United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I am one year out from my injury, which left my left arm largely paralyzed. I have slowly regained a lot of movement in my fingers, wrist, tricep and shoulder muscles. Despite a nerve transfer surgery six months after the injury, my bicep is still not showing any improvement. I am scheduled to have the Oberlin procedure next week. (They could not do the Oberlin six months ago because the ulnar nerve was too damaged, but it is doing much better now.)

As I have regained the ability to use my arm, I am, naturally, using it more. But as I do, I am also finding my fatigue increasing. For example, I'll type using both hands for half an hour. An hour after that, I'll be tired and decide to lie down for a short rest. Inevitably, I fall asleep for an hour or more. When I wake up, it's with the kind of deep grogginess that takes an hour to emerge from.

I don't have this grogginess when I first wake in the morning; this full-body fatigue is clearly from overuse of my arm. I actually found myself needing fewer naps when I could use my arm less. Has anybody else experienced this? Does it go away with time? Any suggestions?

Thanks.