November 28, 2020

Fatigue is a Deal Breaker

The fatigue I felt for the first year after my stroke was unlike anything I had ever experienced.  
I repeatedly felt a crushing fatigue that I could not push through.  When I did not rest, I could barely hold my head up after dinner.  Using a timer to force myself to rest was annoying because it would go off at the worst time.  Watching TV turned me into a zombie who could not stop clicking the remote because nothing good was on at the moment.  I tried reading and going on the Internet, but I got so absorbed in these activities that sitting for long periods made me tired.  I found two strategies that work for me. 

(1) Brief rests before the fatigue overwhelms me.  Lying on top of the bedspread with a towel under my shoes does not feel like I am going back to bed.  I lie down for fifteen minutes without having to get undressed.  (2)  Energy conservation.  For example, I divided doing dishes into 3 steps.  
Step 1: Empty dishwasher - rest 5 minutes.  Step 2: Take clean dishes to the appropriate cabinet with a cart.  I did not have to repeatedlty carry heavy stacks of dishes from the dishwasher to each cabinet - rest 5 minutes.  Step 3: Load dishwasher.  I have a double sink so I use one sink as a staging area to hold dirty dishes until I need to wash them.    

GOOD NEWS: My crushing fatigue faded after the first year!    homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

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