does anybody suffer with continually straining muscles. I have just got over straining my back which took several weeks and now I have pulled another one in my back. I used to be very active before the stroke and think it might be lack of use now I have to sit a lot. I would like to hear of anyone who has had the same. Norma
Dear Norma
we need to gently build ourselves up. I cant do gently. I have to try harder. Then i get pulled muscles, painful joints and cramp.
unlike me, if you are clever enough to go steady then straining will ease away.
So yes, i reckon it is lack of use that is at the root of your problems. I get somewhere by keeping a diary of what i do. Then try to slowly build up.
i like to think how lucky i am to be able to build up when many cant move at all.
i must now go and gently walk a little further than yesterday
colin
Hi, i get muscle cramps a lot, especially laying in bed, on the affected side, mainly calf and foot and unable to naturally stretch the muscles myself to get rid of the cramp. But also, feels like the right side is continually in pain, I guess because the right side is doing all the work now.
The only time I would call it a strain pain, was after falling over and actually straining my back. Its so hard to remain supple when one side is over worked and the other side is basically unused. Hopefully it may improve with the warmer dryer weather for you.
thanks for answering my question. I hope it will soon go as my poor husband is having to do much more for me and i feel very guilty sitting but thats the only way it will disappear. thanks again.
Dear Norma Jean
relationships often crumble after a stroke. After all, our personality changes and our abilities change.
how we get around those issues i just cant say. Our partners need to do everything they used to do and then a portion of what we did and then look after us as a patient for a long long time.
on top of it all, we cant tell what is happening to us and cant establish how things will progress.
if there is anything you can do to help your husband then do it. My wife still expects me to do everything i used to do. And five years on, that impasse is still here. Worst bit is when i cant recall names and events. She can not cope with that.
i used to encourage her to go out every day and she liked that. But covid is now blocking that route.
keep at it
colin
I agree with everything you have said the main trouble is w cannot go out so we are together all day every day in the house. It will get better after we have all had our jabs ours is next week. Then we can get back to normal. Thanks for replying Colin.
I am lucky to have a long garden. And i try to walk a little each day, towards the village and back. So we can get away from each other a little bit.
this covid thing makes a stroke even worse.
lets hope it ends as fast as it started.
colin
Dear Norma
I've only just seen your post, having not been on the site for a few days. I'm currently suffering from soreness in my left rib area for the second time. On both occasions, it's followed exercises I've been doing for core muscles which I found on Flint-fit. The first time took about 10 days to get better; the pain was in the ribs at the front and hurt when attempting to get out of bed or out of a chair. I'm confident I'll be better in a few days and will give the exercises a miss for a while. I also suffer with a low backache which I've had for months. I had a shoulder brace fitted a couple of days ago. I have subluxation in my weak shoulder and walk with my arm hanging down in front of me. The brace should help my posture and thus my walking. I hope so since there's plenty of room for improvement! After waiting months, I've also had a telephone appointment with a clinical psychologist this week. I've been suffering low mood for some time and found the session very useful. It's so difficult coming to terms with life following stroke, having been so active and then so suddenly made little more than an invalid. However, we have to hope for the best, while planning for the worst.
My husband's been lucky enough to have had his first dose of COVID vaccine this week and is feeling fine, no side effects so far. However, he has an appointment to speak to his GP this week, since there is some concern over recent blood tests (anaemia and kidney function).
I do hope your back improves soon; I'll be thinking of you.
All good wishes,
Anne xxx
Thank you for replying Anne the trouble is it makes me feel very depressed as I have other health issues I have got af which gives me palpitations in the middle od the night.I am takins medications to slow my heart down. I suppose I ought to be thankful my stroke didnt affect my limbs. Oh to have my active life back. Thanks again. Best wishes Norma jean. 81.
Hi Norma, I suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in April 2019, in the last 7 months I have had a frozen shoulder then a pulled muscle in the opposite arm and one in my lower back. In the past few months I have been taking my dogs out for a good 3+ mile walk and I don't tend to sit down very much during the day so fingers crossed. Hope you're feeling better soon. Katy x
I,m so sorry to hear of your AF; that must be terrible for you to be awakened in the night and very scary. I was supposed to have a 72-hour heart monitor when in hospital but it never happened! I had a 36-hour one which didn't show anything. I had a telephone appointment with my consultant in September, when he said he would arrange a 6-day monitor for me in out-patients but, guess what, that hasn't happened either. I don't have any symptoms of AF so hopefully I'm fine. I'm sorry you're feeling depressed, it's not surprising, the stroke itself is enough to make anyone depressed, without all the other problems it leaves in it's wake. I do hope your back improves soon, pain is so wearing. Do you take any pain relief?
Best wishes and God Bless,
Anne xxx
Katy thank you for replying I am using voltoral gel which helps but its getting in and out of the chair that is the most painful still I am better than alot of SS who have a lot more to put up with. Best wishes to you. Norma.
Katy thank you for replying I am using voltoral gel which helps but its getting in and out of the chair that is the most painful still I am better than alot of SS who have a lot more to put up with. Best wishes to you. Norma.
Katy thank you for replying I am using voltoral gel which helps but its getting in and out of the chair that is the most painful still I am better than alot of SS who have a lot more to put up with. Best wishes to you. Norma.
I take paracetamol but not too often. I hope to hear from someone who has this problem with palptations it is very scary in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep.Thanks again. Norma.
Dear Norma
i think you have made the same posting three times.
so many of us do this and when i did it, i didnt know how to remove the superfluous posts. I now know the answer.....open one of the surplus posts. Look at the end of the post and you will see an option to delete. Press and hey presto, extra copy gone.
I really enjoy walking but my head is the thing that spoils that I feel disorrientated and very wobbly and that spoils that but I am determined to walk a short way down a lane every day. It benefits me in so many ways.
I think we probably need a bit of fresh air to help ease the disorrientation. I am ok with a single walking stick, but if you need two, or one of those walker thingies then go for it.
i am walking most days and after many outings, my legs are strengthening. I now walk for a half hour and i do a little extra each walk. I think i am going a round trip of one mile, which is a great achievement for me. I think the key is to do just a little more each time and not do too much.
best wishes
colin
Hi Norma, I used to feel like that when I first started walking after my stroke. Persevere, it will get better. Walking is the one thing that is keeping me going during this third lockdown, I am finding it particularly difficult to remain positive. The garden is dormant apart from the odd camellia flower and bulb poking up. An orchid, a gift from a friend who was dividing her pot bound plant, has decided to send forth a flower shoot with many buds, I feel as if I need repotting somehow in order to flourish again. Marylin
Hello Norma,
Yes, I get cramps and pangs in bed, but I also get muscle cramps when moving. They aren't acute enough to disrupt my day but they cause me a bit of temporary anxiety when they happen. I even got a muscle strain doing Thai chi, and I was moving fairly slowly. I don't know why but my muscles are weaker and more tender on some days. I purposefully move slowly now as to avoid this feeling.