The stroke that bit me was not as severe as many. It initially paralysed me head to toe. I got reasonably mobile quite quickly and this started after just three days of paralysis.. The cognitive stuff was much slower. I am over the worst but the fatigue is everything. I quite like the suggestion that the brain is using different pathways (neuroplasticity) and that takes as much as eight times the brain power to do the same tasks. Hence the SF.
I had some damage that repaired and some that did not. You are my first contact that suggests a substantially lesser amount of damage. Every stroke is different. I am very pleased that perhaps your recovery is much faster than most. My consultant said I was one of very few who walked in to the first outpatients appointment. It was stagger and a walking stick for support, but yes I could walk. For me the physical stuff is the easier bit. The cognitive (inclding SF) is the more difficult bit.
I am medically not supposed to be at this level of recovery. I also watch what I eat and don't drink alcohol or smoke. I have an execptional team involved.
I am medically not supposed to be this far advanced with my recovery. I have an exceptional team working with me. I do have my emotional days which I work through.
hi yes this cat adopted us, he was a big fat tom,we hade him for 7 years up to last week, he had a stroke according to the vet totally paralyzed in both rear legs,,vet said ye was about 17 years old,so not to bad a life,we wont get any more pets though its to painful when things happen, and vets bills are sky-high,, not that there is no treatment for strokes in cats and dogs....I did not know strokes in people can allso be fatal its all scary stuff realy, i am ok physically but mentally am scared stiff glad i am in full time work this keeps me active and stops me dwelling on things.jimmy
We thought our cat was about 12 years when he adopted us. He was big, scruffy, not a pretty cat And cold and hungry.
Well it turns out he was just 2 years, possibly 3 years so he may well outlive me ! He is still not a pretty cat but he now has a magnificent coat and isnt scruffy. before taking him in I mentally accepted it might cost £2,000 a year to care for him. He has now made me his registered keeper and he has the somewhat short and catchy name of Sooty Oscarthemagnificent. I understand why you wont have another pet. I am getting mentally stromger, but up to afew months ago it did concern me that I wouldnt cope if he passed on (I cant use the D word as this site knocks that word out !
I got bitten by stroke in late 2015. Statistics at that time suggested more than half of us pass on in the first month and fewer lasted beyond that. With this neuro blaster drug many more are now saved. I couldnt have the neuro blaster as the stroke was during my sleep so it was probably over the four hour deadline.
The cognitive stuff is far worse than the physical stuff. Far far worse. Your irrational fear is part of the stroke aftermath. It eases with time. Or if it doesnt then get counselling. No way can I go to work. Not a chance. I am so impressed you can go in. And yes it must get your mind off things.
I promise you that things do get better. Slowly, but they do get better.
hi yes i dont understand the fear i feel considering i have had only tia,s , i dont feel i have recieved any suport or guidence from anyone was a week since my last tia stroke unit said they would inform my gp, but not heard anything from anyone since
TIAs can be very serious and very unpleasant. I dont accept you have "only" had a TIA. It is a stroke.
The support after stroke is useless. GPs dont have time for us. It is a cinderella illness. But things are improving.
You should have a letter sent by the hospital to your GP. If you havent got it then get the GP staff (no need to ask the GP) to provide one. Then keep this copy safe and to hand. You are likely to need it.
No one will offer you any support. If you ask the right people you might get help. The stroke association, local stroke groups. Look in the GP surgery for leaflets.
The fear is very common. My own theory is that your brain did not like the attack is is prompting you to flea from another one. That fear does ease overthe months.
Then you have us lot.
Always someone on here who will offer thir experience. So you are not alone, we are here
Hi Jimmy, please don't think TIA's are any less serious than a stroke, you still get stroke fatigue, and all the same mental issues. It is a serious medical attack and please do not rush back to work, as it is better for you're partner if you are there, than if you have another more serious TIA and end up incapacitated or worse. Please try to get hold of a Stroke coordinator, ring the helpline, I am sure they will be able to help you. Sometimes this world stinks doesn't it! Good luck keep us posted. Wendy
Hi, I just found this group today and thought I'd say hello. I have just reurned to the UK after six years in Spain, in the last year there I was told that I'd had six strokes, my last about 10 weeks ago. I decided to return to the UK to seek understandable and sound medical advice (I wouldn't advise getting sick in Spain). I was affect in different ways by each stroke and was just getting back to a normal way of living before the last one. As I say, I'm now back in the UK and am looking for any advice on rehabilitation and/or the benefit system.
Hi and welcome home! I guess your first port of call if not already done would be to find a GP and arrange an MOT and a review of medication. You did very well making the journey back after only 10wks post stroke. I'm 2 yrs post stroke and aren't brave enough yet to get on a plane! Regarding rehabilitation, your GP will probably want to see your health records/scans if possible or if you haven't got them, he might arrange for you to have a scan so he can see the extent of your stroke damage. After that, hopefully some physio? Regarding benefits, the government website will give you access to all the information as to what you could claim or pop into your local job centre for all the forms and to go through filling them in with you. If you don't feel well enough to deal with the benefits people, do you have someone who could do it on your behalf?
Nice to get a reply :) ... Thanks for all the suggestions, arrived in the UK at 13:06 on Thursday before last, registered and saw the doctor the next day. Job Centre a few days later. Blood test last Friday, ECG on Wednesday and second JC appointment, the Doc's again on the Friday. The nurse taking y blood said I was luckyand, after listening to some folk on here, I guess I was. I walk with a stick and it frustrates the hell out of me, I had my last stoke while at work... a doorman at a "gentleman's club" and none of the guess could believe that I'd already had a stroke. In Spain I was offered no kind of physio etc so basically taught myself to walk again to the point were I was almost runing and then the last one. To say that it has knocked me for six is an understatement, it's like all the previous work I put i was for nothing, so now it's down to the NHS to tell me what to do. What really gets me down is the fact that I've gone completely deaf in my left ear and I can't work out a way to fight that.
HI Thanks ,i am back at work,5 days a week 9 hour shifts.have had 3 TIA,S NOW due to arterial fribulation. all too scary i have to work for finance and stop me dwelling and being home alone as my partner works,Jimmy
You were very lucky but good to hear you've been thoroughly checked out now. Physio on the NHS is not brilliant for stroke patients and a lot depends on where you live as to what treatment you get. You've probably heard of the NHS postcode lottery! I had to wait 9 months for NHS physio after my stroke so only a little bit better than Spain really! A few people on here have had hearing loss problems after stroke so they will be able to let you know how they've gone on. I was already half deaf and wearing aids before my stroke so I'm not much help I'm afraid on that one!
Drop me a message about rehabilitation. I was half-paralysed and in a wheelchair after my stroke in 2010 but walked unaided after Neuro-physiotherapy and now, Nine years later, I'm doing my first half-marathon in October. Most of my recovery has been without the help of medical professionals, no magic therapies, no stem cells - just plain, hard work and commitment.
I can't help much on the benefit side of things but have been working full-time for nearly four and a half years. I received Disability Living Allowance but have now had to switch to the newer Personal independence Payments (PIP) , which help cover the additional costs I still have through my disabilities.
If you want to get started on rehabilitation right away, check out Dr Tom Balchin's "The Successful Stroke Survivor" - possibly the best stroke recovery resource ever written!
As I said, drop me a message and we can talk about your rehabilitation goals and how you might tackle them.
hi yes, the stroke unit said they would inform my GP, but not heard anything so far from anyone.I am back in work tomorrow 27th looking forward too my 9 hour stint (NOT) I HADE A Strange experience a couple of days ago i bumped into an ex-work friend from before my TIA i knew him from work for over a year,BUT when he said hi to me i was not sure if it was him or not i knew him well enough to know it was him so.was this confusion an effect of the tia or stroke ?? jimmy
The staff at your GP can get you that copy letter. No need for a GP appointment, the staff can deal with it for you.
After a stroke (and yes a TIA is a stroke !) memory can be damaged. Past memories can be wiped out. And the way the brain retreives memories can be damaged. Then we come to things we learned today and thats a nother part. Your brain "lays down" those memories when you are asleep. Some get laid down to a short term area and some to a long term area.
My memory for the six months up to stroke has been completely wiped. Of course I cant remember what I cant remember but I luckily keep a diary and when I read that, I know that all sorts of stuff has disappeared. Then my short term recall has been very wonky indeed. If I have to attend, say, a solicitors meeting then I lose the thread and am completely useless. But thats all improving. Its scary now things are starting to work again !
My yoga class is five people and I know them all pretty well. I got there one morning and I couldnt recall who they were. I tell people this, so they explained who they were and it stopped me from trying to recall names and details.
I try not to worry over these errant memories. If I fight against, trying to remeber stuff, then it gets worse.
As an older person I have a natural lack of recall. The common one is going to the kitchen for a fork then forgetting why I am there. Now I can tell when these incidents are stroke (when I know I will not remember that its a fork, no matter what I do) as opposed to old age (when I can recall, perhaps by walking out the kitchen then in again). Many people tell me that memory loss is "just like they get" but thats utter tosh, its not the same at all. Not at all.
I can also tell when I am stroke fatigued as opposed to plain tired and I can also get "stroke naps" as opposed to "40 winks". Stroke naps are just super.
Well wife is off for 4 days in London so I must get moving.
Hi Jimmy. Our memories are often faulty, especially with people known from the past. Sometimes I pretend I know the person whose name I cannot remember by saying, ‘Great to see you again’ but often I say, ‘I’m terribly sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name’. Mercifully, unlike many, my memory was not affected by my stroke. At hospital they thought it had been and referred me to a neuropsychologist. There was a long waiting period but we met and she asked me all sorts of questions then told me my memory was better that many people who hadn’t had a stroke.
Like Colin, I am now old, but memory fascinates me. We know our memories are faulty but we also know we tend to remember events important to us more vividly in old age. Just before sleep every night, my mind wanders all over my past, sometimes throwing up memories I thought long forgotten.
Hope you coped with work. A nine hour shift is way beyond me now. Sometimes, I dream I am still working (at 75 for goodness sake) and am being told I might have to be made redundant. In these recurring dreams, even though I know I am 75, I always ask if I can stay on six months longer. Now they are thinking of shifting the state pension age to 75. Perhaps I am subconsciously aware of this.