For question 1, it depends. im almost 3 months post tbi and i still get very tired. i limit my schedule to reduce this but yes i still take naps sometimes. i will say that it gets better. i used to take a 2 hr nap every day after school tilll summer and i could rest. it varies on each person but i have noticed when my body got a little stronger the naps and fatigue decreased a bit.

as for q. 2 omg! ha i thought i was kinda loopy because i have had that happen. i read alot of books pre and post tbi and even with the post tbi ones i still have to re-read most of them. i also had the wierd thing where you will be reading and i have to re read sentences a dozen times for them to seem right or for me to be able to ignore my brain at those spots. i havnt heard of reasons or things to help with this but i have had it happen. this goes for the miscelaneous sentences too. i will be reading and a sentence will come out of nowhere and make absolutely no sense. whenever that happens i usually stop reading and just let my brain catch up with me and then go back to reading.

if you have any remedies for this i would love to know some more i hope i helped a little

I think the fatique does eventually go away, but i still get brain tired on busy days or days that are really taxing on my brain. If you are only 2 years out, I would say you do still need to rest your brain and take naps.

Good advise given on the reading part. Take a break when that happens.

Good luck!

Well with your tiredness I'm afraid it may well always be there. I am 3 and a half year after my tbi and I still get tired but not as bad as before. I find going to the gym helps me even though I do hate it. I was hopping to take abreak over the summer months when the weather was nicer but am far too tired again so back to the gym it is for me. Working out really does help me and I guess I didn't even realise how much until I stopped going and got so tired again. You have to build up to a certain level and you should find it helps.
I have a problem with reading too bu different to yours. Maybe. I just don't get fiction my brain can't deal with abstract thoughts so I stick to fact books. I didn't like them before but now I find them quite interesting but still sometimes I need to reread a paragraph or a chapter. This is just the way it is now. Good luck.

Think it may sometimes bug my hubby that I dont watch repeats on tv or reading books. I want to watch the show and he may be just about word perfect, all new to me. But he does understand.
Reading, cant remember what I have been reading before so have to go over it again often, and its nearly 16 yrs I think, cant even remember that. It is written in both my brain books when it happened. Seems to be permenent for me and now more on going prroblems. But I can see and hear in Gods beautiful world, so I am blessed.
Used to love going for long walks, cant do that anymore, do miss it. Sure the exercise was helping.

Wow...you got some awesome replies already to questions I've often wondered the answers to as well!!

I'm nearly 3 years after and fatigue...is still daily all day. Looks like I better get used to it! Thanks Nathogan...I'll try the workout idea see if I can feel a difference!!

I also agree with take a break when you start seeing words that aren't there and make no sense...seems like it happens more often when I'm ready to head to bed or too much is going on.

First, all brain injuries are different so the true answer to your question will only be revealed in time. I refer to them as brain injuries because multiple things are damaged. In a car wreck we could refer to the car as damaged but there are many things that can work fine and others not work. My car may start, run, and the transmission may take me down the road all the while the fender may be dented or the turn signal and radio broken. That is how I explain it to people who doubt my injury when they see what seems to be a fully functioning me. As far as you feeling tire this is called mental fatigue. There are different degrees of it, but most are similar in nature. I can tell you the more you tax your brain the faster it will get you down. For example if you go spend a day at the beach and relax your brain it may not get tired for 6 hours. If you take the same injured brain and try to work on something that takes a lot of brain power it will get tired much faster. Don't do like me and feed it sugar to keep it going. I can tell you from experience the only thing it gained me was about 50 pounds. There is no way to know how long this will last but from my research on these pages it is one of the major deficits that stays with people. Many heal from several other effects of the injury to have the mental fatigue be the one they can't seem to heal. On an optimistic note, mine took about 6 or 7 years and everything seemed to go away at once, including the mental fatigue. I was never happier, and that says a lot to someone who had lost his emotions in the tbi as well. Sadly I was hit by a drunk driver a year or so later and all my symptoms are back to the drawing board. Learning about your tbi is very important to being able to take ownership of your deficits and it will help you explain it to your close friends and family too. This can make them a bit more tolerant of our condition when they know it is not us choosing to forget things and knowing it is a medical condition.

As far as the reading goes it might be concentration. I have problems where I read a sentence then re-read the same sentence and it takes a second to figure out that "hey, didn't I just read that?'

There is a book that is free to download called the traumatic brain injury survival guide. I highly recommend it for learning all about the deficits and maybe some ways to work around them. You can download it on the authors page. Go to the bottom and click on "Download the Book" The web site has similar information. God Bless Him for putting it out there.

http://www.tbiguide.com/

Paul,
You had an excellent way to explain it to others...thanks for sharing that! A wrecked car is something just about everyone can relate to from a child to adults.

You also gave me my hope back...thanks so much for that !!! It seems like so long since I noticed any improvements; it is hard to wait for sure! Although I've never considered giving up I didn't realize until reading your response...I had (at least on the fatigue issue).

I truly hope you see improvements very soon. Once is bad enough for anyone. My prayers and thoughts are with you.

I am 2.5 years into recovery and fatigue is definitely one of the more severe symptoms that I still have. Especially in the morning, I have a very difficult time waking up and being able to function. I used to be unable to get to work until noon. Now I am starting at 9:00 am. Tomorrow I have an appt with a sleep dr to see if he is able to advise me on the hard time waking up problem. I also get fatigued in the afternoon at my job, but that is a different type of fatigue. That is more of the feeling that my battery has depleted, sort of like a cell phone battery. Quite different from the morning thing. My morning thing is like my brain does not get enough stimulation to wake up.

I was a huge reader before my TBI and I was disappointed that I was having a difficult time reading, understanding, remembering, etc. My husband bought me a Nook color for Christmas this year and I love it. Instead of being overwhelmed by a book all I have to concentrate on is one page and you can change the type and double space. So it's all about adjustments to get back to what we loved doing.

I am three years post-recovery and exhaustion is my chief complaint. I've been doing some research and new studies indicate that "light" exercise may be the key. I'm starting a very light routine of daily yoga to see if that helps.