Fatigue

Am I suffering from fatigue or just being lazy? I just want to sit and do nothing I cannot get motivated to exercise or anything.

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I imagine you are suffering some fatigue which will affect your motivation. Stroke can also give you low mood which might be feeding into it too. I think you said in a previous post that you struggling with your loss of independence & that’s making you angry & depressed. That could all be a factor.

If it is impacting you greatly it may be time to speak to your GP to see if they can offer any help. The Stroke Association also have a here for you service where you can register to have calls from a volunteer in a similar situation to yourself. You can find out more here if it is something that might interest you.

https://www.stroke.org.uk/stroke/support/weekly-volunteer-calls/webform/weekly-volunteer-calls-sign-form

Stroke can affect your emotions too. You can have a read about this Here

Maybe try doing a little bit each day of something you enjoy. That might be something new that you have never done before. Rest after doing each thing to keep fatigue at bay.

Exercises etc to help with recovery need not be regimented. You can build them into daily activities if that’s possible for you.

Above all else be kind to yourself you have been through a major event.

Best wishes

Ann xx

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From what you said in other posts such as the one below:

it’s most likely fatigue but something like Ensure might give you a bit of boost, stroke recover burns a lot of nutrients and may not be taking in enough despite what your diet is like. But as @Mrs5K says, have a word with your GP first to be sure there’s nothing untoward going on. Suggest they test your nutrient levels as you could be lacking in something like Iron, B12 or such. That would also present similar symptoms to what you are experiencing.

Boredom could also be a reason if you are not getting out very much! Are there any local groups you could attend such as stroke groups or AgeUK. I go to a strength & balance class for the over 50’s run by AgeUK and that’s held at our local church hall, you can find these on the internet local to you.

Lorraine

If you want to be forced to sit doing nothing for the rest of your life, continue to do so. Exercise and rehab will be the only things that get your self and independence back.

Sorry but that’s the harsh truth and that’s what motivated me to do so much physio

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I had no motivation after my stroke, because all emotions were set to neutral. In a way that helped more than hindered as it meant I could set myself tasks and routines for each day. And just worked my way through them robotically each day. And every time i recharged my battery I’d do the next task/chore on my list.

The only difficulty with that, for me, was my lack of communication skills. I couldn’t draw up a daily plan of action because I couldn’t write. And I couldn’t ask my family to draw one up for me because I couldn’t speak. But this was fine because it was also retraining my brain to remember as I had to keep that plan in my head.

So my rehab became a series of tasks I’d do throughout the day along with my attempts at household chores and personal hygiene, walks etc. And I could never stick a certain amount of time for each because the fatigue was so limiting. But that was ok too because with the poor memory, I never got bored :sweat_smile: or maybe that was just because my emotions were in neutral :thinking:

I kept all my rehab paraphernalia handy in a plastic storage box in the living room so sometimes it was a lucky dip as to what I’d next depending on what my stroke hand managed to pull out…another exercise in itself :laughing:

I was fortunate in that I have family who work well around me. One phrase I became very familiar with from my hubby to the kids was “ay-up, your mother is on the move again” and I’d be tailed :laughing: Because if I chose to do a chore, they’d end up having to finish it for me :rofl:

So just set yourself a few rehabs goals targets each day, shut your mind off and just do them.
Eg, today I’m going to do x, y along with my daily routine, whatever that is.
Don’t think about all that you should be doing. Just concentrate one thing at a time, so not to overwhelm your mind and put it off.

Lorraine