Hello! I am 25 and i would consider myself to be in the best shape of my life, i exercise everyday and i don’t smoke or drink. I had an Acute Ischemic stroke in my cerebellum a few months ago. No one in the hospital can tell me what caused it and I’ve been to neurologists and cardiologist and still no answer to why this happened to me. They prescribed me baby aspirin and a cholesterol medicine, is it common to never find out why someone has a stroke?
2 Likes
Hello @CAPT1REX
I’m sorry you have had a reason to join us but now you are here for very welcome 
We often welcome people who have had no reason given to them I have never had a reason and I apparently had several strokes before the one that put me in hospital.!! There are lots of unanswered questions with strokes and those carry on revealing themselves 
We put some of repeated information into Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start which I suggest may help you get some orientation
I would expect you will get some follow-up but the squeaky wheel gets the grease so May be best to keep pushing to get timely investigations. Things like arterial fibrillation, a hole in the heart, sticky blood, diabetes, congenital challenges can be the cause. A hole in the heart is actually quite common!
Your meds sound completely normal strokes survivors generally get a statin for cholesterol, an antiplatelet and or a blood thinner, a blood pressure tablet and a stomach protector It’s the knee jerk medical reaction - they will reduce your risks of another event
You’ll find the punch here a friendly lot who are knowledgeable and very happily answer questions and will share in your challenges and victories
Your best bet is to read any posts and use the magnifying glass above to search the topics most relevant to you there’s normally a lot on every topic you can think of
Ciao
Simon
2 Likes
@CAPT1REX hi & welcome to the forum. Sorry you’ve had a stroke - must have been a shock at just 25 yrs old. I was a bit older than you when i had my stroke but also considered myself to ge at my fittest. Sadly, it seems it didn’t matter.
There are many of us who never find out the cause of their stroke. I was told a cause but it has recently been thrown into doubt. I guess as long as they’ve ruled out all the usual suspects (heart, cholesterol etc) then the treatment is the same so your risk should be no worse. It is still something we all want to know for peace of mind.
Hope your recovery is going well.
Best wishes
Ann
1 Like
I did find out why I had mine but only as a result of having tests (MRI/MRA) courtesy of BUPA. To be honest. the diagnosis made no difference to the way I did things after the stroke. I didn’t drink or smoke anyway and I was fit and did a lot of exercise. I now take blood thinners and make sure my cholesterol is at acceptable levels. I have a hereditary problem with my veins which would have reared it’s head at some stage, whatever I did.
2 Likes
@CAPT1REX As others have said it is not unusual to not find a cause, or certainly a definitive one. I think the figure I was given was something like 30-40% of all strokes, and especially those which affect younger people, are not attributed to a definitive cause. But perhaps google that - don’t quote me! I am sure others on here can qualify that statistic.
I thought I was young (46) to have had a stroke so to have one in your twenties must be an even greater shock, and even harder to process, but like you I was very fit & outwardly healthy and didn’t smoke or drink. Many on here will tell stories of not fitting the ‘stereotype’ and you are not alone in feeling shell-shocked by this event happening.
I am interested that you have been prescribed medicine for cholesterol, only because in contrast to others, not all stroke survivors are prescribed statins etc- , I certainly wasn’t and was only sent home with the NICE recommended treatment of dual blood thinning medication - clopidogrel and aspirin - any medicine for high blood pressure or high cholesterol was not deemed necessary. Did you get a cholesterol score from the cardiology team treating you? I was told that cardiologists take a different view on what is ‘high cholesterol’ compared with a test you may do at a GP for instance. But even armed with this information, it may not be a definitive cause for you, just a case of playing safe by the team treating you perhaps. Hopefully you will get an opportunity to ask these questions when you have any follow-up with the consultant treating you.
I told myself early on that I was ok not knowing why, in the sense it at least meant no-one had found anything majorly wrong, but four months on, the reality is for me, that not knowing why has been more unsettling than I had anticipated. I am left with various possible ‘contributory’ causations that it is up to me to decide whether they affect my life going forwards.
I also became frustrated at people suggesting causes to me, however well intentioned. You are you, so whilst I and anyone can share common experiences, the fact is we’re all different, and our bodies are complicated machines. We hope, and in our twenties or forties probably expect them to perform faultlessly, especially if they are well-cared for, but it turns that, rather frustratingly, that life doesn’t work like that. Dig deep and don’t be afraid to ask for help in dealing with that fact.
Hopefully with time you can be positive and find your direction once again, you have your whole life still ahead of you and have age on your side with regards to your recovery.
2 Likes
Shwmae @CAPT1REX, cerebellar stroke, often referred to as a young person’s stroke. Very rare. I had one at the age of 44. I did smoke and I did drink, but they were not responsible for that. Cerebellar stroke can be caused by many things. A common one is the PFO which they usually check for. I’m surprised they haven’t mentioned that to you. Mine was caused by cracking my neck. Physical neck manipulation is a common cause for cerebellar stroke. People have had cerebellar strokes doing yoga, at the hairdressers, chiropractors, and even reversing the car. The journalist Andrew Marr had one on a rowing machine. Some strokes do remain cryptogenic (unknown). All they can do is post-stroke preventive care. Although having a higher mortality rate than regular cerebrum strokes, cerebellar strokes have a higher efficacy for recovery (or rebuilding the brain to a satisfactory condition). If you type in cerebellar here on the forum, you will find lots of posts, relating to the type of stroke you had.
2 Likes