Hi all, well I'm six months into my recovery from my mild stroke and I thought I was doing ok, despite the niggles (sciatica in my right leg, a hot right foot and occasional vertigo at night) but last night I suffered heart palpitations and the shakes which made my teeth chatter so much I could barely speak ! I rang 111 for advice and spoke to a few helpful people. Fortunately the shakes went away after about 30 mins and the palpitations grew less violent so it was decided that I should speak to a doctor ASAP rather than be carted off to hospital (again : I thought I'd seen the back of that place in March !) so I've had lots of tests and an ECG this morning. Everything seems ok but I'm still worried, especially as I have no idea why it started. Has anybody had a similar experience?
Yes Pam. I had very similar episodes twice. Pre pandemic so I got better treatment. My heart rate was dropping too low. But for me it was just part and parcel of the long recovery from stroke.
keep smiling, be positive, things will come right eventually.
colin
Yes I have, from medication, called an ambulance at 3 am in the morning as had uncontrollable shaking . Have you started any new meds? Do any of your old meds have adverse effects such as muscle spasms, or trembling, or heart palpitations? It seems stroke recovery is also ruling out things in order to isolate symptoms.
Hi Pam- After my stroke I was advised to see a cardiologist and a neurologist. The cardiologist had me do all those tests, too, and I also wore a Holter monitor for a day. From wearing that he found I had afib, which had caused the stroke. So, now I am on meds that controls it. It's a load off my mind. The doc said that often afib won't show up on the day you're wearing the Holter monitor, as afib can be sporatic, maybe not showing up for weeks or months. If he hadn't found it with the Holter monitor, he would have had a small implant put in that tracks your heart for 3 years. I just "lucked out" that he found it so fast. Did your cardiologist have you wear a monitor? Just a thought. It's always a worry when you don't know why something happened. Ask you cardiologist if he/she can explain it better so you can understand what happened. Jeanne
Interesting thought that it could be caused by a side effect of my meds but I've been on the same ones for six months now with no problems, so I'm thinking it's a bit unlikely- although I might mention it next time I speak to a dr. Thanks.
Thanks. I was rigged to a heart monitor for three days while I was in hospital and it showed nothing untoward. That's not to say that something has now happened to cause problems so I'll await the results of all the recent tests with interest.
Thanks ? My recovery has been quite rapid and successful in terms of regaining balance and mobility and I keep forgetting that this process takes a long time and perhaps I overdo things.
If you've been on the meds for that long, then it is probably unlikley. Although, the one to check is statins, if you are taking statins. I developed stabbing nerve pain in my left leg, including muscle spasms, and dyspnoea from Atorvastatin around six months after having started it. As soon as I stopped taking it, the nerve pain went. I switched to another statin, Rosuvastatin, which my body tolerates, but recently have developed an occassional hypnic jerk in my left foot at night. I've also had the occassional bounding pulse, and muscle spasm. This, I find quite disconcerting post stroke as our inhibited neurotransmitters are trying spark up again, all sorts of odd sensations, and disquieting physical symptoms make recovery all that much more harder.
Me too. But do remind yourself to slow down. When fatigue hits you its a pain. Wipes me out
Fiona