Patients warned to ignore late-onset muscle problems at their peril as they could be an early indicator that they are facing a devastating stroke

Stroke survivors suffer debilitating muscle problems, pain and depression, unaware that these symptoms can occur months or even years after the initial attack, doctors warn.

After being discharged from hospital, stroke patients typically receive a three-month care package, including hospital visits and physiotherapy, but are often ‘left to fend for themselves’ once this is over, patient advocates say.

This means that late-onset symptoms – including the muscle stiffness condition called spasticity – are missed. If limbs are not addressed quickly, they can become permanently deformed, meaning surgery may be the only option.

One in four patients are forced to give up work as a result of these complications and a third claim their daily lives are affected by pain and involuntary spasms of the limbs, according to research from drug manufacturer Ipsen – shared exclusively with The Mail on Sunday on the occasion of World Stroke Day today.

Stroke survivors suffer debilitating muscle problems, pain and depression, unaware that these symptoms can strike months or even years after the initial attack, doctors warn.

The poll showed that one in three patients had not been informed of possible problems that occur later in life, including fatigue, cognitive disorders, depression and incontinence.

More than 100,000 Britons suffer a stroke every year, usually due to a clot that forms a blockage in the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain.

If not treated within hours, serious brain damage can occur which can be fatal or lead to serious disability.

The government launched the Act FAST campaign in 2009 to encourage the public to call 999 if they notice the symptoms of a stroke. The acronym stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time: facial paralysis or paralysis; a sudden inability to raise both arms; slurred speech; and that each of these things should be considered a medical emergency.

In the first year alone, this resulted in a further 38,000 stroke patients being taken to hospital within a critical three-hour window.

And advances in drug and surgical treatment have halved stroke deaths over the past two decades.

There are now 1.3 million stroke survivors in Britain, and more must now be done to help them according to Dr. Ganesh Bavikatte, a brain specialist at The Walton Center in Liverpool.

“Half of all patients who experience muscle stiffness and spasticity after a stroke develop it after three months or more, but don’t realize that the two are related,” he said. “If this isn’t treated quickly, surgery is the only option, and we want to reach people before that happens.”

Clinical guidelines call for eight to 12 weeks of physical therapy for people discharged from hospital after a stroke.

And the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that patients are assessed to identify any ongoing needs and receive tailored support ‘as long as this continues to help them achieve their treatment goals’.

But Donna King, a volunteer with the Stroke Association – and a stroke survivor herself – said: ‘I was treated for muscle stiffness when I started getting it later, but other people I’ve spoken to have basically been left to fend for themselves. themselves without any support.’

In the early stages, spasticity is addressed with injections of muscle relaxing botulinum toxin, stretching and physiotherapy.

In addition to spasticity, up to half of stroke survivors report fatigue after six months, and one in ten suffer cognitive impairment – ​​problems with memory, thinking and concentration – in the first few months, but this figure rises to 30 percent after a year .

One in four patients is forced to give up work after a stroke

One in ten also suffer from long-term emotional instability, while a third suffer from depression. Serious injuries resulting from falls occur in three quarters of patients within a year after discharge.

“We know that people don’t seek help for a lot of these things,” says Dr. Bavikatte. “And they are not recognized by the patient or their caregivers, and even by some physicians, as late symptoms of stroke.”

It is a message that resonates with Wendy Lamin, who suffered a stroke ten years ago while on holiday in Belgium. The married mother-of-two from Edinburgh said: ‘The initial care was fantastic and I came home with a list of treatments as recommended by the Belgian neurologist, but I was offered virtually nothing.

‘My local neurology team told me the damage had been done and that was basically it.’

After a year, Wendy suffered from tinnitus and later fatigue so severe that she had to give up her demanding job in financial consultancy. She also suffered from frozen shoulders.

Despite known complications following a stroke, she adds: ‘I spoke to doctors but no one told me my symptoms were related to the stroke. I ended up paying for physical therapy for my shoulders.

‘I felt like I had to take care of my own recovery, which is amazing. My life stopped after I had a stroke, and I still suffer from fatigue. I was lucky not to be paralyzed like some people, but I have short-term memory problems that worsen when I’m tired or stressed.

‘The biggest thing for me was discovering the Stroke Association, who told me about Facebook support groups. It’s the people I met there that really helped me get through it. More needs to be done to help stroke survivors.”

• For information and advice visit stroke.org.uk.