Triggers to start me crying

Today I learnt via a trip to the dentist that when he says “I will have to numb your right side” that is now apparently my new trigger to sob like a child pleading him not to make me numb on my right side, then to go through deep gum cleaning treatment totally anaesthestic free, which felt weirdly satisfying to be able to feel.

After pulling myself together I tried to make a quick exit without being seen.
My dentist however being above my GP practice and I bump straight into A Dr who is also a colleague of mine from the hospital. He was like “oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’ve seen you” which apparently is my 2nd trigger to start blubbering like a baby but this time with blood dribbling out of my mouth because of the stupid blood thinning medication.

I’m now holding up this GP from getting to his surgery and a waiting room full of patients wondering why I’m so friendly with him.

So then I start crying because I’m crying in public… I made a silly excuse which was “I’ve always been scared of the dentist” which is a total lie, and this makes me cry because 1. I’ve lied to a friend and 2. Ive just made myself look even more foolish.

Straight home, comfies on, slept the afternoon and woke up now laughing at how stupid I must have looked to everyone today.

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GemA- Are you a stroke survivor? If so, stroke affects a part of the brain dealing with emotions. It’s very normal after a stroke to have intense emotional reactions, even to the smallest of things-- and not only upsetting things either. I used to laugh too hard and long at things I found funny. It was embarrassing. That has toned down now, after 4 1/2 years. Thank goodness! Jeanne

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@GemA i too cried loads after my stroke often over nothing. It has eased a bit now thankfully. I just tell everyone it’s my stroke brain having a moment :blush:

Glad you can laugh about it now xx

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Hi Jeanne,
Yes I had a right Cerebellar Stroke on the 20th Jan this year.
I was actually at the dentist for some gum cleaning treatment as I convinced myself that the pain in my right jaw was dental and not related to the stroke.
I have a tendancy to try and down play my after effects by blaming something else like lack of sleep or a cold.
But I’m starting to get to grips with it now and learn to understand how I was affected.
I walked out of the Hospital upright and am able to talk and on the outside would appear relatively ‘normal’ this is the reason I convince myself the way I do.
However there was actually no mistaking this full on triple meltdown today which resulted in me having to go to sleep for hours afterwards.

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GemA Your brain was really having a fit wasn’t it? :smile: No wonder it needed a good long sleep. :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz:!!!

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@GemA , all perfectly understandable considering you are not even two months post stroke (I wasn’t even out of hospital at this point). It does take a while for emotions to settle down but don’t worry too much about what others think. Unless they’ve had a major brain injury noone can imagine what some of the after effects are like.

We all understand it and have probably had similarly embarrassing moments. It’s good you were able to laugh about it afterwards because some of these things are quite funny in hindsight :grin:.

Hope you’re feels ng better about it now.

Mark

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I had a TIA just before New Year 2022, and my emotion ‘chip’ is still work in progress.

During my week in hospital, staff had mentioned emotions - but I thought nothing of it and nothing seemed out of place. That was, until I watched Apollo 13 (again) on my phone. Tom Hanks said, “We just lost the moon” and that was it - I was in pieces! Other films with sad or unfortunate moments would trigger the same.

Oddly, when I laugh at a joke - or something just funny - my laugh itself sounds and feels different. It’s almost not of my control? As I say, odd.

Sad moments, now, are as they were before and fully in-control. But ‘laughter’ is hopefully still fixing itself. I used to pre-warn folk (about both) just in case. It took the edge off and helped.

Jonty.

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I had a stroke 2 weeks ago. I’m 53 and fit and healthy so it’s been a massive shock to the system. My emotions are all over the place! They’ve found a hole in my heart which has enabled clots to travel to my brain so I’m terrified that it’s going to happen again before I get treatment to block the hole. On the outside, I look fine and I tell everyone that I’m fine, it’ll take more than a little hole to knock me off my perch! Truth be told, I’m an emotional mess!

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Awww @joannecreeden1

It will be a massive shock and it will be totally normal to feel anxiety about it.
I can’t imagine what you must be going through.

I was fortunate to have my ECG results come back with a normal sinus rhythm, being told you’ve had a stroke is a scary enough experience but to be told of other complications must be a massive worry.

I’m being referred to psychology for my emotions but in fairness I don’t believe I need it at this stage.

I’d be more worried about someone going through such health scare and being totally at ease with it if I’m honest.

There will be others on here that can share your experience with you, do keep us updated on your progress and treatment in getting the hole fixed xx

Gem

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@GemA thank you so much for your kind words of support xxx

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@Mahoney thank you for your kind words of support. You’re absolutely right that it’s very early days and I guess it takes time to process what’s happened. I’m on all the meds and just have to play the waiting game until they can repair the hole in my heart. I’m trying to cut myself some slack and be a bit kinder to myself! xx

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@joannecreeden1 welcome but sorry you’ve had a stroke. Emotions being all over the place at this early stage is very normal. Hopefully it will ease with time.

If you’ve been put on meds this should reduce the risk of another stroke whilst you wait any procedure to close the hole.

Try not to stress too much & find the balance between exercise & resting.

Wishing you all the best.

Ann x

@Mrs5K thank you so much. It’s so helpful to have people on this forum who understand what I’m going through xx

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I had a meltdown last week as i was just sat in the living room on my own listening to music and a song came on i havr heard loads of times… then tears came and i started crying like a baby…then after i composed myself i was hmmmm how did that happen so i decided ok i will play that song again … omg omg i started of again i decided i am not trying that again and i am 2yr post stroke… such a weird feeling that i had an emotion overload considering i have been a block of ice for quite a bit… thought to myself… they have gave me the wrong emotion chip…

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I’m the same. Can cry over anything these days. I just tell people it’s my stroke brain having a moment :grin:

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Train whistle when it blows

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Hi Joanne, my husband had a stroke Feb 22 - he was 49 at the time, for and healthy, didn’t drink a lot, didn’t smoke and worked out daily. One morning he took unwell and I called an ambulance, he had tingling down his left side and was seeing stars. Turned out he had a stroke and they also found a hole in his heart - pretty large one. He didn’t have another stroke and got surgery in August, he got a check up in March (Edinburgh royal admitted it should have been well before then but tbh he hasn’t help by anyone nor his gp) and the hole is closing. He is feeling back to his normal self but his peripheral vision has not returned and he is still not driving, dvla being awful to him. I hope you are keeping well, it’s a scary thing to happen but I hope our story makes you feel at some ease x

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@Mrsbrightside thank you so much for sharing this with me, it really does help ease my anxiety. It’s such a scary experience and it’s massively helpful to hear from others that really understand what I’m going through. I don’t know what I’d do without the support and knowledge that I get from lovely people in this group. It’s helped me to begin to come to terms with what’s happened to me and to feel less alone.
I’m 3 months post stroke now and waiting for surgery to close the hole. It’s wonderful to hear that your husband is feeling more like himself now, although it sounds like you’ve both been through the additional stress of lack of support from your GP. The DVLA have certainly added to my stress levels too! Sending you both love and hugs xx

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I am 57v now i was 47b didc no that i has on tio my god son O’Dell adot my b ltrvb ltd rft fooiv ttt gree

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