JB, I ask myself this same question daily. Since Feb of this year, I've increased my activity level via self-selected and mandated activities. This includes short walks (10-15 min), playing with the dog, interacting with my kids/wife more, medical appts, OT meetings, social, etc.

The net result of the increased activity has been profoundly negative on me. My tolerance to over-stimulation has decreased, issues with anger/frustration have increased, headaches are way worse, etc. I've been so frustrated by this decline that I'm at a loss.

For me, even limited activity that is no where near a "normal" daily routine is becoming taxing... however, sitting home and doing minimal activity that does not produce over-stimulation is frowned on by those over-seeing my recovery.

I'm not sure how much rest is too much, but for me more rest (I'm at 21 months with PCS) produces better days when compared to pushing things even slightly. Very frustrating.

Oh, btw, I think you have a doc that cares and is thinking about your issues... I'd say that's a good sign.

I still have a difficult time ascertaining what are anxiety related sumptoms or actual pcs symptoms and is the anxiety still pcs related?

I think it is very difficult to figure all this out....I am pretty convinced I am at a place where a number of responses to what was overstimulation are now learned responses to things that don't bug me as much as they did, like Pavlov's dog.

This is a very difficult journey we are on. I spend a lot of time asking God to help me see what is really going on so I can address issues correctly.

Bud

I think that it can be a danger, the anxiety symptoms over time can become ingrained if we're not careful. But in the same way we can physically change the brain by positive thoughts as studies in meditation have shown.

Thanks Super Electric for putting meditation into the mix!
BTW, what is depersonalization?

Depersonalisation is the feeling of not being part of reality.

I thought I'd throw this out there as I've experienced this personally. At 16 months post-concussion my benefits provider (e.g. disability) decided that my physician/health team was not doing enough. After explaining to them about my situation/limitations, they subsequently emailed me a direct quotation from my benefits contract essentially saying I was required to participate fully in my recovery or would face suspension of disability payments.

Following this, Sun Life called to inform me that I had two choices: i. I could engage in a more active recovery involving bi-weekly meetings with an OT, or ii. I could opt out and have my benefits suspended.

Needless to say, I was upset and ruminated on this strong-arming tactic excessively for months (and continue to). The increased activity levels since this call, though some it has been helpful, has put me in a downwards spiral with many more steps backwards than forwards.

My point to this is that, at least in my case, my activity level has been greatly impacted by Sun Life who feels they know more about my recovery than I do. That is, I don't necessarily have a choice. I hope others have not faced a similar situation, but I suspect they have.

I have been noticing that I feel the best if I sleep 7-8 hours a night. On the weekends I always sleep in, sometimes up to 10-12 hours and I actually feel worse throughout the day. I don't know why this is, but I'm pretty sure it takes me shorter to feel "awake" on days I sleep less whereas on days I sleep 10-12 hours I don't feel awake for the first 5-6 hours of the day.

Also, I always feel better in the 2nd half of the day. No clue why. One would expect it to get worse towards the evening, but it's the exact opposite for me.

Yes, I tend to feel better towards the latter part of the day, I've heard it mentioned on here before from others too. One theory is the that concussion can knock your circadian rhythm out of sync, like being in a different time zone. By the time I go to bed I sometimes feels wide awake but now I can deal with it. I really don't think it's worth sleeping for more than 8 hours unless you're ill, I don't think it's of any benefit.