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Are my Symptoms from my Stroke?

Kate68on October 11, 2016

5 Comments

Hi, My name is Kate and I had a minor stroke and 3 TIA's in August 2014. I am just discovering that a lot of my current symptoms are a result from that time.
A few of the things that I am suffering with since the stroke are fatigue and tiredness, short term memory loss, difficulty in finding a descriptive word when trying to tell a story or incident, and a type of number dyslexia. It is 2yrs on and i am still having these problems as well as heightened pain, I have lived with pain for a long time in my life due to back problems but now everything is so much worse, I can't seem to get any relief and I have new and increasing pain in other parts of my body. I wasn't left with any visible physical disabilities so I have always looked very normal since my stroke. I had a stroke over the brain stem which in turn caused blurred vision, I thought it was just due to late night and tired eyes and needing a new prescription at first. Then one day I woke up with the problem, I was frightening, I still went to work only to be told to get my husband to pick me up and go see my Dr straight away. Thank god I did. Fortunately for me that was the last day that I had blurred vision. But now I suffer from all these other things and I was wondering if anyone else had similar symptoms after their strokes.

5 Responses

Marcus

12/10/2016 00:24

Hi Kate,

I am sorry to hear about your stroke. Firstly, I am just a survivor and so this is just what happened to me. I had my stroke two years and 3 months ago, and it left me with aphasia - to be more correct, it left me with expressive aphasia. I am a 'walking and talking' stroke, in that, I have no physical disability. It was incredibly difficult for me to talk without stopping and try to find words. Also, I lost the ability to write and read from my stroke, so I had to do a lot of rehab on my own (I live in Japan, so all speech therapies are in Japanese, obviously.)

Your symptoms - I am not a doctor - seem to be part of your stroke. As I write this comment, I find this hard because I am always looking for words and phrases. I am getting much better and my vocabulary is improving, but little by little. I get very tired quickly when I am in very noisy places or when I have to follow a long conversation with a number of people. Also, I sometimes to make some simple mistakes, such as putting the coffee into the different draw. Not always, but time enough to know that I would do that before my stroke.

I hope you find this useful.

StrokeLine

13/10/2016 22:54

Hi Kate and Mal,

Kate, I'm also sorry to hear about the stroke and the ongoing trouble you've had since.

Fatigue, memory and language difficulties and pain are unfortunately common after a stroke. You're not alone, many stroke survivors also report that fatigue and pain are particularly challenging as they aren't as visible as other symptoms. It would be worth chatting to your GP about other factors that may be contributing to the fatigue, such as medication and diet. You may find our podcast on fatigue helpful as well, here is the link: Fatigue podcast

In terms of managing the pain, have you been assessed by a pain management team? This is a team of professionals who specialize in complex and long term pain. They can assess you and develop an appropriate management plan. Your GP can make this referral for you.

Also, are you currently receiving any rehab? If not, you could ask your GP to refer you to a community occupational therapist and speech pathologist. The occupational therapist can help you with strategies for your memory and the speech pathologist can help with the reading and speech difficulties.

Here are links to fact sheets you may find useful:

- Communication after stroke

- Fatigue after stroke

- Pain management after stroke

Please give us a call if you like more advice or have any other questions.

Best Wishes

Lisa (Speech Pathologist, StrokeLine)

1800 787 653 - 9am-5pm (Eastern Standard Time)

jojo

14/10/2016 02:22

Hi Kate and Mal

I had a mild stroke in January this year , no one would no I have had a stroke to look at me .Your symptoms sound like mine apart from the pains . I only have pain in my right thigh and the top of my right arm , more of a muscle tightness and tiredness, rehab is helping with this.

I struggled with brain fog for months after the stroke and I am still struggling with words . I find I have to describe things because I cant remember what they are called or that I just cant recall a word or I use the wrong word . I find that I have forgotten things that people have recently told be , and find myself asking people , did I tell you blah blah for them to say yes you told me . It has effected my writing , as I often think I have written a full sentence only to realise I have left words out and that it does not make sense , its like the words get lost from my head to my hand . I have found saying each word as I type it helps with this . I have worded in administration for 15 years and I find it challenging now and I am so glad it didn't affect me in regards to figures , as I do our accounts . I struggle socially now . I cant concentrate on what any one is saying if there is too much noise or to many people are speaking . I was a very social person , now I find that I'm so quiet and it has effected my confidence in general . That's what I struggle with the most , I seem to doubt myself so much , it makes me anxious .

I know that I was very lucky and I'm grateful everyday that it was not worse . But life has changed . Thank you so much for sharing your story . It makes me feel like my new normal is not so different from other peoples . Keep your Chin up xox

Marcus

15/10/2016 01:09

Thanks for sharing your story.
Like you, Jojo, I look normal so a lot of the people I know at work or social events, seem to expect me to be back to what I was before my stroke. I find myself having to explain to many of them what has happened to my brain - crippling cognitive fatigue, the loss of words and phrases, and names of people and places. I am not complaining because there are survivors who have lost far more than me, yet it is still hard to accept that I have lost so much. I miss work, my colleagues, my classes, my students etc. I don't enjoy doing rehab - writing, reading, listening, talk - but I do because I know this will bring me closer to the place where I was before my stroke.

My stroke was two years and 3 months ago. It seems to be yesterday. Nevertheless, I have made a lot of progress on my writing, reading, comprehension of both listening and reading. This time, you will also get better. You will also slowly become more confident in social situations. You will get a better reading. You will get better at writing. You will get better at understanding conversations (also TVs and films).
Like you, like me, we had fast lives, unfortunately, our 'new' brains don't allow us to do things we used to do.

A stroke survivor writer, David Roland, wrote about his stroke and the problems it created to him (How I Rescued My Brain, http://davidroland.com.au/how-i-rescued-my-brain/; This Disability Sucks, Sometimes, The Huffington Post, 2 Sept, 2016). If you haven't read these articles and the video of David and neuropsychiatristProfessor Harry McConnell (https://vimeo.com/152658067). There are very good.

Good luck with your rehab and go forward. You and your brain will, eventually, get to the same page and things will be easier.

Best,

Mal

Bev Sturgiss

19/10/2016 03:47

Thank you for your positive words Mal. I had my stroke 13 months ago and like many of us can get very angry and frustrated but hearing there is light at the end of the tunnel made me feel much more positive about the future. Thanks again Bev

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