Doozer,

You said "So Mark, if a person had a concussion and their symptoms are consistently bad with a certain activity, with zero improvement over a very long period of time would that indicate that the nerves handling that activity are dead and gone? As opposed to symptoms which only come and go in general, which would suggest that nerves are injured and, given enough time, able to regenerate to almost their previous abilities? "

You are trying to read too much into my comments. You can not ask such a general question and get a specific answer.

If a certain activity causes symptoms, one can often see what it is about that activity that is causing the symptoms. Often, it is only a limited characteristic of the activity causing the problems.

None of these issues are about nerves dying.

Can you list specific activities, the surrounding circumstances when you do those activities and the symptoms that result ?

And, regeneration of nerves, even to almost their previous abilities is a false statement in the context you are using it.

Symptoms come and go because of triggers, etc. that exceed the tolerance of the brain as it uses large numbers of complex nerve pathways. Some nerve pathways are stronger and more tolerant than others.

Trying to define exact cause and effect is a losing battle. Even the experts cannot do it.

The point of my comment is that if you can do an activity during your best times, that should give hope that you can improve on that function.

What activity/function have you not been able to do for a long time ?

If I try and watch a movie with fast moving action, playing a video game which has 3D depth perception or high levels of brain use, such as a game of chess which takes a long time or some kind of real time strategy game on the pc which takes a long time. I can't pinpoint precisely the exact things within these parameters which will trigger a setback, but if I do any of these for over an hour I am in danger of having a setback. Any of these things were totally off bounds when I first was injured. Sometimes, for whatever reason, symptoms vanish altogether and my brain appears to function normally again. No symptoms at all.

This may not sound like a big deal to some, but to me it has been a massive blow. My job was in the creative industry, which both involves staring at a computer screen and high levels of concentration. So I've lost my job and I've lost most of the things I enjoyed doing in my spare time. I'm hopeful that one day they will return.

Also, the symptoms I typically experience if I go into a full blown setback are a headache, anxiety, depression (mild), tingling on the site of injury and down the back of my neck, body temperature changes, nausea, feeling very unwell in general and sometimes a strained feeling in my eyes.

It sounds like you need to expect problems for a fast action movie. If I decide to push the limits like that, I plan on needing to recover. Same goes for the 3D game. The chess game is different. You need to learn to do complex thinking with a relaxed mind. It sounds odd but once you learn, it makes sense. I had to learn this relaxed thinking skill because my brain freezes up under pressured thinking.

The above are not necessary ADL's (Activities of Daily Living) so I don't put a high value on them. I learned 40 years ago that I and the people around me do not like my personality when I engage in too much high stress thinking. I've gotten involved in activities and projects that caused me to push those limits and that less desirable personality returns.

I learned that I do not have the right or a need to live with an intense mental drive, especially if it negatively affects people around me.

I learned that I do best with intense tasks that are finished in one day with no overnight period to ruminate around family. Or, I have to be able to shut off the overnight desire to solve or plan the project. One way I can reduce this overnight intensity is to commit tasks to paper. Once I write them down, my brain can let go. Often, writing things down is a better way for me to organize the task for when I return to it.

It sounds like you enjoyed an intense life with plenty of adrenaline rush. That can be difficult to let go of. But, I wonder what your personality was like when you were in the throws of an adrenaline rush. Did people feel like you had to be in control of even the little inconsequential things ?

Just some ideas to think about. Maybe you wife can help you understand if that intense activity induced personality is good for the family.

I have been able to take on computer oriented tasks, I just need to do them differently. I learned that if I tried to rely on my mind for multi-tasking and memorizing, I would struggle. But, if I used the computer as my memory by using multiple windows to break a task down, I could do complex tasks.

First, I have to accept that my old way of juggling all the thoughts in my head was doomed for failure and caused stress and irritability. I would work with 2 computers and 3 displays. The single screen computer was my thinking computer used for finding information, calculating, etc. The other computer with 2 screens (2a and 2b) was my project where I refined small concepts on 2a and pasted them into the final project on 2b.

This system meant I did not need to juggle very much information in my head.

It requires humbling yourself to your injury's limitations rather that fighting against them. The pride of 'This is the way I have always done these tasks' needs to be resolved. It is counter-productive.

I hope this is making sense to you, Doozer.

If others find this helpful, a simple 'Thanks' would be appreciated. I'm not always sure people understand what I am trying to say.

So in simple terms, avoid the screens to heal quicker. My limit for recovery is on my best times. That is what I need to aim for. It's such a slow process that the progress I have made so far can't be noticed month on month, I have to look back and remember how I was 6 months ago and think "yes, I was quite a bit worse back then, the symptoms were pretty much constant, and recoveries from set backs took 6 weeks"

The reason this represents such a problem for me isn't because I like to control every aspect of my life, it's due to boredom. Due to limitations on any activity requiring concentration, it doesn't leave me with much to do with my time. I feel like an animal pacing up and down in a poorly kept zoo some days.

Thanks for the replies so far Mark. Appreciate it.

You keep redefining what I have said. I did not say avoid screens. I said moderate screens. Are you limited to only 3D video games and fast paced action movies ? There are lots of other things that are not so over-stimulating.

You sounds like you are determined to want it all back vs want some of it back. There is a lot of 'some of it' that we can still do.

What is most important is to reduce the peaks of stimulation. There should be a level of stimulation that you can tolerate. You may need to just mourn the loss of your previous high intensity life and find a lower intensity life than you can develop into a full life.

It is the continuity of good days that helps with recovery best, not the sum total of sporadic good days.

You would likely also benefit from some help with your OCD like tendencies. You seem to get focused on small details and needing a definitive answer to questions about those small details. This is a stressor. The brain struggles to let go and the ruminating creates a cascade of chemistry that is not good.

Regarding things to do. I have found a wealth of informative YouTube videos for just about every issue. Past TV episodes like Modern Marvels, Discovery, History etc. can occupy hours, or at least those times when you just need a distraction. Most are not fast paced.

I stick on my headphones and zone out watching these.

You're right, I am determined to get my old life back. And since that old life does indeed come back for up to 3 to 4 weeks at times, I know it's possible. I just need to find the will power to keep away from the setbacks to speed healing. Finding an alternative activity to pass my time whilst that happens is something I tend to struggle with.

I'm learning by reading all this. I'm too early, probably, to really see any trends, well, maybe a little . .

One thing about the brain. It is super-plastic, meaning it for the most part rewires any way it pleases. I like the theory that a sub-circuit is damaged and has a lower threshold of stress/use to malfunction. Exactly why Doozer and others cannot predict when though is puzzling. But if symptoms lurk like that it seems to imply that the brain hasn't really tried creating anything new. I suspect that for some ailments, healing IS learning.

If you are up to your past functionality for 3 or 4 weeks at a time then crash, you need to figure out what caused the crash. An evening of 3D video games, a fast paced movie ? I don't think your need is healing. I think your need is accepting those few triggers and learning to avoid them.

Your life will not likely ever be back to what it was. You will likely always have to be aware of a few trigger activities. If you feel your life is incomplete without those trigger activities, then you need to plan on setbacks after those engaging in those trigger activities.

It could be that pushing into that adrenaline rush so many pursue is what is setting you back.

The injured brain never heals back to the pre-injury condition. It will always have some weakened functions. Those weakened functions will become more prevalent when they are stressed. Many hardly ever notice those weakened functions until rare times of stress. It sounds like your lifestyle tends to include those stresses more frequently and to a higher degree.

Now I'm a bit confused, at the start of the thread, you said that "if you have issues with screens sometimes but not others, your issue with screens is not permanent" now you think my issue with screens is permanent? In the past I have had weeks of being back to preinjury screen time. Then without warning my brain just craps out. It makes absolutely no sense and is the most frustrating thing you can imagine.