Yesterday was a typical day. Once I get up, I wake up pretty early, I always feel like it will be a good day. Somehow though that always changes. By the time 9 AM or so comes around I'm beginning to get nauseous, and a headache and fatigue is beginning to set in. That is how I spend the rest of the day.

Before my strokes I was a pretty active guy. My wife and I spent a lot of time hiking and climbing in the Rockies. We also spent a lot of time on our bikes, we were roadies. Even after my strokes a couple days after I came home from the hospital in Oct. 2005 I was riding my wind trainer. For those that don't know a wind trainer is a device you can hook up a regular bicycle to and ride it like a stationary bike. I keep careful records of my training. Even in January of this year a typical day meant I would ride for at least an hour. If my wife was home I would even walk with her for half an hour before my hour long ride. But now it seems I'm sliding back. I can't even ride for more than 15 minutes. Before after about 30 minutes I would get an endorphine "high". I would feel like I could ride forever and I felt like I never wanted to stop. Now if I ride for more than 15 minutes I get nauseous and fatigued. I am completely exhausted for a couple days after that. In January my neurologist actually asked me to cut back on my riding. On weekends I would spin for 2 1/2 hours. He asked that I not go over 1 hour.

My doctors have been trying to jockey around with my prescriptions. They think that will fix my problem. Every time they cut back on one med or switch to another one I go through side effects. How am I supposed to achieve some normalcy when I am always so sick? Why am I not getting better faster? Am I weaker than I thought?