Aa
Possible Stroke?
Hello, last week I took the perscribed Migraine Maxalt for the first time for a headache. I awoke in the middle of the night with heart palpitations, an anxious feeling, and numbness (pins and needles) on the right side of my body (in my arm, hand, leg, and foot). I also had a cold feeling in my left hand down to my fingertips. I awoke in the morning with a pain in the left side of my neck which subsided within 5 minutes or so. The numbness in my left arm did not go away however. So I went to the ER that evening. There they did a CT scan of my head and did not find anything abnormal. The ER doctor chalked it up to bad side effects from the Maxalt which should go away on their own. He also said that I might have slept on my arm funny causing it to fall asleep. This was definitely not the case as I am brighter than that. Plus, had that been the case, I really do not think that the numbness would have lasted for so long. Nonetheless, I left with comfort in knowing that nothing showed up in the CT scan. Everything returned to normal within the next day or so as the doctor had predicted. Now, it is about a week or so later, and the numbness and coldness has returned to my left hand. I actually had some stinging/burning streaks of pain in my forearm and a rather short visible streak of blueness (about 3 inches long) in my forearm as well. The color has somewhat resided, but the numbness has not. I have felt some subtle stinging -like discomformfort in the right side of my neck as well. I am 27 years old, with no previous condition. What could possibly be causing this, and should I be alarmed?
just a follow up im just about bac to my old self now its only my co ordination and balance thats taking abit of time to come back but still smoke free
i am semi iliterate but you will understand ....i heard about this new stop smoking drug from work everyone was taking it to quit smoking, i decided i was going to go on it to
,so off i went to the docs ,it was a program run through the governement and subsudised,to everyone ,,,but was told that i shold stick to it for the whole 3 months even if i did quite smoking within the period i should still come back for my second half of the dose,i was told to smoke like normal for the first two weeks like normal ,because it could take up to 2weeks for the tablet to be asorbed into my body ,then i just wouldnt feel like smoking anymore...
it was all very official with ringing up the governemt parmacy and geting special numbers ect ,i was asked why i wanted to give up i said i was addicted to it ,and i knew i needed help to get off smoking will power was not enough anymore or the patches or gum both had been used prevesley ,,so off i went to the chemist with my script,to start,
on day one i was fine,i signed up to the web sight on the pack
by day two i started to feel very sick i guess it was my bodys wasy of saying stop what ever you are doing ,but read that it was normal and just to keep going ,,,
as the days went by i became more sicker,my skin was itchy and my eyes stung,everyone at work were fine no reaction,accept when you have a smoke ,yuk ,my eating had almost stoped i felt like i had morning sickness by the end of week two i was vomiting i had been woken up by a hard pushing pressur on my cheek under my right eye i couldnt move or open my eyes for about half an hour or so , by the time i did it had stoped,later that day i asked my boys who was doing it ,but they had been asleepand didnt know what i was talking about,
by the end of week 3 i stoped taking it ,i had stoped smoking by the 4th day of week 2... ,i had woke up with a stiff neck on the day after i stoped taking this tablet ,witch didnt go away ,along came the headache,i thought nothing out of the ordenary of it ,it was about three more days befor i could eat again and the sickness stoped ,i then started to go numb down my arms and legs tinggling and pain in my chest i thought another side effect of not smoking it was normal part of being smoke free,i was probly exsusted ,i had just finished a 72 hour working week back to my normal worka holicself,it wasnt till my speech became slured that i freak out it was one week after i stoped taking this or 6 days to be exact i had to leave work on day 5 of quitting the tablet at 6pm because i was fealing yuk dizzy tinggly around my mouth,i went to see a docter but he sent me home telling me it may be stress related ,and to come back the next day or monday for some blood tests and not to worry ,he told me my heart was missing a beat but that was normal,so i went home thinking wow im a nutter or some thing,they next day i went to work at 6,40am it was hard to get up and even harder to drive .and by 7.15 my words were severly slurred,i couldnt walk properly and my co-ordenationtion was f*** I TOLD MY BOSS TO FIND a replasment i felt very frustrated and humiliated,he had to help me do my job untill the replasment came by that time i was crying and stressed out witch sort of made yhings inposible to do ,he offered to take me to the hospital
,but by that stage iwas so upset and humiliated ,frustated i just wanted to get out of the place ,@ nearly 8 am I WALKED OUT OF my job, i went home and rang a friend to drive me to the hospital,i went to hospital emergengy department and sat there for hours ONLY TO BE sent home again AGAIN all i WAS ASKed IF IT WAS STRESS RELATED COULD IT BE DEPRESION.BLA BLA BLA,they gave me a note for my gp and a sick note for work,no no more than the average day to stuff ,nothing had changed nothing was different,
SO NO,,,,, BUT I WAS STARTING TO get very FRUSTRATION AND ANGERy OF NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME AHHH ,i started to surf the web for answers,i rang around all the (brand name) companys in oz ,uk companys and finally got through to a on call nursre at # iN AMERICA ,she took my symptoms name address but as everyone else said only the sickness could be accounted for ,she advized me to go see my doctor,I SAID WOW THANKS I NEVER THOUGH OF THAT ,BUT I WAS STILL POLITE.,the next day AFTER BEING AWAKE NEARLY ALL NIGHT I RANG 3 DR SURGERYS BEING A SUNDAY NOT MANY WERE OPEN AND THE ONES THAT WERE WANTED TO CHARGE ME MORE THAN I COULD AFORD i wasnt on a government health benerfit so no price cuts .SO I WENT TO MY FRIENDS HOUSE AND WE WENT TO another hospital,they did ALL THE NORMAL QUESTIONS ,BUT THIS TIME DECIDED TO RUN SOME TESTS ct scans and blood tests ,i was hooked up to a drip ,tube for just in case ,HE SAID ALL THESE NAMES OF SYMPTOMS TO THE NURSE THE DC SAID HE DIDNT EXPECT TO SEE ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDERNARY FROM THE RESULTS,IT COULD BE A MINI STROKE,BELPASYER OR EVEN EARLY STAGES OF MS OR BLA BLA ,NA HE WAS A REALY NICE GUY , THEY WERE VERY BUSY AND THE AMBOS HAD ALLBEEN DIVERTED TO TO THIS HOSPITAL,SO IT WAS FILLING UP FAST WITH CASUALTYS,the guy in the bed next to us was a wako he kept telling everyone he had no belly button and no heart beat n hekept ordering a steak ,lol well it made us laugh the nurses on the other hand were not impressed,i kinda felt a bit guilty about being there after seeing all the people with external injurys you know things everyone could see ,I HAD GAINED WHAT THEY CALL vertigo symptoms ,AND i was still sluring and the pressur in my head was horrifick,but no one new what was wrong with me,and now all i wanted to do was go home ,ARTER HOURS I WAS LET GO,SO I WENT HOME AGAIN WITH STILL NO CLUE TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME ..
i rang my dad by this stage thingking wow it aint getting better,he asked me if i was drunk,then went on to give me a what felt like anther list of questions and another dad lecture ,when i finaly told him the whole s tory ,we tried to work out wot it could be MY MIND WAS THERE SHARP BUT INCOHERENT WITH MY BODY i have mercury fillings that had been decaying for over 20 years i had heard about this ,hey i was grasping at straws i know , so i rang up a dr hal higgins in colorado srpings in america i got a voice message,i have since contacted him today and got some info sent out,i spent the rest of the time SERCHIN SYMTOPS OF MS BELPAUSYER STROKES ECT,EVEN THE TABLETS REAL NAME ECT,I HEARD FROM MY SIS MY NEPS GOOD ,HAD HIS OP ,I SPENT THE REST OF THE TIME BETWEEN vommiting and sleeping WATCHING my urine GO fluro yellow (LOL THAT WAS A TRIPPER).I LOCKED MYSELF AT HOME not wanting to have to explain again to anyone that asked hey whats up wiith you you dont seem yourself and thats befor i opened my mouth ,NOW today my speech is almost bac to normal and the numbness is almost gone ,as are the pins and needles in my right side of my body ,my headach has gone to a dull ache and pressur is only in my right temple and ear now ,i still feel a little unsteady on my feet but i can stand up straight with out falling over ,i havent vomated in 8 hours TOUCH WOODbut i still have the tablet taste in my mouth ,IVE BEEN FORCING MYSELF TO DRINK ANYTHING WATER ,TEA ECT to kEEP HYDRATED IF I CANT KEEP FOOD DOWN I NEEDED TO KEEP LIQUID DOWN,THATS MY THoughts ,SO 2morrow i am back off to another dr and i still dont know what happened my stiff neck is back my eyes sting and i ache from head to toe but i feel heaps better if you could say that ive managed to sleep more than 20minutes at a time and through this whole experience i havnt toched a smoke so was it woth it to be honest im not sure yet ,,,,i think ill hold judgement on that untill im back to my self again,,,,,it all happened very quick and looks like it will go just as quick no answers or explenation its just taken me any clue to what happened to me
,so off i went to the docs ,it was a program run through the governement and subsudised,to everyone ,,,but was told that i shold stick to it for the whole 3 months even if i did quite smoking within the period i should still come back for my second half of the dose,i was told to smoke like normal for the first two weeks like normal ,because it could take up to 2weeks for the tablet to be asorbed into my body ,then i just wouldnt feel like smoking anymore...
it was all very official with ringing up the governemt parmacy and geting special numbers ect ,i was asked why i wanted to give up i said i was addicted to it ,and i knew i needed help to get off smoking will power was not enough anymore or the patches or gum both had been used prevesley ,,so off i went to the chemist with my script,to start,
on day one i was fine,i signed up to the web sight on the pack
by day two i started to feel very sick i guess it was my bodys wasy of saying stop what ever you are doing ,but read that it was normal and just to keep going ,,,
as the days went by i became more sicker,my skin was itchy and my eyes stung,everyone at work were fine no reaction,accept when you have a smoke ,yuk ,my eating had almost stoped i felt like i had morning sickness by the end of week two i was vomiting i had been woken up by a hard pushing pressur on my cheek under my right eye i couldnt move or open my eyes for about half an hour or so , by the time i did it had stoped,later that day i asked my boys who was doing it ,but they had been asleepand didnt know what i was talking about,
by the end of week 3 i stoped taking it ,i had stoped smoking by the 4th day of week 2... ,i had woke up with a stiff neck on the day after i stoped taking this tablet ,witch didnt go away ,along came the headache,i thought nothing out of the ordenary of it ,it was about three more days befor i could eat again and the sickness stoped ,i then started to go numb down my arms and legs tinggling and pain in my chest i thought another side effect of not smoking it was normal part of being smoke free,i was probly exsusted ,i had just finished a 72 hour working week back to my normal worka holicself,it wasnt till my speech became slured that i freak out it was one week after i stoped taking this or 6 days to be exact i had to leave work on day 5 of quitting the tablet at 6pm because i was fealing yuk dizzy tinggly around my mouth,i went to see a docter but he sent me home telling me it may be stress related ,and to come back the next day or monday for some blood tests and not to worry ,he told me my heart was missing a beat but that was normal,so i went home thinking wow im a nutter or some thing,they next day i went to work at 6,40am it was hard to get up and even harder to drive .and by 7.15 my words were severly slurred,i couldnt walk properly and my co-ordenationtion was f*** I TOLD MY BOSS TO FIND a replasment i felt very frustrated and humiliated,he had to help me do my job untill the replasment came by that time i was crying and stressed out witch sort of made yhings inposible to do ,he offered to take me to the hospital
,but by that stage iwas so upset and humiliated ,frustated i just wanted to get out of the place ,@ nearly 8 am I WALKED OUT OF my job, i went home and rang a friend to drive me to the hospital,i went to hospital emergengy department and sat there for hours ONLY TO BE sent home again AGAIN all i WAS ASKed IF IT WAS STRESS RELATED COULD IT BE DEPRESION.BLA BLA BLA,they gave me a note for my gp and a sick note for work,no no more than the average day to stuff ,nothing had changed nothing was different,
SO NO,,,,, BUT I WAS STARTING TO get very FRUSTRATION AND ANGERy OF NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME AHHH ,i started to surf the web for answers,i rang around all the (brand name) companys in oz ,uk companys and finally got through to a on call nursre at # iN AMERICA ,she took my symptoms name address but as everyone else said only the sickness could be accounted for ,she advized me to go see my doctor,I SAID WOW THANKS I NEVER THOUGH OF THAT ,BUT I WAS STILL POLITE.,the next day AFTER BEING AWAKE NEARLY ALL NIGHT I RANG 3 DR SURGERYS BEING A SUNDAY NOT MANY WERE OPEN AND THE ONES THAT WERE WANTED TO CHARGE ME MORE THAN I COULD AFORD i wasnt on a government health benerfit so no price cuts .SO I WENT TO MY FRIENDS HOUSE AND WE WENT TO another hospital,they did ALL THE NORMAL QUESTIONS ,BUT THIS TIME DECIDED TO RUN SOME TESTS ct scans and blood tests ,i was hooked up to a drip ,tube for just in case ,HE SAID ALL THESE NAMES OF SYMPTOMS TO THE NURSE THE DC SAID HE DIDNT EXPECT TO SEE ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDERNARY FROM THE RESULTS,IT COULD BE A MINI STROKE,BELPASYER OR EVEN EARLY STAGES OF MS OR BLA BLA ,NA HE WAS A REALY NICE GUY , THEY WERE VERY BUSY AND THE AMBOS HAD ALLBEEN DIVERTED TO TO THIS HOSPITAL,SO IT WAS FILLING UP FAST WITH CASUALTYS,the guy in the bed next to us was a wako he kept telling everyone he had no belly button and no heart beat n hekept ordering a steak ,lol well it made us laugh the nurses on the other hand were not impressed,i kinda felt a bit guilty about being there after seeing all the people with external injurys you know things everyone could see ,I HAD GAINED WHAT THEY CALL vertigo symptoms ,AND i was still sluring and the pressur in my head was horrifick,but no one new what was wrong with me,and now all i wanted to do was go home ,ARTER HOURS I WAS LET GO,SO I WENT HOME AGAIN WITH STILL NO CLUE TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME ..
i rang my dad by this stage thingking wow it aint getting better,he asked me if i was drunk,then went on to give me a what felt like anther list of questions and another dad lecture ,when i finaly told him the whole s tory ,we tried to work out wot it could be MY MIND WAS THERE SHARP BUT INCOHERENT WITH MY BODY i have mercury fillings that had been decaying for over 20 years i had heard about this ,hey i was grasping at straws i know , so i rang up a dr hal higgins in colorado srpings in america i got a voice message,i have since contacted him today and got some info sent out,i spent the rest of the time SERCHIN SYMTOPS OF MS BELPAUSYER STROKES ECT,EVEN THE TABLETS REAL NAME ECT,I HEARD FROM MY SIS MY NEPS GOOD ,HAD HIS OP ,I SPENT THE REST OF THE TIME BETWEEN vommiting and sleeping WATCHING my urine GO fluro yellow (LOL THAT WAS A TRIPPER).I LOCKED MYSELF AT HOME not wanting to have to explain again to anyone that asked hey whats up wiith you you dont seem yourself and thats befor i opened my mouth ,NOW today my speech is almost bac to normal and the numbness is almost gone ,as are the pins and needles in my right side of my body ,my headach has gone to a dull ache and pressur is only in my right temple and ear now ,i still feel a little unsteady on my feet but i can stand up straight with out falling over ,i havent vomated in 8 hours TOUCH WOODbut i still have the tablet taste in my mouth ,IVE BEEN FORCING MYSELF TO DRINK ANYTHING WATER ,TEA ECT to kEEP HYDRATED IF I CANT KEEP FOOD DOWN I NEEDED TO KEEP LIQUID DOWN,THATS MY THoughts ,SO 2morrow i am back off to another dr and i still dont know what happened my stiff neck is back my eyes sting and i ache from head to toe but i feel heaps better if you could say that ive managed to sleep more than 20minutes at a time and through this whole experience i havnt toched a smoke so was it woth it to be honest im not sure yet ,,,,i think ill hold judgement on that untill im back to my self again,,,,,it all happened very quick and looks like it will go just as quick no answers or explenation its just taken me any clue to what happened to me
Thank you so much for the response. Although I do suffer from Migarines, the headache in which I had taken the Maxalt for was not a migraine. It was a dull headache that had lasted for more than 24 hours. Since it was non-responsive to OTC headache medications, I figured that the Maxalt would knock it out. For that reason, I am pretty confident that strange occurances were a direct side effect of the Maxalt. Although by past Migraine experiences have been pretty painful, they have never been conplimented with stroke-like sympotms. Another concern is that I am also perscribed Effexor, which could have negatively interacted with the Maxalt (which is included in the Maxalt warnings). I just want to make sure that I did not suffer any brain damage from these side effects. Do you suggest an MRI since that CT Scan did not show anything? I have also heard that sometimes CT scans are not accurate less than 24 hours from a stroke.
Thanks : )
Thanks : )
Hello Dear,
You probably have hemiplegic migraine where , the symptoms are indicative of vascular disease and can be thought to be stroke.
Migraine-specific abortives, the triptans and ergotamines, are currently contraindicated in the treatment of Hemiplegic Migraine because of their vasoconstrictive properties and concerns about stroke
You should consult your physician and monitor your blood pressure for there may be chancec of hypertension with migraine.
Refer http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11432020
Best
You probably have hemiplegic migraine where , the symptoms are indicative of vascular disease and can be thought to be stroke.
Migraine-specific abortives, the triptans and ergotamines, are currently contraindicated in the treatment of Hemiplegic Migraine because of their vasoconstrictive properties and concerns about stroke
You should consult your physician and monitor your blood pressure for there may be chancec of hypertension with migraine.
Refer http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11432020
Best
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