Stroke at 45

[DollyMop]

Hello,

8 days ago I suddenly lost my speech for around 20 seconds. I knew what I wanted to say, but everything came out garbled. My husband was there at the time. I recovered quickly but knew from the TV advert that it can be a sign of a stroke. We went to A&E and I had scans of my carotid artery, a CT and lots of bloods taken - they couldn’t see anything, but booked me in for tests during the week. I was sent home with 300mg of aspirin.

I went back for an MRI and more bloods on Wednesday. The MRI showed a very small dot, which is in the right place for a speech disturbance and so I have been diagnosed as having had a ‘young stroke’. I am now on statins and aspirin, moving to a different blood thinner after 10 days.

I am in a state of complete shock. I’m in none of the risk groups and this diagnosis has blown away all my confidence and the fear of another fills me with complete terror. I have three children and I’m so worried about what might happen to me now. My husband is being very supportive and positive, but I’m terrified and keep getting what I presume are panic attacks - it feels like I can’t breathe and I’m suddenly overwhelmed. I’ve been crying so much and try to hide this from the kids, but I know they are wondering what’s going on as I’m completely distracted all the time.

I have more tests on my heart, but I have no idea when these will happen. Thank you for reading this so far. I know I’m very lucky, but I feel like the rug has been pulled from under me and my world has changed. I’m so terrified I’ll have another stroke. I’d really appreciate any positive stories or words of encouragement as I feel like I’m in a dark place right now.

Thank you x

That's so scary for you.

I think all you can do is look on this as a 'warning' and it's good that you are now being treated. It could have been so much worse if the first stroke had been severe. Now, you can be assessed, get treatment, and live a healthier and long life.

I know someone who was very fit (former professional sports player) who had a stroke near 50, so it does happen. But most younger people recover.

Try to look on it as a 'good' sign you had this experience and that it's alerted you to something you are now going to be treated for.

PS I am sure there is a support group- the Stroke Association (?) that might have a help line/ support.

It sounds like a TIA.

I had a stroke recently and the treatment is statins and blood thinners for life.

Stroke Association website is the place to go to for what you need

The blood thinners will likely protect you from ever having another and it seems you having all the tests required to look for other underlying causes.

The cause for mine is believed to be slightly sticky blood. At the time I was coming down with a migraine which also constricts blood vessels, as does ageing.

I spent days on the stroke ward, had thrombolitic treatment and several CAT & MRI scan which confirmed things. The initially thought I had a TIA but 24 hours later my symptoms remained so that and MRI confirm it was stroke.

I am finding the stroke awareness campaign at the moment actually quite upsetting even though I'm doing well and should be going back to work soon.

Sorry they confirmed stroke via MRI, I guess originally they would have assumed TIA due to the recovery.

The bloods in part will be to check for one of the many sticky blood conditions that do exist.

I was told on discharge I could do anything I wanted to do including sex but not to do weight lifting.

Hi OP,
You've had a big shock. It takes time to recover.
Now that you are on those meds you are very unlikely to have another stroke. Did you recover your speech completely afterwards with no other symptoms? If so it sounds like a TIA, which is much 'better' than a stroke- more like an early warning for one- and now you are on the meds you shouldn't have a stroke.
My DH is a bit younger than you and is recovering from a stroke that he had 5 months ago. He had thrombolysis in hospital. Mobility is fine/ not badly affected but cognitive dysfunction and fatigue remain- but he is back at work. In hindsight he had what we know now as at least 2 or 3 TIA episodes. He was a overweight and a little hypertensive so not totally healthy.
Try and do some gentle activities like walking to help you relax. Get plenty of rest, eat a healthy diet (if you don't already) and cut out any other risk factors such as smoking or excess alcohol. Stroke association and British heart foundation have loads of good info, incl advice about work, about diet etc. Are you being followed up by a stroke nurse? and having cholesterol and BP monitored every few months now? See if your GP surgery has a pharmacist attached- ours has been brilliant with advice on medicines and blood tests. Be aware of side effects of statins- muscle/joint pain.

Sorry OP missed confirmation of stroke with MRI
The heart test might be a heart tape which is like a small gadget you wear at waist level/ pocket for a few days and it checks for arrhythmias I think. DH's was fine/ clear.
Try and just take one day at a time and rest when you need to. Listen to your body and (if your thing) do some breathing exercises and other grounding activities. The fear will lessen over time

Thanks everyone for your comforting words. I will definitely explore Stroke Association support and call my GP to see what support might be available, as I need to get on top of my fear, which is overwhelming at the moment.

I have got my speech back, in total is would have only been lost for around 20 seconds, but it did leave a dot on my MRI, so apparently it was a stroke. I feel fatigued and a bit light headed at the moment, definitely not myself, though I know my anxiety will probably be making me feel some of this.

I know I have been lucky, but I feel so frightened and unsure of the future and I can’t see an end to these feelings. Time will help I’m sure.

Thank you and I wish you/your loved ones continued recovery.

OP

I am not making light of your situation

I hope it will reassure you that a colleague in early 40s had the same and he's now back on form as a supercilious git

He had to take meds for a while

A friend in her 30s had the same and is fine, and still lovely.

Both of them collapsed completely. He was alone and had to ring 999 when he came to, they think he was out for about 20 mins. But he's fine

All good wishes to you

Thank you AcornAutumn, it’s encouraging to hear your colleague and friend are back to themselves.

Hi Dolly. This has just happened to my dh. He's early 50s - doesn't hit any of the criteria. Assumed it was a TIA, but mri has confirmed several brain clots. All tests fine. Got to wait for heart check. He lost speech, had facial droop and felt very dizzy and it lasted for about 15 minutes.
How are you now? I'm terrified, but my dh seems calm!

So sorry to hear that this has happened to your DH. It is all very frightening and mostly because there’s the fear it could happen again and the fear of why it happened. I feel in a much better place than when I first wrote this post though. I haven’t had any results from my tests yet, that will happen next week, but I have stopped myself from reading and researching strokes online - each stroke is unique and reading the frightening statistics serves no purpose other than to heighten my anxiety and fear. Hopefully I’ll know more next week and it will be something that can be managed, but some strokes happen for no clear reason and I may well have to come to terms with that too.

As for the fear it could happen again, I am now on blood thinners and statins, so in some ways I’m safer now than when I was unknowingly approaching the first stroke. I have to re-frame what has happened as me being lucky in some ways - I have no lasting effects and it could have been so much worse. I hope I can have a healthy future ahead, but speculating and predicting the causes at this point is pointless - I’m trying to fill my time with distractions. I still over analyse the slightest twinge or headache, but I hope this will pass with time.

I can only imagine how hard it must be for you looking on. My DH has been amazing. I have been very clingy to him, as I don’t like being alone. He’s been so patient and willing to listen to all my worries even when I know I’m being totally irrational. I know it hasn’t been easy on him, it feels like the rug has been pulled from under us both. He’s been great at dragging me out for long walks, which definitely helps clear my head. The kids are also a great distraction. People cope in very different ways and your DH sounds like he might be processing it all internally for now. Sometimes not talking about it helps everything feel normal for a while - I haven’t told many of my friends, as I want to be the same person as I was before and I also feel like I don’t have much to say until I have some answers myself.

I hope the extreme fear passes soon for you and that you get some reassuring answers. Wishing you both the very best xx

Both my parents had stroke in early 40s. They are on meds since but they are totally fine now decades later. They've change the life style(my dad stopped smoking for a start), but generally healthy and very active. .

Thanks roguetomato, that’s really good to hear.

Glad to hear you're doing ok Dolly. I think I need to stop asking my dh how he is! I keep second guessing how he's feeling. The doctor told him it was serious and life altering which freaked me out, but dh thinks the life altering probably means medication for life.

I have already tried to take your approach. Our children were obviously worried so I'd told them it's better that we know and he gets treatment, rather than dh ignore the event(he originally refused to go to hospital) and carry on thinking everything's fine when it's not.

I hope you get positive news this week.

Oh how bloody scary. (((HUG)))

However, as others have said, at least now you'll be getting the appropriate care.

Let us know how you get on 💐

How scary. It will take time to get over the shock,

This charity supports younger people who have had strokes:

differentstrokes.co.uk/

I'm 4 months on now. I have days when I am so unbelievably tired!!!!

I have the occasional moment when I think I had a stroke but mostly it's just looking forwards, back to work planning. I'm still on maximum strength statins but hoping they may reduce the dosage soon.

I am fed up of being covered in bruises though!

Being on the medication it actually means you are less likely to have another one tbh.