I find it so hard to walk very far without unpleasant fatigue and stiffness. My knees have been replaced and it’s so difficult. It’s as if my legs are full of lead. Can anyone advise me as I get low and feel like giving up as I used to love walking.
3 Likes
@Rosamund i too find it difficult to walk. I have a leg that doesn’t work properly, that feels heavy & 20 months post stroke I get a lot of fatigue still. I use a stick to help & although I can’t walk far i still try a short walk when I can. I remain hopefull that it might improve.
Have you had physio? Might be worth seeing if you can get another referral.
Keeping moving & trying to go a bit further each time will hopefully help longer term . Lots of patience needed in stroke recovery.
Learning your fatigue triggers will help you manage it. I keep a diary so i can look back & try & avoid the trigger next time. Planning & pacing are important. Rest when you need to but also before you need to to help keep the fatigue at bay.
Best wishes.
Ann x
3 Likes
Thank you Ann. I know I’m not alone in this and I’m 6.5 years out of the stroke now and it’s frustrating that it has not improved much but the best thing for me is company…I perk up then!
2 Likes
Keep at it is the only real answer but slowly slowly don’t over do it good luck 
2 Likes
Hi @Rosamund
So what elements are problems for you?
To what degree is it motivation
To what degree strength, to what degree balance, to what degree stamina etc?
Each of these factors will have strategy and tactics that will help you move in the direction of your goal but without knowing which areas give you a challenge it’s difficult to suggest which responses are appropriate
2 Likes
why do i feel tired in leis it cos the doc said i have thin bones and non alcolic gout
1 Like
It would be unusual for gout & thin bones to make you feel tired. Although pain can be wearing.
Many things can make you tired. Stroke often leaves fatigue in its wake. It could be a deficiency in something. Have you had bloods done?
Whats your diet like? Bad diet can make you tired.
Lack of sleep also. I think you said you weren’t sleeping well. Age can play a part too. Are you doing too much/not enough?
If it persists you need to get some medical advice.
1 Like
Rosamund-- The “full of lead” feeling is very common after a stroke. I used to just try to increase my steps by maybe 20-50 every few days to build up strength. I don’t think it took away the feeling, but gradually I could go further and further. Instead of feeling low, just congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come and keep on keepin’ on. I’m 5 years out, and I still work at it. I try to focus on makng each day the best I can for myself and those around me. Keeping my focus there takes it off the negatives. 
Jeanne
4 Likes
Tahnks for sharing your expereinces, stiffness can be really difficult to overcome and it does affect mobility. As a professional what I can say, there is always hope but you need right support. I am not pretending that everything will resolve but with right support you can always improve from your current function. I hope that this brings a certain degree of hope. Wishing you all the best. Kusal Stroke OT
1 Like
thanks. could be lostartin or clodrigal that makes you tired
feel lonely as i cant talk to hubby how i feel, he has his own health issues and had breakfast now laying down, freind up the road i text her everyday but she must be find it tiring
1 Like
I found moving the goalposts to be useful when tackling walking. I could barely walk across a room without neuro-fatigue and my body feeling like it was going to shut down. It took three years for me to be able to, now, walk where I want, although I still have my limitations. I think in Mindfulness it is called pebbling, you set a distance and do that distance until it feels manageable, and then you place down another pebble further on and, do that distance.
4 Likes
And that’s just how I used to do it too 
And once I gained the ability to use a smart phone, after a fashion, my daughter downloaded an app called Pokémon Go:
As I got a little addicted to this game, it was a good motivator to walk that little bit further and longer as I tried to capture these characters or to spin “poke stops”. It always uses a GPS map of your current location as you walk, so you know exactly where you are and where your heading…to a degree.
I always find it fascinating how things I normally naturally are now given names, like “pebbling” and put into practices such as Mindfulness. It’s a useful way of reducing a whole method description into one word…I’m “pebbling”
3 Likes
Aye, verbing makes the English language almost infinite. 
3 Likes
Tricia - Hi-- there is usually someone on this website to talk to. I understand how you wouldn’t want to bother your husband as he has he own health issues. I used to text my sister-in-law about things. She was going through hip replacement recovery, so we moaned back and forth to each other. It was really good therapy for us both. We both understood what health troubles were like. So, communicating with someone that understands and is having a similar problem really helps. A totally healthy person would just get annoyed after a while–understandable. 
Jeanne
2 Likes
i text my sister as all family are in essex,she has some problems. not getting on with hubby at moment, he drinks not every night, weekends are a bit lonley as no one visits as too far son is in tamworth, we are in somerset, son visits but only stays two nights in august
1 Like
Perfect. I bet she really needs to hear from you. Brightening up someone else’s day always brightens my own, too. 
jeanne
she has most of family living next town except two of her children
Still-- I don’t bother my daughter and son about my “troubles”. It’s better to “talk” to someone closer to my age (where I am in life’s journey). They understand better the trials and the fears, etc. Tricia, do you have any interests. I have taken up knitting. I knit winter caps ( like for the snow) and after I do a few, I give them to the church. They send them to the sailors in the navy. They say to use up all your leftover yarn(so it’s not expensive for me) the more colorful the better. Each one is different., a one-of-a-kind. It keeps my mind on good things. Here’s a picture of some I’ve done. Jeanne
4 Likes
I love those hats Jeanne. What a wonderful thing to do.
Knitting was never my forte. i could knit lots of holes 
1 Like