Ischemic stroke

I watched the long video by the Duke doc. It's a lot of summaries of studies and quite a bit about how much money we could save on healthcare and, most important, how many people could avoid strokes if we changed how and what we eat (Mediterranean diet, ideally), didn't smoke, and exercised 1.5 hours a week, minimum. Some of those things could prevent as much as 80% of strokes, he says. The video is pretty old (2005, I think), but that info hasn't really changed, other than that we know more about how bad trans fats, sugar, and processed foods are. So I just saved you 1.5 of your life. You're welcome!

Go for a walk. Have a salad for dinner. I'm working on that.

Thank you for the summary! I'm making myself exercise almost daily now, still working on the salads too! Good luck to you!

Thank you Kari! It was frightening! I'm doing fine. I do exercise more - my doc told me that sometimes with exercise, the brain will re-route the area around the portion that was effected by the stroke. I'm hoping he is right!

I had a stroke but don't know when, because I didn't know it until results of a CT scan recently when they thought I might be having one. That's still uncertain, but the result showed one in the past. I'm so glad for you @lsatenst1 (and for my fears) that the paralysis wasn't permanent. I also am so glad to hear what your doctor said about the brain rerouting things. I have had something very similar happen, and it makes perfect sense given what we know so far. So keep walking! That's a very good motivator. I'm now walking daily again, too.

Thank you for sharing! I have FMD of both my carotid arteries and I am at a higher risk for stroke, my fear is will I know if it is happening before it is too late, and what will it feel like? I know everyone if different, but the thoughts are always there.

re: "The thoughts are always there."

And will be every day evermore for each of us who has had even a relatively minor close call. That's one of the potential values of this group: Being able to say that and having others who truly understand. My sister's and friends responses have been almost unanimous and nearly the same words: "Well, we're all dying every day" or "We all die someday." Yeah, sure. But coming face-to-face with it as something that could happen every day is quite an adjustment and discombobulating, to say the least. They have no idea. Or maybe they just don't know what to say. That's easy. Just some indication that they know how we feel, such as "That must be really scary."

I just joined and thought I'd share a little bit of my experiences related to Ischemic stroke. My story starts with a heart attack that fortunately general discomfort woke me from my sleep. Put a stent in and ballooned a couple others that were restricting flow. Shortly after being released, I was at home and was taking my BP with an automated machine, and I did it more than once as it didn't feel like the machine was working. My family looked at me strange and said it was. My family called for an ambulance and it was determined I had a stroke. Although I was able to talk and had full motor skills, at one point I lost all my vision. Out of all the things that were happening, not being able to see bothered me the most of all. Like one other person on this thread posted, the health care providers said to give it some time and the brain sometimes is able to rewire itself. At the time, I didn't really believe it, but it was hope, and that's what I needed...hope. I'm not sure how long it was that I couldn't see, but I think it was the next day at some point that I could begin to see. I remember the nurses putting some tape/cotton swab on the bed-side call button so I would be able to know what button to push during the night if I needed assistance. It was strange, as I thought all would be dark. It was more like a light gray, not bright enough that I felt the need to close my eyes, but wasn't black either. It didn't make a difference if I shut my eyes. As some point, I began to see outlines, and was really blurry. Eventually, a few hours later, I could see. The long term effects is my peripheral vision is less than it used to be. But compared to a world of solid gray, I was grateful to have this much of my sight back. One thing I wasn't prepared for was viewing my head scans in my follow-up appointments and seeing how much of my brain had been damaged/affected from the stroke(s). I never imagined I could continue doing everything I do as normally as I do seeing that much damage, so again, I was grateful. I remember that night at home, feeling like I was in shock, as I wondered how can I be functioning with so much damage. Faith, family, friends, and Mayo's great healthcare service got me through it all. It is great to be alive! GR82BAlive

@gr82balive Welcome to Mayo Connect. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story. Hope is a powerful motivator and your story offers others with similar health concerns hope. It is the reason for Mayo Connect - to be able to share your health story, ask questions of other Connect members and help each other in learning what they do for treatments and more.

Did the doctors give you any suggestions to help in your recovery?

John

Thanks John, I totally agree and this site does lend encouragement as well as first hand accounts. The advice given to me was although everything would feel overwhelming at that time in my life, recognize that I wouldn't be able to change everything I needed to do overnight, and that it would take time. I did all they recommended including cardio rehab, EECP (Enhanced External Counter Pulsations), low sodium diet, weight loss, and regular exercise, and working with them to tune/adjust my meds to find the right combination that works for me. A little over a year of doing that and feeling good, I ended up having seizures which landed me in the hospital again. Possibly another very mild stroke (in terms of little additional damage). With that, additional tests, heart history including an v-tach episode while in cardiac ICU when recovering from initial heart attack, low ejection fraction, I was in the hospital two more times, one to have a ICD implanted and another for PFO closure. My team felt confident all this would minimize future cardiac events and potential clotting. With the ICD and PFO closure, I've been event free for over 3 years. They said getting the ICD in my situation is more preventative than anything, and may not even fire. Luckily, that is the case. My Merlin downloads and in-office visits show the device is working, but hasn't been called on yet. Having a stent, then a PFO umbrella, and an ICD I kid others that I'm a cyborg. Much credit also goes to my wife who meal preps, and cooks pretty healthy, tasty meals! The heart attack was the huge bump in the road that upset the apple cart momentarily, my ICD is the small bump on my chest giving me peace of mind.

I've had a significant amount of weight gain since my stroke in June. Most I've ever weighed. Yes, I am seeing a nutritionist. So fatigued all of the time. Getting more blood work done to look at hormone levels. I'm not lazy, just lost interest in things. And I do not dream anymore. I used to have vivid colorful dreams every night. I kind of started using my dreams to process and plan my days.
I sleep well. I'm not sleepy but always feel fatigue.