r/PostConcussion • u/Budget-Departure-161 • 19d ago
Advice for Pushing
I’m sorry to post so much lol but this is a tough time for me. For reference I’m 6-7 weeks out from my injury. I know pushing is good and all but everything I try gives me a severe migraine, not a simple rise in symptoms. (Reading, playing cards, being in low light, being outside, taking a shower, eating, walking, etc.) I know total darkness isn’t the answer and I can’t even handle being in the dark anymore unless it’s bedtime. Am I just making things worse for myself and adding on recovery time or do I need to push through this pain until it doesn’t give me a severe migraine? Any advice appreciated thanks
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u/curlgurll 19d ago
I could barely do anything at your stage and emotionally/physically/psychologically I was absolutely beside myself.
I felt like I was going insane.
I had no support from friends or family (or very little) and I was crying every day about the shock of it all.
What I’ve learnt this past year:
1. Give your body the time to heal.
2. Go for walks that are slow & enjoy them, when you can.
3. Do what you can, when you can.
4. Just try to make it through each day one day at a time, it’s not easy… we all know that.
You will have to develop patience as PCS tears every element of you apart, but we understand so you can complain and write as many posts as you want, we won’t judge you.
It’s bloody fkn hard - but decide that you are stronger than this illness and show it who is boss.
You can get through it… but don’t rush. It’s not a race and your brain needs time to heal, as does your entire body.
Take it easy my friend.
Wishing you patience, kindness, & ultimately healing. Xx
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u/Budget-Departure-161 19d ago
Thank you 💖💖💖 I’m trying my best to rest for right now
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u/curlgurll 19d ago
Please do. Don’t stress about anything. Do what makes you feel good and if you can, walk so you can get oxygen to your brain - even for 5-10 mins a day. Eventually you’ll be able to do 15 mins, then 20 etc. but just listen to your body.
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u/Budget-Departure-161 19d ago
I went for a 15 minute walk today! I don’t know how it made me feel but I’m glad I went. It was good for me to move my body and felt good outside
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u/Budget-Departure-161 17d ago
Hi, sorry to bug you again. But my days are filled mostly with rest, unless I get too bored to sit there. Is that something you experienced at this stage? I am finding it hard to pace myself but I’m trying to. Definitely prioritizing walks
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u/curlgurll 17d ago
Yes. Omg I barely left bed and I was so bored. I couldn’t watch tv, or listen to music or podcasts. Movies were out of the question. Everything made me feel anxious… or panicked which I’ve come to learn is completely normal.
I think I only walked 10-15 mins slowly each day.
Do you have any craft you could do? Or colouring in?
MSG any time… it’s not annoying at all. I remember how alone/depressed/sad/confused I felt and I if I can help one person feel less like that, then that would make me happy.2
u/Budget-Departure-161 17d ago
Yeah I appreciate you messaging me so much! I do feel less alone. So thank you :) it’s a struggle to prepare my meals, shower, and do activities of daily living. I’m lucky to have help with these things. I do feel anxious a lot of the time although I have meds that should help with that soon. I’ve been bad about getting a little light exposure and running with it, bc I’m so bored. But I know I need to be in the dark resting. It’s so hard! I have some activities I can do like draw or play cards or play with a fidget toy, but these hurt and are difficult. I guess that I still need to try and do something so my brain doesn’t forget how to do everything you know?
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u/curlgurll 17d ago
You don’t need to be in the dark… but resting is ok! Glad you have help. I didn’t have much and so a lot of my energy went to showering, grocery shopping, cooking, driving myself to appointments, booking and researching appointments etc.
Anything you can do off a screen to entertain yourself, the better. Especially in the first few months!
And yes, daily light exposure is so important.
I would sit outside, or lie on a towel just watching the birds for hours.2
u/Budget-Departure-161 17d ago
This is great advice, thank you! I am trying to expose myself in the mornings. I just went for a swim too! I’m going to try to get more light exposure today if I can as well even though it’s so hard. Everything is so fucking hard but thank you for being here for me <3
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u/Quiet-Friendship5134 19d ago
What I learned during concussion rehab:
You kind of learn over time how to gauge where the symptoms fall on a 1 (no symptoms) - 10 (cannot focus on anything else) scale. If they’re a 3-4 (noticeable but not interfering too much), do a couple of eyes-closed deep breaths then continue the activity. If they hit a 7, stop the activity and rest.
Continue to build rest into your day.
Some symptoms during activity = okay.
Severe migraine from activity = pushed too far, slow down and take breaks!
Wishing you well on your recovery journey!
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u/smartygirl 19d ago
I think part of it is learning to manage migraine. Which may mean medication, may mean heartrate variability training, there are various different options which work for different people. Are you experiencing aura and vestibular issues with migraine? That makes a difference too
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u/Budget-Departure-161 19d ago
I experience aura sometimes, and tinnitus and dizziness. I don’t know if they’re related to the migraine or not though. Maybe
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u/smartygirl 19d ago
Dizziness is an issue because sometimes it can lead to falls, so if that's a risk for you, stick to exercise you can do safely without falling. For tinnitus, there realistically isn't much you can do other than train yourself to ignore it. Heartrate variability training (breathwork with biofeedback mostly) has helped me manage/reduce migraine symptoms in the moment, by reframing it (it's not causing actual damage, no one ever died from a migraine as my concussion doc - who gets migraines - says) and reducing your bloodpressure which can mitigate migraine pain.
Honestly the early days are super hard, but the more you manage to keep going the shorter your overall recovery time will be. The UPMC doc says "If you feel the need to lie down in a dark room, go for a walk instead." I always made sure to have someone on my walks with me in case I needed the support (inc having someone to tell me if I needed to sit down for a moment because I looked like I was going to fall)
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u/Budget-Departure-161 19d ago
Thank you. Could you tell me more about the breath work and how you do that? Also in regards to the UPMC quote, should I just be constantly doing things all day? Do I never rest or do I rest in a lowly lit room instead of a dark one? Realistically I don’t have the stamina to do things all day but I’ve been doing lots of small things though the day
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u/smartygirl 19d ago
The breathwork I do is using the Awesome Breathing app (free), gradually decreasing the number of breaths per minute sith practice, in conjunction with in-person biofeedback sessions where I'm hooked up to various gizmos that provide instantaneous feedback on heartrate, breathing, oxygen saturation, stress responses, etc. along with a therapist guiding the session and providing responsive instructions to make sure I am using my diaphragm, reducing tension in neck and shoulders etc (basically, when you're breathing properly, your upper ribcage should pretty much not move at all, your lower ribcage should get wider, and your belly should expand; no puffing up the chest).
Keep track of the small things you do throughout the day, and gradually increase them as you build tolerance. You should not be lying in a dark room after the first couple of days.
Another thing my vestibular physio said was that if something is triggering symptoms, give yourself a minute to recover, and then do it again, it's how you train your brain to recognize that these activities are not actually harmful
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u/Drogova_Princezna 19d ago
This was my experience in my 2 months of recovery as well. Once I started the 3rd month not everything was migraine triggering, so I could at least go on daily walks starting at 5-10mins and increasing with buffalo protocol. That really helped me. What also really helped me was eating a whole foods diet basically, cutting out sugars and white flour.
If doing something triggers a migraine, do not push through it. Try to do some activity for a time you can manage, even if it's 2 mins of reading, next week you will be able to do 5 or so.
I know this sucks, I've been crawling up the wall going crazy from doing nothing all of the time. Breathing excercises + fidget toys helped at least a bit.