ClareM Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Can anyone tell me why I can run for 28 mins without stopping and recover quite quickly but when I work in a job I know inside out for 5 hours I am absolutely exhausted? I have been trying to keep physically fit during my recovery and have joined and nearly completed a c25k group which runs for 9 weeks. I run twice a week gradually building up the amount of time running. I love the sessions and feel quite exhilarated after and even ride my bike home afterwards - another mile. However I am also phasing back to work, currently 5 hours three days a week. I work as a pharmacy technician in a busy community pharmacy and pre NASAH worked 41 hours per week. While I am at work I feel ok, maybe a little tired towards the end, but when I get home I am absolutely floored. Why is this and will it ever get any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I got up this morning around 7am Clare took my pills sat for a little while and felt so cream crackered . I said to my hubby I must have a quick 10 minutes, it's now nearly 9.30 and that's after a good 7 hours sleep. ha ha. You will have days when you are full of beans and days when you want to just sit quietly. Perhaps the runs catching up on you. Rest when you need to and relax your brain a bit more. I hope all goes well with you and have more breaks during the day xx Love Win xx I wish I could do what you do xxxxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Wright Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Clare, my lovely, I can't say when the tiredness will end but I do know hat different things are more tiring than others. I feel like I can walk a lot, but I know that if I combine that with shopping it can wipe me out! Work is getting easier for me, thankfully, but at times communicating with others can make a day a lot more challenging. Meetings, conference calls, just catching up with people make my brain feel like it's grinding to a halt sometimes. I'm still okay talking to nearest and dearest, but sometimes after a longer session at work I want to ask to be left alone! We'll get there, wherever there is, but some things will take longer. We need to be kind to ourselves, and encourage others to be kind to us too. Just remember how far you have come since the SAH and measure progress from that point. Mx 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Clare, When I said the runs catching up with you , I meant the running not the runs lol xxxx Just re read it and it looked like you had a belly ache !! oops xxxxxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Clare. The neurophyscologists I saw post SAH explained a little to me as I still experience the feeling you describe even three and a bit years on. When you have a lot of sensory input, background noise, conversation, bright light, it all takes processingpower but ours ability to do this efficiently is damaged. To varying degrees for us all but it takes extra brain energy to do any cognitive work combined with that sensory overload. So when you run, you just run, it uses up physical energy but gives you chemical releases that make you feel good and you probably switch off and relax your brain when you run. When you are at work, you concentrate, you have competing sensory sounds and visuals and the brain is overstimulated against a background of damage left by bleed. Then the horrid chemicals kick in because you feel dreadful and it is a nasty outcome of feeling rotton to say the least. So there you are, my best explanation of why you may find some things wear you out more than others. It may get better, it may improve, it may not. My best advice is for now you need to find coping mechanisms and tips and techniques that work. Figure out what effects you and then out in place pacing and adaptations to make adjustments, you can't be the same as you were, you have to find a new normal. For instance I wear sunglasses in business meetings and whenever I travel places or shop and people who know me understand. I have ear plugs which allow me to block background noise but hear a conversation with the person I am with and more importantly I take 5 minute breaks frequently when I am just still and quiet. So I work a longer elapsed time overall but have more frequent breaks agreed with my employer. If I didn't simply put I couldn't cope with the effects. It's great you have been able to return and run similar to before, cherish and celebrate that achievement and be patient and kind to yourself with the working. Just because you can't see the injury it is there. I'm sure if you had a bad case of sun burn you wouldn't go sit in the sun the same way you used to without changing habits a bit, the same applies to a brain bleed. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Isn't our Daffs sensible xx There Clare ditto to what Daffs put xx Keep Well and rest up for week ahead xx Love Win xx xx 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClareM Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Thanks for the explanation and advice Daffs, makes sense! I also have trouble clothes shopping now probably for the reasons you describe. I used to love spending time browsing but now I like the idea but when I get in the shops it's all too much and I can't be bothered. Made my husband happy lol! Doing 2 consecutive half days at work this week, hoping it will be ok. Will make sure I take breaks! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iola Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Hi, I had my NASAH over two years ago and I still get very fatigued and tired in the evenings from work. When I exercise or just work in the yard I feel great but at the end of the day when I finally sit down it's like this heaviness falls on me and I am done for the day. I started going back to work part-time, like you, and really over did it. Suffered some pretty nasty headaches because of it too. I still get them during work and still pretty wiped out after. Doctors will tell you that you should be fine but you know how you used to feel and it's very different now. I am a mover and a shaker but there are times my brain and body says ENOUGH and I have to relax. Take your time and do not worry about anyone else's recovery timeline they may have for you. It's your brain and your body. Iola. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 http://www.braininjury-explanation.com/unseen-consequenses-of-brain-injury/neurofatigue Best visual explanation of it with the battery cells. My husband found this article most useful to understand why physically I am a lot better these days , the visible scars are almost faded , but why stamina wise I still struggle once I have given effort to work, kids, homelife, after that there's not a lot left to spare. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel2405 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Hi Daffs Thank you so much for your post about sensory input. You have made more sense in one post than has been explained to me in the last seven weeks since i had my stroke, which wasn't a bleed but a clot. Although i know it's early days for me compared to most, i have noticed that physical activity is not bringing on the fatigue like it was. However background noises,interfere with my thought processes, stop me from talking and the fatigue usually comes shortly after. cheers Rachel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I've seen a few of these explanation's but this is by far the BEST wow! thanks Daff 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel2405 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I agree Louise, it's helped me so much to understand. Trying to deal with noise and even trying to have conversations but can't when other things are going on around me, has been so confusing. That post from Daffs was like someone switching a lightbulb on !!! xxx 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpaggett Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 This is also why resting even for a few minutes in a dark room flat on your back really helps to reset. ~Kris 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth47 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thank you. I am going to send this to my husband. He is so frustrated at how little it takes for his energy to be depleted... Before he worked 70-90 hours a week as a surgeon. Now he only works 35 and is completely exhausted and his partners don't get it. He looks fine on the outside. I really wish he didn't have to take call... Thanks again for the article. There has been so little written about this. His first neuro guy told him to take off 2 weeks and then go back to work... I now know that was way too soon, but we cannot go back... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 He looks fine on the outside. I like the saying "I look well from afar but I am far from well" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmartz Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 From what I have learned from my therapist, you can get a lot more tired from doing mental work than physical work following a brain injury. Give your brain time to rest. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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