I have Cerebral Small Vessel Disease - so far caused loss of balance

Diagnosed at 50 with small vessel cerebrovascular brain disease with an Arachnoid cyst..now 4yrs later its servere & put on statins also Asprin. Had a bad reaction to statins was only on them 9 days & had to stop them. Have weird & not so wonderful symptoms headaches vision issues fatigue gait & a lot of pain due to cervical spondylosis with osteophytes on all discs from C4 through to C7 with encroachment of nerves ( waiting on neurosurgeon) bladder & bowel issues. Last year had ischemic colitis & bleed out 8 days in hospital...many appointments had & more to come...just wondering if this cyst I have caused alot of my health issues it can not be operated on due to location & how deep it is . Short term memory hasn't been good for a few yrs but long term memory is brilliant...

I don’t think I have the small vessel disease, but I do have narrow vertebral arteries, one completely collapsed 8 years ago leading to a massive stroke at 30 years old, just had scans yesterday and one is completely blocked but has good outflow around it, it’s been a struggle

I was diagnosed earlier this year after a few falls and TIA's. I am 65 with a very high CAC score (well over 1000) so the mechanism that is causing my CAD is obviously doing the same to my brain. I do a variety of brain challenging activities to try to keep my cognitive ability up but it is scary when I have simple math problems despite being a chemical engineer.

Unfortunately there is no cure or treatment and it is progressive. All you can do is maintain a healthy lifestyle to delay the progression.

Good luck!

I had Covid November 2020 and still have cognitive issues. Short term memory, processing math & difficulty with date & time sequencing. My brain MRI showed micro vascular disease. Has anyone else experienced this?

I would like to know how many patients with high CT scan have been on long term statin>10 years. If so what statin dosage ,name of statin, did you follow a low fat diet and list your ct calcium total score. Just a quick and non scientific poll.

I'll start 40mg of pravastain, >20 years, followed low fat diet CT total calcium score of 1842.

Thanks in advance

Roberta Holmes

Thanks keithl56. So good to hear from you.
I’ve had that same problem with memory but its not a big problem. Very common as you get older. I dont worry about it at this point. I do mental exercises to try and help keep my brain working. Theres an app i have on my phone called Elevate that i use.
I dont know if i have had TIA. That terminology hasn't been used. But I've had something according to what they see on the MRI. I haven't been aware of any symptoms. But i have been falling so maybe thats from TIA. I wonder what causes it to happen.
I walk my dog several times a day and i am very careful to watch where i am stepping to avoid my balance from causing me to fall, but i am still wobbly sometimes when doing something like stepping on or off the sidewalk and i stick to firm ground. I wish i didnt have to wait so long to see a neurologist to explain more to me.
Have a good day. Keep in touch. Thanks

I have found that I seem to have some trouble occasionally coming up with a word or a name. I always aced Jeopardy but not anymore! I must be forgetting other things since my wife gently reminds me "remember, I told you ..."

Other than that the only other thing that really bothers me is my balance, although the left side of my face was affected with my first TIA. My doctor did tell me that there is a form of dementia associated with this disease, but I passed my cognitive tests so I'm OK on that front now, but it is scary thinking that something may happen down the road.

Hang in there and live life to its fullest!

Thank you Keithl56 for your reply. I shall have to find out what my CAC score is. I looked up what CAC means. I have started a half dose enteric coated aspirin because aspirin has always made me nauseous. But taken with a meal this seems to be ok. Ive also been prescribed a statin. This is all new to me! It makes me very nervous. I was told id had some mini strokes, but ive never been aware of anything out of the ordinary but they tell me they can see the”scars” from them.
Do you have problems with memory. They told me this condition can lead to dementia

Thanks again for your reply.

CAC is coronary artery calcification. It is determined by a CT scan and shows the calcified plaque in the arteries (usually 20% of plaque is calcified so total plaque is 5x what is shown. Scores above 400 are very bad and over 1000 is extremely high risk.

A brain MRI shows the areas (hyperintensities) where loss of blood flow has actually caused brain cell death (infarctions). The location of these determine what if any effect they may have on you. It is possible to have silent mini strokes (TIA's) that you don't even notice but they still will show up on a scan.

Anyone with coronary artery disease is at higher risk of cerebral microvascular disease since they are both caused by plaque build up.

Everyone as they age will have some microvascular ischemia but may not have any symptoms. Ask the neurologist how much the disease has progressed and what part(s) of the brain are involved. This will help you understand your risks. Your balance issues may be caused by this (or not) and he/she can counsel you. I know my balance issues are and try to minimize my risks.

Good Luck!

@debbic715 I wanted to share with you that the best way to notify a member that you are responding to them is to use the "Reply" button under their comment and/or use their handle (for example, yours is @debbic715). I hope that helps!