Stroke affected legs

Hello David. We seem to be recovering at the same pace. I feel that I am going backwards sometimes. Still very tired. Can't do much at all just essential things. I love to read and I can only get through a couple of pages at a time now. My sight partial loss is a nuisance. My walking is still so painful and slow. Just going to make hot chocolate. Bye for now. Judy

Forgot to ask you do you get painful legs. Also do you get breathless. Love judy 

Hi Judy , sorry in delay answering , used to be builder few days ago decided to sell / e bay various tools etc . Sorting out ,photos & listing them ,knocked me out for a few days ! Poss with me I feel not improving really, but feel worse when trying to do various. Move very slowly with stick, also various grab rails,  help . My legs ache from moving , not pain , bed each day by 12pm , 3 hours rest / sleep then ok till 10 ish . Reading ,telephone calls,  extremely tiring,  found Kindle , enlarging print helps . Also I don't know why, tv must have subtitles on ALWAYS ,brain struggles to follow speech without ? Good speaking . David .

Hello again David. I find both standing and walking slowly very punishing. Why are we taking so long to move better. I think stroking in the cerabelem didn't help. Golly you have a hard task selling up tools etc. I have grab rails also. And a quad stick. They help with balance. My consultant wants me to have the stroke rehabilitation team back to help the legs. I don't hold out much hope. Excersise makes me have so much pain. I also have atrial fibulation that tires me out also. If anyone could hear us they would think we are a couple of moaners. It is very hard being disabled. Take care love judy 

Being disabled & this dreaded fatigue, dreadful. Also I seem to be soooo anxious of covid , it seems ridiculous. I feel poss I would have so little fight in me , luckily no other health problems. Keep well . David .

Hello Judy,

After a Stroke, our brains are less effective at coordinating our movement, so much of what you are experiencing is fairly common. The heaviness can be caused by spasticity - a tightening of our muscles done by the spinal column because it is not seeing signals coming correctly through from the brain. There is medication that can counteract it - Baclofen - and you can ask your consultant if it is appropriate for you to try it.

You are doing really well in battling against it. You may actually be improving but with Stroke, those improvements can be so small that you do not notice them.  Over time, however, they really add up. Ask your friends or family to video you walking every six months to a year and you should hopefully see the improvements.

Nine years after my only stroke, I completed my first competitive half-marathon without using any walking aids. I too felt I was seeing little improvement in my first years after my Stroke but I was wrong, I was improving (and still am).

Take care now and keep on with the walking,

 

Damian

Good morning David. I too am getting worried with way covid is spreading. Everything seems so haphazard. I can see it going on for months. People are not following government rules. Disabled people are being ignored. How is the clearing out going. Take care. Love judy

Hello damian. Thank you for your really informative post. I fell very heavily when I stroked the first time and lay on the floor for 12hours until my sister found me. I live on my own. After such a long lay my muscles had started to deteriat. I was almost paralized. Since then progress in the sacral area has been so slow and my legs so weak this has been a year now. Very difficult to walk. Thank you for listening. Love judy

Poor you I do hope things get better for you Judy. It's very disheartening to know your body feels so different. Keep going and see if you can get lots of physio which I know is hard with all this Covid. Think positive I am thinking of you and wish you well. 

Best wishes Rita

Hi Judy ,slowly clearing & selling various , from garage I ,feel not going to be swinging that pick axe ,any time soon. Garage needs to be cleared to get mobility scooter in ,near plug socket. Manage about 2 hours then back to bed.  

Covid, yes a pain,  my daughter came over last week , she suffers with various mental health issues. Just wanted to cuddle her ,I feel I have never been afraid to show my emotions, for a man , but didn't. Sun shining,  positive day today. Good talking David. 

Hello Judy, I am only four weeks on from a cerebellar stroke and have the same symptom. I have not applied any Deep Heat or other such ointments to my legs for worry it may be counteractive, but I do find when resting, a hot water bottle helps calm them. Also, I do a little movement which seems to reinvigorate them by stretching them taut (the feeling is almost as if they are yawning) and then giving them a little shake. Another thing that I have found helps is bending the knees, when resting or kneeling, this seems to shake things up a little and gets them moving again with a bit more lightness. Lastly, in this weather, I wear thermal bottoms, I find the cold stiffens my legs quickly and makes them uncomfortable. I hope this helps.