My mum is now a year on from having her stroke. She has achieved so much within that time, she is back driving, walking the dog, gardening, and even made delicious Christmas cakes for the family, she is a true survivor.
The only thing she is persistently struggling with is dizziness. We have been to the doctors many many times. She has had exercises to complete as they thought it may be crystals in her ears out of place.... that's not worked. They then blamed anxiety. The doctors do not seem to believe it is caused from the stroke and getting help is quite a mission.
Morning Zoe, I don't want to be a gloomster, but 3 years on and my husband still suffers from dizziness. He feels as though he's had a few glasses of wine on an empty stomach!! He's ok when he's sitting down, but movement just sets it off. I think some days are worse than others, so it does improve over time. It doesn't take much to set things off - tiredness is the worst culprit, when he has been overdoing things he know he'll pay for it later ?. He also knows that it's his brain playing tricks on him, so he tries to convince himself he is safe, even though he feels wobbly. I guess everyone finds their own way of dealing with these symptoms, and things will slowly improve. Difficult to find help at the moment, but exercises to strengthen core and back muscles may give a greater feeling of security, the muscles compensate and react to the wobbly feeling.
I have learnt that i need to determine what is causing numerous ailments. I used to start every sentence with the word stroke, but thats no good. I am me and i need to build my life anew. I am not the fit and capable personthat existed just before the stroke. And i get dizzy. There is SF dizzy, there is falling over dizzy and there is my legs refusing to keep me upright.
just small amounts of earwax cause dizziness, pre stroke that wouldnt be an issue, but nowadays it is an issue. My brain hasnt yet learnt how to deal with that type of dizziness.
legs giving way was due to sciatica (now thats a real ouch) and my brain hasnt yet learnt to cope with that.
i need to recover all over fitness, but i am older than i was.
when i was at mums stage, i had a big issue with being in any type of group. I just closed down in distress.
it took many many months to work through which groups i could cope with and which i could not. Nothing made any sense.
Until i was helping at a large coffee morning. 100+ people and yet i was ok. Very noisy. Yet i was ok. Then the Rector popped in and asked if she could speak to every one. She turned on the PA and said her five minutes.
i closed down. Very distressed. Tears of frustration. Then i grasped it was the PA system. Imperceptable echoes. My brain hadnt learnt to deal with echos. So from that moment of realization i started to process echoes. What joy. Nothing physically wrong, it was just my brain had forgotten about echos.
hope this lengthy drawl just might strike a note of accord
It's great that your Mum has her independence back and is living her life again.
I'm a long term sufferer of dizziness. It started in the 1980's and despite many visits to the Doctors, I've never got any real answers from them. I do take tablets called Stemetil but my last Dr told me I shouldn't really take them because I'd had a stroke. I would like to try the Epley Manoevre but before I do that, I would like to see an ENT specialist to try and find out what it is.
Regarding dizziness and strokes, I raised the question with the Stroke Nurse recently and he said that dizziness is not caused by strokes but by the ears. I disagree with him although I didn't say so at the time but lots of people on here have experienced it since stroke so I do think there is a connection.
There are lots of things that start mine off one of which was the other day when I was bending up and down putting the bourbles on the tree out of the box for Christmas. I suddenly felt as if someone was pushing me over from behind. I always feel dizzy if I lay flat on a hard surface e.g, when I have a facial - the couch is quite hard, when I lay on a floor - I had to give up yoga and pilates for this reason. I've had to stop reading as holding my head down sets it off. Also too much time on the computer does the same. I limit it to 10mins a time. There are certain foods that also set it off, cheese (the worst), Chocolate, garlic and onions. I was told once at my Dexa scan that spondylitis of the upper thoracic spine was causing it. I've had this for 10 yrs or so. They said the neck muscles get tight and the blood supply can't get through properly to the brain. I can relate to that as I always have a stiff neck when I go dizzy. There are some neck exercises your Mum can do if she's googles it on line. They help to loosen up the back of my neck.
I've just recently changed GP's so I'm going to wait till after Xmas and see if they can refer me.
I had dizziness for years before my stroke. GP tried a few things but hadn't a clue. I got my GP to refer me to my local Balance Clinic, who did a complete assessment and gave me eye exercises which cured it after a month or so (vestibular therapy).When it came back I did the exercises again and they always worked. Now I've had a stroke the dizziness is back and the eye exercises didn't work, but when I switched from clopidogrel to aspirin the dizziness was much reduced and the physio gave me lots of balance exercises to do, which also gradually helped. I guess we have to keep trying things to see what works, it's so complicated..
Can you get back in contact with your stroke unit consultant to ask about the dizziness and medication and/or physio and/or vestibular therapy?
Anyone else experience this.??? Its a Suden onset, I feel really strange as if there is no blood supply to my brain ,I don't pass out with this . It lasts appoximately 10-15 mins and then I get awfully shakey (really rigouring ) my hands go a little flacid. The shaking settles after a few minutes.I have see my GP usually a couple hours after the event. He is non commital about what this is.I don't think its a TIA and I don't think its a panic attack!!!! I have absoutley No pain or breathlessness when this happens. At the time I was on Clopedogril (daily) and Rovastatin.My GP has now taken me off Clopedogril and put me on Apixaban twice a day.I feel wiped out for the rest of the day after this event. Any thoughts on this anyone. .Thanks for listening .
This may be asking the obvious, but do you have breakfast? It almost sounds like a dip in blood sugar levels, and I just wondered whether having something to eat would help - doesn't have to be much. I would have expected your GP to have maybe checked your bloods, I definitely wouldn't be happy with "non-commital", it's his job to investigate. I also wonder if the GP should consult with the stroke consultant before altering medication, but maybe I'm wrong on this.
I hope things improve soon, sounds unpleasant and ruins your day ? Take care xx
Just wondering when you take your Clopidogrel? I was a bit wobbly when I first started taking it but I took it straight after breakfast then. I changed the times of my routine now. I take my BP medication (Perindopril) before I get out of bed around 6.30am and then stay in bed till around 7ish. Then I have breakfast. I take my Clopidogrel at 2.30pm to allow lunch to have settled. I take my Rosuvastatin after my evening meal which is around 6pm. Since then, I have been fine.
I also agree your GP should check first with the stroke consultant before taking you off medication prescribed by them. It does sound like a sudden drop in blood sugars which I sometimes get if my lunch is later than usual. Adding protein to your breakfast helps to keep your blood sugars even, something like Protein Weetabix or some scrambled eggs. I also put a sprinkling of cinnamon on my cereal which helps to stop sugar levels crashing.
If you are out when it happens, try sucking a couple of Dextrose sweets if you can. They take it off for me quite quickly although I've been told to stop those now as I'm pre-diabetic and on a course with the NHS to prevent diabetes!
It usually happens after my breakfast I have breakfast between 8am -8.30am.This "event" happenes around 10 am- 11ish. Its a sudden onset always when I am sitting .
Yea my bloods were done at routine check which was just 10 days before my last "event" they were all normal.
Thanks for your advice on your routine I well alter mine and see if works for me too.I am taking my statins and clopedogrel in the mornings.My recent blood test were all normal. Stay safe
Like yourself and some of the others I was put on Clopidiogrel initially but it was changed 10 months later for Edoxaban which is an anticoagulant and required if AF has been detected. I had really bad spells after being put on this with dizzyness/vertigo, palpitations and visual disturbance. After pressing the cardiologist in January who is working towards getting me a catheter abalation he prescribed Apixiban. After taking this for a month things have settled down but some days I still got dizzy spells in the morning and felt generally rough. So I got a holter ECG and have found that my dizzy spells in the morning occur after having AF during the night. If you feel any ecoptic beats it might be worth asking your GP if you could have a 24 hour holter monitor for ECG fitted in case AF is causing your dizzyness. I was told that apparently once you were on an anti-coagulant such as Apixiban, Edoxoban, Rivaroxaban (Noac's) or Warfrin the chance of issues with AF are very low so no direct concern.
Thanks Jack .I had a 7day ecg holster which was normal sinus rythm, with less than 1% ectopic . So no AF present. Have now been referred to a Hospital General Specialist. Don't know when that will be in this covid 19 climate.After my Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine I experienced the most violent shakes and shivers for 3. 1/2 hours started 1.30 am - 4.30 am .A most terrifying night, could not get warm, no matter what amount of extra clothing and bedding I had . Next day was a total wipe out joint pains, etc . I thought tihs was a reaction to the vaccine but my GP didn 't think so hence my referral.Take care .
Hi Ladyjane, my sister had the AZ vaccine on Wednesday and had the EXACT, and I mean exactly, the same response that you described. She is a fit, 67 year old woman, not on any medication, walked 5 miles to the vaccination centre and 5 miles back. That night she had the response you had. The patient leaflet does say this response happens in some cases. I think you should not link it to any other condition but accept it's your body natural response to the vaccine. Hopefully it means your immune system has kicked in and you are making those antibodies for protection!
Hi Ladyjane. I had my Astra Zeneca on Weds and fortunately had no side effects. It does say though on the leaflet you can get shivers and aches similar to flu like symptoms - are you OK now?