I play hockey in a rec league, so there really is no way to "ease" myself back into physical play. I either play or don't.

In a strange twist, playing actually helps my symptoms, eases my anxiety and gets me out of the house for a few hours. Overall, I feel better and more like myself when I participate. It's when I skip out on games and "hibernate" in my home, that I feel worse.

That being said, my symptoms are pretty consistent regardless if I play or not.

For my particular situation, I can play a 5 minutes shift (which is unimaginable for hockey) and be fine, but throw me in front of my computer at work and the symptoms start immediately.

Having a very difficult time understanding what's going on here or how to handle it.

Thoughts?

If the physical activity does not make your symptoms worse, it may be a good thing. Exercise is good for the brain.

Having said that, I personally would never play hockey again, even in a rec league. If you get another concussion (brain injury), your life could get pretty dark for a long long time. I had to grieve the loss of some favourite sports that i will never do again. It hurts to give up hockey and skating.l...especially at this time of year as I see my backyard skating rink taking shape outside my bedroom window. I can no longer risk joining my kids for a nighttime skate under the beautiful lights i have put up around the yard....or skate down the frozen river on the world's longest outdoor skating trail...which starts a few meters from my house.

You can tell I am still grieving. But considering returning to the hell I was in? Can't do it.

Please be careful!

This almost sounds like an eye issue. We had a opthamalogist say that my daughter's eyes were perfect but then more in depth testing show otherwise.

We did the other testing at UC Berkeley's vision center. If you call they might be able to help you or at least refer you to a center doing the same type of testing.

Best,

Hi. I came across ** recently. **"Jane McGonigal post concussion" **
She's given a TED talk about a game she created after her experience with post concussion syndrome. In this article, she describes having post concussion syndrome for over a year. She followed all the doctors orders (no tv, constant rest, etc...) for that time, and she wasn't recovering.

Again, I ask the question: If you're not going to get better, whether you are resting and avoiding symptoms or not, then why not just live your life? I'm not convinced that sitting in a dark room is the best treatment for this, or to take it a step farther, I'm not convinced that symptoms are something to be avoided (see my other post). We need to stop treating PCS like a concussion. PCS is NOT a concussion. It's triggered by a concussion.

Yeah I would definitely avoid doing any activity where you have a very high chance of getting hit in the head again for at least a year or as in my case I plan to try and avoid activities like that for the rest of my life.
I learned my lesson this spring already and still suffer for my mistake.

If you can handle physical activity then do it, I personally can't, but a friend of mine who went through PCS didn't have a problem working out to max capacity.

I have the same issues with my eyes, where if I spend a day without TV/Computer I feel much better, but several hours in front of a computer at work cause me issues although it is getting better very very slowly.
I've been to the neuro-ophthalmologist and he couldn't find anything wrong.

I definitely understand the risk for further impact. I've changed the way I play to be more aware of and alerted to my surroundings along with knowing my limitations in my old age.

Something inside me thinks a lot of what I'm going through is more mental than physical. It's when I modify and seclude myself that I feel worse. When I skip out on games, knowing full well that I can play them, my symptoms increase. Acknowledging the condition seems to make it worse.

I struggle with even identifying myself as having PCS because since day one of my incident, I have constantly focused on and worried exclusively on my head. I feel like I've "worried" my way into this predicament. The day of the incident and the few days succeeding it, I really had no hardcore or solid symptoms.

I'm on the same page. If you look at the commonalities between people who experience PCS, e.g. anxiety, depression, preoccupation with symptoms, etc..., it certainly seems like there's a strong mental component.

Not to say that the physical symptoms aren't real. They certainly are in my case. But I agree with you that they are likely triggered by something mental. That's why I think these physical "symptoms" that we experience are boogeymen.

There are a lot of things I can do. I also KNOW that the risk to my future if I were to suffer another head injury would likely be catastrophic. I have found less risky activities to fill my life.

Those of you who tend to think our symptoms are all in our heads (mental) miss the issue that concussion does cause mental issues in addition to physical issues. I doubted my symptoms. They confused me. I tried to live on as if they were just made up. Then, I started taking inventory of the events that were almost non-existent before my injury that had become common place after the injury. This confused me even more because in the past after a head trauma, I had been able to relearn and overcome PCS symptoms with a noticeable improvement early on.

I then had a neuro-psychological assessment. The report showed why I had these problems. I had a qEEG exam that revealed the same. 5 years later, I had another NPA that mirrored the previous NPA.

So, for me, I could stop thinking it was all in my head because it was all in my head, but physically, not mentally. The repeat NPA 5 years later after I tried to relearn lost functions showed the reality and in my case likely permanence of my symptoms.

What I find to be most helpful is accepting the lost function and working a way around it. I try to do what I can while minimizing stressful actions and events. I have learned that anxiety and worry and other negative emotions about my condition only hold me back. So yes, mental is a part of it but we can overcome the mental flip flops and move forward.

The " holding on to the past " stubbornness is the worst at preventing one from moving forward. This is the mental part.

Some may be exacerbating their symptoms with anxiety but I doubt the anxiety is the cause of the symptom. Just a catalyst. The additional FACT is that anxiety is a symptom of concussion that is physically caused. We can do a lot to minimize anxiety. It is a choice that we must make. No doctor or therapist can sold our anxiety problems without our compliance.

Hope you all can accept that you have suffered an injury and must play a big part in your recovery.

My best to you all.

btw, I just returned from our annual holiday dinner for our brain injury support group. These people live full lives with struggles that are a magnitude worse than those we suffer.

I think that what you say can be true but isn't necessarily true and most certainly does not apply in all cases. I have serious physical issues with the concussion....but do not suffer from depression or anxiety. I am a happy person who is suffering with this injury. I am not preoccupied with my symptoms...on the contrary, I am perhaps in denial!

Using the term PCS tends to obscure the fact that a concussion is a brain injury which physically alters the brain...probably for ever, even though we can heal.

I am curious about this whole exercise/rest debate. I hit my head about 3 months back and am still suffering from PCS. After my injury, I did not know I was injured and continued to work out for about a month. I did not feel like I was limited in the gym, except i would get light headed if I felt I was pushing it too far. The symptoms come and go and do not seem to be triggered by acitivity though. Now, I am trying to take time off from the gym and I feel as if my anxiety and depression has gotten worse. I want to be smart and let my body heal, but sitting in my room day in and day out is not helping my mood, which is the hardest part for me. Any suggestions?