That was a mini stroke, or TIA. I'm very familiar with this, as I had one in March. Same symptoms. NOT SOMETHING TO BLOW OFF- IT CAN LEAD TO VERY BAD THINGS!! Like death. I spent two days in the hospital, but fortunately have good insurances. Now just being careful. My blood pressure is good, no real obvious reasons for it, but scary. Please, get checked out, expenses be damned.
From my own experience it sounds like you have symptoms of what I used to call a "mini-stroke". The actual label is transient ischemic attack or TIA. An MRI revealed that I have apparently been having them for years. I have (IIRC) "numerous lesions in the rear portion of my brain". My eyes crossed in my mid-twenties; I began having debilitating migraines in 2000; I began having frequent TIAs from then until just recently. I don't think I've had one that really got my attention in a couple of years.
Having said that I highly recommend you go ahead and get tested asap. Find out what's really going on with You. You need to know and you need professional advise on how to deal with it and find out if there is any treatment for it.
Go to the hospital, if not for you, do it for your family.
Get it checked out.
Worst case is something is going on and they can hopefully find it and treat it.
Best case, one-off no big deal type of thing.
Go to the doctor now. Strokes are nothing to screw around with. My Dad had one at 42 that laid him out for almost a year, half his body was useless. He probably had a few small ones as a warning but didn't bother telling any of us about it. Go, go now. Saving money is useless if you end up a vegetable.
Huh, once again I'm late to the party. But yeah, it sounds a LOT like you've have the above mentioned TIA. Go get checked, likely CT or MRI in your future but even with co-pays that's a pretty good bit cheaper than converting your hour to wheelchair accessible.
4 years of ER experience backing me up btw....
I'm waiting for the doc's office to call me back. I'd be a new patient so there's hoops to jump through. Funny how, if you want to take your car to a mechanic for the first time they don't make you jump through hoops. Anyway, if I don't hear from them in a while, I'll go somewhere.
Not going to the doc wasn't really a money-savings thing, more of not wanting to spend a few hours to have a doc tell me to 'take it easy'.
Double vision is also a common first symptom of Multiple Sclerosis. Ask me how I know.
Don't wait for doc, Med-Express or similar.
bravenrace wrote: Double vision is also a common first symptom of Multiple Sclerosis. Ask me how I know.
That's my worst fear. I watched my dad go from unsteady on his feet to a wheel chair in a few years, then a few more years later he was in a hospital bed. 15 or so years later he died. It was a hellish 15 years.
When I showed up at the ER, there was NO delay for paperwork, insurance, etc. Just wooshed me in and started checking me out. I was again impressed by Broward General Hospital. Of course I did arrive in an ambulance. In October I had a heart attack, drove myself to the hospital. Walked up to the reception desk, said "Chest pains" and don't remember a thing after that. Well taken care of. Last time, had a roommate. He had a shaved head, an incision across his entire head, stitched up. Broken jaw, broken nose, fractured skull. Beaten almost to death. Would not / could not talk to the detectives. That's when I started to feel like a lucky guy.
DrBoost wrote:bravenrace wrote: Double vision is also a common first symptom of Multiple Sclerosis. Ask me how I know.That's my worst fear. I watched my dad go from unsteady on his feet to a wheel chair in a few years, then a few more years later he was in a hospital bed. 15 or so years later he died. It was a hellish 15 years.
When was that? Unfortunately, they have shown a link that indicates that the disease is somewhat hereditary father's to sons, but there also have been huge advancements in the past 10 years. The medications are very effective in slowing down progression. What happened to you dad (really sorry about that) in the future will happen to very few people. I've been diagnosed for 8 years and probably had it for about 12 years. Yes, I have more symptoms than when I was diagnosed, but not all that many, and exacerbations are few and far between. In any case, I hope things work out for the best for you.
Again, likely a TIA.
STOP POSTING AND GO TO THE GD ER NOW. like right NOW. stop reading this and go. not kidding. you like walking and talking normally? GO.
STOP TRYING TO GET AN APPOINTMENT AND GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM.
This isn't like a cut hand and "Should I super glue this or bandaid it or do I need stiches?". This is your brain.
G_Body_Man wrote: I better call a doctor too. I've been experiencing episodes of blurred vision, slow speech, and general spaced-out behaviour.
alcohol abuse doesn't count 
mtn wrote: STOP TRYING TO GET AN APPOINTMENT AND GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. This isn't like a cut hand and "Should I super glue this or bandaid it or do I need stiches?". This is your brain.
1000% agreed. You don't berkeley around with this kind of thing.
And report back to us.
If he had a TIA several hours ago what are they going to do in the emergency room? (Please ignore any perceived tone-I am really curious)
In reply to MrJoshua:
Because you never know, it might not just be that. Years ago, my dad felt something go "pop" in the back of his head- he went into full "do not pass GO, do not collect $200" mode and got his ass straight to the ER. He was then flown via helicopter to the nearest medical center which was equipped to deal with the brain aneurysm he was having.
He could have written it off as something small, or self diagnosed it to be non-hazardous, but because he got to the ER instead, I still get to hang out with my dad today. That's the reason to go.
MrJoshua wrote: If he had a TIA several hours ago what are they going to do in the emergency room? (Please ignore any perceived tone-I am really curious)
1st, What Chris said.
2nd, TIA usually means a full blown stroke is coming. could be hours, could be months, better to get checked out NOW and possibly prevent it happening.
MrJoshua wrote: If he had a TIA several hours ago what are they going to do in the emergency room? (Please ignore any perceived tone-I am really curious)
We don't know what it is.
It may have been a TIA, in which case he wants to get there ASAP since it could become a stroke in minutes or years (or never), but often enough a precurser to a stroke to get to the ER.
It may have been a stroke (doubtful, but very possible)
It may have been a raging migraine
It may be something more sinister, like MS or Parkinsons. In any of those cases, I'd be at the hospital immediately to confirm and changing a lot of things in my life.
In reply to MrJoshua:
If it was a TIA there are a few things that could be done to reduce the risk of a full blown stroke later on depending on the doctor's findings. It could be as simple as taking an aspirin or anticoagulant to prevent a clotting issue or if it is due to an arterial blockage they may be able to treat it with a cholesterol med or if the blockage is serious enough they may want to put in a stent. The sooner they catch it the more options you have to be treated with few lasting effects.
and even if it's not stroke related, you can, very easily, be moved to other parts of the hospital from being admitted through the ER
wbjones wrote: and even if it's not stroke related, you can, very easily, be moved to other parts of the hospital from being admitted through the ER
Yeah, this too. Go in to the ER with appendicitis, it will take 3 hours to get looked at. Go in with appendicitis and say "and my chest hurts as well" or "And I'm seeing double with a raging headache and slurred speach" and they move you straight to the front of the line.
God only gave you two brains. Well, three if you count the one you think with most of the time. New Onset Neurological Problems are Nothing To Blow Off. Get it checked out now.
Somebody's gonna get a scan.
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