email: Post Stroke Nerve Damage

I received a lovely email today from a man who I will only say his first name is Ray. I have received several emails previously, from other people, and today I wondered why I'm not sharing them with you. Ray writes:


"Hi: 

I will be 60 next month and have had type 1 diabetes since 1 was 10. Up until 2 months ago my life had been fairly routine..well I had a heart attack in 1998 but fine since then. That morning was very routine.. but I passed out with no warning while turning on the TV and landed in a chair thankfully. Approximately 3 hours later I was conscious enough to know that I needed to call 911.. but I could not walk as my legs felt paralyzed. I crawled to the phone, crawled to the fridge to get some OJ while talking to the 911 operator and then had to crawl down 4 stairs and through the front hall to open the door for the paramedics.

They treated me for low blood sugar and by the time my blood sugar was up I was able to stand, although my calves felt like hard bricks.  I should have gone to the hospital then, but I declined, assuming it was a blood sugar related incident.

When I went to my doctor the following week he said it could have been a mini-stroke ( a TIA ).  I got a CT scan done..it showed nothing. I am still waiting for the MRI results to confirm or deny the stroke aspect.

In the meantime I have been enduring an off balance sensation when standing and I do not walk the same as I used to. A tingling,burning,and well some pain too, mainly in my back but also in my left leg and foot. I have gotten some physio and it seems to have helped somewhat. I am self employed and play trumpet in 3 bands ( well I did until this ). My back aches terribly if I try to play.

Some days are not as bad as others but I do feel frustrated and a bit inadequate as my wife looks after most things around the house now ( I can still mow the lawn on a good day but just slowly ). I still drive, work etc. but things are not the same. I feel as long as each day is marginally better that things will be okay."

I really admire Ray's positive attitude. To me, the tingling and burning sounds like neuropathy, but of course I am no expert. I have read though that 8% of stroke victims have nerve pain after a stroke, so post stroke neuropathy is not uncommon. 

I understand, and I'm sure if you are reading this and suffer from a debilitating illness you do also, Ray's frustration and feeling inadequate. Being unable to manage simple tasks you used to be able to do can cause severe depression and anxiety. For me, I have quite a hard time with anything that requires my hands, and let's face it EVERYTHING requires your hands, but especially fine manipulation. Things like removing the battery case from a cell phone, removing saran wrap from the roll, jewelry clasps, opening soda bottles are simply impossible. And, I drop a heck of a lot of glasses! 

As always, feel free to drop me a line at alonelydragonfly@aol.com & I will try to find some more of these emails and post them so you know you aren't alone.