Sleep is critical, but sleep problems may follow after a stroke. Poor sleep can slow your recovery and lead to depression, memory problems and night-time falls. The good news is there are ways to improve your sleep.
Quality sleep has many benefits, especially for stroke survivors. Getting a good night's sleep supports neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to restructure and create new neural connections in healthy parts of the brain, allowing stroke survivors to re-learn movements and functions.
Those who reported sleeping nine or more hours each night had a 23% higher risk of stroke than those sleeping less than eight hours each night. Stroke risk was 25% higher among those who took midday naps for at least 90 minutes compared with those napping for less than 30 minutes.
Learn to relax. Take a relaxation course, try deep (abdominal) breathing, learn to meditate, try yoga, tai chi or a massage. Learn to breathe deeply. Breathing correctly is central to stress reduction.
The initial recovery following stroke is most likely due to decreased swelling of brain tissue, removal of toxins from the brain, and improvement in the circulation of blood in the brain. Cells damaged, but not beyond repair, will begin to heal and function more normally.
The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke, but some survivors continue to recover well into the first and second year after their stroke. Some signs point to physical therapy.
According to the study authors, anger or emotional upset was linked to an approximately 30% higher risk of having a stroke within one hour of experiencing those emotions. Another potential stroke trigger revealed by the study was heavy physical exertion, although the evidence was less convincing.
While the brain normally uses 20% of your total energy, that percentage increases during stroke recovery. This means the brain has less energy left to keep you alert and awake. Aside from helping the brain heal, deep sleep also offers other, fantastic benefits to stroke survivors.
The physical impact of the stroke on your brain and body can trigger fatigue. In the early weeks and months after a stroke, your brain and body are healing. The rehabilitation process can involve trying to do things in a completely new way, or learning and doing exercises which can be very tiring.
Causes of fatigue
Neuroplasticity is our brain's ability to change. After a stroke, uninjured parts of the brain can take over tasks injured parts used to do. The parts of your brain taking on new functions are not as efficient, so you have to concentrate harder. This can make you feel more tired.
Balance and coordination exercises will help you perform tasks with less energy, increase your confidence and decrease your anxiety. Try to schedule demanding physical or mental activities throughout the day or week. That way, you'll plan to take rest breaks before you feel tired.
Regarding the duration of fatigue after stroke, acute fatigue can last up to 6 months, whereas the chronic type can persist in 40% of patients after 2 years. Another study reported fatigue to be still present in one-third of patients up to 6 years after stroke onset.
When communicating with a stroke survivor who has communication problems (aphasia), it is helpful to: Be patient. Eliminate distractions. Turn off the TV, limit extraneous noise.
During the first three months after a stroke, a patient might experience a phenomenon called spontaneous recovery — a skill or ability that seemed lost to the stroke returns suddenly as the brain finds new ways to perform tasks.
Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a thrombolytic. tPA improves the chances of recovering from a stroke. Studies show that patients with ischemic strokes who receive tPA are more likely to recover fully or have less disability than patients who do not receive the drug.
As you begin to recover, you might feel that your behaviour changes or improves. You may start feeling better physically and emotionally. But some changes will be long term. You are still the same person, but a stroke may change the way you respond to things.
If your stroke symptoms go away after a few minutes, you may have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also sometimes called a “mini-stroke.” Although brief, a TIA is a sign of a serious condition that will not go away without medical help. Unfortunately, because TIAs clear up, many people ignore them.
Even after surviving a stroke, you're not out of the woods, since having one makes it a lot more likely that you'll have another. In fact, of the 795,000 Americans who will have a first stroke this year, 23 percent will suffer a second stroke.
High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and is the main cause for increased risk of stroke among people with diabetes.
HOUSTON -- Keeping the head elevated is the favored head position for acute stroke patients, but some studies have indicated that lying flat may improve recovery.