I had a minor stroke 2 days ago. Got up for a pee in middle of night and bumped into things, thought it was just the fact I had taken sleeping pill. next morning I got up and had difficulty on stairs with my left foot and left hand not functioning properly and tingling. I thought “TIA”? so rang gp who said go to A&E. Spent day there; very quick to test BP, etc and ECG. bit of a wait for Scan, long wait to see doctor (was Jnr docs strike). mind in a whirl so did not think of all the questions. Told could be several weeks waiting scans so I am worried I might have another before they finish investigation as to cause. Important I recover quickly as I am caring for my wife who has dementia. difficult to get information from hospital at moment. So am quite frustrated. Having problems typing so excuse any grammatical errors.
Actually I created the above post a couple of weeks ago but could not work out how to post it, but if you can read it then I appear to have sorted it I had either a minor stroke or a TIA a couple of weeks ago, the hospital does not seem able to make it’s mind up. It affected my left hand and left leg which is a bit of a bummer as I am left handed. I seem to be making good progress with my recovery thank goodness as my wife and I are pretty isolated as we live a mile outside our nearest village in Norfolk and there is no footpath into the village and the road there is too narrow and busy to walk. My wife does not drive. Fortunately my two children who live in London have been very supportive although they are both very busy people, one was in France last week on business and the other in California. I also have helpful neighbours so we are coping. Hoping to get back to driving in a couple of weeks although the thread “Driving after a stroke” seams to suggest it is not straight forward. I’m managing to stay positive at the moment and feel sure I will recover quickly.
Hello @philo
Welcome to the community. Although I am sorry that you have had need to join us. We normally get a banner notifying us when somebody first posts but not in your case! You’re special 
You’re getting up bumping into furniture etc sounds very reminiscent of my stroke but I was in hospital for a month afterwards 
I’m glad to read that you haven’t had effects that you consider bad and you also consider your recovery as progressing swiftly - I will just raise it note of caution - progress does not always proceed in one direction and is certainly not linear for many others.
Have they found any cause yet? Have you got the standard statin, blood pressure, antiplatelet, etc medication maybe the 75 mg aspirin as well? Obviously you’ll want to improve your risk factors as much as you can so finding a cause can help with that although many of us are never given a cause. Taking meds is obviously commonly considered appropriate. Avoiding excesses of most things also helpful.
There’s a warm and supportive group here who will generally share their experiences and they have already been doing it for a long time so often answers to your questions will be in the backlog of posts and can be found with the search magnifying glass at the top of the page
If you need help just shout
Ciao
Simon
Thanks for your reply Simon, your’s was obviously a lot worse than mine as I only spent most of the day in A & E. No cause identified yet, have had a CT scan on the brain “only slight damage”, an ultrasound on my neck, “no sign of blockage” from the radiographer, having an MRI on the brain on 31st of this month but have been told there is a long wait (several months) for an echocardiogram on my heart, which is a little surprising as this is possibly the most likely cause as I have atrial fibrillation. Only medication is statins. I managed a 2 mile walk today although I was surprised how hard it was, particularly up hill (only a gentle rise) on the way back.
Hi @philo and welcome to the group. Sorry to hear of your stroke. It sounds like you are doing ok although still waiting for some answers.
I waited almost 18 months for my echocardiogram but it waa just done as a precaution rather than them suspecting any AF or anything. Hopefully you won’t have to wait that long.
Whilst you’re waiting all you can do is lower your risk factors by eating healthily, not smoking, reduce alcohol intake & exercise.
Well done on your 2 mile walk. That’s a great achievement so soon after your stroke.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi @philo and welcome. I had my stroke diagnosed 28th December 23 confirmed with CT scan. I’m still awaiting MRI and echocardiogram. Been diagnosed type 2 diabetes so now on metformin as well. Ive appointments for podiatrist and to get eye retinopathy next week.
Steve
Hi Ann, thanks for your reply. I eat very healthily, no meat for 44 years and stopped smoking 30 years ago. I get lots of exercise on the golf course and my allotment and my alcohol intake is relatively low, maybe 5 pints of beer and 4 glasses wine a week so the stroke came as a huge surprise. I was walking almost normally using walking poles today and am having no problems typing this so things are looking good. tiredness seems to be main problem but I can see from this forum that this is normal. there are a lot of people much worse than I am on this sites thanks for your support.
Phil
Hi @philo
I’m lucky compared with some although I guess being in for a month …
I only got an MRI as a result of research project and then that showed I’ve actually had multiple strokes in the past.
I’m surprised by the echo cardio thingy because I thought that was a monitoring with a fairly cheap piece of equipment and an easy analysis. Afib is definitely a risk factor.
Congrats on the 2 mile walk feelings of weakness aren’t unusual. I definitely notice even the gentlest uphill now is a struggle.
Very likely that things will improve as you go especially if you’re still active
Hi Simon,
I’m amazed that your MRI was not simply a routine stroke procedure. Yes the echo cardio thingy is a simple device that you wear of a period of time, I had one before for my AF, but there are a limited number of devices available at my hospital and they are in high demand. One would have thought that if this is the case then more of these relatively cheap devices might have been purchased. This is not a criticism of the NHS in any way but can be read as a criticism of Government for withholding funding. My experiences of the NHS is that they are brilliant, having had three cancers one of which was close to killing me, I have no criticisms of the NHS.
Regards Phil 
Do you have Afib, Simon? Just curious.
Better at acute then chronic would be my summary
My wife’s cancer care was very good. My physiotherapy has been laughable.
There are many variables.
Also judgements of the system have to be held separate from the individuals within it. It has some systemic strengths and weaknesses. It has many dedicated staff and some bad apples
C’est la vie
Hi Philo from one Norfolk inhabitant to another!
Sorry about your problems but I’m very impressed by your walking. I had a stroke in Dec 22 and can still only walk round the house with a stick.
As regards driving the DVLA ask you to take a sight test - usually at Specsavers and they send a health form for your GP to fill in. I passed ok and sure you will too. Sorry about your wife. Dementia is a cruel disease
. Good luck Janet
Not that I know of and I have been test a couple o’ times
Good to see you around by the way you haven’t been here quite so much recently I think
I hope you’ve been well
I am thinking of you. Things like this are terrible, but they’re part of life. I hope you find out what really happened. TIA? My heart goes out to you.
I feel the concern over your future ability to care for your wife, who has dementia.
By the way, my father and I were 24/7 caretakers for my mother for almost 2 years. It was a very traumatic event for all of us. Sadly, she died 9 months ago from sepsis (was a blessing, in the end). She had no more will to live.
I am doing okay. My eyes are terribly bloodshot for several weeks. I suppose it’s an allergy. They burn like they’re on fire.
No, I haven’t been posting as much on here, as I’ve been working, cooking and feeling very tired these past several weeks.
Glad to know you don’t have Afib.
Nice to hear from you. Take good care.
Hi @philo - from what you’ve said, it sounds as though you’ve already checked the rules and regs re driving.
I know that some strokes do result in people not being able to drive until they’ve passed a specific sight test. However, a lot of people are able to drive after the statutory one month ban without even informing DVLA.
In my case I was told right away that I wouldn’t be able to drive for a month but that provided nothing changed I was okay after that. As it happened, I didn’t drive for about eight weeks as I just didn’t feel up to it, but that was my choice and not imposed on me. I did inform my insurer but they weren’t that interested.
Best wishes.
Thanks Scamp for the link. I discovered that I do not need to advise the DVLA but have told my insurance company who said " if the DVLA has not said ‘No’ then simply take your doctors advice."
In response to everyone else who has replied to my posts, thanks for your concerns and advice, it really helps. Just to update you, I took a 2 mile walk on the beach with my son Yesterday (I live near the coast in North West Norfolk) and was absolutely fine. If I can drag myself away from this computer I am going to try a 3 miler today and hope to build up over this week in the hope that I can manage 9 holes with my Son Inlaw this coming weekend, after indoor bowling. Maybe that is a little ambitious and I may only manage the 9 holes without the bowling. 
Good luck with your walking & your 9 holes with or without bowling
I did not manage to drag myself away from the computer in time to have a walk before dark yesterday but I have just done about 4 miles today on country lanes and bridle paths, so things are looking up. I did have the fallback of ringing a friend if I got into difficulties so it was not entirely the foolhardy enterprise that my wife considered it to be.