Seems I suffered one of these late last week which wasn’t on life event wish list as a reasonably healthy 50yr old! Anybody else had one and how did it all go afterwards?

I’m very mindful that some posters have suffered much greater challenges and bullheart for one comes to mind including his desire to continue creating challenges from choice ala the fridge carry. Inspirational indeed.

I’ve have had an eventful few days including having to familiarise myself with the condition, accept I’m not immortal and the end could be nearer then I’d imagined, read the Web referencing the fugax as a serious precursor to a full on stroke and spend a few hours in the stroke department at the hospital seeing the specialist (this was especially unwelcome given it was full of customers who were mainly pensioners or older so…. HELLO old age).

The good news for me is I didn’t score at all on the 0-7 ABCD2 risk assessment as I’m a non-smoker who drinks alcohol rarely (being a Wendy drinker is now definitely a good thing), decent blood pressure, ok cholesterol and no impairment when it happened beyond short temporary loss of vision in one eye <5 mins from start to finish. The bad, or good from a preventative perspective. news is I’m now on 3 meds including statins to reduce the risk of a further episode with planned xrays etc over the next two weeks. Ho hum.
Was just wondering about others’ experiences as the Web didn’doesn’t hold much. Today’s memorable moment was telling a mate I bumped into at the supermarket and a lady behind overhearing, she then politely and if I was a smoker as she was and had suffered the same followed by a heart attack within the week! You have to laugh….

Had one at 36! No reasoning for it. Thought the symptoms were heart related as had an unexplained issue a few years earlier.
I carry one but take meds and generally try not to get stressed at work, not succeeding this year though.

Stroke Clinique (sp?) is not nice but my consultant is about 4’9″ (I’m 6’6″) and pats you on the hand as if your a good doggy.

If not already you’ll probably have an mri scan and get to see your brain, plus if you get sarcastic git I had on the first one I had..
“so the results from the brain scan have come back good news is we found one….”

Put it this way nothing is a depressingly sad as young intensive care wards. If they can get on with it I can.

Mum had them regularly for the last 10 years of her life. They were a side effect of her radio-therapy along with the epilepsy. The cancer killed her, the TIA events did not appear to cause much more than inconvenience.

bigdean – Member
Put it this way nothing is a depressingly sad as young intensive care wards. If they can get on with it I can.

Yeah I can recognise the perspective here as have kids but it’s still been a sobering something on the cv to think about.

Sandwich – I think knowing the cause is the next step. My Mum suffered with the big C too.

Was it definitely TIA in origin? That would be my first question. You are right about the risk factors (not smoking or drinking) but what were cholesterol numbers? If they’ve put you on statins then I’m assuming it’s an area of concern, which can be taken as a positive because it’s an area you can begin working on improving through your diet. What is your exercise regime? Small amounts daily (half an hour) has now been shown to be much more affective in terms of systemic health than saving it up for the weekend.

shermer75 – Member
Was it definitely TIA in origin?… What is your exercise regime? Small amounts daily (half an hour) has now been shown to be much more affective in terms of systemic health than saving it up for the weekend.

TIA is the thinking at the moment but supposed to be getting a neck xray this week and then probably heart xrays/cardiagrams the week after. Had an ecg but no idea as to results yet. Seems most AF is carotid artery related hence that first then a couple of heart scans/echicardiagram or similar. No significant family history and think meds were to act now to reduce risks as said to be looking for cholesterol below 3.5 and my last test was over 4 a couple of years back. They didn’t take blood so presume they will this week to get a baseline.
Exercise regime has been patchy with less daily walking due to job location change so I will be addressing that to include 30 mins brisk walking every day especially whilst advice is to avoid strenuous exercise. This occurred a few hours after my return to the squash court after many years absence – it was a very easy session which was less strenuous than my infrequent 4-5 mile jogs but I won’t be back on court in a hurry!

No family history is good. 3.5 is fair (I’m assuming that’s for LDL?) and certainly heading in the right direction if it was 4 two years ago. Below 3 is considered to be ideal, as you probably already know. Also good to hear that they are following up with more scans- AF is the term given to a temporary loss of eyesight due a restriction of the blood supply, that restriction can be caused by several different things, which is what they will now be trying to determine. The steps that would be best to take next would be determined by what they find. If it is TIA then consider yourself very lucky to have been given a warning! Most people don’t. You seem like the sort of chap who is keen to take ownership of his health situation, and therefore the sort of chap who can expect to do well. Walking to work is an excellent plan, it’s a journey you have to do anyway so why not cut right down on your chances of a whole host of nasty diseases while you’re doing it? Remember it’s a numbers game, and the people who do best do it by making sure the odds are in their favour! 🙂

Shermer75 – yes thanks and that’s the plan, to improve the odds in the areas I can influence. Bit of a surreal scenario if that makes sense.

Shermer75 – yes thanks and that’s the plan, to improve the odds in the areas I can influence. Bit of a surreal scenario if that makes sense.

Absolutely. It’s a lot to take in! However try to hold on to the positives. Your age, family history, not smoking and moderate drinking are all good indicators of having a low risk of stroke. The other main indicators are obesity, diet and sedentary lifestyle. Also, IF the AF was TIA related then you have been lucky enough to get a warning shot across the bow, while you are plenty young enough to do something about it. Most people don’t get that kind of a chance!

2 episodes of a minute or so about 5 years ago (46 then) – went to eye emergency unit blood taken and examination – said I have tiny blood vessels to retina – come back in 2 days for another check..
Got a letter referring me to stroke clinic about 2 weeks later which freaked them out as obviously they see it as urgent.
I was then sent for a neck ultrasound to check for platelets in the pipes , completely clear , then interview with neurologist – did not seem unduly worried.
Notes
– I used to smoke then – not any more – eye folks were most insistent about that – stroke unit basically said nothing…about anything apart from neck ultrasound.
– It was early January during a very cold spell and a lot of inactivity .
– very stressy job then and now – have just learnt to be a bit more selfish about how i feel about it – ie. not worrying about work

Nothing since that episode

To the op – until things settle down – make absolutely sure that you do not get cold -ie low temperature – as per other post – do not over do it but keep doing something.
Perhaps get local eye unit to have a look at pipes to retina.

Shermer75 – so very right and I do appreciate that. Thanks for posting.

Finishthat – excellent to hear and well done you. I was sent home then to attend the eye clinic in the morning which the stroke unit thought ‘less than ideal’. Eye check up revealed nothing so far so expecting it’s not an issue there as such. I’m hoping it’s a one off blip type thing but will know more when the outcome of any checks are known. I don’t like the cold so will definitely avoid that happening.
DVLA rules of not being able to drive for a month whilst understandable are somewhat frustrating….

Apologies, deepreddave I didn’t check back in after work yesterday. Mums cancer was on or very near her brainstem, so 15 years from diagnosis to death was a good showing. An optician will see it as your eyes don’t swing smoothly across if they follow a pencil going left to right or right to left. The eyeballs appear to index across in jumps. Also her radio-therapy was in the 80’s and she had a massive dose which fried important parts of her brain, they are much more targeted now.

Sandwich – no worries as only just checked in myself, coincidence or what. The ophthalmic bods don’t think t’s retinal for me so something else which hopefully the upcoming tests will identify. Or maybe not.
Good effort few your Mum, mine but 6mths from diagnosis and it wasn’t a pleasant end but mercifully not too drawn out. Have lost colleagues and friends around 50 yrs of age and less so it’s a lottery of sorts. My Mum was a lifelong smoker so lung cancer wasn’t so surprising at 70.
Cheers for your input.