Cognitive Fatigue after a brain injury

[DrB]

Some survivors will require more sleep than others. Some will sleep significantly more hours (ex.10 to 15 hours in some cases) and still need a nap in the afternoon to help them make it through the balance of the day.

Cognitive fatigue after brain injury is very real and can be very controlling of a survivors life! It is quite different then when you went to university and pulled an all nighter studying before an exam... Such degree of fatigue can be a safety concern to even an inhibitor to what one can become involved in. Proper and adequate amounts of sleep daily and consistently can have benefits in time.

Time and cognitive exercises for some can begin to address this concern. There are a number of recently developed cognitive exercises and computer games geared to working the brain muscle and in time may increase ones cognitive endurance.

Please, share what has worked for you or a loved one and feel free to list any games that you found really helpful and easy to use so that others may explore and/or benefit from your personal experience.

[jojo]

I agree, it can be very controlling and often deprive you from actually getting involved in an activity, but can't because you feel really tired. I found I enjoyed the computer game Lumosity as it offered a variety of games. I also found that puzzle books were good for us as well. We especially found that the "word search" version puzzle books were pretty good. It has been a few years, but we've seen improvement over time. I also would say, proper and consistent rest is essential with steady and consistent nutritional habits are also helpful.

[Bards]

Hmmm, I'm a very naughty boy when it comes to not following advice on fatigue management, and there's no denying this does at times leave me in a dangerous hole...I assume I'm probably not the only one who whilst they would benefit from longer sleeps, unfortunately since the injury gets less; often only 5 1/2 hrs?
Doing 'games' rather than committing to fatiguing activities where the injury will impact on others if I need to pull out (and hence end up compelled to push beyond the 'red zone') is a path I should follow far more often. I look forward to recommendations with interest; they have never really been put to me for rehab (well, not that I can remember, anyway ) and I DIYed with jigsaws in the very early days, moving to 'coffee time puzzle magazine' type things I got from my Mum.
I'll be following this one, so thanks in advance... one year on, it's only now the Fatigue Monster is being realistically thought of by me - it would appear a bulldozer approach will only get me so far after all...!

[Tomas1]

A tired and fatigued person often becomes a very different individual when they have reached that point. Families often don't realize that the brain is like a battery and when the energy is all expended...your done. Brain injury survivors often experience this when they either become exhausted through too much activities whether mental or physical. The brain like any other muscle become exhausted quicker after brain injury.