My body has been doing something new for the past couple of weeks. When I lay down to sleep at the end of the day, I get a series of strange itchy feelings (strange in that it feels prickly, like someone is poking me with a pin). Sometimes it's in my left foot or toes, sometimes my thigh and other times, my abdomen but always on my stroke-affected side. These itchies are then immediately followed by a twitching (or jerking) of my left leg. The best I can describe this is... you know how if you are dreaming that you are falling, you may suddenly startle yourself awake with a jerking motion? It's that sort of action but only my left leg, it pulls itself towards my upper body. This is all very annoying and makes it difficult to get to sleep no matter how tired I may be.
My physical therapist says it's called 'tone/spasticity' and it commonly follows the flaccid stage as the 1 year mark since the stroke draws nearer..
I told hubby that I'm Itchy and Twitchy so he asks, Are you also Bitchy? I'm not that yet but I reserve the right to enter that phase at any time. I think he's more bitchy than I lately. This life of recovery certainly isn't easy for survivors but it sometimes seems to be almost as difficult for our caregivers.
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