In my opinion, if the math does not make her symptomatic I would let her try, even if she can do 5 min and that's it, then that's a start. with this situation, you will get two pieces of advice on opposite ends of the spectrum, some will say, no, do not attempt it, others will say if you don't use it you will lose it. I have both views told to me from people in the medical field. I am glad we started my son back with math. He took his time, at first it is difficult, but then all of a sudden, things started falling back in place. The stress of him getting behind and not being at school was not good for his brain as well. recovery is aimed so much toward each individual and what makes them symptomatic, what they can/can't do. Without trying you won't know what they can/can't do. It's such a hard process, I wanted a set of rules, but there are none in recovery. She just really needs to listen to her brain and what it can or can't do. Let's say reading doesn't bother her, I would say go for it, until she feels worsening symptoms starting to come on. Then switch to something else as Mark stated. I was told for my son to attempt puzzles, such as suduko etc (as long as it doesn't make him symptomatic) that every time info runs down a nerve path, the brain will recognize that that portion is not processing correctly and send a message to the other portion of the brain that that area needs help, and start the regeneration process. If that portion has experienced neuronal atrophy, then other portions of the brain will begin to make up for that portion that isn't working properly.----- but then I have also been told to rest that it is like a bruise that needs to heal, all by medical professionals that supposedly specialize in this. SO FRUSTRATING. but, I would say just really pay attention to what makes that headache go from a 1 to a 5 and let her learn to recognize the onset of that and learn how to back off. (I hope I am making sense) Mark has a fountain of info and has done a lot of research as well, he is a good go to and is on often on here. Slow and steady is probably my best advice. It is a slow, straining hard process, but the brain is amazing, it does heal itself, little by little, she will get better. My son was so much worse 4 moths ago, he is not fully healed, but has made great progress. Slow, but progress. He is driving, going to school, maintaining a 4.0 (he has honors and advanced classes) i didn't know what was going to happen four months ago. Now we are moreso dealing with mood, and depression-- which didn't seem to start hitting him until the 2 to 3 month mark. I just have to remind myself that his brain is healing, and this probably won't be a fast fix either. Church still sets my son off (he just is very tired towards the end of sundays, and will sometimes get a headache), I think it's the lights, all the people, the singing---it's a lot for the brain. i would say let her take Sacrament and then maybe excuse herself into the foyer and let her read if that isn't causing her symptoms. This experience is no fun at all, and I know how you are hurting for her, but I know things will get better. It's just slow :(

I don't believe the "Use it or lose it" claim of many. The brain does not lose information or skills except in severe situations. They just become dormant. They can be relearned much easier because the information is still there. The pathways to that information just needs to be reawakened. I had to retrain my mind with math skills many times. It was never like I needed to relearn. I just needed to refresh the skill.

I had a NeuroPsych Assessment last month. My skills are no different than in previous NPA's. My memory is still horrible but my prompted memory is much better. Prompted mean that with just a little clue or reminder, the memory becomes available. This is what I experienced with academics. Just a bit of a reminder and the pathways to the memories were reawakened. Then, this information can be stared in new memory location that is more accessible. It takes a bit more work the second time but it is not like learning from scratch.

A problem I have is trying to process a long multi-step formula. I need to break it down into many simpler steps. I believe my problem is a reduced digit span that limits my ability to hold multiple items in memory at the same time. I have the same problem trying to comprehend complex and overly descriptive sentences. I get a sense of being lost trying to juggle too many concepts.

These problems gave me a new empathy for people with learning and comprehending difficulties.

headache 24/7 3 monts aftre concussion
 

Helo, my daughter has 24/7 headache 3 monts after concussion with light and noise sensitivity. Our neuroligist recomends antidepressants, but I ma very worry about withdraw affect of them Elavil for example seems very scary reading the posts and the symptomps of withdraw are much worst for some people then orininally treated. I ma not sure if we should just continue to wait it out. Any comments are welcome, my daughter is 14 yeras old.

Elavil (amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant) is usually prescribed at a very low dose, 10 mgs or so. It is usually well tolerated. I have not heard of people having serious withdrawal problems with this low dose. An SSRI would be more problematic. You can often get good information about a drug from your pharmacist.

Has she had any treatment for her upper neck ? This is often a cause of head aches. It may help to ice her upper neck. A day of on and off icing would be worth a try. It is reduces her head aches, it points to neck inflammation. If she has any tenderness at the bony part behind her ears, this is indicative of an upper neck injury. They can be very subtle and still cause head aches. These head aches are sometimes responsive to Botox injections.