Hi All,

Any brain docs in tonight?

Yesterday morning my dad woke up and felt grotty. He tried to check his emails but couldn’t remember how to put a password in (he knew he had to but not the process of how). Mum says that he struggles to wash, walk without bumping into things and perform simple tasks like using cutlery or knowing how to turn the telly on or off. This essentially happened overnight.

I spoke to him tonight and it is impossible to tell over the phone, he is mentally alert, able to explain what is happening, etc. Sight, speech, hearing, etc. are all fine so unlikely to be a stroke and his fine motor control is OK unless he is trying to do something that requires “memory”. Picking up a pen is no problem but using it is.

He describes it as a big blank when he thinks of what he needs to do. He knows that he has to use a pen to write but struggles to write anything legible even though he knows what words he wants to use. He can read but struggles to get the words in the right order in his head (almost like bad dyslexia?)

For context he is 72, fairly fit, retired 3 months ago, recently moved house and it was my brothers wedding last weekend so a fairly stressful time (even if not negative stress).

He went to the GP yesterday with Mum and blood pressure was very high so they have given a low dose of medication to lower that and see what happens but the GP admitted to being flummoxed. He had a heart attack 20 years ago but has cleaned up his act since and has been medication free for a couple of years.

Any suggestions (or even reassurance….)? I’m in Dundee with a poorly 1 year old, they are down in the Welsh borders and I’m feeling a bit useless.

Cheers,

S

Sounds pretty much like a stroke to me. Back to the GP as the urgent time frame has gone.

If you’re concerned, I’d say it’s worth a call to NHS24, sounds like you kinda need somewhere between GP and full on hospital.

Best of luck mate.

It sounds like the way my FiL went. Definitely get on to it straight away.

He’s not taking anti depressants or changed any kind of medication recently.

My father was prescribed anti depressants for what was the beginning of dementia. They ruined him, he actually never came home from hospital.

I’d take him to the hospital sounds like he needs to see a specialist.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

There’s many other things that could cause this though not just a stroke, taking him immediately to hospital won’t gain much at all unless it was the same day night of the symptoms.

Thanks all. No other meds being taken. GP ruled out stroke (apparently) and probably too late to do much if it was. Hopefully they will get referred tomorrow.

It is the suddenness of onset and focus of symptoms that is confusing.

I agree it sounds very much like a stroke. Remember of course that advice on the Internet is worth what you pay for it

Back to the gps and urgent referral to a neurologist

For me, it sounds like he’s having some serious problems that need to be looked into immediately. At the very least phone the GP tomorrow and explain what you’ve explained here. FFS he’s struggling to use a knife and fork and the GP is flummoxed so he sends him home.

He deffinatly needs a full medical appraisal.

Does he drink? My dad had similar, chronic alcaholic, not in the sense of being pissed all the time, but brandy for breakfast and never really sober. He’s recovering now he’s teetotal but his pancreas basically packed in.

How did the GP rule out a stoke? It may not the ‘classic’ presentation, but a small stroke can cause a variety of issues, including dyspraxia etc depending on the location of the clot or bleed. The sudden onset supports this, so at the very least you want to exclude it before moving on.

Definitely GP again, a different one perhaps for a second opinion. There may still be some benefit from medication, even 48 hours later.

Another vote for insisting on further medical examination. Seen a few friend’s parents go a similar way and there’s always been an underlying cause. Get a second opinion at the very least and fully explain why you are worried, your dad could easily have sat there and said something along the lines of “It’s nothing to worry about but I’m..’ to the doc. My dad did exactly this but thankfully his doc is a long time family friend so had a word (carefully not breaking patient confidentiality) with me and my sister and we eventually found out he’d had a mini-stroke one night but thought it was just a bit of severe heartburn! It could be nothing but it’s not worth the risk.

Yesterday morning my dad woke up and felt grotty.

‘Grotty’ in what sense? Although the most urgent thing to check for would be a stroke did the GP do any more generalised tests? Something like a UTI or other infections can cause a sudden onsets of confusion or behaviour change, particularly in the over 60s.

I took my mother (73) to AE thinking she may have had a stroke or TIA. She had similar confusion based symptoms and began walking with a “shuffling gait.” AE decided it was more likely to be onset of dementia, I was not convinced. We went back the next day, she ended up having a scan and it turned out to be a brain tumour. I don’t want to jump to the worst conclusion, just don’t rule anything out.

He needs a CT scan ASAP. Feeling grotty, specific memory issues affecting short term memory, spatial awareness problems all sound like potential blood clot in the brain.

Yesterday morning my dad woke up and felt grotty.

Oh yesterday I some how read it as weeks ago. In that case pop him along to hospital.

Thanks all, I’ve stressed the urgency of getting to a proper hospital to mum.

My first thought was a stroke
.
Also, my great-uncle went a bit doolally last year, pretty much the symptoms of mild dementia, which turned out to be a urinary-tract infection. I had no idea that could cause mental problems but once that was treated he was also back to normal (late 80s mind so unlikey to be the picture of health but not bad for his age) Anyway, surprised me how something which I really don’t associate with the brain could affect it so much. Any symptoms of such with the OP’s dad, ifficulty peeing or anything like that?
.
IANAD

Do hope your dad is ok and has been to A&E.

Showed this to my wife who was horrified. Her dad went to his GP as he was unable to speak but otherwise presented normally. He was packed off home where he suffered a number of (further) devestating strokes. This was over 20 years ago so I’d like to think that knowledge has moved forward somewhat.

Different GP this morning, packed him into an Ambulance with suspected bleed on the brain. Has seen the stroke nurse (apparently a real job and not just a dirty fantasy) who is “concerned but not immediately worried”. Currently waiting for a CT scan.

Mum reckoned he had improved this morning as he was able to use a spoon properly.

Thanks for the support everyone, and for pushing me to do something urgently, once again this place does itself proud.

Sxxx

He’s in the best place. They took my MIL in far too late following her stroke – she’d had a fall and had the usual signs, but FIL and SIL didn’t take her to A&E soon enough.

Glad to hear he’s getting sorted and hope all is well.

It’s not always a neurological issue that presents as described by the OP.

Low blood sugar or low blood oxygen saturation can cause people to behave oddly and lose dexterity.

sounds like it’s the first gp that’s needing a check-up from the neck up

These issues are complex, but I’d be interested to know why the first GP acted as he did……

Indeed. I’d be having words. Of course the OPs dad could have downplayed symptoms and there are other things it could be and its not classic stroke symptoms but when speed is of the essence in treating stroke – although less so with a bleed rather than a clot it ( on the surface) appears a poor diagnosis.

Still – medicine is not an exact science

Take. Him. To. The. Doctor.

Low blood sugar or low blood oxygen saturation can cause people to behave oddly and lose dexterity.

although this would also present with more generalised confusion.

Hope he’s been scanned. Could be a something vascular, may resolve completely, but whatever….the underlying mechanism needs to be understood and then treated accordingly. Glad to hear the Stroke Nurse is involved. She will be a font of knowledge I expect.

Some types of infection also cause confusion in people,my dad had a serious infection caused the above problems ended up being diagnosed as having an infection .

Different GP this morning, packed him into an Ambulance

That’s what irritates me about the GP system. It’s all down to who you see and where you live, and unless that GP specialises in that area it really is just a “general” diagnosis and often little more than a guess. An educated guess but not as good as one from a specialist.

There are certain things that should be automatic red flag A&E jobs for any GP and this sounds like one of them, even if it turns out to be nothing. The NHS adverts suggest this course of action to the public, as does the online and phone service which has an ambulance out for slightest hint of anything serious, but GPs I find take a cautious approach and “it’s probably nothing” comes out and they pack you off after the first “present” hoping it will fix itself and they can get on with the next patient.

Anyway, hopefully it’s nothing too bad, though as said it sounds like a stroke. Possibly a TIA, i.e. a mini-stroke. One that doesn’t necessarily cause permanent damage but can cause short term issues with vagueness, memory loss, vision and speech sometimes (but not always). They need looking at though as it can lead to a more serious one.

Sorry, just following this up now. I am glad that your dad got a second look, OP, and that he is now being evaluated properly. Best wishes to him and to you, especially in the run-up to Christmas.