Mental activity causing physical PEM, specific symptom patterns?

doesnt that happen after PEM tiggered by a physical overdo as well though? it does for me
Definitely does do for me. Everything becomes too much input!

What others too have described, does remind me of what it was like early on for me, when I could still watch films, play games etc but within a limit. And it was perhaps more about fatiguability. All beyond me now.

But equally I’m up to doing things say on here and having short conversations with family now, while when worse even the back and forth of a couple of questions is too much.

How much if this is precisely short lived PEM or underlying fluctuations or crashes and if those are precisely triggered by physical or mental activity is more difficult to untangle for me I think. But whatever the baseline the PEM tends to hit across the board. Physical reduces what I can do cognitively and cognitive reduces what I can do physically.
 
What I meant is I don't think I have issues learning new skills or processing new information as long as it doesn't require screen time.
Cognitively-induced PEM might depend on the specific cognitive activity, and vary with the individual. One person might trigger on visual processing, while another on word-searching or math. I think emotional triggers are also common, although I'm not sure what level of processing is involved. Maybe some hormones cause more processing in other parts of the brain? For me, driving was a trigger, and the more stressful the driving conditions (dark, snowy, icy roads), the worse the PEM. Chatting with someone was another trigger.

For someone who is interested, and has suitable cognitive triggers, maybe keep track of the specifics that trigger PEM to what degree. Maybe font properties are a factor. Maybe word selection ( a book for children vs one for adults by an author who wants to show off his obscure word knowledge), or an easy-to-read cookbook vs a book on quantum physics. Emotional activities vs non-emotional ones. Maybe there's some useful information to be found by such investigation.

My physically-induced PEM depended on how unusual the muscle usage was, which I hypothesize means how much muscle damage was done, and thus how much the immune cells activated. Climbing a few rungs up a ladder (after not doing it for a long time) would trigger PEM, whereas a multi-hr bike ride wouldn't, if I was used to riding. There might be something similar for cognitive triggers.
 
Definitely—but it's also instant.

I can stand and walk for a minute or two, but I can't form coherent sentences while I'm doing it. However if I'm able to collapse back into my wheelie, I regain the ability to make sense after a few minutes' rest.

It's like that old joke about being so stupid you can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Literally true. :rofl:
lol yes me too. Except now it's usually 'cant sit up & chew gum at same time!
 
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