Is it normal to still feel like I need a daily nap, of 2+ hours, after 4.5 months?

Yes, your brain telling you it needs recovery. Mine does it daily, but I still suffer from insomnia after the fall and nothing works. Lucky to get 3 hours of sleep in a 24 hr period.

What I've always been told is that naps are supposed to be very restorative. With PCS they feel very restorative.

My afternoon crashes this week have been bad, so I have been taking naps. I wake up feeling 100 times better than before. I didn't even fall asleep for more than 4-5 minutes yesterday after work, but I lied down for 25 minutes or so and when I got up I felt rejuvenated for sure.

Injured areas of the brain swell. When these areas swell, the functioning of the brain tissues in that area become impaired. Rest reduces brain activity, which helps to reduce swelling. New dendrites can't grow and redevelop in a swollen environment and neuroplasticity becomes becomes inhibited.

I tried to post the link but this silly forum software security is way overkill.

Oh, I almost forgot.

I need to be careful to not take too long of a nap or else I can't sleep through the night.

For the most part the reason I sleep is to try and kill a headache... I seem to be having them again daily and they are progressively getting worse over the last week. Sleep doesn't make them go away just makes me not feel I guess. I hope everyday when i fall asleep that i will wake up without a headache but never the less they are there all the time!

Nortriptylin and magnesium have helped with the insomnia a lot!!!

Naps are good for your brain

I am 3 years post and when some situation requires more energy of me than my body and brain can handle now, naps are another preventative strategy for me. I can tell when I've reached this point, because I'm too foggy to do anything that requires me to think.

During these times, I may nap everyday for at least an hour and when it's really bad a few hours. For example, my class for this semester is longer than I am used to and takes place twice a week instead of once. I've napped everyday and plan on sleeping a lot today!

Just listen to your body. It heals best when you are sleeping. Are you setting an alarm to wake up from your nap? (I've found that if I do this, I don't get really restorative sleep. I do best when I can just sleep until I wake up, provided I don't have anything I have to do or anywhere to be).

Sorry your headaches are bad this week. Has the weather changed where you are at? Ours is been very humid and unstable so I've had some bad ones recently too. (but it could be the change in schedule as well)

I do not set an alarm and I sleep as long as I can...

I think my stress is what is causing the headaches... I have a neuro apt next week and the topic will be me going back to work... the question is am i ready? Are my daily headaches going to get worse? Will I relapse? If I do not go back, will I still have a job? It is anxiety for sure!

I can't comment on the "normal" aspect of your question, but I can share my experience with naps.

My 2 year anniversary was back in Feb and in the last 2 years+, I've had a nap almost every day. My naps last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours depending on the day, what I've done, how my head is feeling and probably other factors like planet alignment.

That said, I have ZERO problems sleeping at least 8 hours every night, more if time permits. I'm one of the lucky few that sleeping is not a problem for and I can easily sleep for 16 or more hours a day if left to my own devices and the world and its demands don't get in the way. Only problem is, in 2 years, I've never felt refreshed, no matter how much I sleep, I still wake up exhausted.

I work closely with an occupational therapist and part of what her job is (as set out by my rehab doc) was to work with me on pacing strategies and incorporating resting periods into my day. She is basically the "nap police"

So if I follow her strategies and am "on program", I am napping a minimum of 2 hours each afternoon and sleeping a minimum of 8 hours every night. Following that, earns me a "gold star" in her book... getting less sleep than that and I risk getting her lecture again.

Again, I may be in the minority, but this is how its been for me for over 2 years and my OT expects this is how it will be for me long term.

And *I* do set an alarm to wake me up, otherwise I might not wake up. I also plan to do any cognitively demanding tasks soon after I wake up, either first thing in the morning or right after my nap, because while I'm not refreshed, I also know that's as good as its going to get and its all downhill from there!!

Pacing and Planning are the words my OT uses over and over and over!

Starr

I am seven years post injury and still cannot make it through the day without collapsing in the afternoon. I think it's a combination of my TBI disrupted night sleep and the fact that seemingly mundane tasks require so much of my focus and energy.

Like others I will say that although sleep has never been restorative since my accident, in the sense that I wake up and am like "Wow! I'm so alert and happy to start my day!" (I used to be one of those annoying morning people), I know that my functioning goes down hill as the day goes on. So I too try to get at stuff right after waking or I'll get lulled into apathy quickly.

I have found that even lying down, (once I consciously made the decision not to get annoyed if I didn't actually fall asleep despite how tired and drowsy I felt), for a half hour or so can help me reset a little bit.

But yes, napping is normal