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Stroke Symptoms but no diagnosis for 5 years

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bob41
bob41

My Father has been having episodes of Stroke like symptons.

He starts feeling cold and usually has enough warning to sit down as he knows what is going to follow.

His face will drop, his speech will slur with random words, his eyes flicker, his arms drop to his sides, & he makes a sound of clearing his throat.

There have been occasions when this has happened at night and he has bitten his tounge.

This has been happening every three months for the last five years but recently the episodes have been getting more frequent.

At each hospital visit he has been cleared as fit. No issues with his blood, blood vessels, Heart, Colestral or any finding from scans. He has had a heart monitor fitted which has shown no heart issues.

He has never smoked, rarely drank alcolhol, stopped drinking coffee, drinks plenty of water, and is active in the garden and walks to the shops. He has just turned 80 and is still very fit and mentally active.

He has even had his Gas boiler changed just in case.

This is not simply old age and I am desperate to understand what is happening as the specfialists have admitted that they have no idea. The specialists have stated that if these were mini strokes then he would have had a major one by now.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • therese20488
    therese20488

    Posted

    Hi, it is quite a while since your post, but has your Dad been investigated for seizures / epilepsy? I am a nurse and this came to mind when reading your post.
  • bob41
    bob41

    Posted

    Thank you for your thoughts.

    One of the key difficulties in diagnosing Epilepsy for occasional episodes is being wired up to the EEG at exactly the right moment. With only one machine available for a large population area, it took a lot of strong persuasion to get my dad monitored again for an EEG at the right moment.

    The diagnosis was completed and although Epilepsy was dismissed twice earlier, it was finally confirmed.

    Six months later he was still collapsing and was also diagnosed with heart rate issues and fitted with a pacemaker. This is because he also had a loop tester fitted. The consultant wanted to keep it in place in case there was a secondary condition.

    The original symptoms were therefore confused between epileptic fits and Heart based seizures which lead to different consultant opinions on what the problem was.

    It was unfortunate that I had to bang heads together after five years of symptoms to get this resolved. He is now well and living a good quality of life on medication.

    Regards

  • therese20488
    therese20488

    Posted

    Oh so glad it finally got sorted out, I hope things are manageable. It can be difficult even for health care staff to really hear what the patient or family are trying to tell you.
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