Hello everyone, I am a new member to this site, but have been reading posts on here for a couple of months now. Last spring (2014) I felt very foggy and out of it, but all of my doctors (General Practice Docs) diagnosed me with having really bad allergies.

I was in the middle of my lacrosse season, so I played the rest of the season (7 weeks) and by the end started to feel a good ways better. I was getting alot of sleep after practice, and seeing as it was my second semester senior year (of high school) didn't do much school work.

I went through the summer feeling pretty good, with exception of one week when I felt foggy again. I thought for some reason my allergies were acting up again, so I got alot of rest, and started to feel better in a couple of days.
Once I was better I stayed better for about two months, and then everything got worse again. About a week and half into my freshman year of college I woke up one morning feeling very foggy.

I attributed it to allergies, and went right to the campus health center, where the Doctor agreed with me that it was allergies causing these symptoms. I also play college lacrosse, so I was playing "Fall Ball" from mid September to late October.

A couple of months of living with the fog and inability to concentrate went by, until I realized that allergy season was over, and that the symptoms were persisting. I was out to eat my my family, and I was getting very agitated when a baby was making noise on the other side of the restaurant. My mom then insisted that it had to be neurological, so I made an appointment with a concussion specialist (who is very highly regarded), and about 2 weeks later was diagnosed with PCS (early December).

(Thinking back on it, I remember doing something very dumb, and purposely slamming my head into a wall. In addition, I also had been playing lacrosse, so the concussion could have been caused by one of those.)

The doctor recommended good rest, hydration, school work (to help recovery), vestibular therapy, and 30 mins of cardio each day. Once I got diagnosed with PCS I cut all alcohol out of the picture for about a month (as I was drinking a moderate amount once or twice a week for the first 3 months of college). I was beginning to see some improvements around the time of the holidays, which triggered me to have a couple beers at parties over winter break.

The alcohol, along with lack of sleep caused me to feel alot worse again. So on January 1st (the day I felt the worst in the past couple of months) I got back on my regimen of vitamins, healthy food, good sleep, 30 mins of cardio, vestibular therapy, and no alcohol. It has now been a month and a half, and I am seeing some improvement, but still feel foggy. I went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago, and he said he thought it would be possible for me to feel better in a month (2 weeks from now). I have been feeling this way for 5 and a half months now.

My college lacrosse season is now underway, and I'd love to get back to playing, but my main priority is to get better, and go back with a low risk of getting another concussion. My vestibular system has improved alot. I have very good balance, my eye tracking is very good, and my reading has improved alot as well. My therapist was a huge help, but the Concussion Specialist said that my vestibular system is now good, and that I should stop going to therapy.

With that said, I still am very light and noise sensitive. I wear sunglasses in bright areas, and ear plugs in loud areas, which tend to make me feel alot better. At this point, I am willing to do whatever I have to do to get better, and not see brain fog ever again in my life. I used to be a very social person, and used to go to every party and social event.

This PCS has caused some problems in my relationships with my girlfriend, family, and college roommate. While they all try to be understanding, which I realize, and really appreciate, sometimes it's hard for them to be, which makes it hard for me as well.

Basically, I am asking anyone out there who has had a similar experience to me, to let me know what they think of it all, and to share how and when they got better. I like to think I'll get better, and I trust my doctor alot, but if anyone has any input on this please let me know.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Any positive and insightful input will help. I also tried to break my writing up so it's easier to read for everyone.

P.S. I have also been seeing a neurological Chiropractor for the past month, which may or may not have helped. I have seen some improvement during that time, but I'm not sure if it was from that, or from the concussion specialist's regimen put in place for me. Also, I rarely get headaches.

Mail_man,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

I am surprised that your highly regarded concussion specialist prescribed 30 minutes of cardio. That amount of cardio is usually not recommended until all symptoms are gone. Until then, exercise should be kept to a level that does not cause symptoms. And the recommendation to do school work is also not standard. Usually, somebody with PCS is told to reduce their cognitive load and take frequent breaks between study periods.

There is a key fact you need to understand. If you have seen one head injury, you have seen ONE head injury. No two are alike. The comment that you should be better in a month is just smoke. It has no medical basis.

There is no way you can return to LaCross and expect a low risk of another concussion. LaCross is a rough contact sport. You wear helmets because of the rough contact and risk to the head. You need to seriously consider whether the risk of future injury is worth it.

Thanks! The doctor is considered to be one of the best. He says that 30 minutes of cardio helps reset autonomic system (sympathetic and parasympathetic systems) which causes alot of the brain fog (i.e. why sunglasses and earplugs help) In terms of the recovery time, I agree with you that there is no concrete medical proof. I think he made that analysis based on the amount of other PCS patients he has seen in the past, and the relationship of my PCS in regards to theirs. In terms of Lacrosse, I'm going to take my time getting back. But do you think it holds true that the more rest I get, and the longer I am symptom free without playing lacrosse, the lower my chances of getting another concussion will be upon my return?

No, you can not change how your brain tolerates an impact. The more concussions and impacts your brain has suffered, the less tolerant it becomes.

I just googled "reset autonomic system" and got a wide variety of comments. I did not see any about cardio resetting the system. I would be interested in any links or direction to articles/studies about using cardio to reset it.

I've read some better articles about it, but can not find them at the moment. This one talks about how cardio/aerobic exercise lessons your sympathetic system (fight or flight) which is part of the autonomic system.

As I'm sure you know (seeing as you know much more than alot of people about this stuff) sympathetic system controls pupil dilation (which, when not working properly contributes to brain fog) and blocking out background noise which also contributes to brain fog.

So from my understanding, by reducing the "fight or flight" and increasing the strength of the parasympathetic, the cardio exercise slowly syncs the two together. Again, there are better articles that I've read before that pertain directly to PCS

I cannot post a link because I've only made 3 posts before (NeuroTalk won't allow me) but the name of the article is

"How Does Exercise Increase Sympathetic Nervous System Activity?"

and it is on the LiveStrong website

Mail_man,

I know exactly how you feel with people not really understanding what you're going through. I've often felt I'd have preferred to have a broken leg or arm after my car accident in November because at least then everyone would be able to see my injury and not look at me strangely in the supermarket when I bend down to pick up my credit card I've dropped and almost topple over. They honestly look at me like I'm drunk in the middle of the day.

I have heard from other sources that exercise helps recovery in pcs patients. However, when I try I get migraines for days afterwards. All I can do is go for walks. Do your symptoms get worse when you do the exercise?

If I work out too much and over exert myself, I end up feeling very foggy the next day (from being too tired). However, if I work out for an hour, and get alot of rest I tend to feel better after working out. For me, it seems that getting enough rest and not over exerting myself is key. Good luck with everything! I'm sure your recovery isn't too far away.