In May of 2014 I was 26 years old and had started to have dizzy spells. They happened almost every time I would get out of a hot shower. They happened at random times as well and I could just tell that something was not right. I made an appointment with my doctor's office but couldn't get in to see my doctor, so I saw another one on staff.
I explained to him the symptoms I had been having and he did a standard check up and a simple neuro exam which consisted of me closing my eyes and him pushing me to see if I'd fall. I am sure to him this seemed sufficient. He advised me that I just had low blood pressure even though it was still in the normal range. I went home and increased my salt intake, like he told me to. This did not help and 2 weeks later I was still having the dizzy spells.
I went back in and saw another doctor that I hadn't seen before. I was just appalled at this doctor. She came in, looked more at her phone than at me, texted the whole time and didn't even have her phone muted. She said that she was agreeing with what the previous doctor said and left it at that. I went home thinking that I was crazy.
Then one morning in June I was getting ready to go to my grandpa's birthday party. I took a shower and got a dizzy spell like I always did. I sat down until the spinning stopped. Then I took my makeup bag into the living room and sat down to do my makeup. I picked up my makeup brushes but couldn't hold onto them. Then all of a sudden I couldn't remember what I was doing, I was extremely confused.
My friend came into the living room and asked me what was wrong. I told her and she sat down and started looking things up on the internet. Right about that time my boyfriend walked in the door from work. He immediately asked what was wrong with me and my friend explained to him that she thought I was having a stroke. He checked my grip and it was gone and I still didn't know what was going on. He got me dressed and took me to the hospital.
When we got there he had to explain to the nurses what was going on because I could barely speak. They took me back to a room and the emergency room doctor came in. My boyfriend explained everything to him and the doctor said I was probably just having a migraine, he wasn't going to run any tests. My boyfriend stood up and told the doctor that he brought me in because he thought I was having a stroke. He told the doctor to do an MRI and he did.
The MRI came back showing that I had had a stroke and there was damage done. I spent 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital and left with no answers. I went to a neurologist, a rheumatologist, and a hematologist. It wasn't until December of 2014 that I found out that my stroke was caused by a blood clotting disorder. The disorder is called Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome. It basically causes my blood to clot in my veins for no reason at all. I went through more testing to try and figure out why I have this disorder but we never found a reason. It was just there.
There is no cure for the condition, you can only treat the symptoms. I am now taking blood thinners to keep my blood from clotting. I now have chronic migraines as part of the damage that was done. I also have hand tremors that we are currently trying to manage. I also have minor difficulty remembering things. But I count myself very lucky. There are people who have strokes and can no longer function. I wake up every day and thank the gods for smiling on me.
I am here to say, don't take things for granted. Life is precious. And always listen to your gut. If you think something is wrong then talk to someone. And if they don't listen then talk to someone else. Talk until someone listens. No one knows your body better than you do. I was a healthy 26 year old female who had not been on birth control most of my life and I had a stroke. No one could have seen that coming. But it happened and I'm still here, fighting to keep it from ever happening again.
There are no pictures for this blog because I couldn't really think of anything that fit. If any if you have gone through a similar situation, please feel free to comment if you are comfortable with it! I hope you all have a beautiful day!
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