Fatigue after stroke: Emma’s experience of daily life
The Walking Dead: Stroke Fatigue and Knowing your Limits
By Emma Gaffy · Originally published 29 April 2015
Original article
Emma Gaffy is a disability advocate, stylist, world traveler and survivor of brain injury and stroke. Most of all, she’s a writer.
Sometimes it starts the night before. Before you’ve even shut your eyes, you’re anxious about how you’re going to wake up in the morning. Will it be with a dull aching, all consuming headache? Will you be sore from head to toe? Will you be unable to string a legible sentence together for a few hours because your asphasia has reared its ugly head again? Will your joints have seized up like someone three times your age? Will you simply look like an extra from The Walking Dead?
Stroke fatigue is a real and deadly thing. It’s just part of life for survivors. I’m not going to savage you if you’re in my presence, but I will look and act like a zombie when suffering from it. Sometimes it feels as if you’re stuck in a mud field during a rain-drenched Splendour or Glastonbury – except there’s no Interpol, Radiohead or Rufus on stage. It’s just you and your exhaustion. You’re trying to get outta bed to start the day, whether it be work or play ahead, but motivation and physical stamina just evades you. And the crappy thing about stroke fatigue is, it’s not improved by rest.
[Clickability update, October 2026:
Fatigue may persist despite rest; that does not mean rest has no role. Stroke Foundation’s current fact sheet discusses assessment and balancing activity with rest. New possible stroke symptoms require urgent action; see healthdirect’s stroke guidance and call 000 for a suspected stroke.
]
Every single thing is an effort with stroke fatigue – dressing, walking, shopping (hooray for online shopping!). Even typing is difficult. Right now, as I’m typing, my left hand feels like a dead weight, because that’s the side that is used for everything. While the right-side basks in the Melbourne sun, ol’ lefty does all the work. No equality here. And that’s just the day-to-day activities that you can’t avoid.
Work is on a whole different level. Whoa. Six years of uni and nothing prepared me for the toll working was going to have on my health (especially when it’s not your own business). If you get a decent uni timetable, you have the option of staying up late and ‘studying’, then sleeping in until 9 or 10am. You’re pretty much in control of the pace you want to set for the day. At work, you’re on someone else’s clock.
Last weekend, my body had a tantrum. I awoke on Saturday morning and literally couldn’t move for a couple of hours. I had to stay in bed until my breathing, my back, my neck and my shoulders would let me move. Luckily I had my cat to keep me company, and my beautiful friend Emily doing a grocery run for me. A home call doctor had to come out and hand over painkillers with a stern look on his face, saying “Your body is NOT normal! Stop treating it as if it’s normal!” Thanks doc.
Saying that, I’m lucky that I CAN work. I have two great jobs – all that time, effort and mountains of work at uni did pay off (as much as I complained while doing it).
A wise young lady once said to me “adjust to your limitations”. With stroke fatigue, I don’t really have a choice in that. But regardless of your disability or situation, I think that’s something we should all learn to do. There’s no shame in that.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Describe the pattern and the tasks it affects
Tell your doctor or rehabilitation team about changes in fatigue, pain, sleep and daily activity. A short record of what makes fatigue better or worse may help the discussion. Ask which routines can be adjusted and what symptoms require urgent attention.
Choose practical priorities rather than trying to match another survivor’s work schedule. Discuss assistance with shopping, meals or other tasks, and agree how arrangements can change on harder days. Stroke Foundation guidance supports individual planning; it is not a fixed program for every survivor.
Offer useful help without treating fatigue as lack of motivation
Ask what would reduce the load today and whether company or quiet is preferred. Avoid turning an invitation to rest into a demand to stay inactive. Keep changes in symptoms visible and seek appropriate advice rather than assuming everything is the person’s usual fatigue.
Questions readers ask
Does fatigue always disappear after rest?
No. Discuss persistent fatigue and suitable strategies with a clinician. Official guidance
Should new stroke symptoms be treated as familiar tiredness?
Tell Clickability which tasks you want help with. Compare support workers and discuss pacing, communication and flexibility alongside your clinical care.
