DigglyDog

Hi there CSmith, you'll find lots of really helpful stuff here as you go through the next part of your recovery. I've found that the best way is to look at all the posts regardless of whether they seem to apply to my situation or not, and just roam freely - I've found some amazingly helpful stuff here.

You will see that nobody will offer you specific advice, but without exception they will support you.

It seems like your incident was a few years ago now and that you're coping with the new you, but I've found that it never really goes away completely and small things trigger a bit of a fear response from me and my imagination can go into overdrive.

Like you, I didn't want my family to worry when I was having some discomfort or struggles with fatigue and didn't want to trouble my GP with it all as it seemed a bit weak, but once I got myself over this and owned up, I found my GP helped immensely, the stress lifted.  I start to feel better fairly quickly now I've learned to delegate some of the management of my tiredness to my family and I've found that de-stressing helps me cope better than before and the pains, while still there, don't seem as threatening and don't last as long.

I'm sure you will find a solution that helps you personally, but do get medical advice and share with your family if you are able to.

Hi Rose and welcome.

You'll find loads of good information here that's for sure. You'll have realised by now that you are in for the long haul as far as recovery is concerned although probably like me you thought at first that people were being pessimistic with their estimates of recovery time scales.

I remember my own determination to get back to normality, and the surprise when it didn't happen as soon as I felt a little better - I still struggle with sensory overload even in a small gathering of family and friends. I've learned not to beat myself up about it and recognise it's all part of my recovery and just walk away for a while to get my head back together.

Definitely delegate ! It's not a sign of any weakness on your part, in fact it takes real courage to admit you can't do everything, especially to yourself.

Enjoy your party.

Also make sure that there are no neon lights near or illuminating the screen. It's not uncommon for neon lights, especially in an office environment, to operate at a frequency that, although invisible to the naked eye, actually clashes with the frequency of the screen. It's basically the principle of strobe lighting, and can cause headaches and drowsiness if you're sensitive to this type of light.

It's relatively easy to check, but get someone else to do it.. stand looking at the screen from about 5 feet away, then nod vigorously. If you see dark lines moving up and down the screen, then you will need to get the tubes swapped out, preferably for LED type. But please do take lots of breaks,

Hi Gary,

I had similar issues with stiffness around the neck and shoulders and have tried exercises with little success.

I've found a corrective chiropractor who makes small adjustments to my neck, not the usual twist and click method, and have found this eases the problem rather than solves it.

Not a lot of use to you with my guy as we're several thousand miles away, but there are a few corrective chiropractors in the States, so it might worth a quick google to take a look.

Please don't interpret this as medical advice as I'm not in any way qualified but it maybe opens up another avenue for you to look at to resolve your problem.

Likewise, sadly, but I put mine down to overexerting while taking down Christmas decs and lights and so on. I've decided that as the weather is appaling, a duvet day is in order....

Hi Cattolica, a big welcome.

You'll find lots of useful information about other members coping strategies on this site, so it's well worth just trawling around and absorbing the help and experience that's here.

I found it helpful to search for "far from well", it made me feel less isolated to read that I'm not imagining symptoms and my own reaction to them. The best advice you will get here is not to be too hard on yourself and take the space and time to properly recover.

The Letter from your Brain (not sure where the link is....) may also help you to understand what has happened.

You'll find the admins  here a wealth of information too. Stay safe ..

Hi Gail and welcome.

As you've discovered, driving after a stroke is a bit of a minefield and can stretch your patience while the cogs grind around. Largely it's a case of being open and honest with the application, laying out the reasons that you feel there should be consideration, that is, what are the exceptional circumstances then crossing your fingers.

I didn't have any residual sight issues after my SAH but still had to wait for the assessment panel to make a decision. For me, it's still a bit scary as I'm aware how my reaction time has changed post event and I find that I'm happier now to be driven than to worry that the changes in my driving is putting other people at risk.

Good luck with your application..

I've not heard the term Barometer Head before, but great description. I suffer a lot from low atmospheric pressure, not headaches as such but a basic inability to concentrate or function normally that I think is related to small changes in shunt pressure - I'm probably wrong about this....

Strangely, while all this is going on I'm slightly less deaf thank usual !

Hi and welcome. Sorry to learn about someone so young having post SAH issues. My sah was in late 2018 so now almost three years in, I'm (considerably....)older than you but have similar hearing issues. It's a bit more complicated in my case as I needed a programmable VP shunt implanted in the skull behind my left ear and current UK advise seems to be to avoid anything with even a small magnetic field being in contact. This means that most hearing aids are to be avoided too.

I've found that my underwater moments like Jess happen when the air pressure is low. I keep an informal watch on barometric pressure now and have noticed that I struggle more when the air pressure drops so enjoy my music more when it's fine but that's probably more to do with listening to Bob Marley in the sunshine....

Hope it all works out for you.

Hi John, sorry to hear about your problems but good news that you're recovering well. My own experience getting back my licence after voluntarily handing it in was a bit similar with delays and excuses. I think that in the main DLVA use external medical consultants and these meet only sporadically so decisions are a long time coming.

I was relatively lucky only waiting for 3 months after re-applying for return of the licence and at the time I was getting quite annoyed. Looking back, I now believe that they were right to keep me waiting as although I don't think my driving is impaired, I found I tired very quickly and had to take more stops than before.

Although it might seem harsh and frustrating now, in a few months time you might well reflect that it's not so bad after all.

Good Luck with your negotiations

John (another one...)