Just wondered if anyone had extremes of emotions in the early part of their strokes. As well as having floods of tears, I also had ridiculous amounts of hilarity. I would find ordinary things extremly funny - and my partner would come in to see me laughing my head off at something mildly amusing. Out of control (and I have to admit I nearly wet myself).
Also when I yawned I found my tightly clenched hand relaxing. Bizzarre!
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Emotions can be all over the place post stroke. It’s called emotional lability. I used to cry loads for no readon. I still, 3 years on, experience a lot of crying over minor things but it has improved a lot…thankfully.
Have a look at this leaflet.
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Hi Climberlin-- When I was in the hospital after my stroke, they had a meeting of all the stroke people and a nurse told us what to expect during recovery. She said one thing that happens is extreme emotionality. During a stroke, the part of the brain that deals with emotion is affected. IT doesn’t matter where in your brain the stroke occurred. And it’s not just crying a lot. I remember tearing up in discussing missing morning coffee with my husband at home. But it’s not just tears. Weeks after coming out of the hospital, I remember relating to my daughter and her husband a funny episode I watched the night before of Key and Peele on TV. I started to laugh and just couldn’t stop. It was sort of embarrassing, but also an amusing occurrence—better than crying, anyway! 
This emotionality cleared up over time as my brain healed. So, just try to ignore it.
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In some ways its okay for one of the gentler sex to get teary.
It’s a bit unsettling for a fella or those around him to see a vulnerable side.
Immediately post stroke and in the first year while reading something, or saying something it would set me off blubbing. My wife just let me get on with it, so I didn’t feel too embarrassed and I must admit it had a sort of emotional cleansing effect leaving me feeling better.
I think it is part of a grieving effect, mourning the loss and getting used to doing things differently.
There was also the inappropriate and uncontrolled laughter, but I think all that emotion is best allowed to have its way. It is harmless and I believe it is part of the recovery process. It fades eventually anyhow.
I was lucky, it never became destructive, but it might be a good idea to get professional help if there are signs that things are turning out bad.
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I cried a lot my first night in hospital after my stroke. After that I was either emotionally numb, my feelings stuck in neutral, but I did find ordinary things extremely funny. The hilarity gradually calmed down in the first year but emotions took a couple years to switch back on so I often had fake emotional responses such as happy, sad, concerned, shocked, surprised, joy etc. and that too is mentally taxing. My theory is that was my brain’s way of protecting me from the stresses of life while I heeled. And I made sure all my family and close friends knew about that so I didn’t inadvertently hurt them. And, thankfully, that side of things is all back to normal now, with no harm done 
And don’t forget, some of that will also be the effects of the medications you are on, so that emotion calm down as your body adapts to the medications.
Lorraine
Stroke Improvement Group
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