Anyone any advice when trying to manage concerns when having headache and eye feeling achy leading to worry and BP then elevating. 3 months post stroke and wish I could relax.
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I had a lot of headaches after my stroke for many months. Initially they all worried me but after a while I tried not to worry. I kept telling myself that nothing bad had happened when I had them so it was likely to be ok. Worrying about them is likely to make them worse. You can always monitor your BP at home so you know if it raised or not. But try not to monitor it too often. If it is high then go to your gp who can help get it under control.
If your headaches are severe then you must get checked out. If youâre really worried about them speak to your gp too. They can check you over and make sure nothing else is going on.
Distractions e.g. doing things you enjoy, would perhaps help take your mind off them a bit.
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I am 12 weeks in and constantly have headaches too. They do get worse when I am stressed or have overdone it.
I constantly worry but am working on it.
I take paracetamol pretty regularly and try to distract myself when they are bad or have a lie down. I have found lying on a cool pillow helps ease them too. You can get these pretty cheap on Amazon and usually come in a pack of 2.
I kept putting off contacting my gp for âjust another headacheâ but you know what itâs better to have that peace of mind and to talk things over.
Take care of yourself
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Consider this, if you whack yourself on the shine, itâs going to hurt for days, especially to touch; same goes if you burn your hand on the oven or cut yourself.
Then thereâsbreaking bones, they hurt like the dickens and take months to heal. Same goes for any surgical procedure.
And in all these cases what do you do for the pain? Youâll take pain killers in accordance to the level of pain you are suffering. You expect those pains so accept them. You know they will heal.
A stroke is kind of like a blow to the brain and it hurts and it takes ages to heal.
For me, I found taking a daily Magnesium Glycinate kept the pain at bay. Itâs normally recommended for migraine.
The first thing I did was get my eyes checked. In case the stroke had reduced my vision in some way, Iâm long sighted and wear glasses. By the time I was saw my doctor I was also experiencing severe hearing loss so had all sorts of checks done, including MRI, and the only conclusion we could come to was it is caused by the stroke. But I did get a pair of free hearing aids out of it 
5 years on, I know that pain is still there because I stop taking the MG from time to time to check.
Iâm long past worrying about it now, it is what it is and its manegeable now, more importantly its bearable without the MG so Iâm not having to reach for painkillers.
Yours is not mine though. So see a doctor and get it checked out before you settle on it being the stroke effect. But donât worry until someone gives you something to worry about. Itâs a wasted energy your healing brain could make better use of elsewhere.
Lorraine
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I really struggled with headaches and eye pain for a few months after my stroke. The eye pain was down to papilledema which had caused my optic nerves and discs to swell. I was monitored by ophthalmology for a little while afterwards so that might be something to ask the doctor about if it continues. Good Luck with your recovery
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Lorraine - You are truly amazing!
This one of the best responses I have read in a long time. It explains everything in plain English (you should be a flag bearer for Campaign for Plain English) 
and is beautifully and thoughtfully written.
The use of analogies so lovely to see - the opening sentence is brilliant.
I also love the way you finish this
I have never heard this before and I rather feel I may use this myself.
Thank you so much for your continued support and dedication to this forum and its members. It has a privilege to have met you.
Namaste|
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The key is to keep your language âsimple stupidâ on such forums as this. Because newly stroked brains canât always grasp or comprehend more complex language. Likewise the use of medical terminologies and reading the likes of research papers can be mind blowing and exceedingly draining for some. It was that way for me for the first year or two.
Simple analogies and simple language is easier to understand and doesnât require dictionaries or thesaurus to be on hand at all times for the reader. For some, as was for me, it was hard enough trying to read as it was. My pet hate was always abbreviations and the shortened text speak. I always struggled to figure out whether that was my brain mixing up the letters to a word or should I try and Google it 
Anyway, thatâs the aim of the game and I hope it helps some.
Lorraine
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Many thanks for all your wise words, I realised my bp had jumped up due to worrying and I need to work on that as I donât want to take medication for that. I do monitor it, normally 120/75 and went to 150/99 until I gave myself a good old talking to! Interestingly my pharmacist told me to stop magnesium taurate supplement with clopidogrel so am definitely going to look at this again.
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I have my suggestions. But they are not easily understood. A lot of help for my eye came in the form of a red light panel. 680 and 850 nm wavelength. How and why this should help the mitochondria in your eye is suggested on my youtube channel I would suggest Magnesium L-Threonate which is Mg + vitamin c specifically for the brain. This is a supplement. Mg helps BP to lower which is why the pharma advised against when use in combo
good luck, R
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@Nanag I suffer headaches and eye problems and my stroke was Nov 2024. I donât care, cause if I worry i will make myself sick. Nothing has happened yet. So try not to over worry. I think NHS is a lot to blame cause some people may actually think they are giving them guidnce, whereas they are only quoting form a text book.
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I think you might be right Roland. I must confess, I find your posts very interesting but I also have to work so hard to understand them at times and on occasions I simply give up because my brain is unable to cope with the depth of science, philosophy etc that is incorporated in your often very detailed messages.
I expect on this occasion, @Nanag might not easily understand and may even get confused (sorry Nanag if I am speaking out of order) when you (Roland) suggest/recommend a Magnesium supplement when Nanagâs pharmacist told Nanag to stop taking the supplement.
Maybe I am confused and have now confused everyone else by further muddying the water!
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Youâre right, but in my defense, I think Iâm on a level of therapy which is so removed from everyday experience that the average person is just not going to respond. My Radiologist friend can understand me, my Chinese Doctor too, but Iâve had GP friends and stroke therapists whoâve simply admitted to not having covered the ground I have. They have also stated that many therapists could learn a lot from me. Their words, not mine, and I mean to downplay nobody !
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Magnesium is a wonderful supplement.
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You absolutely do not have to defend yourself.
I am totally with you on this and I shouldnât say this, but I am so very envious. Envy is not a good emotion to have and generally or in fact with very very few exceptions I do not subscribe to this and in fact it considered one of the seven seas is it not?
But, yet I am so very envious that you have this wonderful team helping you. I have followed you as you well know and I have been amazed at what you have done and achieved and have always known what you are doing is not ânormalâ and have said as much, but your modesty has not allowed you to accept that, because you respond by saying I am just a Human Bean. So weâll agree to disagree on that
What you are doing is at a level way above any that any government or public service provider can provide as a matter of course - the NHS simply cannot afford to offer what you are using as your rehab/recovery tools.
I will also state and as modest as you are, I think you might agree and accept this and that is to say your mental attitude and approach is also on a completely different level. You do not accept (correct me if I am wrong) or subscribe to the ânormsâ and you absolutely challenge everything until and unless you are satisfied. You stated somewhere that your pre-stroke IQ was 97% or something and I suspect that has not been affected by your stroke and maybe it is this that puts you apart. I hope I am not embarrassing you and I am not taking the p*** - you are almost a one-off and for that reason, almost everyone else on this forum (and again absolutely no disrespect to everyone else) simply cannot get anywhere near where youâre at and where youâre headed (110% of your former self is what I believe we last agreed ).
Not knowing you as well as I should, I believe you are a musician, an artist and it is my belief this type of person is again slightly different to your normal Human Bean. Certain people are âgiftedâ and they will always achieve more and when they have help they will achieve it sooner.
You will remember I said earlier that âalmost everyone else on this forumâ. Well you will know what I am going to say next My Mum - she is on a par with you and that is the only reason why I am envious (she would not forgive me for saying this as she does not envy anyone). I am of the opinion that if my Mum had anywhere near the level of support and access you have had, she would long since have achieved 110% recovery. I say that knowing what she has achieved and continues to achieve with support from Mother Nature, her good self and the occasional curve balls from the healthcare professional.
Would she take magnesium supplements? No, she would not, but that is her
She takes things what Mother Nature gives.
Roland - please forgive me if I have said anything that might be taken out of context and not in the way I meant it which was totally in good faith, as a compliment etc.
I can confirm that I too can and am learning a lot from you @Pando as well as others on this forum.
God bless you and may you have continued success and I truly hope that one day others will benefit from your exceptional gifts.
Namaste|
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Bless you @ManjiB you must not inflate my ego, lest I no longer stay grounded ! This weekend the electrician actually installed a massive earthing or âGaia Terminalâ callsign Major Tom" in the house upstairs and downstairs.
Misunderstanding here? About magnesium, it IS mother nature. The chlorophyll in the grass & trees IS magnesium (except we know Mg is depleted). My clip on Mg is still valid, though I have surpassed it many times in knowledge. I did watch though it a month ago and was surprised how much I learnt by listening to myself ! Also watch my clip on wheatgrass and youâll see the connection between chlorophyll & haemoglobin. I just feel you would benefit from looking into Mg. Minerals ARE nutrition !
Again, thx for your kind words. I can assure you that all I know is through pure necessity AND I am learning every day. The bean abides !!
Ciao, Roland
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Hey Roland - Donât worry, weâll keep your Ego grounded (geddit?)
Wrt magnesium - I meant Mum doesnât do supplements. Gets everything from nature - so diet is where she would get her magnesium. e.g. Bananas, nuts etc.
Unfortunately, with her being PEG fed and still nil-by-mouth and with no access to a patch of grass she cannot plant her feet on the ground, but weâre working towards that. Maybe soon!
Take care and keep reading those books. I have no idea how you do it.
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okay - let me try one last time !
Basic 101 : Mg is depleted in food
the most bioavailable magnesium is magnesium bicarbonate
it can be found in the ocean at depth and high pressure
Itâs more raw nature than anything you can touch right now
I (and many others in USA) make it myself and drink it I use magnesium hydroxide and a fizzy water (bicarb) machine and my fridge. In 48 hours itâs done.
If you find that complicated ( it can be) then buy magnesium rich mineral water ; called Rozana
a naturally sparkling French mineral water sourced from the Auvergne volcanoes, famous for its high magnesium content (160 mg/L), making it a âmagnesianâ water rich in minerals like calcium and bicarbonate. Itâs known for its distinctive taste, elegance, and benefits for well-being, often marketed as âMy Magnesium is Rozanaâ for its significant mineral contribution
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I always liked the Charles Bukowski remark ⌠âan intellectual is a man who says a simple thing in a difficult way; an artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way".
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I get an achy eye and have headaches, never had a headache before stroke. Never needed to take paracetamol. For the achy eye, I sometimes put a cool or warm washer on it, depending on which is effective at the time. I usually find that for headaches, a couple of paracetamols, lie down with an eye mask, listen to some calming music for half an hour can help.
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I watch your vids and read your posts, whether I clearly understand or not I cannot say but I get the gist. I like coming across your witticisms, I suspect some are incidental but they do make me chuckle.
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