Hi everyone, since his stroke December 2023 Alan has really suffered with banging headaches and the doctors just tell him to take paracetamol. Are the headaches and also wuzzy feeling normal and of so does it ever subside.
Short term memory will that ever improve? He can ask me the same question many times throughout the day.
The one really positive thing though and yes there is a positive, he is so very cheerful all the time and a pleasure to care for.
Hi @Sonia158
We really canāt answer the questions that you asked 
Because as that very unhelpful phrase goes āeverybodyās journey is differentā
What we can say is that headaches are fairly common and for some of us they persist and for others they go. Eg I didnāt have them (that I remember) in the first months after my stroke But at varies times Iāve had persistent low level headaches and at various other times like the current month Iāve had intermittent sharp ones.
One of the old conundrums is that it is very difficult to separate what is a aftershock of the stroke out from the general vagaries of living inside a human body. Not everything that malfunctions in the body traces back to the stroke but the stroke is now a suspicion for everything.
With respect to short-term memory; the impact of a stroke on the brain networks causes a lot of interacting challenges.
We can be categoric in saying that people with aphasia (for example) have been known to recover their ability to receive and send spoken language - I think thatās most people & the same goes for improvement in mobility and dexterity - so from that we could infer the other less positively confirmable conditions may also improve when judged across a statistically relevant group - Which gives hope for every individual but no guarantees for anyone specific person.
Iām three and a half years in and I know that my memory and speech have been affected but I am still learning how. Theyāre worse when my fatigue builds which it normally does through the day That isnāt the only variable that affects them.
Iād really struggle to say how my short-term memory is affected. The phrase that comes to mind is the one from the fish that says "what water?ā IE to involved to be able to see
Itās really positive that Alan is cheerful and youāre enjoying your time as carer. Lea @BakersBunny and I have relied on humour throughout my recovery journey 
I assume that I am reasonably representative and I think I can say that I am improving on all fronts just very slowly on some like my hand usefulness
Cs
Hi Simon,
Alans headaches are every day and last most of the day and night. We went to see his GP this morning, went 2 weeks ago for the headaches and they prescribed Amitriptyline. This morning they have upped the dose but I am not too convinced that it is going to help with the headaches. Poor Alan I had to get him up at 7am to get ready for the gp appointment, he is not used to getting up before 10 ish anymore, so he had a good snooze when we got back. GP has also booked him in for a memory test, so lets see what that brings up and what can be offered.
What I have been doing with Alan is sitting and doing memory stroke books, plus laying down objects and removing some and he has to tell me what is missing. Some days I think I see an improvement but others days I feel as if he has slipped back.
I think that you do need humour otherwise we would all go mad and be depressed.
I work from home (fortunately) and I was speaking to my client today and she asked how Alan is doing and then she asked me do I ever ask myself āwhy me, why usā? and I answered honestly and said that question has never come to my mind and we feel so grateful for what we have and consider ourselves the lucky ones. There are people for worse of than ourselves.
@Sonia158 for the first 9 mo ths or so I had a permanent fuzzy / woozy head & l9ads of headaches. I thought they were never going to ease but they did. Thatās not to say theyāre gone completely as I still suffer but it just isnāt all the time. Fatigue makes it worse too.
An occupational therapist might be able to help with his memory issues. Sounds like youāre doing some good things to help his memory too.
There will be good & bad days. Fatigue plays a part in that but donāt be despondent as youāre still making progress over all. Progress is more noticeable if you track it from week to week, month to month rather than day to day. A diary might help with that.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi Ann,
I really wished that I had joined this forum months ago but at least I am on it now. The first 6 weeks you have OTās and physios coming out but the that stops and you feel that you are left all on your own and nowhere to turn.
It is so good to be talking to everyone and I feel no longer on my own.
That is such a good idea to track weekly/monthly rather than day to day.
Did you find anything that you did or took helped with the fuzzy/woozy heads and headaches?
On a completely different subject I have noticed that Alan has lost his confidence which I know is understandable. He has not used the phone since his stroke, his brother offered to take him out to give me a break but he wonāt go anywhere without me and yet sometimes on the rare occasion someone visits and chats with him, its like he never had a stroke and he is so chatty.
I had the 6 week initial support too but at the end of that they referred me to an OT. If this hasnāt happened for you then perhaps ask the GP if they will do the referral. They might after he has been to the memory clinic anyway but always worth an ask.
In relation to the fuzzy head. Other than paracetamol which I took for the headaches i didnāt find anything that helped. I literally just had to put up with it & iād got to the point where I was asking anyone whoād listen how I was going to cope if it didnāt go away. No one could tell me.
My confidence took a big knock too. My hubby stayed with me initially but after a few weeks he had to return to work. He started leaving me for a few minutes at a time, the just slowly extended the time until eventually he left me for hours. When I realised nothing horrid happened when he was gone I started to feel safer and more confident again. Going out for me was (& still is) exhausting so i limited it but i did go occasionally. Itās one of those things that you just have to try.
Using my phone was another thing i found difficult. I had to build myself up to making a callā¦that took days sometimes & if I could do it another way I did. Conversations were exhausting initially too.
All of these things take time to come back but they should improve. Iām not sure iāll ever get back to how I was pre stroke but life is definitely much better than it was.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi @Sonia158
Amitriptyline has a hit and miss chance of being useful. It doesnāt work for everybody and that is true of practically all the antidepressant anti-convulsive repurposed as pain medication - thereās a lot about pain in the CPSP again and itās summarised in Central Post Stroke Pain - a summary
We meet on Thursdays from 1pm uk time on https://bit.ly/StrokeCafe to chat about this and that everything and nothing you and Alan are both welcome at any time that might help Alan to get to the point where he wants to join in conversations no need to turn a camera or microphone on if he doesnāt want to.
Also plenty of brain training apps that will help with things like memory sequencing cognition etc etc You have to go search them out though. It would be sensible if we did a list of the better ones sometime but we havenāt !
I donāt know if youāve come across the welcome post
at all but that is a general useful stuff overview
Caio
Simon
Hi Sonia, just thought Iād suggest trying Magnesium Glycinate for Alanās headaches. Iām 3Ā½ yrs post stroke, and for nearly 3 of those years I had a headache/burning pain, at the top of my head and nothing shifted it. It was bearable unless I was stressed or extremely tired. When I learnt about magnesium helping with migraines thought Iād try it first rather than go back to the doctor. Anyway, it worked a treat within a day or two and its now my go-to treatment whenever it comes back. I took 2 x 1500mg tablets each day, I did try switching to Morrisons own brand of Magnesium 375mg for a time but it didnāt do anything for it so switched back to the MG. Initially I took it for a couple weeks but now only for 3/4 days if I feel the pain coming on. Personally, Iād rather take the magnesium than have the doctor prescribe something stronger than paracetamol, which might as well have smarties because they didnāt even touch the pain (which became an intense burning when stressed).
Its worth giving it a try but Iād speak with your chemist or doctor first. Its always good to let your gp know what non prescribed supplements you are taking anyway, just for their records as they can sometimes affect blood test readings.
And youād do well to have a read through the Welcome post Simon mentioned above, if you havenāt already 
Thereās a lot of useful info and insight there too.
For me, the fatigue kind of left sometime in the first 8mths, that or Iām just managing my days better. The fuzzy feeling took longer, more like 18mths; cognition took about 2Ā½yrs to come back on board; and Iāve still got mild aphasia. Everyone is different and Iāve just given my time scales as an idea, this is a lengthy journey and there are no short cuts. The brain gives back what it can, when it can and in its own good time 
Where do you buy your Magnesium Glycinate from and what is the brand? Very keen to try this for Alan I will also tell my daughter about it as she suffers terribly with migraines. Do you only take it when the headaches are bad or do you need to take a dose daily? I will let his GP know once he starts taking them. I will read through the Welcome post as I havenāt done so already.
Hi Simon
Iām just wondering if they prescribe Amitriptyline for everything. They put it on my prescription as I have colitis, hasnāt done anything for me and that is why I am sceptical as what it would do for Alan.
We will try and join you on a Thursday as that sounds great but my laptop doesnāt have a camera and to be honest I am not too sure if it has a microphone. I will try on my phone. I think Alan will be sitting in the background as he has no confidence at the moment.
Thatās a really good idea. I didnāt know that there could be a possibility of getting the GP to do a referral, definitely going to ask.
I cannot even begin to imagine what it is like to constantly have a fuzzy head and banging headaches.
As Alan has short term memory leaving him for even 5 minutes is not an option, I tell him if I am going into the kitchen or wherever but then pretty soon after I have left the room he is calling out for me and asking where I have gone. Tried leaving notes but if he doesnāt look at the notes then that wont work. I have to take him everywhere with me now to the hairdressers, doctors etc.
How did you manage to overcome your difficulty of using the phone?
Phone will work if is a āsmart phoneā EG an apple or Samsung etc laptop would have to be old not to have both but that is possible
It was to gain confidence that was why I suggested it
Njoy yr Sunday
Caio
Simon
Yes we have a Samsung phone and I think it would be great idea for him to you with me in tow just to build up his confidence.
You can get Magnesium Glycinate from most health food shops such as Holland & Barrett, but I got mine from Amazon. The brand name is SS Sport Supplies, theyre based in Worcester; and its Magnesium Glycinate with with added B6. Its a high strength 1500mg x 2 daily and these days I only take it whenever I feel the pain coming on and Iāll take it for a week.
I nearly cried with relief the first time I felt the recede. The pain was like a skullcap on the top of my head 
and it was a constant thing after my stroke for 3yrs. But when I the pain melting away it was such a reliefā:smile: And I was literally feeling the pain recede within hours of taking the first dose.
It was investigated, scans, blood tests, eyes checked, ENTā¦even had a camera up my nose 
They never found any explanation for it other than a post stroke effect which may or may not go in time. On the plus side, I did get a pair of hearing aids out of it which I think are a godsendā:blush:ā¦but didnāt nothing to cure my headacheā:roll_eyes:
Its not a permanent cure though, but at least I can get a couple of weeks pain free. And stress will bring it back quicker. Weāve recently had a couple of bereavements so Iām naturally back on them for a couple weeks now and I dare say itāll be a couple more before I come of them again.
So its definitely not a permanent cure. And like everything else to do with stroke, no two headaches are alike. So let your gp know if you are going to test this out so that they can monitor the result too. You never know, it might be an education for them tooš
Good luck and do keep me posted, I really want to know if this is just a fluke on my part 
It mainly just got easier over time. If I needed to ring people like the GP iād write down what i wanted to say first then take some deep breaths and go for it.
If it was to ring family or friends I started with very short calls & built the time up gradually. They knew I was struggling so were ok with me not staying on long.
I also found it easier to use the phone on speaker phone.
To start with if I could do something a different way I did. In time my confidence got better but probably not back to pre stroke levels yet.
Hopefully in time Alan will find his confidence again. Maybe try making the call to his brother on speaker phone with you there as well so Alan can talk as much or as little as he likes. If he hears you having a little bit of jolility he may just start to join in. Temptation might get the better of him.
Good luck xxx
Thank you, I have now ordered this from Amazon and I am so hoping that it works as well for him as it has for you. I will let his GP know that he is now taking them and yes it may well be an education for them as well.
I will definitely keep you posted on how it works for him.
I think also I may to blame a bit as he has become so used to me doing everything for him so in his mind there is no need for him to talk to anyone or do anything. I will definitely start putting the phone on speaker phone and perhaps even then walk away as then he will have to speak. I canāt even get him to answer the door when I am busy. Before the stroke he was a lecturer in Motor mechanics and was used to stranding up and speaking to people, not too sure if he will ever be going back to work.
What you suggest sounds like a good idea. My hubby provided me lots of help initially which I absolutely needed but as time went on I did ask him a couple of times to leave me to try as thatās the only way we can learn it all again.
I wonder if he has a bit of low mood ? Thatās common after stroke & takes away some motivation. He might benefit from a chat with his GP if thatās the case. When you feel rubbish all the time itās easy to feel low.
Best wishes
Ann
He says he is okay but I do wonder if he says that so as not to worry me. I have now arranged through stroke.org for him to have a weekly call from one of their volunteers and I will leave the room so that he can talk freely/ Its knowing what to do for the best for him.