Hey everyone had a fall this morning but it wasn't my fault I swear I was getting out of bed and sitting on the edge and the whole bed tipped over not even sure how it happened but I was on the floor my wife was trying to help me up but she's not strong enough to get me up we tried different things but I was unable to get my legs under neath me and I had nothing to grab onto to pull my self up enough to get my legs under me luckily I rent a guest house to one of my buddies and thank God he was home he came over took my hand and I was able to pop up no damage done but gotta figure out what happened with the bed Keep up the good fight everyone

This is my first time posting in this subreddit, but I have been avidly reading posts since joining two months ago.

Two months ago, on January 22nd my husband (24m) had a clot form along a cerebral artery dissection, it broke into pieces and caused a stroke in his cerebellum, and mini strokes in his thalamus and occipital.

The stroke itself happened while he was driving home from work. He said he felt drunk, dizzy and somewhat disoriented but was able to make it safely home. He tried to eat to see if it would help. He then tried to rest for about 30 minutes and I insisted on calling 911. The EMTs kept insisting he was diabetic (he was not, and is not) since his blood sugar was low and his symptoms could’ve been attributed to a diabetic state - because they couldn’t get it up, we went to a local ER.

The ER doctor, after hearing he had neurological symptoms (including but not limited to: right side ataxia, a popping sound in his ear followed by the sound of rushing blood, disorientation and total lack of coordination) sent us home with a FLU DIAGNOSIS. No CT. No nothing. They didn’t even do a flu test.

Two days later we had a follow up with his PCP and she could not run the orders for an emergency MRI, so we ended up going to another ER the following day.

So now three days post stroke, we finally had someone listen to us. He was given a CT and MRI and they found that he’d had a left side cerebellum ischemic stroke with debris in his basal artery (at the time they thought this artery had dissected, this was later ruled out and it was the cerebral artery) and he was transferred to a neurocritical unit.

The window of time to administer emergency medication had passed, and we weren’t sure what kind of long term deficits he would be looking at.

Thankfully, his neuro team was incredible. His surgeon said he was nonsurgical and not emergent at that point, and the swelling from the stroke was moderated by a saline solution. Day 1 they had him standing with a walker. Day 2 they had him walking (under heavy assistance) and by day 3 all of his visual deficits cleared and he fully regained sight and no longer felt dizzy or disoriented. We were then transferred to the step-down unit where we waited in clearance to a rehabilitation hospital.

We spent two weeks there (yes, we, I was allowed to stay with him and I hadn’t left his side since being admitted to the ICU) and during that time he was able to walk unassisted, balance, and do small motor work with his right hand.

He’s made such an incredible recovery in just under 3 months and it has been such a terrifying and strange journey, but throughout all of it he has remained steadfast and positive.

His only deficits currently are issues with right handed dexterity and coordination, he lost no strength, no sensation and his outpatient stroke doctor has remarked that he’s going to have to convince people he had a stroke and work hard to advocate for himself as a result.

She called it a total freak thing. His cholesterol is great. His blood pressure is the gold standard. He’s not at all overweight. He is regularly active with his job and has never smoked a day in his life. Doesn’t drink. Doesn’t do any drugs. They think it could have come from a result of his job that it started a small dissection that was simply not able to heal because of repeated motion that caused the clot to form. But per his last CTA, it is healing well and if in three months at his follow up CTA it’s completely healed, he can come off of plavix.

It’s been terrifying to see this happen to my best friend, and he knows people like to remark how lucky he is all things considered, but it really just goes to show you never know how life is going to go.

He’s on plavix, aspirin and lipitor for now, but they are talking about going down to aspirin and lipitor only if the CTA clears him of risk.

He knows this subreddit has helped a lot with my understanding of strokes, and how to be the best caregiver I can but this is his story and not mine, so I don’t want to highlight my feelings on it too much - only to say that being a stroke survivor is no small thing. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and making this less of a lonely journey for us both.

Hi everyone,

My mom is 52 and had a stroke a few weeks ago. She has very limited mobility in her right leg (starting to walk with assistance), nothing in her right hand (dominant hand) at this time, and really struggling with aphasia. She is supposed to come home late this week or early next week.

She will have a bed delivered this week, because her bedroom is on the second floor. Unfortunately, so is the only bathroom. We have a bath chair and commode. We are planning on turning the sunroom into a commode room and curtaining that off for now. It isn’t ideal, but we’re working with what we’ve got.

What can I do to make the main level more comfortable for her? Any suggestions for things that will help her with the independence she is striving for? Even anything to help her with quality of life? For example, she has still not seen my kids because she’s afraid of her grandkids seeing her this way, but she misses them terribly.

I’m open to any and all advice. This was very unexpected. She was not at risk of a stroke at all, and they are still not sure what caused it.

Thank you in advance to all that take the time to respond 💜

my dad had a brain stroke in 2021 he lost his speech and cant move the whole left side of him... since then he screams non stop day and night we give him meds that calm him down but they work for like two to three hours and dont work then we took him to the doctor and he told us his condition is completely fine,,, it's honestly getting really frustrating he doesn't communicate he just screams non stop and i am very light sleeper i cant sleep well and it gets to the point where i get migraines i even feel embarrassed to bring anyone home because of his screaming,,, has anyone experienced such a thing? i'm only 22 and this condition is causing me anxiety and depression.

So it has been one year since I had my stroke and I still find myself wondering what the hell happened I was in hospital last week as I had four seizures straight after each other I have no memory of it at all i just remember the paramedics coming to my house and then coming around in hospital I’ve now been diagnosed with epilepsy due to how severe the brain damage is but nothing makes sense I was 29 I didn’t do drugs rarely ever drank and I did no contact sports my diet wasn’t the best but it wasn’t terrible so the doctors have no idea how I got my clot I have improved a lot but I’m still quite vacant from a lot and my mind does wander. It’s hard to explain how I’m feeling to my wife like some days I’ll be in the moment but other days I just want to be left alone not out of spite I just need my alone time otherwise everything becomes too much for me and I just get to overstimulated and get angry I’m at therapy to help control myself as with a 2 year old it’s not fair on her.

Found a influencer on tik tok think he's on Instagram too but he's a 6 year post survivor who had practically completely recovered his videos are inspirational as well as informative Check him out Stroked out sasquatch

My anxiety / depressive feelings have been too much for me to deal with. I need a change doctor suggested 10mg. Cut in half and been talking 5mg for 3 days now. Feeling really tired. I hope it will make me feel better.

I'm feeling so tired and have no energy for anything,

Ive not come across anyone similar to me or who has lived longer than i have

Current risk factor for me is smoking and I don’t know what to do, I’m living with my parents and my dad smokes and he gives me some constantly and I can’t get away from it seems, any tips on places to stay or places to go to be around non smokers? I thought about taking a tent and camping for a couple months until cravings go away or until I get my apartment but I don’t know where I’d go to set a tent honestly (also already been diagnosed with a stroke)

Hey y’all just scared I might get a second stroke and was wondering if the recovery for y’all’s second stroke too awhile? I’m deathly scared of being immobilized and was wondering if it’s normal to gain that back or should I expect permanent loss?

Hi, has anyone tried using methylene blue for recovery help? I've read some things in it's power on healing the brain but there is very limited studies going on out there. Mostly just ischemic strokes, my dad had a hemorrhagic and we are just searching for options to try to boost him.

Not sure how to get a doctor to agree but right now just looking for some anecdotal info. Doctor seems to just think this is his new normal, it's been 4 months and theyve basically stopped pushing forward.

Hi everyone. I am looking into alternative ideas for my dad who had a stroke 10 years ago. He has tried all of the traditional rehab, does physical therapy exercises everyday, and had surgery to have a manual vagus nerve stimulator put in. He wants to get better mobility in his arm and leg, which are still about 75% paralyzed. Has anyone tried music therapy or singing/voice therapy that was different from traditional speech therapy for stroke patients? I’m curious if that would help at all. It’s tricky because it’s been a long time. Thank you!

Does anyone have any advice? I had two minor infarcts found in November. Have felt tired and lethargic for years. Will closing the PFO help me with my energy? Have had anxiety the past months after I found out too. Anyone have any advice?

I posted on here a while ago, but I'll recap my family's situation.

My father (77M, divorced) had a stroke a little over a month ago that initially paralyzed him on the left side of his body. He was taken to the ER, admitted into the hospital and then transferred to a different hospital for acute rehab care. He stayed their for a little over a week when he claims that the doctor at the hospital is discharging him. We have later now found out that he lied to us, the hospital would've kept him for much longer, but he didn't want to stay there any longer.

My brother, who lives far away but works full-time from home remotely, came back, picked him up from the hospital and brought him home (I do not work from home and my wife is expecting our first child next month so I cannot realistically be a caregiver). The very first night home, he fell twice trying to use the bathroom on his own. The first time, my brother called 911 and they were able to put him back in bed. The second time, he spilled the urinal he was using over himself, cut himself and just laid his blood and urine for 2 hours before eventually calling for my brother for help. My brother called 911 again but this time made the call to take him to the hospital.

After going to the hospital again, my father agreed to go to a sub-acute rehab facility where he could get 24/7 care. He stayed in this facility for around 3 weeks and during his stay, he was awful to the nurses and aides there and just hated it there in general. He decided he was ready to go home a couple days ago. We had a conference call with the facility prior to discharge and they recommended at-home therapy to help transition him back home, but he decided he wanted to straight to outpatient rehab as his understanding is that outpatient rehab is more aggressive and will help him improve faster. The case manager explained that if he was to do at-home therapy first, Medicare would cover for an aide for up to 8 hours per week and they would also help him transition to living at home, but he did not care and said that his family will take care of him. Since he has opted to go straight to outpatient rehab, insurance will now not cover any type of home aide.

Based on my father's claims that he has improved and with the understanding that he is able to go to the bathroom by himself in the middle of the night, my brother agreed to return home to stay for a couple weeks. We told him that he needs to tell us what he wants to do next after these couple of weeks are up since, realistically, he will not be able to take care of himself. He said that he has people that will be able to help him (more on this later).

The day that my father was going to be discharged, my brother could not come back home that day due to work obligations so my dad's friend picked him up. My father told his friend that the facility was kicking him out and that he is much better now, but when he arrived to get him and bring him home, he found out that he had not improved significantly since before he was admitted to sub-acute rehab care. This is now the second time that my father has lied about the state of his condition.

My dad's friend stayed with him for all of that day, however my father told him to go home and that he would be able to go to the bathroom by himself in the middle of the night. As you can expect, it turns out that my father could not lift himself up by himself and called me late at night to come home and stay with him. This resulted in me leaving my pregnant wife to stay with him and be his caregiver until my brother could get here. In the middle of the night, my father once again tried to go to the bathroom by himself and almost fell (the only reason I was able to get to him in time was because I heard a lot of sounds coming from his bedroom). I suggested that he try to use a urinal, however he refuses and wants to be brought to the bathroom.

My brother finally arrived yesterday and saw my father's condition. We both agree that we cannot realistically be caregivers for my father due to our work obligations and discussed our options. Since he does not want at-home therapy, my father basically has two options: if he wants to stay home, he needs to hire a 24/7 caregiver (very expensive) or he needs to go back to a rehab facility (insurance will still cover his stay up to 100 days if he goes back within 30 days of his last discharge date). We laid out these options to him and he said no to both.

Now back to the people who my father claims will help him. My father has discovered Facebook dating and is talking to these people who claim to be beautiful 30-something year olds (basically my age) who claim that they will love him and stay with him forever. My brother and I have tried to explain to my father that these people are scammers who are trying to either get money from him or use him in some way to their own benefit, but he still keeps talking to them since they say so many lovey-dovey things to him (BTW they always keep asking him to talk on zangi.....what is zangi?).

My brother and I are at our wits end now. He is clearly not thinking rationally and is failing to understand the condition that he is in. He is nasty to myself and my brother as we struggle to get him to the bathroom, give him daily showers, prepare/get food for him, etc. He keeps lying to everyone he talks to about the state of his health. My father will not admit that he cannot live independently and refuses to acknowledge that he needs more help beyond just my brother and I. It is not sustainable for my brother or I to be full-time caregivers. He will not willingly give us power of attorney so we are at a loss on what to do. If we were to both just leave him alone I the house by himself, he would not survive.

I'm turning to reddit for some guidance on how we should be handling this complicated situation. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Hey y’all I’m a stroke survivor worried if I’ll have another stroke! Was just wondering about you long term stroke survivors what you do to drive the second one away?

Okay for context i was 1 and a half years old, born anemic (idk if that had anything to do with it. Idk what caused it) ive been told i had a rare kind of stroke where i had a blood clot in my brain, i had a specialist travel to come and see me from another city because hed been working for 30+ years and only ever seen this once in an elderly patient and one other time in a text book. All i remember is that i had a blood transfusion that gave me a seizure, a tube in my nose and they told me not to squeeze a certain part of my arm because everytime i did my face would fall on one side and i was being told off because i kept squeezing my arm all the time. They said my blood flow had rerooted itself so the clot is still there but the blood manages to get to that part of my brain through a different vein. i made a fast and complete recovery but they wouldnt be able to know fully til im older if i had any "side effects". I honestly cant tell if i have issues now because i was neglected and had alot of instability in my life so certain things like walking, reading, writing, thought are very difficult. I also have facial stiffness and i have to do facial massages but because of the life ive had ive not pulled many faces, things like smiling hurts because its unfamiliar so i dont know if its from that.

I had brain scans a few years ago, unrelated to the stroke (im in my mid twenties) and the clot is still obviously there, i wonder if one day it could dislodge and move to a different place and give me a second stroke or kill me or if it will effect my health in any way, i know absolutely nothing about this kind of thing, my parents never asked, never spoke to me about it, and i tried not to think about it too much.. im probably just going to scare myself but i think its probably worth knowing things if i need it in the future.

Hi everyone;

I hope it is ok to ask this here. Bear with me, it's long and detailed.

In 2019, my mother, at age 68, who was a five -year lung cancer survivor (and declared cancer free) , started having severe arthritic pain in her limbs so that she could hardly move at all and was soaked with sweat despite not having a measurable fever. She was incredibly tolerant of pain, and lived with osteoarthritis, and said this was the worst pain she felt in her entire life, including cancer surgery recovery and childbirth.

She was admitted to hospital as she was in such pain and having mobility issues. They ran a battery of tests, and all they found was a soft marker for an autoimmune issue that they said was inconclusive. They referred her to a number of specialists and couldn't figure out the mystery. Her heart, blood pressure, blood oxygen were continually monitored and normal. She had no neuro symptoms.

She was discharged and came to stay with me until her mobility was better and she got some answers, as she lived alone.

Within a few days of returning from hospital, she was rushed to hospital by ambulance after she exhibited signs of a stroke. Unfortunately, she couldn't complete the tPA therapy, even though she got there within half an hour of onset, because her platelets were so low (bitterly ironically, from the blood thinners she was given during her hospital stay which was to prevent clots, which made a stroke all the more mysterious to me.) that if she was given it, she would bleed out.The neurologists found that her carotid artery was almost completely blocked. They said the infarct was large, ischemic, and that things were touch and go, as they'd especially have to see how much swelling the brain had. They explained that if they attempted to remove the clotting, it could cause massive distal bleeding and death. So, we are really in watch and wait mode.

(ETA: I know a blocked artery can happen to anyone, but that was also odd, as she never had any heart or lung issues, was not overweight, physically active, and followed a healthy vegetarian diet.)

That first day, she could track with her eyes and had eyes open, and seemed to respond when spoken to, but didn't speak at all, as the stroke was in the language center of the brain. She still had some facial drooping and difficulty moving, although we don't know if the latter was from the stroke or her earlier issues.

Her heart monitoring revealed A-fib and tachycardia, which was extremely strange, as she'd never had either before. They thought the A-fib could have caused the stroke, but saw in her records she never showed it before. Her typical heart rate was also low normal, never tachy, not even after surgery.

She grew less responsive over the next couple of days, getting to the point where she didn't open her eyes at all and appeared to be comatose. The neurologist gave me the sad news that the stroke had caused massive damage with significant midline shift, severe intracranial swelling/pressure, one pupil was fixed and dilated, and the chance for recovery was pretty much nonexistent. She was not on life support, just an NG tube, but I chose to put her on comfort care only, which removed the tube and continual monitoring. The day I got this awful news she had been making a loud, gutteral noise that sounded like snoring or choking to me, and I realize now it was the "death rattle".

She peacefully passed away the next day. In total, she lived four days including the day of stroke onset.

Her care at the hospital was excellent, and I don't think they could have done more for her. I read her records and couldn't find any clear answers there, either.

My thoughts are:

1. Could this have been somewhat related to the strange severe arthritic symptoms? If so...how and why?
2. Could it be related to cancer treatment she had five years prior/having cancer iself?

3)Or..was it likely just a complete fluke thing?

I know no one will know 100%, but I thought some of you may have some insight from your own experiences.

I also, seldom, but still, get the odd nagging thought of "what if"; "what if" the doctors were wrong and she could have recovered if she went on life support? Did i do the right thing by signing a DNR and moving to comfort care? My sister (other next of kin)was and is in total agreement. The neurologist said it was what he'd do for his own mother. But, that thought still haunts me.

Congrats if you've read this far! lol. any and all insights are much appreciated, and thanks for reading.

My best friend/roommate had a stroke and I can’t stop feeling guilt and blaming myself

I’m still reeling. It happened almost a week ago now and I feel like I haven’t felt normal since it happened.

He is alive. Half his body is very weak but he is able to form words but his speech is so different and weak.

The reason I blame myself so profusely is because I noticed his stroke the moment it happened. But I have never seen a stroke before in my life, only on commercials, and he’s so young (only 38) and he’s always been a bit of a hypochondriac. All the signs of a stroke were there but I panicked. I helped him into bed and I asked him many times if I should call 911 but he insisted that no he was fine.

I was so worried so I kept an eye on him as he slept for maybe two hours. Two agonizing hours where I just let him sit there as his poor brain was dying and I stood and stared like an idiot.

By the time we got help almost 4 hours had gone by which I’m sure caused so much more damage.

I am at the hospital with him everyday and I can’t sleep. I can’t let myself rest until I get him through rehabilitation but I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for not reacting faster.

Every time I see him I hold back tears. Every time I hear him talk I just am reminded how I’m the reason he’s so hurt now.

I know recovery will happen and he definitely could have suffered much more damage.

But I have no idea how I will be able to forgive myself. To make my guilt worst I had drank alcohol that night because i was completely unaware of the gravity of the situation. It was a weekend and I always have a little mixed drink to unwind. And now I just feel selfish. A stupid fucking drink was more important than making sure my best friend was alive.

I made no difference. If anything I actively made his future outlook worse.

I won’t quit until I see him better. But I don’t know if I’ll ever atone for this.

I can’t talk to anyone about this. I just had to get it out because I’m crying every day.

Please everyone familiarize yourself with the signs of a stroke. And don’t think it’s something that only happens when you’re older.

I’m just so lost right now and he’s terrified and it’s all my fault. All I can do is be there for him but I feel like the cause of his problem.

How long can 70+ year old survive after a mild stroke that had affected speech?

Going for speech therapy and on medication for bp and cholesterol ?

Chances for stroke to re occur in a different way ?

Do's and dont's

It's been 7 months and I never got an explanation how my stroke was handled at the hospital.

I had called 911 the morning of the onset of my stroke (10:40 am). I noticed my left side arm and leg weakness, then left side mouth droop and slurred speech. I was on the phone right away. Within 5 minutes the ambulance and paramedics were around the corner, and within 15 minutes I was at the hospital.

After another 10 minutes of checking in the paramedics rushed me by ambulance within another 15 minutes to the next closest "stroke" hospital for a CT scan. I remember being wheeled in and placed in the CT for testing. Apparently the doctor couldn't see anything ( I remember him saying this to the nurses). I was driven back to the original hospital near my home where I was wheeled into the ICU area and into my room. My blood sugar may have been high (they knew I was diabetic as I told them) and my blood pressure was 220/120. I also told the paramedics my stroke started that same morning around 10:40am just before the picked me up.

Now I was left in the ICU room where I believe I remember 2 nurses setting me up on an IV. By 2:30 pm I was passed out and don't remember much after that. I remember having a really bad night tossing and turning and sweating in the bed.

A couple days later after an MRI it was revealed I had a right-side ischemic stroke.

When I was released from the hospital 10 days later there was no report of any tPA being used in the discharge papers. I also had no surgery.

I was wondering if I was simply left to sleep it off overnight but I have no idea if they gave me some sort of bp med or blood thinners in the IV?

Btw, I know the doctors had me on a cocktail of blood pressure medications (along with blood thinners) while in hospital to slowly "titrate" my blood pressure down to under 140/90.