Hi everyone, I’m Sarah,I’m 44 and had a cerebellar stroke 3 weeks ago. No reason given yet but I should be seeing the consultant in a week or so.
I was, or thought I was fit and healthy! Am a PE teacher and still took part in sport before the stroke. I can walk now but very slow and a bit wobbly. Left arm doesn’t do what I tell it to and if I use it too much it starts to wobble.
Anyway that’s me, nice to meet you all.
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Welcome to the forum Sarah, it’s a good community for finding answers to all those question you must have going through your head at the moment. Questions the medical professionals are too cagey to or ignorant of to answer. I sometimes wonder if I’d asked them the time of day would I get a straight answer 
Early days yet in your recovery, it takes about 6mths for the most recovery. It’s tiring so get lots of rest and plenty of good nutritional food. The brain uses up an awful lot of energy in healing and repair the damage. It fast depletes your bodies nutrients and saps your energy so be sure to keep on top of that 
You take care and I hope it’s a good recovery for you.
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Hello, Sarah.
It has been a hard day in therapy for me, so words are not coming well for now. I wanted to welcome you and tell you this group has helped me tremendously. It is very early days. I have gained so much hope here, and it is based in reality. I have seen many improvements in the short time I have been here at near the 2 year mark. I wish you all the best.
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Hi there. I can not remember if i have ever posted on here before but this is my story.
I had my stroke in July 2020 and was hospitalised for 48 hours before being allowed home. Apparently itcwas caused by an old head injury and hypertension that caused a blood vessel to burst on the right hand side of my brain. I was also informed that my brain is full of holes, when told this i simply replied" oh you found one then!" As the years have progressed i am starting to realise the side effect of,what was truly,a very mild stroke but i am learning to cope with the stress of my job,dealing with a recent diagnosis of cancer and learning to cope with getting old. My girlfriend has been a tremendous support and she was worried i would die but i told her that i was strong in mind and body and have a long list of people i need to annoy before i leave this world.
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Hi my name is Heather, i had a stroke 4 weeks ago and am struggling with getting help from my gp, i was released from hospital with no guidance, also i have been told i might be able to get a blue badge for my partners car is that correct.
Am not sure what comes next but i have bern very depressed, it has been a bad couple of years, i lost my dad last may, then found my brother dead in january, my hamster also died, moved back home with mum last october and now this.
Please advice on what to do or where to go next would be helpful. It also doesnt help that im left handed and the cook in the house now it feels like im just a houseguest not able to contribute to anything. Thanks for listening.
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Hello @HeatherP
Welcome to the forum
We’ve been putting oft repeated thoughts in Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start click on the blue text to follow the link
The blue badge is yours for any car you travel in. If you’re mobility is limited your should get one
Ciao Simon
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Hi @HeatherP and welcome to the forum, you will find plenty of advice, tips and comfort on here, it’s a good place to off load the stresses of stroke with fellow stroke warriors who know and understand better than anyone else 
To all newbies I like to give the following bit of advice, only because I found it helped me enormously in that first year post stroke, and I hope it can help you
Please bear in mind some of your sapped energy is energy that’s being burnt up in the healing and repair process of your damaged brain. Hence the importance of a good nutritional diet. And the trouble with that is, like after any major surgery, you are not always up to eating much. But your body is still burning a lot of energy even in rest and the nutrients in your body will be depleting…and you may also lose some weight and muscle mass.
This is why I always stress the importance of taking some form of nutrient supplements in those early months post stroke. They will help feed your brain, give a boost to that healing process that it needs and give you a little more energy and appetite (if you’ve lost it). Don’t let your engine run dry.
High-protein foods
Base meals and snacks on foods that are high in energy and protein. These include:
- meat
- oily fish (such as salmon and mackerel)
- eggs
- nuts
- full-fat dairy, such as yoghurt or cheese
Try eating small meals and snacks every 2 to 3 hours. Warm milky drinks can also help to bump up nutrients and calories.
Complan or Meritene are 2 nutritional shakes you can one or the other in most chemists and supermarkets. You can either make a shake out of them or sprinkle some into foods to boost your intake of nutrients.
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“Acute left parieto-occipital infarction” or “CT head showed left partial anterior circulation stroke with expressive difficulties" or in layman’s terms - a stroke. I was admitted to hospital the day after on 21 February 2023 and discharged after two days. Readmitted six hours later with pain free “stress-induced migraine aura and fast AF”. The aura was incredible - paisley and other fabric-like visuals and murmurations of little copper balls. I’m due an EEG in two weeks as I had an epileptic fit 60 years ago and now have severe sleep disturbance from Hypnic Jerks. I’ve had milder Hypnic Jerks for over a decade now. Six months later I am in a lot worse condition; muddled, tired, wobbly, forgetful and weak. I have been lurking a bit around the threads to learn the culture of this forum. It’s good to read of others’ experiences.
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Hi @Bibs
I hope you’re beginning to find your feet here 
I love you profile picture with that casually draped murder mitt
I love the description of murmurations for migraine aura. I used to get it pre-stroke and I had the black and white zigzaggy lines which wernt quite paisley more dog tooth. But I never had any murmurating copper balls I feel hard done by!
Ciao
Simon
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Hi everybody. 
. I felt so much on my own until I found this page this morning. So many of you I can relate to. Just 10 days from my 4th TIA this year. Each one was a little different. My poor wife has to put up with me as I am. It’s taken a couple of hours rest in my chair before I could write this. I have to focus on one thing at a time and find getting irritated if she tries to help as I lose my “path”. It’s hard on her. My first mini stroke happened at night. She tad gone to bed and I was going to do our online shopping. Suddenly I started stumbling around but it didn’t register anything was wrong. It took me from 11 pm until 5am to finish doing a small order online. Still no idea anything was wrong. Typos and grammar were plentyful. The went to bed, slept, woke up feeling fine. Then it registered. That “event” was followed by weeks of fatigue. Second “event” was sudden burst of mild anger. Lasted just a minute or two. Lost vision in 30% of right eye. If it wasn’t for my left eye I couldn’t read. If I close my left eye and look at the word “marmalade”, for a example, all I see is “marm” then “ala” then “ade”. This “event”, I’m unsteady, get lightheaded, and dazed very quickly. Anyway I’m being too wordy. Apologies. Excuse any typos . Kind regards to all, IanM.
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Hi @IanM your are very welcome, so glad you’ve managed to find to haven of solace, where patience and understanding are in abundance. So never feel the need to apologise for errors as are all in the same boat even with that
I have aphasia but spelling isn’t so bad, but I can have a tendency to miss words out and sometime my fingers can type a totally different word than the one I’m thinking to type. 
Ahh, it is what it is 
Be sure to read the Welcome post at your leisure, several members have put together the kind of things you may experience in the first year. All stroke are different but there are some basic similarities in all stroke warriors. There’s a lot of useful advice and support in there to be had Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start
Maybe you could get your wife on here too as this is also a site for carers, their need is just as great as ours. It would certainly help her in her understanding of what a stroke entails if she were to read the welcome post too. And it might give her peace of mind to be included, just to know what can be expected going forwarded My hubby would hover, especially when it came to using stairs, but would never intervene unless asked. It the best way to relearning if you have to fend for yourself as much as possible. I wish you well in your recover
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Hello @IanM
Welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you had cause to join but you have landed in the right place
This is the place to celebrate your victories, ask for support, rail at the world for the unfairness of anything, just generally let it out or ask questions because stroke support forums seem universally to be totally tolerant.
Reading the posts on here and searching them (some details in the welcome post emerald has pointed you to) is the best way to find out that everything your experiencing is normal to some of us and some things are normal to all of us. Again as emerald says your wife needs both support & her own understanding. Again there are resources on here some of which are signed posted from the welcome.
I run a zoom on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. details here Thursday online 'cafe' also Carers & Young person's that you’re more than welcome to join
Last thought here…
If you’re having a repeated TIAs two questions are in my mind One are your meds right? And two has the underlying cause been found. And the caveat I had multiple strokes that I didn’t realise were strokes and neither did my GP in the proceeding years to the one that put me in hospital. If I knew then what I knew now I would be rather more of a nuisance to my GP until I was taken seriously and I would take my meds seriously which in typical male fashion I didn’t with lasting consequences
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Hi @Seerahjane. Nice to see a lady give her age . I’m male 67. Well done on your progress. I had to learn that putting my feet on the floor out of bed (another health emergency) was progress. I was looking for great things and ignoring the small.
I had to go and collect a parcel today. My wife had to come with me. I was scared I would collapse. My legs shaky like yours. My head in a fog. I managed and am trying to hold on to that. For 24 years I was housebound more or less with agoraphobia. Finally 3+ years ago, I was able to go out again. I’m scared all that will come back again as my confidence is getting less. Anyway my arms too are not quite functioning. Strain try to write with a pen. It’s no point saying it’s not hard, Sarah, but I’m still here. It’s only early days yet. I’m glad I came across this forum. Don’t feel on my own now. Hope you improve albeit slowly. Kind regards, Ian.
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@emeraldEyes Hi, thanks for that. My wife has the heavy end and there are times when I make it difficult for her. If I’m trying to do something through a sticky brain and she try’s to help I get frustrated as I lose my ‘‘path’’ of thinking to complete a task. She’s signed up today . @Deena .She always depended on me to see to bills but our account is a shambles at the moment as I can’t cope with our finances just now. I used to work for one of the big banks but service now is terrible. You try to speak to someone now to get help but decisions are made by an emotionless computer system. No one is either able to think or make a decision anymore. I’ve given up. I feel sorry for all my fellow sufferers of stroke/TIA. The last thing you need is a fruitless ‘grilling’ and hours of waiting for a reply. I certainly haven’t had a good experience. Maybe someone will point me in the right direction or comment. On the bright side I have a £5 note in my back pocket and they won’t be seeing it. 
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Hi Everyone.
I had my stroke almost 8 weeks ago and compared to many on this forum I was lucky not to have impairment to my physical movements. I found the whole experience of the stroke terrifying but made a good recovery in hospital and can do all the physical things I used to do. What I have found very difficult is the loss of motivation as previously I could not sit still and was on the go all of the time. I just wanted the old me back again and became very tearful at losing this motivation and energy. The occupational help I received was great and the nurse explained that it would take time for my energy levels to return and that I should rest when my body told me to do so. This I have done and it took me six weeks or so before I could get through the day without an hours sleep to recover from just reading, watching TV or walking. I find walking and being out in the fresh air uplifting but even so from time to time this emotional flood overwhelms me and I just cry for no apparent reason. My wife has been brilliant in supporting me but I worry about the impact this is having on her emotionally also. I have a list of jobs I need to do and I just need a magic pill to give me the drive to attack those jobs in the way I did pre stroke. Nobody can tell me when this feeling will pass and that it will take time but in the meantime I just feel so down about the whole thing. Anyone who has had similar experiences and could share how they managed their way out of this situation would be very helpful. To everyone else I wish you all the very best in your recovery process.
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Hi @ColinH
Welcome to the forum although sorry you’ve had to cause the join.
It’s great to hear that you escaped much of the physical impairment that many of us battle.
There may be a small irony.
People are going to say to you “you look well”
Youve yet to learn perhaps what your reply will be “that’s because you can’t see what it’s like on the inside” or some more diplomatic (or more impatient!) phrase?
If you’ve escaped very lightly you may have a full recovery - I’m sure everybody here has their fingers crossed for you that that will be the case. More probably the motivational and emotional will be between permanent and fading over time. If they fade expected to take some months.
Also be aware that while stroke has a dramatic effect in the first few hours it keeps on the life-changing potentials ‘up it’s sleeve’ that come in at various stages - like for example the 4-month possibility of developing central stroke pain, the random aches, med side effects, replacement of recovery fatigue by fatigue for life and other things that we here can point out have been in some of our futures but not whether they will be in yours .
Much of what has been said by the community to previous new joiners is gathered together in the welcome post tap the blue text
Personally I agree with any concern about family & spouses. I think they bear the brunt and have much less support from the system so encourage your wife to seek and to take a support and listen to advice wherever she can find it
I dare say others will be alone to say welcome. I hope you find this forum something you can navigate because when you do it will be a valuable resource during the long road ahead
Caio Simon
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Hi @ColinH welcome to the forum, I’m sorry I missed your post but better late than never.
Your brain is still healing and repairing, it neither needs nor wants to be motivate to do much more so it just won’t let you, it’s as simple as that I’ve found.
Your brain is putting all its effort and reserves into recovery right now and it doesn’t care how many menial jobs you have on your to do list. They are of absolutely no importance to your brain as none of them are as life threatening as a stroke! So it’s just disconnected your motivational button for now and will not reconnect until it is sufficiently recovered enough to spin more than one or two mental plates in your head Normal service of said button will resume some time in the next 4mths or so
That’s how I look at it now anyway, when I think back to those first 6mths post stroke And the crying is quite normal too, it’s a combination of shock and relief! You’ve been through a life threatening experience and you’re still here to tell the tale. It too will pass as you get further on in your recovery and get over the shock of it all. Just go with it, it’s part of the healing process
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LOL I’ve been confused by most things tech since my stroke !
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i put my share story on here, but cant find it, did i do it the right way
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Hi @tricia3 I had a look through the forum posts for you as I did read your story . . . and I’m still waiting for the part two of it
And it was actually in Share you story
(Whereas this post is the ‘About the Share your story category’…confusing I know )
Just click on the blue link below to get to it