Everyone is different. As we are fond of saying here, "If you have seen one brain injury, you have seen ONE brain injury"

Also in my 60s (50s then) I had a severe TBI. My recovery was gradual rather than having a turning point. If I were to identify a turning point it was when I began to be able to understand WHY I was doing stuff. Example, instead of remembering how to perform an =AVERAGE command in Excel, was "what will this tell me that is important?"

Best to you

Thanks for this.
Having low day today when cannot do a thing because of fatigue. Walked i mile. That's about it. Still off work. I teach and I miss my job SOO MUCH!!
I worry that I have made this worse by reading like mad on first week of injury..and watching TV..no one told me not to! Until ten days in when severe dizziness started and now can hardly type this at 4 weeks. Very down. What is life without reading??

If reading or watching TV did not cause you headaches or fatigue, it did not likely cause any negative issues. If you feel you need to push through when reading, such as reread a line or lose sense of where you are in a story or concept, stop and take a break.

The minimal mental exertion protocol is just the first 24 to 48 hours. After that, stimulation that does not cause or increase symptoms is fine because it encourages blood flow to the brain.

It helps to learn to recognize the early onset of fatigue. For me, it was needing to reread a line of text or missing a bit of dialogue on TV or any sort of, 'I missed some of that.' feeling. I spent my days switching between activities. TV, computer, putzing around in my garage/shop, taking the dogs for a walk, and such. I may start spacing out after only 10 minutes or I may be able to last 2 hours. Each day was different.

For me, the key issues was quality of sleep. If I did not sleep soundly with good breathing, my day would be miserable, as we called them, 'Not a driving day.' If I slept well, I could accomplish much more.

I have learned sleep hygiene skills to the point that I fall asleep in just a few minutes. I wake up naturally in 5 or 6 hours with no sense of disturbed sleep. It took a long time to learn these skills. I encourage you to consider how you feel when you wake up and whether you are getting quality sound sleep.

My best to you.

Thanks again. It.s 4 weeks now..and I was better in week one lol. Actually I did not take any cognitive rest in first 48 hrs. No one told me to. Now even this rep,y is hard on eyes. And gives headache. Worst if anyone phones..I live alone now..I can,t talk for more than 15 mins.. the more I say..the more headache I get. Hoping for some changes soon!!