Medical Scare

[Brian in Montana]

On Monday evening I had what is apparently called a TIA - Transient Ischemic Attack. All I knew was that largely out of the blue the left side of my face, eye especially, was burning and itching for no reason and I couldn't walk right, talk right, and I had to concentrate to do anything with my right hand. Scared the heck out of my wife and kids and Holly insisted we go to the ER. They drew blood, asked me my name, date of birth, the day of the week, etc., about 28 times. Ran me through a CT scan. The symptoms started to taper off after about 2.5 hours, but the ER doc was insistent that I stay overnight for observations.

Anyway, the result of it all was they say it was a TIA, also called a mini-stroke. The doc that discharged me from the hospital yesterday explained it the best, I thought. She said it's a small blood clot in the brain that will cut off oxygen to part of the brain temporarily. Generally, like it did in my case, it will come loose and dissolve on its own after a few hours leaving no permanent damage. The scary part is they say an event like that often precedes a big stroke or more small ones at least. So now I'm on blood thinners for at least the next month. I've had a lot of injuries and medical situations throughout my life, but never even considered something along these lines. I did not care for it. Anybody have experience with a deal like this? It sure was a weird one.

 

[BoomerUSAF]

Did you get referred to PT/OT? If so, give it your all!

 

[TOGIE]

out of curiosity - since from what i understand blood clots can be caused by like a dozen different things - did they have any hypothesis as to maybe why you got a clot?

previous injury? diet related? pre existing condition of some kind?

 

[YukonGold]

My father had a series of these a few years back. He already had some blood pressure problems and was on blood thinners. He had some permanent damage, very minor, to his speech but that's it. They amped up his blood thinner dose and kept it up. It's been a few years now and he hasn't had another one (knock on wood). My grandmother (his mother) also had them toward the end of her life but what eventually took her was something else.

I'm surprised they want to put you on blood thinners for only a month.

 

[OntarioHunter]

How did your cholesterol check out?

 

[Wildabeest]

I had a pulmonary embolism 5-6 years ago which is also caused by blood clots. They just lodge in your lungs vs. your brain or heart. Similar underlying causes. In my case, they started as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is my leg(s). I assume they did ultrasound on your legs to check that?

It came pretty close to killing me - my blood/oxygen was .74 when I got to the ER. Dr said I was probably 10-15 mins away from passing out, at which point I would have either expired or started breathing again. This is not stuff you want to mess around with!

I was on blood thinners (Eliquis) for a year, and then had the option to go to the lowest dose possible or just do a baby aspirin once a day. I chose the latter. Eliquis is pretty expensive - co-pays were like $60 when all other meds I’ve ever had were less than $10.

Root cause was never determined. Bad family history of health problems, dehydration and a lot of long haul international travel just before were all big risk factors.

Hope you recover well!

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

I had a TIA out in the pasture Spring of 2020. I got off the 4 wheeler to change a sprinkler and down I went. My left side wouldn't work. It only lasted a couple minutes. An ultrasound showed my right carotid artery 95% blocked. Had an endarterectomy surgery and am on a statin now. No major problems since.

 

[Elkoholic]

@Brian in Montana glad you're still upright and kicking.
I had never heard of TIA until about 1 month ago a co-worker described just as what happened to you happened to her husband, describing it as TIA which I then asked what the heck is that?
You are now the 4th story in the last month I've heard this occurring.

 

[Brian in Montana]

There was really no specific reason anyone could find to cause it. Cholesterol is good, blood pressure is good, no blockages or anything. I had a follow-up on Monday and was told that sometimes it can just happen as a random isolated event. I haven't had any symptoms since last Monday, so I'm hoping it will stay that way. I did get referred to a Neurologist, but that's it. Just gotta take my meds and go see the nervous doctor.

 

[Addicting]

There was really no specific reason anyone could find to cause it. Cholesterol is good, blood pressure is good, no blockages or anything. I had a follow-up on Monday and was told that sometimes it can just happen as a random isolated event. I haven't had any symptoms since last Monday, so I'm hoping it will stay that way. I did get referred to a Neurologist, but that's it. Just gotta take my meds and go see the nervous doctor.

Very similar but a pulmonary in my case. Scary stuff as my Mom has had several dozen mini strokes. Seeing what it’s done to her. I hope and pray that I don’t end up on the same road.