post SAH fatigue

[Anne Fleming]

Hi

though I'm still early days post SAH (4 months) I feel very tired all the time. Wake up each morning feeling exhausted and really have to push myself to do things. It's the sort of tiredness where my calves ache with exhaustion. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on dealing with it and when it might start to lessen?

Thanks

Anne

[Janet]

Hi Anne

The fatigue can last for quite some time it does get easier eventually. I'm about 17 months post SAH and still get tired easily but only get the bone weary fatigue if I overdo things.

You still need to get plenty of rest its the bodies way of telling you to slow down even though you think you're not going much faster than a snail anyway. Also drinking plenty of water can help that and frequent catnaps.

Janet x

[tennissmithy]

Anne,

I am 19 months post SAH and I must say I seem permanently tired. The trouble I get is I am really emotional as well. I am yet to find a way to help!! It makes me sadder that I get so tired and emotional and can't find a way to deal with it. Funnily enough I got home at 6.30 and have cried ever since, tiredness and emotional.

Finding it difficult at min- sorry I can't help

Laura

xx

[jess]

Hi there I still get tired even now but like I have said before it may not be because of the sah it may just be my 4yr old and 7month old, however alot of people say they get tired quicker so I would say it's nothing to worry about. Jess.xxx

[Ann]

I am in the early stages of recovery too and was about to post the identical post!! It is so good to hear we are totally normal to feel like this. I asked my neurologist and his less than helpful answer was that fatigue is a very complex issue and he really did not know why I felt like this or for how long it would persist. Ditto GP.

I have had a very serious illness/surgery in the past and I thought the tiredness and weepiness after that was bad but the tiredness now is so much worse than that.

Glad we can all share our woes and commiserate with and support each other! Sorry I can't help but you helped me feel a bit better just by posting your query, thanks.

Ann

[Karen]

Hi,

The fatigue is extremely common with brain injury and all I can say, is that it will improve....again, people seem to have it to varying degrees..........may be there's also the age factor to consider, as well as the degree of damage that needs to be repaired and healed. I think that you also have to remember, that the brain sometimes has to find new pathways, when areas of it have been damaged, so even though you may feel as though you should be on the mend, as you've got over the bleed and been fixed (if it's been caused by an aneurysm) the brain has to recover from the trauma.

Most of us here tend to feel that the fatigue happens, because it is the brain's way of telling us to slow down and that it needs to rest ... we often hear, that the brain repairs itself during sleep ....My best advice to anybody, is don't fight the fatigue ..... I used to (call me beligerent!) and found that instead of having a naff few days, where I couldn't do much, it seemed to go on for a week instead.....also, the headaches would get worse and my dizziness increased. As Janet mentioned, keep yourself hydrated too, that seems to help, especially with the heads. When I was having bad days of fatigue, I could only get the real basics done in the house .....such as fill the dishwasher or put the washing on... try not to beat yourself up if you can't manage as much as you would like to, as the stress won't help ..... accept the fatigue and take a break on the sofa, even if you can't sleep and just shutting your eyes and relaxing will help your brain. Try to remember how poorly you've been and that you're still ill .... if you weren't you wouldn't be getting the fatigue...

It's only in the last 6 months, where I've found the fatigue to be much more manageable and I'm going to be 3 years post SAH in July.....Most days, I only tend to get tired after 6pm.....I can still fall asleep on the sofa though and by 9 or 10pm I'm ready for bed. I still get the odd full day of fatigue, but I now know that it will pass and I don't try to resist it .... However, I know how horrible it feels when you wake up in the morning and you don't feel at all refreshed... the only comfort we can give you, is that it does get better and better, but nobody can give you an exact time limit, as we all vary.

[Joan]

It has been 17 months since my SAH, and tiredness is still an issue - but I also get up very early for work (530) so by 8 or 9 PM I am pretty much all in. From time to time, I simply have to have a nap and this can be at any time of the day and have had the odd day where I need to spend several hours in bed. If we go out for lunch and have a drink or three, I will usually go home and sleep through to the next morning (actually resulting in waking up feeling tremendously refreshed). I used to fight it, but after reading through everyone else's experiences on the site, I just relaxed into these bouts of tiredness. Oftentimes, a 20 minute catnap is enough to restore my energy. But it does, in time, improve. Joan

[Guest chelseagirl2]

Hi there

Just wanted to contribute to the disscussion, I have had about 5 months with no fatigue but has recently returned. It wasnt such a problem before cause people were helping me, I couldnt drive so everyone else had to do most things. Unfortunatly because Ive been good for 5 months, gone back to work, started driving again, basically getting back to before SAH in Feb 2007, its been really hard and for the past 2 months I have not accepted it and fought it and I just want to say there is no point. it is your bodies way of saying stop, slow down, and I believe now if I had givern in at the initial onset I wouldnt be feeling quite so rough now. Like others have said, its a massive thing and just because you cant see the injury, dosent mean its not there. My advise is, if you need to sleep, then sleep, if your feeling tired then rest, if your not upto doing something then dont do it. I truely believe that this is the fastest way to recover even though it seems the slowest.

Lol

Kirsty

[Anne Fleming]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Janet your description "bone weary fatigue" really sums it up! Yes I was told that I would have severe fatigue for the first 3 months post SAH and I think I didn't notice it so much then as wasn't expecting much of myself. After the first 3 months I've been trying to do more and get into more of a routine with my day and I think that has made it worse or certainly more noticeable. I'll try to drink more water. Also I've noticed since my SAH that my skin has been extremely dry (I've never had this before) so may get GP to do blood tests to check glands etc working normally.

Anne x

[Janet]

Hi Anne

The bone weary fatigue only happens now if I do too much think I sometimes ignore my body and forget to rest when I should.

I also had very dry skin in the first few months I used to use the coco butter moisturiser from the Body Shop two or three times a day its not as bad now so only use it once a day. Getting a full blood test done by your G.P is a good idea though.

Good Luck and hope everything goes well for you.

Janet x

[tennissmithy]

I had very dry skin too for a few months after and used E45 craem which seemed to help. I still find now thought that it is drier than before!

Laura

xx

[Joan]

Same problem here (with the dry skin) but think in our case it was the change of diet when we went on the regime because we were limited to a tbsp of oil a day. Found that generous lashings of Dove did the trick! Joan

[Nurianna]

Hi everyone!

I'm 4 month post-SAH and tiredness is one of my main issues. Went back to work last week for 6 hours a day. It´s paperwork for two little offices. Nothing really demanding but I had such a hard time just trying to focus that I would get home and drop in bed to a 2-hour long comatose siesta, wake up in a foul mood and not able to then sleep at night. It was a difficult week and didn´t do much for either my self-esteem or confidence.

I spent the last weekend basically in bed, reading, listening to the radio, getting up and trying to do an absolute minimum house cleaning just to realize I couldn´t even handle that.... Felt angry, guilty, depressed, scared....all the "nice" ones. Then, reason found its way through and I realized I just needed a good rest, and pat myself on the back for the things I COULD manage instead of focusing on the ones I couldn´t. Luckily, my son and daughter are grown up and can look after themselves.

This week I´m back to work, being able to concentrate much better and feeling less tired at the end of the day. I´m also less scared and less demanding to myself and my body. I realize I expected too much from myself too soon. But then I am becoming an ex-perfectionist and that is never easy.

I don´t know if I will ever overcome this fatigue I battle with and am not used to, but que será, será....I just know that beating myself up over it only makes it worse. I have to take it one day at a time.

Thanks for reading and being there,

lots of love

Nurianna

[Skippy]

Hey Nurianna

Yeah fatigue is a bummer. It got me for the first year - it wasn't until I had my first holiday post SAH that I stopped needing to sleep during the day. I work full time now (well, 9 to 3 every day) and it's very rare that I sleep when I get home in the afternoon.

You're doing really well and finally beating the fatigue is huge step forward, but be careful you don't over do it as it can come back and bite you on the bum - had that a couple of times. Learning to accept who you have become and what you can and can't do is a great help too and can give you a whole different mind set.

Well done, but remember that you still need to listen to your body - it'll tell you when you need to slow down and take a rest.

Speak soon

Love Sami xx

[Karen]

Hi Nurianna,

You sound like a well grounded lady to me! You're very early days with recovery, so take it easy....

[bogbrush]

Hi Nurianna

It seems that you went back to work at the same stage as I did. I also started off at 5 or 6 hours per day and found it very hard to concentrate and like you, I needed a couple of hours sleep when I got home and it was some weeks before I could do a full day's work without too many problems. Before I returned to work, I thought that I was ready, but ended up going backwards in my recovery and I know now that I returned too soon.

It was probably at around the 6 month stage where I felt that things were getting back to normal, work wise. Even now, 2 years down the line, I find that fatigue sneaks up on me if I overdo things. Before SAH, I could work long hours without ill effects apart from the inevitable tiredness, but I usually bounced back within a couple of days. Now, I find that once the fatigue hits, it can make me feel ill and it takes much longer to recover from it than it did pre-SAH and I find too, that it hits me at the weekend and I end up not being able to do a lot.

You are still very early in your recovery and your brain can take a long time to recover from what has happened - much longer than you might think. I know it's frustrating, but you need to take note of the signs that you're overdoing things and it seems that you are! It's good that you have a positive attitude and I can tell you that it does get better.

Regards

Keith

[Shanti]

Hi there

I think everyone has pretty much covered everything here.

I'm 10 months post SAH and we went to Dorset last week for a short break. The motorway journey home last Friday was a nightmare with the weather and driving rain etc.

It has taken most of this week to recover. Ended up last night crying my eyes out in the back garden. So I think frankly I'd overdone things.

Karen sums it up: extreme bone weary fatigue (coupled with being very emotional) is our brain's/body's way of saying STOP.

Big hug

Lesley xxx

[Louise]

I still get that on long distance journeys even now......

but if you know when to stop and listen to yourself then thats one half of the battle I think..

hope your feeling more rested and better today.

hugs

Louise.xx