Get More Energy After Stroke or Brain Injury
Why the drop in energy after stroke and brain injury?
Energy is often a big issue when you are recovering from stroke or brain injury. By the end of this post, you will have the tools to increase energy levels from today on. You will also learn about hormesis, an out-of-the-box way to increase energy levels (that almost no one knows about).
Why the drop in energy after stroke
and brain injury?
First, your brain is no longer working optimally. Your brain takes a lot of energy. And it takes even more energy when it repairs and recovers (1).
Second, your whole body is in fight-or-flight. Your sympathetic nervous system kicks in after brain injury and stroke, and usually does not settle down. That takes a lot of energy. Your energy factories, the mitochondria, are hugely affected. This affects your energy levels the most.
Your brain...
Three-Years Post Stroke
Why?
It was awesome!
I have found my “ikigai” (that’s a Japanese word which means, “the reason to get up in the morning”).
I have become more aware, centered, happier, appreciative of what life has to offer, and more authentic in my approach to life.
One of the most critical factors in my recovery was making a new friend, a Functional Neurologist named Arjan Kuipers. Within his practice of over 28 years, he has witnessed the ability of some patients to have even MORE recovery than initially predicted. This additional recovery was possible even years after a stroke or TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). We have hit it off very well and become friends.
If you remember the message that I posted for the Two Years Post-Stroke Anniversary, I mentioned that I was “struggling with my spasticity in my arm.”
Arjan designed some exercises for me as a ‘test run’ – and within ten...