Ironically I’m writing this from my bed.

Prior to my stroke I was always ‘known’ for sleeping: the ability to drop off pretty much anywhere. Any time, on a weekend I’d rarely see an AM hour. With hindsight this was likely the impact of being in AF for the entirety of my life.

Post stroke the immediate after period was full of atypical stroke fatigue. I’d barely make 4 hours without a nap. I once fell asleep during a physio session. On my return home I needed so much sleep to just function combined with some emotional trauma getting out of bed was, some days, impossible.

Once I got back to work and in a routine getting up became easier.

18 months on and I still require more sleep; my brain is still trying to learn how to be functional in life and repair the damaged areas. But I’m pretty good at planning my days off and weekends to get those morning time extra sleeping times in.

Frustratingly one of the most difficult parts of sleep is getting comfortable. Pre stroke I slept on my belly, left arm under my pillow and head with my right tucked in the quilt. That’s not an option any more. I end up sleeping on my back and quite often my left arm falls off the bed so I wake up with a sore, stretched shoulder. Or I sleep on my left side precariously holding my left arm to my chest with my right which isn’t verycomfortable

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Occasionally I might nod off on the sofa, laid on my right hand side which is fine until the dead weight of my left drops somewhere (normally wrist downwards into the sofa) and I wake up in pain that it’s been in an awkward position.

I miss comfortable sleeping and not worrying that every time I sleep I’m going to wake up exhausted ir in some degree of discomfort