Was it a stroke?

dm888
dm888on Tuesday, August 2 2016
6 Comments

I have recently had an experience but there has been question as to whether it was a stroke or not. I am just hoping to find if anyone has had a similar experience to my own....

 

Five days ago I woke up and started to experience loss of half of my visual field in my right eye. I went straight to the optometrist, thinking it was a problem with my contact lens... About half an hour later I was having trouble speaking and was unable to say the words I wanted to say. I then felt pins and needles in my right hand then my tongue and lips went numb.. This all lasted for a very short time. I then went straight to ED although all of these symptoms had resolved except for a mild headache. It is now 5 days later and I feel completely back to normal, although maybe a little tired.

 

I have undergone a CT scan, EMG and blood tests, all of which were negative. I am awaiting results from an MRI which doctors have told me they expect to be negative...

They have told me that this event was moist likely related to a migraine, although I have never experienced migraines in the past. And after the event I experienced a mild headache only (which may have been due to my empotional outburst following).

 

I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? If there is any chance this was a stroke I want to know how to prevent it happening again.

6 Responses
dm888 avatar
dm888

I should add, I am 24 years old and my only stroke risk factor is a history using the contraceptive pill.

Rod avatar
Rod

Hi go to another doctor something has happened but why? go to another stroke specialist they will help you. My mother a few years ago she had another I think a minor stroke, but yes she is also o/k. You need to find out what happened.

StrokeLine avatar
StrokeLine

Hi there,

 

I’m sorry to hear about your recent experience. You did the right thing by seeking medical attention to address your symptoms.

 

Hopefully the MRI results will give you more information about what’s causing these issues. We would encourage you to speak to your GP about your concerns and any stroke risk factors that you may have.

 

You mentioned that you’re on/have taken the oral contraceptive pill (OCP). The OCP increases the risk of developing blood clots, which in turn can increase the risk of stroke. The risk is small, however it increases further if you have other risk factors such as being a smoker, having high blood pressure or being overweight. You can read more about the OCP and stroke risk here.

 

You can find out more about stroke risk factors here.

 

Please don’t hesitate to call us on StrokeLine (1800 787 653) if we can be of any further assistance.

 

Best wishes,

Lisa - Speech Pathologist for StrokeLine

meg avatar
meg

Hi

I strongly recommend you follow up with a check of your heart for a pfo. 

Sounds like you had a stroke with short uration.  

I had a similar situation although my symptoms were just slurred speech for 1 minute. CT was clear. MRI revealed a small stroke. TOE revealed hole in heart. Very common reason for young stroke with no other risk factors. 

Good luck

Rod avatar
Rod

Hi

That is funny, I had three strokes the first was when I was asleep. However the Stroke Specialists would not find out why I had a stroke.

However I had a hole in my heart, one specialist said close it the other said not to close it. The biggest problem that I had was I used to ride my bike probably 200k'ms per week, but my heart was load and you can hear it. Earlier I went to specialists to check my heart and they said that my heart was great. But when I was a child yes my body has membraded it and closed it. But yes before 2011 the hole in my heart was open.

Now I am not sure, but I feel that if somebody has a problem in there heart or any other problems, then I believe that a specialist needs to close it.

Heathber avatar
Heathber

A PFO is actually very common in adults, the figures I've heard are 1 in 4 have a small one. It can be ignored for most people. However if you have symptoms it may be worth closing. A PFO will allow oxygen depleted blood into the arterial system particularly under stress conditions.  As that blood has bypassed the lungs it does not get re-oxygenated or filtered so plaques etc. can get into the brain when they wouldn't otherwise, which is why a PFO may be a stroke risk, and may cause dizzyness etc.  Choosing to close it is about the risk assessment and many people with PFOs never find they have them or have any problem with them. Closing a PFO is not minor surgery.

 

DM888 there are many many causes of stroke that are not related to blood clots too, and you could easily have had a TIA that fully resolved without special treatment.  I believe that Doctors like to say Migraine when something they don't understand happens to someones brain, especially as you are young and so many Drs just won't consider it as a possibility for a young person until they have no other choice.

 

I prefer to say if it walks like a duck etc.  So you are right to be careful and check your risk factors, a second event may not have such a good outcome, but unfortunately with any transient health issue you may not get a good answer until you have more data, and if it doesn't happen again...

Good luck with the search for answers

-Heather

 

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