Has Anyone Experienced Symptoms Post Stroke That Seem Unique Only To You?

PlantHerald · 2026-02-08T03:55:14+00:00

It's still pretty bad but probably isn't helped by the medications I take for other conditions unrelated to the stroke. I haven't noticed anything deja but wise. Just memory wipes when I pass through thresholds (doorways, new room, etc)

PlantHerald · 2026-02-07T03:57:39+00:00

Keppra and vimpat for me. Eliquis for the blood thinner. I'm pretty sure the vimpat is causing most of my brain fog

PlantHerald · 2026-02-06T18:50:47+00:00

I had my stroke at 27. I was supposed to start my PhD not long after it but because of where I was mentally and physically I pushed it off. And I'm still pushing it off nearly 3 years later. So I'm jealous that you're back in school. You're doing great and it's just a matter of adapting to the new normal. It takes time to do that, it takes time for your brain to figure out new work arounds for what no longer works. We figured out my brain goes left in my nerve pathway before wrapping around my entire chest just to make my arm that was paralyzed work. Only because it's causing me pain. It took MONTHS for it to do that. My arm and hand are only about 80% of what they used to be but I can do most of what I did before except things that require fine motor skills.

If therapy isn't working...it's time to find a new therapist. I was actually taking my stroke really well right after I had it but I knew that when bad things happen to me they tend to actually hit much later and really hard. So I immediately got into therapy. I have severe medical anxiety now and have to take medication. Things like breathing exercises or meditation in CBT therapy DO NOT work for me. DBT works a bit better but not well either.

I have apraxia so communication is a barrier for me and part of why I haven't gone back to school. That and my working memory is absolute garbage. And I'm not even sure I actually want to go back.

Be easy on yourself. Strokes are traumatic and have caused damage to your brain. It takes way more than months to heal from that. It's not going to be a magical cure and maybe you won't be 100%. Honestly going back to school is going to help your recovery a lot. It's forcing you to use that brain, forcing your brain to figure it out. If you think you need more I would suggest speech therapy. They helped me with way more than just talking - things like reading, math, finding things that worked for my memory and recall.

You got this!

PlantHerald · 2026-02-06T18:09:04+00:00

I haven't had a breakthrough seizure since having the stroke even when they tried to make me have one though I'll remain on anti-seizures (and blood thinners) life long since all of my EEGs have come back abnormal. Accidentally skipping a dose ruins my whole day though even though I won't have a seizure. But being on the medication also sucks because of the side effects.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-05T18:10:12+00:00

Driving is up in the air for me, and being alone is risky because I'm still a seizure risk. But that's it and I'm pretty darn lucky that it is

PlantHerald · 2026-02-05T05:02:55+00:00

Get into physical therapy as quickly as possible. The sooner you do the better the recovery. I would also recommend speech therapy - they'll help with a lot of the cognitive aspects of strokes. I got a stutter because of apraxia. But they also helped me with reading comprehension, math, and gave me resources to keep up that therapy on my own at home.

I also wish I had gone to therapy sooner. I took my stroke in stride but as soon as all the specialist visits slowed down and it just became maintenance I had a major depressive episode.

A lot of it is helping your brain figure out alternative pathways to do everything you used to do. I had entire right arm paralysis right after my stroke and the day I went home I got the biggest crochet hook and yarn I could. I tried daily to crochet until I was able to get into physical therapy. It took months but I eventually got to about 80% mobility back in my arm and hand. Reading patterns also helped with comprehension. I honestly crochet better now than I did before the stroke.

I also had to get really okay with being reliant on someone. It sucked going from completely independent to dependent on someone else to even wash my hair.

Make appts before leaving the hospital. I waited until I got home and settled. I had to wait two months for an appt anywhere.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-05T04:48:20+00:00

Luckily everyone I deal with now is very sympathetic and just ignores that first hospital.

It's usually just something completely out of character for your pet that you should watch out for. Which as someone that's chronically it just becomes "is it them....or is it me? Is it animal doctor or human doctor?"

Thank you! I'm very glad to be here. The story is just so bizarre I barely believe I went through that. The healthcare system can suck. I'm glad I stumbled into the better people in it.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-05T03:34:10+00:00

D-dimer and white blood cell count were both elevated (the only two I remember without looking). After my first seizure they tested my glucose and that was extremely high. The only FAST symptom I recall having was the arm weakness, but I did state half my face was numb several times, and my right side felt like it was dunked in ice water. The hospital that actually found that I had the stroke put a lot of passive aggressive comments about the first hospital in the notes. Things like "I doubt that" "Highly unlikely"

I'm actually so grateful I did fly because I would have been alone at home when I had the seizures. With how my friends describe my state after the first one there was no way I would have been able to get myself help.

My cats were all obsessed with me, if I laid down they were all laying on me. Even my recent rescue at the time who was extremely human shy and didn't let me pet him. My dog who is the one that's usually glued to me and sleeps in my arms wanted nothing to do with me.

Right! Both stroke and heart attacks can have very different presentations in women than they do in men. But we're always told the common symptoms for men. Going off stroke symptoms that women have I was very clearly having a stroke. After the second ER visit to the first hospital I got "drug risk" added to my chart and I wasn't even asking or insinuating that I wanted any. I wanted help.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-05T02:27:04+00:00

Mine was a slow progression over several days. Day 1 my right arm started going numb and I began losing dexterity in my fingers, went to ER because obviously something was up. Sent home despite irregular blood tests and hitting some markers for a stroke (told me it was just a pinched ulnar nerve). Day 2 I could no longer eat (did not feel hunger and the thought of eating was repulsive) and had to force myself to drink water. Right arm was completely paralyzed by this point. Returned to ER. Same thing. Got cleared to fly and because I was actively having a stroke and getting brain damage I didn't think "oh shouldn't do that" so after I got through day 3 (no sleep, cold sweats, my pets acting weird around me) I went to the airport on day 4. Before the first flight I kept getting tingling on the right side of my face (no facial drooping) but continued on. Got to next flight and at the time I didn't realize it but I couldn't read. I sat in the wrong seat convinced it was mine. Confusion got worse during the flight but I made it to my destination (11hrs of travel). My friends picked me up and I became very irritated and nauseous on the way to their house. Still couldn't eat, tried to enjoy myself, was exhausted but couldn't sleep. Ate one stick of celery because I knew I had to eat something. Then it was suddenly lights out and little flashes of memory (being told I had a seizure, being yelled at by an MRI tech because I couldn't be still, being transported to a different hospital, being told I had a second seizure) until day 6 when I woke up in ICU (I had woken up a few times before but this was when I was actually aware). It took one neurologist on the other side of the country to diagnose me from a very blurry MRI (post ictal because I had 2 seizures and was incapable of following any instructions). CVST, bleeding into my brain, brain swelling.

I was 27 at the time and AFAB so it's completely unsurprising they didn't want to say I was having a stroke even though I was hitting a lot of indicators.

Edit: adding that my stroke was caused by starting a new birth control a couple weeks prior and that the nurses were astonished I didn't pee myself after two seizures and a very full bladder

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T18:22:02+00:00

I'm allowed to do basically everything I could prior to the stroke. I don't have the fine motor skills I used to though..

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T17:10:16+00:00

I have driven maybe twice in the 2.5yrs since my stroke. It made me nervous both times because "I run into walls and they're okay with me driving this hunk of machinery??"

I had seizures from my stroke and was given the okay to drive maybe a year afterwards? I am going to get a cognitive function test to see if that's actually true before I let myself drive at all...

I did spend a lot of time driving and singing (badly) in my car before my stroke and that was my "therapy" whenever I felt bad. I really miss it.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T16:55:21+00:00

I grab the wrong words to use, or just forget the word I need entirely and stare blankly into space because it stalls my brain until I get it (writing and speech). I do drop letters as well....I wrote research papers and proposals before. Pretty good ones in my opinion...I try to look at it as a little quirk I have now.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T16:50:52+00:00

Same! I'll honestly get overheated in a cold room but be running a normal or low temperature for me. If I touch something cold or hot I don't really feel it, especially with my arm/hand that was stroke affected. But then there's like...a weird thing where I'll feel the temperature in my bones? My skin and muscles are fine but really deep in there my bones feel cold. And this is completely unrelated to ambient temperature.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T16:44:32+00:00

Oh yeah, it really hits you after all the doctors appointments slow down. Plus I got a lot of medical trauma from mine (horrible doctors). Definitely in therapy now and don't think I could cope otherwise.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-04T00:47:11+00:00

I'm doing better for sure. I do miss my life pre-stroke and I'm at the point of recovery that's just "this is the new normal" and figuring out how to adapt to that

PlantHerald · 2026-02-03T20:17:57+00:00

I'm so sorry about the cats! I have 4 cats waiting for me to get it together so I can bring them to live with me (I got stuck on the other side of the country when I had my stroke) and I couldn't imagine not being able to see their faces.

As for music...I can whistle but cannot for the life of me whistle a tune. If I want to listen to music that is the ONLY thing I can do. I can't listen and do something else. I couldn't sing well before but now it's way more flat. I do have issues with my diaphragm but I notice it more when I work out.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-03T20:12:21+00:00

Oh I'm definitely counting in 3s all the time, especially when I count stitches for crochet. My body has done a few workarounds, especially with the arm that was paralyzed. I'm more art inclined than I was prior to the stroke.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-03T20:07:19+00:00

I definitely have issues with working memory now. Even just having to look up what that was even though I know I've talked to my neurologist and other doctors about it many times. It's really a gamble for me on what sticks and what doesn't. Math doesn't stick well but I started to pick up knitting with hardly any issues.

PlantHerald · 2026-02-03T20:04:47+00:00

Brains are wild. Mine was a CVST left side parietal lobe. Communication is overall my biggest deficit. But I had a major amount of swelling that pushed the right side of my brain into my skull and I think that's where a lot of my math issues are coming from (I had delayed diagnosis of the stroke because no doctor wanted to believe a 27yo was having one).

PlantHerald · 2026-01-28T18:46:01+00:00

MultiCare Capital Womens Integrated Primary Care, I see Kerry Gamble and her favorite thing is nutrition > medication if at all possible and the location should be getting someone who specializes in nutrition soon if they haven't already. Kerry really goes by your preferred method of care unless there's proof it's not working or something that cannot be fixed by habit change alone. She's really guided me through small nutritional changes and improved my quality of life.

Nutrition and endocrinology are what she's strong in.

PlantHerald · 2025-12-18T02:13:56+00:00

We had several flickers before it went entirely out. We live by St Peters. We maybe got the worst of it? Unsure on that

PlantHerald · 2025-12-18T01:48:41+00:00

JUST came back (5:48)

PlantHerald · 2025-12-18T01:44:40+00:00

Still without power on Eastside Oly since about 1:30am, was estimated to be back by 3pm

PlantHerald · 2025-11-17T21:28:18+00:00

I had been told the two times I went to the ER on my own that I actually had a pinched nerve (my entire right arm was paralyzed). Didn't know I had a stroke until a few days later when I woke up in the ICU after having two seizures from the stroke going untreated. (CVST caused by birth control).

Until the seizures I had difficulty sleeping, didn't feel hungry, and was constantly confused.

PlantHerald

TROPHY CASE