I had an ischemic right side brain stroke in Aug 2023. I was very lucky because it wasn’t a big one and my symptoms were so un stroke like that my GP didn’t send me to hospital until 4th day after stroke. And it took a scan to confirm. I have no numbness’s,paralysis and can take care of myself without help. That’s why I feel so lucky. But I have terrible brain fatigue and confusion when too much visual sensory input, such as looking for a book at the library, reading and writing emails etc. So my life activities have come to a standstill. I have been reading about neuropathy plasticity and spend an hour or so a day listening to meditative music, quiet soft shamanic drumming and meditating which has helped. But I don’t know if these symptoms are normal, and could get better in time. I’m also wondering if anyone is supplementing their medication with herbal medicine or other non traditional medicine. Thanks for any help or responses. Patricia
@Trishk welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you’ve had a stroke.
The fatigue, confusion, sensory issues are common post stroke but the good news is they usually improve in time. You will learn to manage your fatigue… keeping a diary of what you do, what symptoms you suffer will help you identify uour triggers & in turn help you manage them.
Try & do some reading & emails but build it up gradually. The same with your life events. Slowly but surely & you should start to see an improvement.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi @Trishk welcome to the club we never wanted to join 
It is normal and it can go away! How long that can take is anything from months to years depending on the severity of the stroke, from what I’ve gathered on the forum.
I’m 3yrs post stroke and it was mild in comparison to many here. The fatigue and some of the brain fog went after about 6/8 months for me. I do still experience fatigue but mostly this stress related or pushed myself too far. You have to learn to pace yourself.
Whether it was coincidence at the time, I’d been put on folic acid by my gp because I was low in that. I also started taking B12 because the B’s are all good brain food, and our brains are healing. We can burn through a lot of our body’s reserves during major recoveries, and the body can’t store B vitamins so we need a daily intake from our meats and greens. So it wouldn’t do any harrm to top up with a supplement too.
Hi and thanks for your response. I think this cold cold winter we’ve had hasn’t helped me either. A diary is a good idea and is something I can do without too much mental effort.
Patricia
Thanks, that helps to hear from someone who has improved. I started taking a multi vitamin this week with lots of E as I heard that blood pressure medicine can deplete E in the body, which I need for another health issue. I’m a vegetarian and just checked that this multi vitamin has lots of B12, B6 which it does, so I’m going to start thinking positive and maybe by spring I will be able to get on an airplane and go see my 6 yr old grandson who lives in Guatemala.
Patricia
Hi @Trishk I’m like you didn’t have usual FAST symptoms. Thankfully I just had bouts of numbness/tingle for a couple of weeks after diagnosis. Been thinking of taking B12 complex also but that’s a good shout about vit E. I was surprised how long I was sleeping post stroke but that is getting back to a bit normality after 5 weeks. Still tend to get tired about 19.00hrs though.
Steve
The ‘‘brain fatigue and confusion when too much visual sensory input’’ is something I suffer from. This for me is prevalent in busy places such as a busy supermarket. I cannot coordinate what other people are doing when they are all moving around in multiple directions. The result is often that I freeze because my brain cannot cope with the movement in front of me.
I have had concerned onlookers coming to help. I explain to them my stroke issues and that I will be able to move on when my brain has processed the information and I have worked out a safe route forward.
My shopping trips do tend to take a long time but in the end I do manage to get the job done!
This symptom has prevailed for over 5 years now. The positive thing is that during that time I have learned the coping strategies of how to deal with it. One example is that I always wear my Sunflower badge so that people can see I have a hidden disability.
I didn’t know about the sunflower. I don’t really freeze, just get confused and move to the side. I was thinking about putting a sign on my back that says. " please be patient with me, I’m recovering from a stroke". 
, but I do mention it when at the til as I’m quite slow getting my money or card out.
Yes my optician has said I have Blethritus, but he didn’t say it would make my eyes dry and tired, just all sticky.
Oops and sorry, I need to be more careful passing on info. High doses of vitamin E might increase the risk of bleeding after an injury or bleeding in the brain because it reduces the body’s ability to form blood clots. Vitamin E can also increase bleeding risk for those on
blood-thinning medications. It is recommended that adults take no more than 1,0000 mg per day From VeryWell Health.
From Mayo clinicanticoagulants and anti-platelet drugs, herbs and supplements. Use of vitamin E with these drugs, herbs and supplements to reduce blood clotting might increase the risk of bleeding.
It’s always best to check out supplements against the medications you are taking. And really, the best person to check them with is your chemist/pharmacist first…and you can speak to them far quicker than your doctor Just be sure you speak to the chemist not the assistants.
All the supplements I take have been advised by my doctor, that’s why I suggest you have a blood test to see what vitamins/nutrients you might be low in first. B12 deficiency is the particularly common one that can result in fatigue, weakness, and low energy (commonly used in the battle against Alzheimer’s) and that is one that the body does store, in the liver…when our body is healthy and working sufficiently. However, other B vitamins like Folic Acid (or B9) are a water soluble and can’t be stored. They are found in:
- broccoli.
- brussels sprouts.
- leafy green vegetables, such as cabbage, kale, spring greens and spinach.
- peas.
- chickpeas and kidney beans.
- liver (but avoid this during pregnancy)
- breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid.
But are you consuming enough food each day to be getting a sufficient amount of B’s, you won’t know without a blood test. Blood Sugar can also create the same fatigued and sluggish symptoms. I know that one very well too because I’m type 2 diabetic and is probably the cause of my stroke.
And here’s another thing we should all be aware of:
I’m sorry you are suffering with your eyes being so sore. I soak a cotton ball in very warm, but not hot enough to hurt the eyes, water and wipe my eyes to soften the oily wax, and clear the eyes, in the a.m and p.m. I’ve also put a bit of Manuka honey on edge of eyelids for 10 minutes and then wiped it off with warm water. Sounds strange, but is recommended as it has antibacterial properties and has helped me. Good luck and I hope your eyes get a bit better.