, wear a wide brim hat, and take a break if you start to get glassy eyed. If you work with loud equipment, wear good hearing protection. Sound can be a big brain stressor.