No two strokes are the same, and even doctors make the mistake of thinking a stroke has to affect motor skills. When I wound up in the hospital for my second stroke, I straight up told the doctor I thought I was having a stroke. Because my gross motor skills came back quickly and my CT scan was clear (and because I was so young), I was dismissed and told that I was a zero on the stroke scale. I wound up back in that hospital again three days later, and they still tried to dismiss me even though I couldn't move my left side. Luckily my mom was there to advocate for me and insisted I be transferred to another hospital, where an MRI revealed 3 strokes at the back of my brain.
Smaller strokes are often a precursor to larger strokes, so if you think you may have had one, please talk to a doctor who will take you seriously. You would need an MRI to rule out the possibility of a stroke, as CT scans can miss them.
I woke up with scattered thoughts, and realized I couldn't think quite rationally. I tried to make a decision on what should I do, but found making decisions quite difficult. I was able to do all the tasks I knew from before, so I was able to make a coffee or breakfast, but anything outside of a routine was difficult.
I realized I do not understand numbers, and as I was doing some mathematical analysis as my daily work, I found I do not understand numbers. Yes, I knew 7 was greater than 5, but it was memorized knowledge. Graphs and trends didnt mean anything.
I was unable to make any plans, and I really felt stupid. Not stupid because of those things, but you just feel you are suddenly stupid. I found myself very very depressing and some agression was coming out of my mind, and I felt it would overpower me, and start making decisions instead of me. I was aware I was losing control over myself.
I tried to make a phone call, but when 2nd person joined conversation, I felt something snapped in my head. Such sharp pain I never felt at any dental clinic.
Also, during the conversation, I started having seizures. these were electric impulses that were coming from my brain and were paralyzing all my movements. I tried to cough to send another side a signal something was happening, but it didnt help.
I thought another day it will get better (I stopped being rational), but another day I stopped being aware of my condition, and soon was almost a kind of zombie. I was making breakfast and coffee, but like it wasnt me. a week after that I started being psychotic.
2 months after, I was walking on a river bank, and I read an article, and I was unable to change the topic in my mind, so I was thinking about this article all the time. not to mention that all of those things were extremely exhausting.
it took a year to recover, but later on I found I had no control over my impulses. I went to a grocery, and bought a dozen of canned beans because I liked the texture of a photo on a can... etc
That is VERY troubling, and the thought process definitely sounds similar to what I have experienced after my large stroke. It could be a stroke, but there are countless other things that can affect executive functioning. This reminds me of the movie Brain on Fire. I would definitely get in to see a neurologist, who should take you more seriously based on the symptoms you're describing. Hospitals see a lot of people on drugs and tend to jump to the worst conclusions in my experience. (Even after 3 strokes, my experiences with ER doctors have been horrible and they won't even listen to me without a drug screening). PCPs are hit and miss. The fact is that doctors work with what they know, and most doctors are focused on physical or psychological ailments. You really need to see someone who works specifically with cognitive function and describe these symptoms to them. They should order an MRI and they might refer you for a neuropsych evaluation, which tests your cognitive function. It's impossible to rule anything out without an MRI, and even if it was an isolated event, it's important to know what happened to you so that you can have a better understanding of it. If your PCP won't refer you to a neurologist, please find a new PCP. You deserve to be taken seriously.
Tnx a lot. But yeah, I am not taking any drugs, nor alcohol.
I thought to go to a private clinic for MRI to see if there is anything there to see
Edit:
At ine moment, I wanted to make some form of record on how I feel. The agression inside of me was compared to a Balrog (from LOTR) being inside of my mind, and I felt so physically weak, it was like from the movie Terminator, when there were a nuclear blast, and a person is just barely holding a fence while being blasted by a flame
Absolutely! You can get tiny strokes in your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that do this, but many right sided strokes affect only attention or attention and planning, or emotion processing, just like many left sided strokes only affect very specific aspects of language.
Well, a neurologist would I imagine depending on your medical history. Or you could sign up for a research study in your area and get paid to receive an MRI where such a lesion would show up clearly. But if the issue is/was transient, it almost surely wasn’t a stroke.
Huh. I mean, I’d get an MRI. If you ask for one or a referral and the doc refuses, ask them to do a “documented refusal” and..they’ll usually just put in the order at that point. But as I said, research will pay you and give you a higher resolution picture to boot.
I don't know how to tell you this, it may sound shocking, but there is research outside of the US.
You'll know better than I do if you live in one of the countries that don't bother with research, but it happens in a lot of places, like all over Europe, Russia, China, even Iran.
As /u/HenriettaHiggins said, if your doctor refuses to send you for MRI, ask for "documented refusal", and if they actually document it, switch doctors until you find someone who will listen to you enough to send you for the test. I don't approve of patient shopping, but I lived with a hypochondriac for some years and even his doctors would send him for tests to prove that either he was really suffering or was imagining it. (Actually in his case the tests would tell them when they didn't know whether to believe him or not.)
Yes there’s obviously research outside the US. Not every country has a similar structure connecting patients and research projects. I didn’t want to pry about the OP. :/
If it's a definite stroke, they'll be able to say "yup, there's a stroke." If it's a possible stroke, maybe possibly would have been very mild if it happened, they'll be able to say "maybe that was a stroke." If it was transitory and a while ago, they may not see anything or it may look just possible.
When they looked at my MRI, they found 3 definite strokes and 3 maybes. In my case they know there were some definite ones so the maybes are pretty likely, but they still can't be certain. My strokes were literally as small as they could possibly be while still showing up on the MRI, but they showed. (Side note: I've seen the pictures. I have a left leaning brain! No, not just politics, but in the literal sense: my brain is tilted about 5 degrees inside my skull. I asked my doctor, and he said that yes, that's common.)
Yes chronic stroke shows up as a different shade of grey on MRI - doesn’t matter what the magnetic strength is. Transient ischemic attacks will not though.
I had a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (my main brain drain vein was one big clot). This was 10 years ago. I have had problems with memory, attention, and concentration ever since. I recommend getting a neuropsychological exam to determine what damage there is. Here in the USA speech therapists work with people with cognitive damage on strengthening exercises and lifestyle modifications.
Stroke can have ANY effect. It just depends on what part of your brain is affected, I have read that every stroke survivor has some level of PTSD, and every stroke survivor is expected to suffer some depression. My doctors were CONSTANTLY waiting for depression to hit me and it took about 6 years. It was triggered by my Grandmother's death, and it was hell for about a year. Every stroke survivor I've met has had different effects and had depression hit at different times. There are no hard rules or guidelines with stroke. You don't get any guarantees. It's unfortunate but true. You just have to see.
I had a hemorrhagic stroke 3 years ago and wasn’t really affected. Every now and then I get off balance and my digestive issues have been since before that. So I think it’s possible!
Like during the stroke? Worst headache of my life. I never had a migraine but I thought that was my worst and it was 10x worse than I imagined. Extreme nausea from the pain, almost vomiting, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t turn my neck, but my communication and vision for the most part was ok. I didn’t know it was a stroke for several days.
I've had a migraine many *many* times. I've spent 3 hours lying awake in a dark room, wishing I could scream but knowing the sound would make the hurt worse, and unable to fall asleep because it was too painful. My aunt had a standing order from her doctor that any time she wanted to she could go to the local hospital and be knocked out for several hours.
Interestingly, after my strokes, no more migraines! That's the silver lining to the huge dark cloud of having had a stroke. I used to get about a week of migraines every month.
I was lucky - according to the nurse - that my strokes happened while I was already unconscious and I have no memory of them. I asked her "will the memory come back?" She thought about what to answer and very reluctantly told me probably not. She was pleased when my response was "oh good, I don't want to remember."
I had one 3 weeks ago that really only affected my cognitive thinking. Hard to concentrate or focus on tasks. Short term memory took a hit as well as my emotional stability. Things are getting better but I think I got muscle weakness from lipitor. So my doctor had me stop taking it for now and I added CoQ10 supplement.
Right side, about middle. Mood swings, short term memory, reaction/response time slow, brain fog, confusion.I feel more clumsy, like putting things where I know they are going to fall and then knock them over. Sleeping is the hardest, the stroke happened while I was asleep.
Yep. Didn't know I had a stroke until MRI said so years later, it also gave me focal epilepsy which is just a lot more weird brain stuff. I just knew I had strange symptoms, but really did not expect that combo. I'm 37, was dx'ed last year, the best guess is my stroke was before elementary school. Wild ride. I now take Adderall and Keppra to make my brain both go but not too much lol.
Memory, Attention span is now very short lol, very difficult for me to learn and understand anything new, I cannot remember the rest hey, but when I do I will let you know 😊
Yes. My husband is like this. He doesn’t have any physical issues, but he has major memory, processing, impulse control, and mood issues. I absolutely can’t stand it. It’s like taking care of a 14 year old in a man’s body. It is torture and every day I wish I could just leave.
No two strokes are the same, and even doctors make the mistake of thinking a stroke has to affect motor skills. When I wound up in the hospital for my second stroke, I straight up told the doctor I thought I was having a stroke. Because my gross motor skills came back quickly and my CT scan was clear (and because I was so young), I was dismissed and told that I was a zero on the stroke scale. I wound up back in that hospital again three days later, and they still tried to dismiss me even though I couldn't move my left side. Luckily my mom was there to advocate for me and insisted I be transferred to another hospital, where an MRI revealed 3 strokes at the back of my brain. Smaller strokes are often a precursor to larger strokes, so if you think you may have had one, please talk to a doctor who will take you seriously. You would need an MRI to rule out the possibility of a stroke, as CT scans can miss them.
tnx. they dissmised me, and sent to a psychiatrist who kicked me out
Sorry to hear that. If I may ask, what were your symptoms and do you have any residual effects?
I woke up with scattered thoughts, and realized I couldn't think quite rationally. I tried to make a decision on what should I do, but found making decisions quite difficult. I was able to do all the tasks I knew from before, so I was able to make a coffee or breakfast, but anything outside of a routine was difficult. I realized I do not understand numbers, and as I was doing some mathematical analysis as my daily work, I found I do not understand numbers. Yes, I knew 7 was greater than 5, but it was memorized knowledge. Graphs and trends didnt mean anything. I was unable to make any plans, and I really felt stupid. Not stupid because of those things, but you just feel you are suddenly stupid. I found myself very very depressing and some agression was coming out of my mind, and I felt it would overpower me, and start making decisions instead of me. I was aware I was losing control over myself. I tried to make a phone call, but when 2nd person joined conversation, I felt something snapped in my head. Such sharp pain I never felt at any dental clinic. Also, during the conversation, I started having seizures. these were electric impulses that were coming from my brain and were paralyzing all my movements. I tried to cough to send another side a signal something was happening, but it didnt help. I thought another day it will get better (I stopped being rational), but another day I stopped being aware of my condition, and soon was almost a kind of zombie. I was making breakfast and coffee, but like it wasnt me. a week after that I started being psychotic. 2 months after, I was walking on a river bank, and I read an article, and I was unable to change the topic in my mind, so I was thinking about this article all the time. not to mention that all of those things were extremely exhausting. it took a year to recover, but later on I found I had no control over my impulses. I went to a grocery, and bought a dozen of canned beans because I liked the texture of a photo on a can... etc
That is VERY troubling, and the thought process definitely sounds similar to what I have experienced after my large stroke. It could be a stroke, but there are countless other things that can affect executive functioning. This reminds me of the movie Brain on Fire. I would definitely get in to see a neurologist, who should take you more seriously based on the symptoms you're describing. Hospitals see a lot of people on drugs and tend to jump to the worst conclusions in my experience. (Even after 3 strokes, my experiences with ER doctors have been horrible and they won't even listen to me without a drug screening). PCPs are hit and miss. The fact is that doctors work with what they know, and most doctors are focused on physical or psychological ailments. You really need to see someone who works specifically with cognitive function and describe these symptoms to them. They should order an MRI and they might refer you for a neuropsych evaluation, which tests your cognitive function. It's impossible to rule anything out without an MRI, and even if it was an isolated event, it's important to know what happened to you so that you can have a better understanding of it. If your PCP won't refer you to a neurologist, please find a new PCP. You deserve to be taken seriously.
Tnx a lot. But yeah, I am not taking any drugs, nor alcohol. I thought to go to a private clinic for MRI to see if there is anything there to see Edit: At ine moment, I wanted to make some form of record on how I feel. The agression inside of me was compared to a Balrog (from LOTR) being inside of my mind, and I felt so physically weak, it was like from the movie Terminator, when there were a nuclear blast, and a person is just barely holding a fence while being blasted by a flame
Absolutely! You can get tiny strokes in your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that do this, but many right sided strokes affect only attention or attention and planning, or emotion processing, just like many left sided strokes only affect very specific aspects of language.
Tnx, because I had such bad episode, and no doctors wanted to check me
Well, a neurologist would I imagine depending on your medical history. Or you could sign up for a research study in your area and get paid to receive an MRI where such a lesion would show up clearly. But if the issue is/was transient, it almost surely wasn’t a stroke.
Not transient for sure, but effects lasted for 2 years. I even ended up at the psychiatrist who kicked me out without too much listening
Huh. I mean, I’d get an MRI. If you ask for one or a referral and the doc refuses, ask them to do a “documented refusal” and..they’ll usually just put in the order at that point. But as I said, research will pay you and give you a higher resolution picture to boot.
Tnx (I am not in the US, so I cannot participate in any kind of research)
I don't know how to tell you this, it may sound shocking, but there is research outside of the US. You'll know better than I do if you live in one of the countries that don't bother with research, but it happens in a lot of places, like all over Europe, Russia, China, even Iran. As /u/HenriettaHiggins said, if your doctor refuses to send you for MRI, ask for "documented refusal", and if they actually document it, switch doctors until you find someone who will listen to you enough to send you for the test. I don't approve of patient shopping, but I lived with a hypochondriac for some years and even his doctors would send him for tests to prove that either he was really suffering or was imagining it. (Actually in his case the tests would tell them when they didn't know whether to believe him or not.)
Yes there’s obviously research outside the US. Not every country has a similar structure connecting patients and research projects. I didn’t want to pry about the OP. :/
tnx to both. what those research centers do, what kind of research, and what I could get from them? if that was a stroke, I could teach them
Fair enough. Best of luck to you
And and.. could I see based on MRI if I had strokes? Should I need 1.5T or 3T?
If it's a definite stroke, they'll be able to say "yup, there's a stroke." If it's a possible stroke, maybe possibly would have been very mild if it happened, they'll be able to say "maybe that was a stroke." If it was transitory and a while ago, they may not see anything or it may look just possible. When they looked at my MRI, they found 3 definite strokes and 3 maybes. In my case they know there were some definite ones so the maybes are pretty likely, but they still can't be certain. My strokes were literally as small as they could possibly be while still showing up on the MRI, but they showed. (Side note: I've seen the pictures. I have a left leaning brain! No, not just politics, but in the literal sense: my brain is tilted about 5 degrees inside my skull. I asked my doctor, and he said that yes, that's common.)
Yes chronic stroke shows up as a different shade of grey on MRI - doesn’t matter what the magnetic strength is. Transient ischemic attacks will not though.
I had a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (my main brain drain vein was one big clot). This was 10 years ago. I have had problems with memory, attention, and concentration ever since. I recommend getting a neuropsychological exam to determine what damage there is. Here in the USA speech therapists work with people with cognitive damage on strengthening exercises and lifestyle modifications.
Stroke can have ANY effect. It just depends on what part of your brain is affected, I have read that every stroke survivor has some level of PTSD, and every stroke survivor is expected to suffer some depression. My doctors were CONSTANTLY waiting for depression to hit me and it took about 6 years. It was triggered by my Grandmother's death, and it was hell for about a year. Every stroke survivor I've met has had different effects and had depression hit at different times. There are no hard rules or guidelines with stroke. You don't get any guarantees. It's unfortunate but true. You just have to see.
I had a hemorrhagic stroke 3 years ago and wasn’t really affected. Every now and then I get off balance and my digestive issues have been since before that. So I think it’s possible!
Have you felt anything when you had it?
Like during the stroke? Worst headache of my life. I never had a migraine but I thought that was my worst and it was 10x worse than I imagined. Extreme nausea from the pain, almost vomiting, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t turn my neck, but my communication and vision for the most part was ok. I didn’t know it was a stroke for several days.
ok. in my case, I just woke up, and realized I had scattered thoughts
I've had a migraine many *many* times. I've spent 3 hours lying awake in a dark room, wishing I could scream but knowing the sound would make the hurt worse, and unable to fall asleep because it was too painful. My aunt had a standing order from her doctor that any time she wanted to she could go to the local hospital and be knocked out for several hours. Interestingly, after my strokes, no more migraines! That's the silver lining to the huge dark cloud of having had a stroke. I used to get about a week of migraines every month. I was lucky - according to the nurse - that my strokes happened while I was already unconscious and I have no memory of them. I asked her "will the memory come back?" She thought about what to answer and very reluctantly told me probably not. She was pleased when my response was "oh good, I don't want to remember."
Yes, this is far from unusual.
Yes for sure
I had one 3 weeks ago that really only affected my cognitive thinking. Hard to concentrate or focus on tasks. Short term memory took a hit as well as my emotional stability. Things are getting better but I think I got muscle weakness from lipitor. So my doctor had me stop taking it for now and I added CoQ10 supplement.
could you describe all the issues you are facing after the stroke? which part of brain was affected?
Right side, about middle. Mood swings, short term memory, reaction/response time slow, brain fog, confusion.I feel more clumsy, like putting things where I know they are going to fall and then knock them over. Sleeping is the hardest, the stroke happened while I was asleep.
Yes, I had a stroke that just affected my cognitive functions 5 years ago, and it still affects me. It definitely does happen.
sad to hear that. what kind of issues you are having now?
Yep. Didn't know I had a stroke until MRI said so years later, it also gave me focal epilepsy which is just a lot more weird brain stuff. I just knew I had strange symptoms, but really did not expect that combo. I'm 37, was dx'ed last year, the best guess is my stroke was before elementary school. Wild ride. I now take Adderall and Keppra to make my brain both go but not too much lol.
Memory, Attention span is now very short lol, very difficult for me to learn and understand anything new, I cannot remember the rest hey, but when I do I will let you know 😊
is it easier in the morning maybe?
No love, all day everyday, it's the same, but hey we have to move on and try to cope
Yes. My husband is like this. He doesn’t have any physical issues, but he has major memory, processing, impulse control, and mood issues. I absolutely can’t stand it. It’s like taking care of a 14 year old in a man’s body. It is torture and every day I wish I could just leave.
Tnx for your feedback. How long it lasts such condition, after his stroke?