Hi I’m writing to introduce myself and also ask for a little advice. I’m 50, relatively fit at active, 3 children under 18, had a stroke on Sunday 10th September. It was a huge shock, it was an ischaemic stroke, so it’s affected my right side, feeling has come back in my mouth and much of my hand, my toes feel tingly and numb in my right side. They were the main areas affected. I’ve been attacking the weight loss ( I need to lose 10kgs) mainly by healthy eating and dog walks. However, on Tuesday I think I overdid it, I walked to work (full day teaching, first day back) then to my evening job ( tutoring), I also walked the dog before work and at night. The next day I went to walk the dog and the tingling and numbness came back in my mouth and down the back of my thigh, I was terrified so came home and rested for the rest of the day. It all settled down quite quickly but I just wondered if this is normal? Did I just overdo things? I feel so much more vulnerable now…x
HI @Sheepy1
WELCOME TO THE STROKE ASSOCIATION FORUM
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
I just want to say welcome and have a look at this if you feel up to it:
You almost certainly did overdo it!! You need to pace yourself at the moment I’m afraid and listen to your body.
I can’t believe you have got back to work so fast but it really sounds like you need to slow down a bit. talk to your GP and OT if you have one!! If not ask for one!
So sorry you’re on this journey. I am 10 months in from 3 ischemic strokes and often try and do too much!!
Please keep us posted about your journey and ask questions!!
Left frontal lobe ischemic stroke? 2 weeks on you clearly have super powers!!
Lots of love,
Kieran xx
Here is a picture of a polar bear to cheer you up!!
Thanks and I love the polar bear!! Yes it was on my left side, affecting the feeling in my right side. I’m not a super hero unfortunately 
I’m working on supply so if I don’t work I have no money…I only teach one day a week. I’m going to slow down a bit …and listen to my body more. I really don’t want this to happen again.
Have a brief look at this if you want about benefits etc. One thing I would think about applying for is PIP. You can start the application by phone and then have time to complete it and when approved it will be back dated… You are almost certainly entitled to support financially post stroke.
There are also some bits on there about employer support etc. But also you can just use the magnifying glass (top right) and search for say ‘fatigue’ and you’ll get a load of hits!! This is like facebook for stroke survivours!!
Just chill a bit!! Like this polar bear
K
Hi @Sheepy1
Kieran is already pointed you to the welcome post that contains some of the more often repeated advice, as well as links to more.
I think you probably haven’t been long enough post a stroke to recognise your new emergent patterns, so it’s difficult to answer the “overdone it question?”
the symptoms you describe could be a TIA 
Having said that after coming back from hospital I had three visits to a&e because of similar things all of which were false alarms.
If you’ve been given a reason for your stroke and confirmation that your meds now address your risk factors then that might point more strongly towards just the way your fatigue affects you .
Certainly the busy day you describe would expose most of us on here to several days of sofa surfing to cope with the fatigue that would result.
But then you have obviously from the story of going back to work not had debilitating side effects of the stroke in that regard 
It may be that by doing it you brought them closer to the surface? I can’t say for sure, only that it isn’t alien to experiences normally posted by others.
As the welcome post says you’re in the right place now for asking advice. I expect others will be around to say hello and stay strong
Caio
Simon
Thanks. I really wasn’t aware of the fatigue factor… definitely something to be aware of! Tbh the stroke man’s attitude was you can basically go back to normal… just don’t drive for a month…but today I think a short dog walk then watching TV with my poorly child might be in order!Thankyou😊
For most people a stroke is a major life-changing event.
However there are things called silent strokes where the impact is outwardly un observable and internally either inexplicable or as little or no actual effect
I very much hope that it doesn’t have the connotations at the more impactful end of the scale for you. Time will tell.
I’ve previously described a stroke as buying a £100 second hand car without a manual that has lots of clutters and bangs and you can not tell when is time to take it to the garage but after 6 months of driving it you know the warning signs
Sounds like a plan! What are you going to watch? If I have to watch kids TV depending on age I’d go for the lego move or some simpsons or simple wildlife docs!!
I’m not sure what to say to that. I can’t give you any kind of medical advice but I would say there should be a ‘path’ to recovery and you can’t sprint a whole 10k…
Keep calm and save the arctic
K
Hi just walked the dog … slowly…and survived it😊 We have been watching Young Sheldon together but it’s getting pretty dull! He’s 12 and easily bored. We might try Brooklyn 99 or and old Catchphrase!!! Fun times x
Hi, I’m trying to get answers on fatigue here atm. I lost some feeling in my face and left arm also still have loss of taste almost 6 months on. Tingling in my fingers and face comes and goes. is it fatigue or just things returning to normal?
I’ve been told not to overdo things and rest between activity.
I think fatigue is a major problem post stroke.
Take care.
Hi @Seeney
There’s loads of stuff on here about fatigue
if you use the magnifying glass at the top and type that word in you’ll be inundated with posts because it’s so common!
A current hypothesis is there is one set of fatigue mechanisms associated with the physical damage from the strokes, these last some months from the incident. There is another set that are postulated as coming from chemical and other post stroke changes perhaps relating to the compensatory change of neural networks and these start to emerge some months after the stroke so the two are present with overlap at some point .
Strategies for coping that I have heard of include keeping a diary of hydration, medication, food types & intake, exposure to light and sounds and people and conversation and cognitive and stress and sleep challenges as well as degree of fatigue felt and then looking for patterns that may span a day or three or five
My taste went haywire after my stroke.
it gradually returned mostly to normal. Hard to recall but I think it took more than 18 months to settle down but that’s just a one example - you may be quicker or slower than me but I have the impression that a return of 80 or 90% is common .
Tingling & weakness or neuropathy is also common. I’m not sure if I know all the causes but neurological is one - just your brain doing funny things, another is as a side effect of statins - often accused and reportedly about 15% of people - I don’t know. I had tingling took a month off from my statins and then started again and I’m not sure if I could detect a cause and effect relationship.
Another reported cause is healing and another is exercising muscles and nerves that started to shorten and are now objecting to the activity.
I guess that’s why they say you should try and keep exercises from being extreme
Hopefully this helps
Ciao
Simon
@Sheepy1 hi & welcome to the forum. Others have given you lots of hood advice so I won’t repeat it.
Wow, you’ve gone back to work so soon after your stroke. That’s an amazing achievement. The day you describe could well be fatihue. I couldn’t do all that now - 21 months in.
As @SimonInEdinburgh says though it’s very difficult to say so soon. You will learn to manage your fatigue as time moves on & learn your limits.
Wishing you all the best.
Ann x
Thank you.
Informative as usual.
Hi yes I’ve only been 2 weeks but the tingling in my fingers and toes seem to come and go, they seem to be worse in the morning but that might just be my imagination. I’m hopefully in hospital soon for a checkup so I’ll ask about it all. I’m trying to take things a bit easier. Some great advice on here, thankyou 
I was totally unaware that fatigue could be an issue.
Welcome Sheepy1. 
I felt very good straight after my stroke and then progressively not so good. But I took comfort from the fact that the medication was supporting me whilst I learnt to pace myself.
I had a stroke in April and initially felt OK. I was mobile and had no problems with the cognitive side of things and was very sure I’d be back up to speed in a couple of months. Then the fatigue and brain fog kicked in after I left hospital, together with the onset of post stroke pain. In the last week I’ve been sleeping 18 hours a day and I’m still exhausted. I’m hoping it’s my brain doing some serious rewiring.
Hi @clibbers1
I had a sort of similar thing about 2 months post stroke to 5 months when I became anaemic due to the apixiban (blood thinner) that I was taking. It is supposed to be very good in general but just didn’t agree with me!! But then not much does 
eventually i had to come off it immediately and have iron infusions and b12 injections daily and folic acid etc
So no advice but maybe check side effects of eds because I was bad and then the apixiban made it about 5x worse…
I hope that my brain - sorry I know my brain is still re wiring and that is something I cling on to…
K
Hi @Sheepy1 welcome to the forum and it looks like you’ve gotten a lot of good sound advice and support to consider, so I’ll you any repetition
I can appreciate your reasoning for tackling your weight, but now is not the time for that! Your recovery comes first right now and that’s reliant on a good healthy well balanced diet, “light building up to moderate” exercise for sure, for the next 6mths at least. You’ve had a stroke, the recovery is the same as having any major surgery. You don’t see patients running marathons just weeks after open heart surgery 
What you can do is cut down on the empty carbs such as crisps/sweets/high fat content/bread/cake/pastry/white rice/potato and don’t finish off what the kids leave on their plate Do have some carbs, just half the amount you would normally have and top up on healthy snacks between meals…and save a treat for the weekend . Increase your protein and dairy, they are the brain foods which are very much needed right now. Your brain is a muscle like any other and it needs its proteins to heal and grow just as your children do. In fact your body burns up nutrients at a faster rate during recovery so keep them topped up.
I think you’ve learnt your lesson the hard way as most of us have all done. You have to figure out your current limits and don’t go beyond them, they need to built up gradually over the coming months.
Take care of yourself now 
@Seeney simiar to myself. However my main problem is fatigue since stroke end of may 23.
Left side weakness and huge taste problems most food is horrible.
But if I had to pick one thing that holds me back it’s Fatigue, it’s very disabling and difficult for people to understand because I look better, I cry often with it as I’m unable to see improvement .
Hi, I too have a loss of taste, my stroke was in April and although I’m able to do most things I still don’t think I’ve improved in balance and sight. Others say I’m vastly improved but it doesn’t feel like it in my head.
continually told it’s early days.
Take care.