

  All Discussions  |  

  Welcome Post  |  

  SIG's Charter  |  

  Direct Messages  |   

  Categories  |  

  How-To(Forum)

First post

Andrew

I had a stroke in the cerebellum in January 2024. The BP was too high for too long, and something gave out!. I missed the blues-and-twos to Southmead hospial, Bristol, because I was unconscious.

Only the right side has been affected. The fact that it is the cerebellum means that balance is a bit of an issue. This means that cycling isn’t possible at present. I have also developed tremors of the right arm, or maybe it’s some of the fingers. This means that violin-playing too is also not currently possible - I used to lead the Bristol Concert Orchestra and Keynsham Orchestra, so this is a huge hole in my life and not being part of the life of100 plus people and not being where the action happens. The cycling has been got around by the purchase of a recumbent tricycle, but the violin is different. I am focussed on getting back to both, and the only real way, as far as I know, is neuroplasticity. Thus these, together with handwriting, form the focus of my therapies.

I am also a member of the choir at St John’s Keynsham. The singing has been unaffected except that my pitch has gone down by a couple of tones - don’t ask, for I haven’t the answer. As a natural second bass this is absolutely marvellous! So strokes can induce positive effects. Who would have thought?

I am keen to know how to improve matters in general, but also including neurofatigue - I have to restrict myself to 20 minutes at a time at the laptop, for it affects the balance and the BP a little. Lights in the veg section in ASDA now trouble me a little. Guy Fawkes is also an issue now - very bright, very dark and very bumpy! Same goes for many roads after dark.

In other matters I am a trained mathematician - don’t be scared! - and am just about to retire from the University of Bath where I been for the last 35 years. Astonishingly I used to enjoy being in front of over 300! We also live right next to the Bristol/Bath cyclepath which has been incredibly useful. Despite the balance issues I have inflicted over a million steps on it (and elsewhere) since the stroke, and it aids in getting out and about and getting one’s fill of vitamin D!

Finally, my wife and kids have been superb in all of this, my wife especially, who has a fair bit of experience in teaching kids with neuro problems. I’m a big kid, really! Actually, there is little difference except that adults are focussed on what we’ve lost, as opposed to kids learning a lot of hitherto unknown stuff.

Very happy to answer questions if I can.

Pando

Andrew getting one’s fill of vitamin D!

Nice post, Andrew

I’m pleased you understand the importance of Vitamin D. You’re so right ; you see, coming out of a stroke we suffer from dysfunctional mitochondria to some degree. We undergo an energy crisis, and one of nature’s most powerful sources of energy, the Sun, becomes crucial for our rehab. Vitamin D, a hormone really, is not the easiest supplement to absorb, because it is synthetic. Now, sunlight is not totally useless in winter but it is too feeble for us to manufacture any vitamin D for at least 4 months of the year. That’s why I have a vitamin D panel, which emits UVB rays that are converted by our skin, liver and kidneys into Vitamin D. It’s from USA and yes, rather expensive. Why does our body put on hold (certain background repair jobs) ? So it can resume repair in the Summer, when we have more energy (from the Sun) to enter repair mode ! The other disconnect we suffer from is grounding (above our heads, the Sun, below our feet, the Earth). The benefit of Earthing is huge, starting with an influx of electrons which increase our blood flow, and neutralize inflammation.

Elsewhere on this forum I have a list of healing therapies that I find beneficial…

Thanks for writing about your stroke ; I still cannot fully accept that I have lost the connection with my fiddle ; it’s what I was trained to do and my “raison d’etre” so I’m having to reinvent myself. Don’t we all ; we’re in the same boat, all of us who are post stroke. We are however still floating !!

Take care, Happy Christmas & Love to all ! ciao, Roland

Andrew

Thank you for your reply, Roland. I was led to the importance of vitamin D by the late great Michael Mosley who, in the spirit of the very old doctors and some academics, was not afraid to experiment on himself. I had had three "itis"es in succession and wondered if anything was wrong - these included plantar fasciitis and labyrinthitis. There was orchitis too, hmm, hmm, he says, clearing his throat, TMI! He was banging on on the TV about the immune system, the gut biome and vitamin D. I decided that a fix involved fermented foodstuffs (not homebrew nor apple wine, nice as they can be!). Therefore I now make my own yoghurt and kimchi, both of which involve lactobacillus amongst other things. Quite easy. I also have a stir-fry once a week - the soy sauce is fermented too. To be honest, I haven’t had a cold since despite mixing with 300plus students, and I am unusual in that I have not caught covid at all. Interesting, but a scientific sample of just one. This is a fix which worked for me and I enjoy the taste. Occasionally I ferment some carrots with chilli and ginger, which is very tasty. I also have a big red cabbage in the fridge and this too is going the same way.

Pando

Andrew Wow, great stories, Andrew.
RIP Mosley ! But do carry on researching vitamin D ; the benefits are far reaching. The gut biome (destroyed after stroke) is a huge priority for the body to repair. It took me 18 months to have anywhere near healthy bowel movement and a settled digestive system. Fermented foods help hugely, of course, so you’re on to some great discoveries. And there are more great discoveries awaiting us, provided we can empty our minds and accept new information without prejudice. I’m on the lookout every day for new solutions, new therapies, and new hope. I too, have battled through plantar fasciitis, and equinus (I was turning into a horse), a few minor anomalies with ears (still have cocktail party syndrome, a disability in the orientation of middle ear bones) and countless other oddities. The immune system is under the dominion of the brain, so any minor inflammation of the brain can upset it. In October my face flared up, bright red, puffed up near my eyes; it lasted a month; a perfect example of an unsettled immune system ; it was Linda’s partner, Arjan Kuipers who explained this one to me. One does build up resistance to colds after the first few years of teaching… luckily ! Well done dodging Covid ; I avoided any jabs, even if omicron did catch me out a little. Anyway, I spend most of my time experimenting on myself, the last experiment was balancing my electrolytes (it all went wrong, needless to say). I’ve abandoned that for now ! The reminder, so my Chinese Dr says, is Shennong, the founder of TCM who is said to have had a transparent tummy. He categorized hundreds of herbs, until one day he took one too many!! A warning to all who like to do experiments on themselves !!

Speak soon, glad to read your adventures, ciao, Roland

Speak soon

Scroll-Me :)\<-&->


  All Discussions  |  

  Welcome Post  |  

  SIG's Charter  |  

  Direct Messages  |   

  Categories  |  

  How-To(Forum)