Regression 1 year after stroke

Hi there, im just looking some advice. Im 48 and had a stroke just over 1 year ago. I recovered at a steady pace , however the past few days I feel that I have regressed. Initially i struggled to put my hair up in a bobble as my right arm was affected. After a month or so I was able to do it myself but the numbness has come back and I and now I cant do it myself. Ive also experienced intermittent numbness in my face (right side), something I never had before. My concern is that its another stroke and my anxiety is through the roof :disappointed:. My bp is fine and im taking my meds regularly. Has anyone experienced anything like this regression? Thanks for listening, I hope this makes sense.

5 Likes

Hi @Vicki1

Yes (in short)! :frowning:

I was at the GPs today saying pretty much the same thing (not the tying the hair up with a bobble thing!) and we agreed just one of those post stroke ā€˜the present that keeps on givingā€™ things

Iā€™m 3Ā¾ post stroke - But what applies to me; while itā€™s an indicator of normality isnā€™t guaranteed to be the same for you. Sitting on a stool in a&e for 13hrs to be told ā€œyeah might be canā€™t really tellā€ Itā€™s definitely safest because they might actually do a CT or MRI and say youā€™ve had another event.

Finding some techniques to deal with your anxiety is definitely definitely definitely a good thing to do because that wonā€™t be helping any aspect of your post stroke life/recovery.

Sometimes when it happens to me I take a 75 mil aspirin for a few weeks afterwards.

There are actually things in the welcome post Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start that mention regression/ decompensations (which this could be, it could be another event, it could be a nothing but changes generally deserve being investigated)

thereā€™s a shedload of posts about people taking two steps forward and one step backwards.

If you use the magnifying glass above youā€™ll be able to search for posts on the theme

Caio
Simon

2 Likes

Hi @Vicki1 & welcome to the community. It seems quite common that people have some regression. There was a post just the other day on here about it. Iā€™ve linked it below. There is a thing called stroke decomponsation - youā€™ll find a link to some info about it in the linked post too.

Deteriorating progress

If these are new symptoms for you though itā€™s probably a good idea to get checked out. If yiu donā€™t want to ho straight to A&E you could ring 111 for advice.

Best wishes

Ann

2 Likes

Because we donā€™t have an objective way of measuring our progress, indeed we take it for granted after a while, sometimes a regression is actually progress. For example, I used not to feel the right side inside my mouth.,ā€¦ when i finally could it felt like 2 left sides / awfulā€¦ then it integrated and i declared progress.

Hope you can gather more date until you finally see the bigger pictureā€¦ your nerves are pushing for more sensation thatā€™s all, (hence numbnessā€¦ or incomplete sensation)
ciao, Good luck, Roland

3 Likes

Hope you see some improvement soon. I had my major (3rd) stroke in November 2023 and the set backs are annoying. A month ago, I had something happen and I could barely get off the sofa or feed myself. Itā€™s a nightmare but thank god, Iā€™m getting back to new (post stroke) normality

4 Likes

Just an update (hopefully iā€™m, using this forum correctly). I ended up attending a and e on my doctors advice. Ecg, bloods and ct scan all appear to be ok. I was advised to stay overnight until this morning so I could see the consultant. He has arranged for an mri scan on Monday morning. Suggested it might be decompensation but would like mri scan to confirm. Iā€™m home now and feel glad that I went to get checked out. It has eased my anxiety knowing how thorough the a and e staff have been, Iā€™m very grateful to them. So lets see what Monday brings :crossed_fingers:. Ps, anyone got tips for remaining calm in the mri scanner :face_with_peeking_eye:. Thanks for listening.

Vicki

1 Like

Glad you got yourself checked over. Fingers crossed it is decompensation. Very pleased to hear they are checking though.

When i have an mri I just shut eyes and think of something nice. I lie as still as I possibly can so they donā€™t have to repeat any images & you can get out quicker.

Good luck xx

2 Likes

Donā€™t worry about ā€œusing this properlyā€ :slight_smile:

An MRI is the best tool for MAYBE giving you answers but even so is not always enough.

A ā€˜decompensationā€™ or complicated way of saying ā€œdunno, keep taking the meds andā€¦ā€ maybe the best you get.

I get spacey moments & Ā½ days very regularly :frowning: no explanations & now I donā€™t go to A&E but I used to - Itā€™s always best for your risk reduction.

My MRI unit has a pc monitor at the end and they give mirror headset and show YouTubeā€™s shot in the artic etc of wildlife (but generally I shut my eyes & lie still like Ann!!)

Itā€™s a noisy claustrophobic thing!

Caio
Simon

3 Likes

Call me weird (and many do) but I found having an MRI scan quite a relaxing experience.

iā€™ve only had the one so maybe I was just having an unusual day but I, as Ann, just kept my eyes shut however instead of try to think of somewhere/something else I concentrated on the noises and after a very short while I had convinced myself that I was listening to some sort of experimental electronic music (early Krafwerk if you like).

I was amazed when they told me I had been in their a good half an hour (normal plus contrast scans back to back) as it only felt like about 5-10 mins.

4 Likes

I donā€™t know about relaxing, I just found them boring, just too noisy to put me to sleep :smile:

2 Likes

I find the rythimc ā€˜pulseā€™ of the multiple sounds can be imagined as turning wheels within wheels.
I get Richā€™s ā€œreminiscent of craft workā€
Some of mine have lasted longer than an hour. I normally get a break in that case

2 Likes

Hi everyone. Another update. Went for mri scan this morning and then this afternoon the consultant rang to say it shows Iā€™ve had another small stroke :pensive:. Iā€™ve to get a ct of my blood done next, should be soon. Im currently on apixaban but he said they might change it to aspirin and something else which I canā€™t remember. Not great news but im trying to stay positive even though Iā€™m scared.

Thanks for listening :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of whatā€™s gone on & stop it happening again.

Hope the CT isnā€™t too long a wait.

Stay positive youā€™ve got this.

Best wishes

Ann

2 Likes