Hi there, im just looking some advice. Im 48 and had a stroke just over 1 year ago. I recovered at a steady pace , however the past few days I feel that I have regressed. Initially i struggled to put my hair up in a bobble as my right arm was affected. After a month or so I was able to do it myself but the numbness has come back and I and now I cant do it myself. Ive also experienced intermittent numbness in my face (right side), something I never had before. My concern is that its another stroke and my anxiety is through the roof . My bp is fine and im taking my meds regularly. Has anyone experienced anything like this regression? Thanks for listening, I hope this makes sense.
Hi @Vicki1
Yes (in short)!
I was at the GPs today saying pretty much the same thing (not the tying the hair up with a bobble thing!) and we agreed just one of those post stroke āthe present that keeps on givingā things
Iām 3Ā¾ post stroke - But what applies to me; while itās an indicator of normality isnāt guaranteed to be the same for you. Sitting on a stool in a&e for 13hrs to be told āyeah might be canāt really tellā Itās definitely safest because they might actually do a CT or MRI and say youāve had another event.
Finding some techniques to deal with your anxiety is definitely definitely definitely a good thing to do because that wonāt be helping any aspect of your post stroke life/recovery.
Sometimes when it happens to me I take a 75 mil aspirin for a few weeks afterwards.
There are actually things in the welcome post Welcome - what we wish we'd heard at the start that mention regression/ decompensations (which this could be, it could be another event, it could be a nothing but changes generally deserve being investigated)
thereās a shedload of posts about people taking two steps forward and one step backwards.
If you use the magnifying glass above youāll be able to search for posts on the theme
Caio
Simon
Hi @Vicki1 & welcome to the community. It seems quite common that people have some regression. There was a post just the other day on here about it. Iāve linked it below. There is a thing called stroke decomponsation - youāll find a link to some info about it in the linked post too.
If these are new symptoms for you though itās probably a good idea to get checked out. If yiu donāt want to ho straight to A&E you could ring 111 for advice.
Best wishes
Ann
Because we donāt have an objective way of measuring our progress, indeed we take it for granted after a while, sometimes a regression is actually progress. For example, I used not to feel the right side inside my mouth.,ā¦ when i finally could it felt like 2 left sides / awfulā¦ then it integrated and i declared progress.
Hope you can gather more date until you finally see the bigger pictureā¦ your nerves are pushing for more sensation thatās all, (hence numbnessā¦ or incomplete sensation)
ciao, Good luck, Roland
Hope you see some improvement soon. I had my major (3rd) stroke in November 2023 and the set backs are annoying. A month ago, I had something happen and I could barely get off the sofa or feed myself. Itās a nightmare but thank god, Iām getting back to new (post stroke) normality
Just an update (hopefully iām, using this forum correctly). I ended up attending a and e on my doctors advice. Ecg, bloods and ct scan all appear to be ok. I was advised to stay overnight until this morning so I could see the consultant. He has arranged for an mri scan on Monday morning. Suggested it might be decompensation but would like mri scan to confirm. Iām home now and feel glad that I went to get checked out. It has eased my anxiety knowing how thorough the a and e staff have been, Iām very grateful to them. So lets see what Monday brings . Ps, anyone got tips for remaining calm in the mri scanner . Thanks for listening.
Vicki
Glad you got yourself checked over. Fingers crossed it is decompensation. Very pleased to hear they are checking though.
When i have an mri I just shut eyes and think of something nice. I lie as still as I possibly can so they donāt have to repeat any images & you can get out quicker.
Good luck xx
Donāt worry about āusing this properlyā
An MRI is the best tool for MAYBE giving you answers but even so is not always enough.
A ādecompensationā or complicated way of saying ādunno, keep taking the meds andā¦ā maybe the best you get.
I get spacey moments & Ā½ days very regularly no explanations & now I donāt go to A&E but I used to - Itās always best for your risk reduction.
My MRI unit has a pc monitor at the end and they give mirror headset and show YouTubeās shot in the artic etc of wildlife (but generally I shut my eyes & lie still like Ann!!)
Itās a noisy claustrophobic thing!
Caio
Simon
Call me weird (and many do) but I found having an MRI scan quite a relaxing experience.
iāve only had the one so maybe I was just having an unusual day but I, as Ann, just kept my eyes shut however instead of try to think of somewhere/something else I concentrated on the noises and after a very short while I had convinced myself that I was listening to some sort of experimental electronic music (early Krafwerk if you like).
I was amazed when they told me I had been in their a good half an hour (normal plus contrast scans back to back) as it only felt like about 5-10 mins.
I donāt know about relaxing, I just found them boring, just too noisy to put me to sleep
I find the rythimc āpulseā of the multiple sounds can be imagined as turning wheels within wheels.
I get Richās āreminiscent of craft workā
Some of mine have lasted longer than an hour. I normally get a break in that case
Hi everyone. Another update. Went for mri scan this morning and then this afternoon the consultant rang to say it shows Iāve had another small stroke . Iāve to get a ct of my blood done next, should be soon. Im currently on apixaban but he said they might change it to aspirin and something else which I canāt remember. Not great news but im trying to stay positive even though Iām scared.
Thanks for listening
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of whatās gone on & stop it happening again.
Hope the CT isnāt too long a wait.
Stay positive youāve got this.
Best wishes
Ann