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Did I have a TIA?
by affy28, Jun 01, 2008 09:13AM
On Tue 20th May 2008 I woke up with a severe headache. I couldnt form words properly. I could think of what I was trying to say but it just would not come out right.
My wife rushed me straight to hospital and they did a CT scan but it showed no signs of a bleed. I left the hospital that night around midnight.
I seemed ok the next day but on the Thursday started getting dizziness and an underlying shakyness or tremor which seemed to start in my chest and caused my hands to shake a bit (more so in the left hand) This went on through Friday.
On Saturday (24th May) I started to get a feeling of weakness in my left arm as well so enough was enough and I went back to the hospital.
They did another CT scan and again found nothing. On the following Monday they attempted a Lumbar Puncture 3 times but without success as they could not find a tap. They tried again on the Tuesday and were eventually successful on the 2nd attempt.
The results showed a degree of Bilirubin (a residue of blood) in the fluid but this may have been caused because of all the trauma of 5 actual attempts at the LP.
With this uncertain result they opted to do a CT Angiogram (CT with dye) and again found no signs of a bleed.
I was now told that all of this must have been down to a migraine. Whilst this is all very good, I still don't feel right and amy getting shaky and dizzy spells.
My questions really are - If I had a TIA event, and if this was caused by a broken off blood clot from another area of the body, if it had cleared itself could any scan actually have shown that this was the case?
Would there be signs of trauma where the clot had been? Do these blood clots clear themselves, or can this only be done by treatment?
Could time have been a factor given that the symptom was on Tue 20th and the CT Angio wasnt until Wed 28th?
I ended up at the emergency room again last night (Sat 31st May) because the tremor in my chest was worrying me and after a cardiogram was done I was told that nothing abnormal had been detected. I am feeling a bit stumped.
It seems logical to me that if I have an underlying heart problem that this is where a clot could have come from, or am I now paranoid? I have also been experiencing soreness/stiffness on the back of my neck. I was asked about that last night but it wasnt sore at the time. Another detail, I have had quite bad toothache on the left side of my mouth since this all happened too. Seeing my GP tomorrow and want to get a full MRI.
Please, any advice or help will be so very much appreciated.
My wife rushed me straight to hospital and they did a CT scan but it showed no signs of a bleed. I left the hospital that night around midnight.
I seemed ok the next day but on the Thursday started getting dizziness and an underlying shakyness or tremor which seemed to start in my chest and caused my hands to shake a bit (more so in the left hand) This went on through Friday.
On Saturday (24th May) I started to get a feeling of weakness in my left arm as well so enough was enough and I went back to the hospital.
They did another CT scan and again found nothing. On the following Monday they attempted a Lumbar Puncture 3 times but without success as they could not find a tap. They tried again on the Tuesday and were eventually successful on the 2nd attempt.
The results showed a degree of Bilirubin (a residue of blood) in the fluid but this may have been caused because of all the trauma of 5 actual attempts at the LP.
With this uncertain result they opted to do a CT Angiogram (CT with dye) and again found no signs of a bleed.
I was now told that all of this must have been down to a migraine. Whilst this is all very good, I still don't feel right and amy getting shaky and dizzy spells.
My questions really are - If I had a TIA event, and if this was caused by a broken off blood clot from another area of the body, if it had cleared itself could any scan actually have shown that this was the case?
Would there be signs of trauma where the clot had been? Do these blood clots clear themselves, or can this only be done by treatment?
Could time have been a factor given that the symptom was on Tue 20th and the CT Angio wasnt until Wed 28th?
I ended up at the emergency room again last night (Sat 31st May) because the tremor in my chest was worrying me and after a cardiogram was done I was told that nothing abnormal had been detected. I am feeling a bit stumped.
It seems logical to me that if I have an underlying heart problem that this is where a clot could have come from, or am I now paranoid? I have also been experiencing soreness/stiffness on the back of my neck. I was asked about that last night but it wasnt sore at the time. Another detail, I have had quite bad toothache on the left side of my mouth since this all happened too. Seeing my GP tomorrow and want to get a full MRI.
Please, any advice or help will be so very much appreciated.
Post Comment
A transient ischemic attack (TIA, often colloquially referred to as "mini stroke") is caused by the temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of the brain, resulting in brief neurologic dysfunction that usually persists for less than 24 hours.
The most frequent symptoms include temporary loss of vision,difficulty speaking, weakness on one side of the body (hemiparesis); and numbness or tingling usually on one side of the body. Impairment of consciousness is very uncommon. If there are neurological symptoms persisting for more than 24 hours, it is classified as a cerebrovascular accident, or stroke.
Patients diagnosed with a TIA are sometimes said to have had a warning for an approaching stroke.
ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_ischemic_attack
The clot could have arisen from the carotid arteries. Tooth pain has no co-relation to TIA.
You will be put on clot disolving drugs if you haven't already.