Effects of a stroke:

Bear in mind that a stroke causes damage to the brain so side effects are extremely diverse and can include any of the following list (and probably more). If you know a stroke survivor, please try to be very patient and understanding with them - they are recovering from a brain injury and the brain can take a long time to repair and re-wire.

A change of personality, for instance a survivor may completely lose their sense of humour.

Extreme fatigue (I wanted and needed an afternoon sleep for months afterwards - totally unlike the 'me' of pre-stroke).

Mental fogginess and forgetfulness. (In my case, it took 16 months to feel long periods of mental clarity).

Heightened emotions - to cry and laugh more easily and to sometimes even exhibit a mixture of both in the space of a few seconds. Sometimes exhibiting inappropriate reactions.

Shortened attention span, an inability to plan and learn new tasks. Difficulty in understanding spoken or written language.

Depression and all of the classic side effects that in itself brings, like disturbed sleep patterns.

Feelings of fear and anxiety (not surprisingly).

Facial paralysis (often on the right hand side). This contributes towards:

Difficulty in speaking. Paralysis in the muscles of the face and neck may leave you slurring your words and sounding very different.

As if simply getting the words out wasn't difficult enough, you may inexplicably utter completely the wrong word, phrase or sentence when you were thinking something else entirely. (I, for instance, remember being in hospital and asking for 'mushroom'. I even surprised myself because that wasn't what I was thinking of at all.)

Difficulty in swallowing. The same weakness and/or paralysis that leads to problems in speech can actually cause the even more serious problem of an affected swallow reflex.

Paralysis of half the body (often the right), known as hemiplegia. This causes difficulty with all physical activities such as walking, dressing, eating and using the bathroom.

Loss of muscle control. The effect on me was that the right side of my body 'curled in on itself' in an almost foetal way.

Loss of the ability to balance.

Epileptic fits.

Slowed reactions in the effected part of the body.

Numbness in the effected limbs.

Chronic pain resulting from damage to the nervous system. Sometimes sensations of prickling in affected limbs. Often the immobilized state of limbs leads to painful 'frozen joints'. (In my case drugs did nothing to alleviate pain, instead I found that visits to a chiropractor seemed to make a difference).

Incontinence, loss of bowel control or constipation.

Disruption of the menstrual cycle, often a complete cessation of periods.

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