I had a stroke 6 months ago (March 2024) and have just joined up. I have appreciated reading many of your posts and note that my symptoms are similar to lots of you.
Wish I could get rid of pins and needles on face and particularly down left arm to finger tips.
I would never have thought that eating lunch could cause such fatigue!
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Hi and a big welcome to our community. We are a merry band of stroke survivors who have suffered many different types of strokes and are on very different roads to recovery. There will always be someone on here to offer advice and information so ask away.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Regards Sue
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Hi susan @Fozzie
Sorry you have had a cause to join us but now you are here 
Welcome
Yes itâs amazing how fatiguing something as simple as eating lunch can be, or how discombobulating permanent pins and needles can be.
In your hundred post fest of reading have you come across the welcome post?
If not hereâs a link as it will give you a high level route map to what you may be facing.
Yes itâs good to know that things we suffer and are lead to believe by medical professionals cannot be expressed in any usefully guiding way are actually quite common and shared by many and have a pathway that those of us who are lived experience experts (regular Joe and Jill #StrokeThrivers) can describe and guide you about.
Youâre early in your journey so thereâs good chance the pins and needles will recede. As possibly so will many other factors but beware as the wellcome post says others may start to affect you in time - Itâs always tough to know what is and isnât significant 
Keep on reading, use the magnifying glass to search for things or by using an at@ sign and someoneâs name to search for posts by them
Any specifics that you canât find itâs always worth asking
Caio
Simon
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Thank you Sue and Simon for your speedy replies. Much appreciated. Hope to get accustomed to the site soon.
Susan
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@Fozzie hi & welcome to the community. Sorry youâve had cause to join us but hopefully youâll find it a useful place to be.
Thereâs lots of useful posts on the forum but please ask away if there is anything specific you want to know.
Hope your recovery is going ok.
Best wishes
Ann
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Hi @Fozzie and welcome to the forum 
As Simon said âyouâre early in your journeyâ so still room for improvements to be made all be it at a slower rate than the first 6 months. So never lose hope, the pins and needles are a good sign that there is a connection there, it may just take a bit more time to settle.
Look forward to seeing you around the forum 
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Paraesthesia: Your body is begging / screaming for more sensation / stimulation. Immerse your arm and face in sand and enjoy the feeling with all your soul. Good luck,
Roland
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Maybe instead of sand hot and cold water and/or hot and cold air and or a rough cloth like sackcloth and a smooth cloth like a silk pillowcase
Sand is good but getting it in your eyes etc!
Principle of exposure is generally suggested to be good though
3¢
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Thank you for your message. Yes, I am using the stimulation techniques which you suggest. Hopefully it will eventually help. What I donât understand is that this started quite a few weeks after my stroke.
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Thereâs a lot of stuff that doesnât kick in for 3 or 4 months (or at all If youâre lucky) and impacts can arise years even decades later and things can reverse at any stage known as decompensations. Have you read the Welcome post?
Caio
Simon
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Yes, I am finding delayed symptoms such as heavy limbs. Welcome post? Still trying to find my way around here. 
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The welcome post was something some of put together and is editable by all of us to improve it
Caio
Simon
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Heavy limbs could also be a sign of lacking in certain nutrients. Are you losing weight at all? Muscle deterioration through reduced mobility is quite common after stroke. It was the legs that felt so darn heavy for me and a blood test showed I seriously low in folic acid. Once the gp put me on a 2 week course of high strength folic acid the heaviness went away and I was told to continue with a daily dose an over the counter strength of folic acid. It also helped with some of the fatigue, though not all. So it might be worth seeing your gp and get a blood test done.
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Hi Fozzie and a warm welcome to the forum. A great and friendly bunch of people on here with lots of good info.
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oh I can tell you exactly what heavy limbs are about ; interoception
This is a review of the proprioceptive senses generated as a result of our own actions. They include the senses of position and movement of our limbs and trunk, the sense of effort, the sense of force, and the sense of heaviness .
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S A N D ⌠no kidding, accept no substitutes and do get it all over you and in your nails. It will connect you with nature in a very powerful way until you wash it off in the shower.
good luck, Roland
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Thank you EmeraldaEyes for the info. I will try over the counter folic acid first and see if that helps.
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The reason I suggest seeing your gp first is that it could be any one of a number of vitamins you are lacking Iron, B12 or D or it could be your blood sugar too. There are a number of causes for heavy limbs other than vitamin deficiency or stroke effect. And I am not a doctor, Iâm only an expert in my own recovery, so to speakđ
Anyway, it can be risky to just go popping vitamins without at least informing your gp in case of adverse effects or maybe interfering with any blood test/urine readings.
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