My dad 'lost 2 hours' of time.

[Stygimoloch]

Hi all,

My lovely dad is 68. On Saturday, he went to close up his caravan for the winter. My mom stayed home. He remembers gradually being aware that he had lost 2 hours of time. He could see that he had done much of the closing up: stripping the beds, emptying cupboards etc but has absolutely no memory of it at all. During the time, he had phone conversations with two people. Both of these people say he was perfectly lucid and normal sounding. He found that he had put bags into the car but had no recollection of doing this. He hadn't been drinking at all and isn't on any medication. He slept at the van and on Sunday complained of feeling a little 'muzzy' headed but not confused. There was no dizziness, sickness etc.

He swears nothing like this has happened before. I can tell it has shaken him up and he is worried but says he will only go to the doctors if it happens again.

If I am honest, there are a few things I have noticed lately that, on their own, don't seem to amount to much, but taken together, are a little worrying. He has always been a really easy-going, sensible man, but has become more snappy lately. There have also been a couple of comments he has made on photos on facebook that are totally out of character. This is all over the course of about 6 months. Before the incident on Saturday, I had put this all down to normal ageing.

Does any of this sound familiar? I am too scared to google. He is such a strong and capable man and otherwise is in very good health.

[Aquamarine1029]

You need to do everything possible to get him to the doctor as soon as possible. What if this is a warning sign of impending stroke? Acting now could prevent disaster and severe disability. Whatever caused it, he needs to be seen immediately. What if this happened while he is driving? This is far too serious of a situation to ignore.

[FredaFrogspawn]

There’s something called transient global amnesia which is a temporary loss of memory but not of who you are, how to drive etc. It’s only diagnoses in the absence of other things which may have caused the memory loss eg epilepsy, stroke etc. There’s no treatment for it and they aren’t sure what causes it. Best for him to get a check up.

[AllTheWhoresOfMalta]

A similar thing happened to my Grandad at a similar age and he had had a mini stroke. He was fine and monitored, never had another one- mini or otherwise. He died around 15 years later of an unrelated illness. It did shake him up at the time though. Encourage your Dad to see his GP.

[Stygimoloch]

Thanks. I have had a little google (couldn't help myself) and came across mini stoke and transient global amnesia. Both sound likely. I agree he needs to get checked out and will and encourage him although he is fairly insistent that he doesn't need to go.

[KondoKonvert]

A similar thing happened to my dad and he'd had a mini stroke.

[Stygimoloch]

kondo I think that sounds likely to be honest. Apparently, a mini stroke isn’t always a precursor to anything bigger. I do need to talk him into getting checked out.

[Expressedways]

Sounds like my grandma when she had a mini stroke.

[theemmadilemma]

Yes, it sounds like a TIA. My mother had one a couple of years ago, fine since.

[KondoKonvert]

@Stygimoloch sorry, I should have added that he recovered well and hasn't had a repeat in over 10 years. It's well worth getting it checked out though.

[Stygimoloch]

Thanks everyone. This has calmed me down a little.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

Yes this sounds like a mini stroke or perhaps even a series of them. My aunt had lots of episodes like this before the major one that left her paralysed. Take him to the GP asap.

[Happityhap]

Tell him you are worried silly, even if he isn't, and you need him to see the GP to reassure you.

[Jayaywhynot]

Similar happened to my mum, it was a TIA, (mini stroke?) he may nee referring to hospital, my mum had scans and medication, hasn't happened since

[Gingaaarghpussy]

My uncle did that. He had absences and not even the doctor believed my aunt until he had one in front of him.
It turned out he had epilepsy.

[Oldmum55]

It does sound like a TIA just needs a check up with the GP, if his blood pressure is high he'll be put on medication and possibly statins. Often this will be all he needs, plus regular check ups. Get him to see his doctor.