What is your experience with a hypoxic brain injury?

I’m looking to connect with people who have experienced a hypoxic or hypoxic-ischemic brain injury because I’ve had an incredibly difficult time getting doctors to take my experience seriously or even consider that this is what happened.

In January, I had a medical emergency where my blood pressure dropped dangerously low. It started with dizziness, blurred vision, and profound weakness. Very quickly I became completely paralyzed. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and eventually couldn’t even breathe on my own. The only thing I could do was blink and cry. I remained conscious through the entire event, which I think is one of the reasons my concerns have been dismissed.

Since then, my life has been very different.

I’ve experienced memory problems, cognitive changes, tremors, sensitivity to light and sound, dizziness, vision disturbances, and other neurological symptoms that vary from day to day. Some symptoms have improved over time, however I still experience all of this to some degree, every day.

I’ve had testing, including an EEG that was normal and an MRI that showed only a small amount of white matter lesions with no recent ischemic event. Because of those results, and because I never completely lost consciousness, I’ve repeatedly been told I didn’t have a brain injury. But that explanation has never felt consistent with what I experienced or what I’ve continued to live with.

I eventually had to start researching on my own and even requested my own neurology referral because I felt like no one was listening.

I’m not looking for anyone here to diagnose me. I’m hoping to hear from people who have experienced hypoxic brain injuries or severe oxygen deprivation to the brain.

* Did anyone else remain conscious during their event?
* Did your MRI or other imaging appear mostly normal?
* What symptoms have persisted the longest?
* Was it difficult to get doctors to recognize what happened?
* Did anyone else feel like they had to fight to be believed?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. It’s been a lonely journey, and I’m hoping to learn from others who have walked a similar path.