Hi everyone.
So much to tell about this 7 months. Ups and downs, I think more downs than ups.
I believe I made some evolution but I still get so many symptoms.
My stroke was caused 7 month ago by a trauma in my neck which caused a dissection in my left vertebral artery, which caused a small trombo that caused a small stroke in my left cerebellum.
I was sent home after 5 days in the hospital with clop for 20 days, aspirin and statins.
Statins gave me hell so I lowered them and then stoped all together about the fourth month.
My last MRI, 4 moths after stroke, showed the very small scar in my cerebellum and no other stroke. About a month a half ago I had a second Angiotac (six months control) which showed that the artery is now permeable and the dissection resolved which is great news because all arteries look ok with no plaque, no focal stenosis and everything just great to sum it up.
Meanwhile in this 7 months I have lost a lot of weight, about 22 pounds of muscular mass. I was a good exerciser and went to the gym 4 to 5 times a week and lifted weights, but since the day of my stroke the only exercise became walking my dogs around the block and reduced my walking by 90 to 95%. I went from 150 pounds to 125 (I am 168 cms tall about 5’5"). I got no mobility issues from my stroke, just vertigo the day it happened and tremble in my limbs that ended after a few hours, stability got affected by vertigo some headaches, numbness in my left hand which got me to the ER a couple of times.
A couple of months ago a physiatrist sent me to be checked at an integral rehab foundation. They tested my motor skills such as swallowing and my physical state at that time, cognitive function, small motor skills. I went through 6 different health professionals, but after all they didn’t find any reason to accept me because, more than some mild disequilibrium in my walking and satability affected when standing in one foot and closing my eyes, nothing more seemed to be needed for treatment, so they said that I was not that bad.
My arms and legs have started to ache in the recent months, more muscular and find my self in almost daily episodes with weakness, dizziness, some nausea from it and feeling very low, this started a couple of weeks ago to be on daily basis. About this my Internist says that it can be related to post stroke deconditioning syndrome, and I believe fatigue also has something to do with it and because I lost so much weight in muscle mass. So after checking me hormonally, metabolically, doing a 24 hour holter and a echocardiogram and checked everything fine, he gave me a 3 month window to try to lower my cholesterol with diet and to build up my muscle mass again to help with the syndrome. I found this aproach from the doctor very good but the daily episodes are still there (this happened last week).
Then yesterday I went back to the physiatrist who sent me to integral rehab to a check back, and she told me that all this is just sequels, that the recovery window of six months is over and that I just have to live with it.
It was hard to swallow but, after reading so much about recovery, post stroke fatigue and what my Internist says, I just don’t think this to be true. I know that my equilibrium will maybe never be the same but I don’t think I just reached the full length of recovery just yet, specially since I’m probably suffering fatigue from stroke which is giving me trouble almost daily. How can a health professional say this?
If there is someone here who have also suffered a cerebellum stroke, do you have other opinions or lessons to be learned that you guys can give me?
My “sickness” symptoms right now are: dizziness, muscle aches, feeling low on energy, some gastrointestinal discomfort, weakness, and a foggy head, which appear in to the day. If I have to grade it I wake up normally with a 1 or 2 out of 10 and they begin to build up through the day to a 4 to 6 out of 10, and when going to bed back to 1 or 2.
Have someone had some similar experiences?
I feel like I really don’t have that much to believe to this physiatrist who also almost did not remember me yesterday when I went for the second meet with her.
My internist said that Im fine, my lungs are fine, my heart is great, metabolically and hormonally Im ok, my chollesterol is a bit high but he tested me for Lipo a and came out very low so he is not that afraid since my arteries are plaque free and the stroke came out of trauma, have not diabetes and no high blood pressure, and he believes is just a matter of waiting and rehabilitating my muscles.
I feel a bit lost, is all so confusing with so many opposite opinions. I think I can live with the dizziness and feeling constantly like Im on a boat. Sometimes I feel this with no other consequences and let it go, but the sickness, weakness and discomfort that I get sometimes is what really gets me down.
I think that I have progressed but still have a lot to get trough, and I don’t think this is the end of it.
Your thoughts and experiences are more than welcomed.
Best to you all warriors out there.
Ruben