Having a stroke is a traumatic experience and if you’re like me staying in hospital is not much fun either. When you finally get home, again drawing from my own experience, you will feel exhausted. Not just physically, but emotionally as well so it can be difficult to identify fatigue after a stroke.
Fatigue After Stroke
After a reasonable time, if you still feel exhausted speak to your Doctor. Don’t leave it and just assume it’s normal. Listen to your body, sleep when you need to, but take care because it could be fatigue.
What Is Fatigue?
According to Oxford dictionaries.com Fatigue is
“Extreme tiredness resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness.”
After the trauma of having a stroke, it is common to feel extremely tired. This can be shock, or the bodies way of repairing itself. So give it a couple of months before thinking it’s anything serious. Speak to your Doctor, make him aware of your tiredness and listen to his advice.
Symptoms Of Fatigue
Symptoms of fatigue include:
- Constant Headache
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Weakness
- Lack Of Energy
- Lack Of Motivation
- Tiredness
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Anger
My Own Experience
For the 1st year after my stroke, I had quite a few of these symptoms (and still do) but I never received a diagnosis. This led me to very negative thoughts and feelings and eventually to an attempted suicide.
After which I received the right medical advice and the right medication to assist me with my sleep. Also I now get counselling to help me to come to terms with my fatigue.
Make No Mistake Fatigue Is Real
Some people try to deny the existence of fatigue, the advice they’ll give you is to work through it, or some will say it’s all in your mind. Please learn from my mistakes listen to your body, no one knows your body like you do. If you need to sleep, then sleep. Here is a link to some words that helped me.
Improving Picture
In the long term you will probably find that your moods improve, you will feel more alert, calmer and more in control. You will probably never be the person you were but the way I deal with it is by saying to myself “I’m still here”.
Maybe you won’t be the same but you will learn to adapt. To do what you can, don’t be too hard on yourself. If halfway through doing something you get tired, stop, have a rest. Sleep if you need to then at least when you wake up you will be capable of doing a bit more.
It’s not perfect but it’s better than nothing.
Here are some useful links that you might find interesting.