I am nearly 10 weeks post stroke. I feel worse now than I did afer the stroke :(
I was suffering with a sore neck and shoulder before I had the stroke, getting pins and needle sensations down my arm. When I had the stroke this got worse.
I was thrombolised within 1 hour of my symptoms starting so my speech came back very quickly.
I am seeing a physio about my leg (right side) and she is looking at my neck and shoulder but this is purely exercises (pilates type ones) I had seen several physios/osteopaths etc before the stroke and have tried 2 different physios since the stroke about the pain in my neck and shoulder, its like a throbbing tooth ache pain and it creeps up into my face/ears and down my arm, it's worse when I am tired but as I am not sleeping properly because its so sore this is a viscous circle :( I was given Gabapentin for the nerve pain on Wednesday, not noticed any differnece yet, but appreciate I need to give this time.
I know I am very fortunate and my situation could have been very different, it's just I was quite an active 39 year old and I know my recovery will take time but this pain seems to be taking over, it's so sore I am not even able to do the housework. An OT is coming to the house on Monday so I will speak to her about this as well.
I just feel I would be doing far more if I wasnt in this pain? Any thoughts anyone? Anyone had somehting similar? With pain increasing rather than decreasing?
Hi Lordy. My experience involved my weak hand. When movement came back my fingers were fine all day. As soon as I got into bed at night I experienced a painful throbbing down every finger. I was prescribed Baclofen but it has unpleasant side effects. One night I decided to ride the pain out. It lasted an hour and a half then stopped. Eventually this throbbing pain in the fingers stopped altogether.
I have no medical training, but I assume stroke affects the nerves and pain sensors in our bodies. My weak hand still lacks sensitivity, but it can feel pain quite easily...especially if I hold anything with metal/ edges. I think this is because our nerve system dictates the way we ‘feel’ the object we are holding and adjusts accordingly. Don’t know if that makes sense to you.
I am three years post stroke and still have a frozen shoulder. The shoulder can move easily and the arm and hand have good movement, but the frozen feeling is always there. My weak leg feels ‘normal’ these days, but I have to be careful re balance.
Ten weeks is very early in the recovery phase. The brain, however, is an amazing instrument and knows what it is doing. I am sure this pain will ease with time.
I had tingling & bad aching in both legs following my stroke, and my doctor gave me some ibrufen gel, which I put on in the morning and before bed. I have to say it did take the edge off and enabled me to sleep better. Your OT should be able to give you some advice. It is very early days, it took months for mine to improve, and two years later I still get the occasional times when my joints ache and out comes the gel!
Give yourself time to heal. Things will get better even though you do not think so at the moment. Wendy
Hi Lordy. I'm just under 6 weeks post stroke. I have a nerve impingement in my neck on the left side. As you, although I'm 50, I'm fairly active and in what I would consider decent shape. I wonder if there is any link between the 2, it certainly makes you wonder. I hope you are feeling better now.
Hello yes I did. Basically when a person has a stroke the muscles on the affected side, usually the shoulder and neck can become very loose for a while. This usually happens on the affected side, mine did. As the arm can go floppy during the stroke. The gait and the walk can also be affected. As the body begins to recover in the first months the body seems to re-tighten it and it can cause painful spasms. I had this problem also.I had physio and took Gabapentin for this problem also it takes a while to work. I was also 39 by the way. I was worried because I thought it was me having another one. The pain eventually goes, I would keep up with the physio and the medication. When the pains bad ( I can remember it now writing this) I took painkillers and tried to reposition myself. Maybe think of it as the muscle healing to help with the anxiety. 10 weeks is very early after a stroke. I hope I've helped a bit.