Hello my husband is 8 months post stroke. He’s recovering very well but has periods where he feels very emotional and tired. He said it feels like an intense tiredness that hits him and he has a heavy fuzzy head and feels very emotional. Over the 8 months of his recovery he hasn’t had many episodes like this but he is doing more and more now so wonder if this is why. He does have about an hours sleep in the afternoon to recharge his batteries so to speak. Just wondered if this is the fatigue I’ve read about? Thank you
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This sounds very much like it could be & as he does more it’s likeky to be worse for a while until his brain gets used to that activity level. Sometimes you have to reduce the activity level again for a bit. They say you should find a level that suits you and stick with it even on better days when you feel like doing more as it can have an impact a few days later.
Fatigue can appear in many forms. Overwhelming tiredness is one. I find I also suffer increases emotions (i.e. cry more), fuzzy/woozy/dizzy head, nausea, increased tinnitus volume & it can make stroke symptoms worse. Often i find it’s not the day I do the activity that i get the fatigue. It can be 24 / 48 hours later.
I found keeping a diary useful so I could identify my triggers & then avoid / adapt next time.
Best wishes
Ann
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Thank you for the advice Ann thats really helpful x
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Hello there, Emma
Yes it sounds “typical”. In time, he will moderate / manage his work load better. Only one observation; I used to nap half an hour a day after lunch, and it would take me half an hour to fall asleep, often. So if his hour is taken up like so, fair enough. The point is that more than half an hour can be counter-productive and damage his chance of a good sleep at night. But certainly a 35 minute nap is excellent.
Just in case insomnia becomes an issue : You might want to look up the 3 P’s of sleep. The following is a copy and paste to give you an idea / Good luck, Roland----
The 3 Ps of sleep, or the 3-P model, is a behavioral model that describes the development and maintenance of chronic insomnia. The 3 Ps are predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors:
- Predisposing factors: Characteristics that make someone more likely to develop poor sleep.
- Precipitating factors: Events that trigger acute insomnia, such as stress, trauma, or health issues. These factors are usually easy to identify.
- Perpetuating factors: Behaviors and beliefs that maintain poor sleep symptoms and can lead to chronic insomnia. These factors can be psychological, physiological, environmental, or behavioral. For example, someone might try to make up for lost sleep by napping.
The 3-P model is based on the idea that insomnia occurs when these three factors interact. It’s used in cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia (CBT-I).
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Thank you for this information. Yes Mark said he spends about 30 minutes getting to sleep so dpesnt have a full hour. Thank you Roland
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You’re welcome Emma,
In that case it’s a great little power nap routine to have. Taking a few things at night can help ; magnesium to relax muscles, CBD, Montmorency cherry juice ( Montmorency cherries are one of the few known food sources of melatonin . Melatonin, which is a natural compound produced in the brain’s pineal gland, controls the body’s natural sleep cycles and circadian rhythms.) or you can take serotonin gummies (from which we make our own melatonin)
Then for fatigue during day to can try Shalijit (start with very small dose) ; try eliminating sugar and carbs ; eat the best fruit and veggies money can buy. Look after gut biome. Get sunshine / daylight and exercise and strengthen parasympathetic system. Research vagus nerve, and learn to interact with it. There are many other things you can do,
Good luck to Mark, ciao, R
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Hi Emma, to relieve some of his fatigue, maybe he should try just taking more frequent breaks. 5-15mins (depending what he’s doing) of just sitting with his eyes closed to give his brain little breaks. Closing the eyes stops any visual intake from having to be processed for those few minutes. And that can be done even whilst he might be on the phone for example.
The brain has much more to do at the moment, not only to maintain and continue all functionality as best it can. It’s also healing and repairing the damage done and relearning and rerouting neurological pathways.
Is it really any wonder why it gets so fatigued. When you think about it, that’s one of main reasons babies and young children need so much sleep…and get cranky when over stimulated/over tired. The brain needs down time to process and store. If it’s not given time to store what has learnt, the longer it might take to recover.
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That all makes total sense. Thank you so much I’ll pass this on to him x
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Of course a minor annoyance to this will be when people see him doing this and will be checking on him to see if he’s alright 
It’ll take people a while to catch on that he’s just giving his brain some quiet time 
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A good excuse for him to ignore people 
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Hi my names Joanne, Fatigue is one the hardest things to cope with after a Stroke 
believe me there is a light at the end of the tunnel you just have to work well with it 
it’s like recharging a battery when it’s drained 
i’m 4 years post stroke and I didn’t feel like I’d get there but i feel on top of the world now no alcohol, i eat sensible and exercise 
hope thing work out for him! positive thinking 
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Thank you so much. So good to know it gets better. Glad youre feeling good x
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