Update: Finally got them to do a CT scan which confirms that mum had a stroke so she's now in a stroke unit receiving help.
Hi all - I'm worried about my mum. The paramedics came round yesterday and we suspected a stroke but I had my mum lift her arms and she was able to hold them up fine. Her heart was beating slowly and she's complained of feeling tired. Most concerning though is she is slurring, can't talk properly, struggling to remember words, feels like her head is in a fog, had a bad headache, and her mouth is increasingly drooling. Plus she's off her food, balance has gone and feels a bit dizzy. She waited 6 hours at A&E - they didn't find anything wrong after running bloods and checking her heart except to say her heart was a bit slow. She is pre-diabetic I think as bloods are between 6-10 when testing. Her mother died of a stroke, her brother had a stroke, I've had a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage so strokes run in the family. They sent her home yesterday. She nearly fell in the shower this morning. Of course I'm not taking your responses as medical advice but I would like to know if any of you had similar experiences and didn't immediately get diagnosed as having a stroke. Thanks
I'm not really qualified for medical advice but I will say that cerebellar stroke does not have the same symptoms as other strokes. Dizziness is one. It might be a TIA, could be a cerebellar TIA. Who knows, but it wouldn't show up on a CT, it would need an MRI to determine what it is. I was diagnosed with BPPV (vertigo) while having about six cerebellar TIAs over three months. Even when I had the major stroke, they couldn't diagnose it at hospital, I was dizzy and vomiting, and after a CT scan the next day, they said my brain was fine. It was only after an MRI, I was told I had the strokes. But it is a very rare kind of stroke, only 1-2% of all stroke cases are cerebellar strokes and it seems to affect younger people for some reason.
Thanks Jane - I just don't understand why they didn't offer to do an MRI for her and why we have to push for it - I'm going to try to get a private one done tomorrow if possible. I'm very worried ? xxx I'll let you know what happens.
So sorry to hear about your Mum. I have been told twice that I wasn't having stroke because I didn't show the 'usual' symptoms. Only to find out later when it was too late to have the 'reverse' injection that I had suffered a stroke. First time, I had a completely blood shot left eye and my arm went down like a brick with numbness creeping up it. Both paramedics said I wasn't having a stroke because I was lucid and didn't have facial droop. By the time I got to hospital my leg had also become distorted and I couldn't stand up or walk. Still the para said he had seen the CT scan and it didn't show a stroke. By the time I got to see the stroke consultant, it was too late for the 'reverse' treatment and he told me I had indeed had a stroke which was a blood clot on the brain.
Second stroke last October, my mouth felt strange on one side - numb and tingly. My hand was pins and needles/numb on the left and I couldn't feel anything. Once again paras said I hadn't had a stroke - no facial droop or slurring of words. I sat 5 hours on my own in A & E - it was at the height of Covid. When eventually seen, I was sent home - no stroke. Day after I got a phone call to go straight to hospital for a MRI scan which confirmed two small blood clots and a bleed.
Medical staff need a complete re-train of ALL the stroke symptoms and not looking for the text book version. Not everyone has facial droop or slurring of words. Like your Mum, I could also hold up my arms and touch my nose with my finger. All I am saying is you know your Mum and what is right and not right about her health. I would send for another ambulance and get another diagnosis. I hope she gets the help she needs.
FAST advert has been reworded to read any one of the FAS symptoms. Back in the dark ages i thought it meant all three symptoms.when the stroke got me, i knew it was a stroke. How i knew i am not sure, but i told the 999 operator i was having af stroke. Medics got to me so quickly, i still dont know how they reached me. Glad they did.
Thank you. I am convinced she has had a stroke and I was thinking if the medical 'professionals' can and do get it wrong I'd pay today for a private MRI to get her help. I can't believe they sent her home in that state. ? xx
Yes we are quite unique ! 11am already back to bed, to get get a bit of energy to eat Sunday roast. My wife as always spoiling me , she will cut it up , so I can eat with a spoon , am I the only one to do this ? Use to be my treat to cook this for her .
Any advise on easy access showers / non slip & seats , would be much appreciated. Do others find it exhausting after shower ? Manage this on my own, if sat on seat .
Always good to read S/S comments & improvements .Thanks David
Yes, we are in a unique clique. It is Sunday, I had my cuppa in bed and stayed, I will potter around later today. I usually have soup for lunch so I eat it with a spoon anyway. Easiest and quickest thing for me to have if I am feeling unsteady while seated. Showers exhaust me, and I need to prepare myself for having one, making sure it is a "better" day. I used to only have baths but showers a bit quicker for me. I hang on to the shower hose pipe! My shower is very small, I have a non-slip mat outside on a step as my shower has a step up to it. I sometimes hang on to the door ledge, all this is not ideal. You can buy good suction cap handles that fasten to the glass, I had one before my stroke but gave it to someone to use. I must get another one. I think a chair is the best idea, I couldn't fit one in my shower though. Showers are not easy, someone ought to build a robotic shower like those hoover robots.
I have taken a different route. I do not go to bed during the day. I will sit and often fall asleep, but i get better structure to the day.
i can shower OK. The shower is a nice corner unit with sliding doors. I used a seat in the early months, but now manage without. I have grab rails, which i view as essential.
i was very fatigued this morning and struggled with the shower. a shower always tires me. Our bedroom is right next to the bathroom, so thats another bonus. I have not fallen (yet) and i do assume every step is potentially lethal.
i can eat easily, so our roast gammon was ideal. I do feel guilty that i neither help with cooking nor help with washing up etc. my contribution is to have the cat on my lap.
what i might add is that, with care and attention, things have got better over the years.
my biggest weapon is smiling, second biggest is being positive.
Do you think that, after the initial three months, there is any difference between cerebella and us regular clots ?
David, Age UK put a seat in our shower and a grab rail for free. This year we had the shower altered so it was easier to step out of. I don't get exhausted after a shower, but, like you, I could go back to bed at 11am. I last till noon, then have an hour in bed and then, weirdly, I am okay till 11/11.30pm
With the old FAST advert where it shows a man at a football match with fire coming out of his forehead, I assumed wrongly that with a stroke you also had a blinding headache. Maybe they should re-do the advert completely using people who have actually had strokes to relive the moment.
So both of us misread those adverts. Interesting. Yet i knew i was having/had had a stroke.
i have had a lifetime of moderate headaches, plus migraines. there are worse things than that, but stroke stopped the headaches. And migraines have almost gone. I guess its the blood thinners.it is a true blessing to be without migraines.
Planting out flowers and sweet corn today, so i hope the rain keeps away. Its quite chilly for May.
Only have info I have read , not from medics . I feel if not cerebellar stroke , from reading on here, nearly 2 years on I would have improved & now be hitting a bit of a 2 year plateau. However feel , no real improvement at all . This could just be me feeling a bit of a victim, instead of being grateful for , how I could be. Thanks David.
Hi - I agree. My stroke was nothing like the adverts and was one of the reasons I didn't seek medical help for a few days. Knowing what I now know about strokes, I had some typical stroke symptoms but not the FAST ones.
It's hard to know what's best. Yes, people do need to recognise the FAST symptoms and quickly seek help. However, it would be helpful if people also had awareness that a stroke may present itself in a different way.