Hi Sue, my hubby had his stroke 15 months ago and has massive balance issues so still can’t stand. As he’s in a wheelchair our activities are restricted but I try and do ‘normal’ things with him like go swimming, a walk along a sea front, getting fish and chips and eating them outside or go to the cinema. Sometimes it helps if you do something very different: we sit on a park bench in the sun and make a point of saying hello to everyone who walks past: we take a blanket and sit outside to watch the stars: we like to have friends for cofee and cake but you could bake a cake and invite yourself to a friend’s house asking them to review the cake.
Remember feelings are created from thoughts and, with practise, we can change our thoughts and so how we feel. Positive affirmations written on post-it notes can help or even just your favourite jokes.
Good luck. Everything changes so even a low mood will go.
Hello Scubajane. Thank you for your reply and wonderful tips. I have managed to pick myself up from the low mood, and am trying to will myself to do more things. I think having had my son here for a couple of days, then him going back home I got myself into a bit of a downward spiral, I miss my family! However I believe they have the right to live their own lives and I have a loving husband who cares very much for me. Our eldest son lives in Canada with his wife and our 2 grandchildren, our youngest moved back to the South West but he and his wife travel up as much as they can, so I’m grateful really and lucky! Thank you again for taking the time to reply and give me some incentives , I appreciate it. Best wishes on your recovery too
@Sue22 , it’s best to focus on what you can do not the opposite. Use your positives as building blocks to aid recovery. Also, keep your family updated with your progress. All the best.
Thank you Johnnyboy81. I’ m doing better now and have taken everything onboard and am looking at life more positively now. Happy days and sunshine, that always helps . Take care and look after yourself too
Hi Sue, I’ve only recently said this to someone else on this forum. Go to your GP and ask for a full blood test, in particular, you need to know what your nutrient levels are like. Certain vitamin deficiencies will cause things like heavy legs, nerve conditions, fatigue, stamina, apathy, etc etc. and your wading through treacle is very classic symptom. It definitly affects your mood, your outlook on life.
It certainly helped me, my gp found I was seriously low in folic acid. He put me on a high dose for 2 weeks and and said to continue with an daily over the counter strength after that. It worked! No more heavy legs, walking improved and fatigue greatly reduced.
What I’m saying is, never settle for this being a side effect of the stroke. Not until everything else has been ruled out. The meds you are on can deplete nutrients, so can the stroke itself, certainly with all the repair and healing work and relearning it has to do.
Whatever you’ve eaten in the days since you initial post, could just have topped you up enough to make you feel good. That might just be because it contained enough of the vitamin/nutrient you lacked, to give you that boost short term. But it may not be sustainable long term, particularly if you are borderline malnourished in one or more particular nutrients.
It’s still best to have a blood test, while it still manegeable, prevention is better than the cure. The GP is the prevention, hospital is the cure. I know which I’d rather opt for
Thank you for your reply. I have recently had blood tests as I have several other illnesses and I was severely anaemic. I’ve now had 2 iron infusions and have been put on Creon as my pancreas isnt working sufficiently in absorbing nutrients, so that could all tie in.
Thank you for the information though, and hopefully I will be able to walk further soon, I am practicing .
Ah, that explains it, but does not resolve these issues for you. What I do know is you can’t overdose on creon, so maybe you should increase your dosage with each meal. Nutrient deficiency is still not good for your health regardless. I think you should still see your gp with these symptoms you are having. You still shouldn’t settle for this is how it’s going to be for the rest of your life. Find out where your nutrient levels are and which ones could be boosted further with supplements, A, D and K could be some of them.
I’m not an expert but I did care for my mother-in-law who had pancreatic cancer. Most of her pancreas was removed along with a few other bits. That’s how I know about creon and the vitamins mentioned above were some of the supplements she was taking. 5 years later the cancer spread to her lungs. Half both lungs were removed and still she lived a full life, abeit reduced a tad, but still accompanied me to some of my fitness classes after my stroke.
The doctors are letting you down and there is no excuse for it, but you really need to explain all your symptoms. And don’t allow them to blame it on your stroke! The Iron alone is clearly not enough.
Lorraine
P.S. some vitamins are water soluble so can’t be stored in your body. The B range of vitamins in particular, your body depends on you taking in a daily dose and any excess is naturally disposed of through your urine.
Folic acid got rid of my heavy leg issue along with the fatigue, the apathy, the lack of energy, this life of merely existing but not actually living it, just going through the motions of it to stop the family worrying. I didn’t realise I was severely depleted in anything, I just thought it was the effect of the stroke. But it wasn’t, it was actually preventing my recovery.
You will …although grief is a strange beast..I lost my partner of over 30 years to lung cancer, some time ago now…never managed to meet anyone else….but time does lessen the impact and everyday life seeps back in eventually. Be strong JohnnyBoy x
@Susie1 ,doing my best. Sorry about the loss of your partner. 30yrs+ is a long time. Up until recently when mum died, she’d been a widow since 27 July 1998 (I not long turned 17yrs then). 27+yrs. Like you, she never remarried.
PS. thanks for your kind words.
Nine months is YOUNG for a stroke . Read Sharon Stones story. It takes seven to eight Years so stop whingeing and give yourself a break. Damage to the brain/nervous system doesn’t heal like a broken bone . It needs a lot of Love and Patience
@Mrs5K , that’s the hope. As I’ve been told, “there is no time limit when it comes to grief”. A vicar told me that. When I’ve finally get things put to bed, then I’ll mourn. I haven’t done that since mum died.
@IreneFC , I do that, sometimes. Not often. Anyway, after the cremation, I’ll be toasting (once again) to absent friends and loved ones. I’ll raise a cold glass (or two) of Guinness to the heavens.
, I appreciate it. Best wishes on your recovery too
