We need to talk about cerebellar strokes. I just had one. Yes, there will be TMI.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Here it is:
http://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=644493

June 1: morning, feeling fine, then I was looking out the front door and the world seemed to be turning itself upside down,  I was still standing though not for long, so I eased myself onto the floor to avoid injury, did not pass out, called cousin/housemate from kitchen to help me to bathroom, where I hurled repeatedly, dragged myself to the bed, and every time I moved my head I got sick again. Horrific vertigo.  She offered to drive me to the ER but I could not walk or balance, so she called 911. Paramedics did their thing, and after I got to the ER at 8am, the docs gave me several doses of anti nausea meds but I still kept hurling.

I was sent for a CAT scan, MRI of brain, and ultrasound of carotid arteries, per my g.p.'s orders.

 After 3pm, I was taken up to the ICU and heard something from a nurse about a stroke. The neurologist came and told me I'd had the cerebellar stroke.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  But it makes sense now that I've read the info. I never passed out, never suffered any deficiencies, no permanent damage, no paralysis or slurred speech.   

 I was sick off and on till about 1am Sat. morning.  They finally give me clear liquid lunch Sat. afternoon.  They kept me another night and finally my g.p. discharged me after 3pm on Sunday since there was no longer a reason for me to be there. And it wasn't a moment too soon.  If I'd had to spend one more night in the ICU with the TVs, busy staff, phones, machines making noise, compression things on my legs, blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm every hour, giving blood, and dining on hospital fare (regular meals, low salt, low cholesterol), I was going to lose it.  

On Monday, I got Aunt Flo.  And today, I went to the dr. for follow up, got prescription for Plavix, already taking aspirin, had another blood draw, and then we realized that I had gotten an UTI, so now I'm on Cipro and phenazopyridine for that.  (*sigh* why can't life be dull just for a few minutes?)   And the Plavix is very likely causing my sense of taste to be a little bit off.  I can taste food but it doesn't taste very good.  It's just....weird. Even water is not refreshing. 

    I still have sticky residue on my skin from all the stuff that was on there for this and that, I somehow scraped my elbow on something in the hospital bed, had virtually no sleep for 2.5 days and was NPO for a day and a half.  I have lost some weight, understandably.

My carotid arteries are clear.

Things I still don't know at this time:
  1. What are the results of all the blood tests that were done both in the hospital and this morning?
  2. Why do the discharge documents say “right hemispheric stroke” and “lacunar infarct,” while the neuro doc told me it was a cerebellar stroke? (I am seeing him in July–he is booked up through June.)
  3. What the hell brought this on? Cholesterol? Stress? The stupid phentermine (appetite control pill/speed which I had quit taking after being on it only for a short time)? Other?
  4. When will I get my normal sense of taste back?
  5. Can I avoid a repeat of this mess?

Please do weigh in if you have any experience with this or any info. Thanks.

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Sweet Jesus. :eek:

Phentermine is nasty stuff. I was prescribed it by a doctor who weighed more than me, only to find out from the pharmacy that he prescribes it A LOT. :mad:

I took 1/2 a pill for like two days and then experienced ‘Phen Rage’ in the grocery store when someone cut in line in front of me and I found myself honestly ready to kill that person and had to hold myself back. I turned bright red and several people asked if I was ok. Scared the ever loving shit out of me and I stopped taking it immediately and changed doctors as well.

Did you have any increased anger or tension while taking it? Possible that the blood pressure increase did something. You’ll need to consider your symptoms there and discuss it with your doctor.
Beyond that, just please take care of yourself. Drink fluids, rest, don’t let anything stress you out, be kind to yourself and don’t let anyone be a jerk about it.

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Dysgeusia (altered taste perception) is uncommon with either Plavix or Cipro, but either or both may be causing it (or it could very well be something else). Its incidence with phenazopyridine is unknown.

This sounds like a really scary experience, and you’re recovering quickly. Since you mentioned Aunt Flo, how old are you?

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Thank you.
No I never had any anger from it. It just made me sweat a lot and I couldn’t get any sleep. I don’t want to know my blood pressure since I’ve never had a problem with it at all. It wasn’t even bad in the hospital. It was on the nicely normal side the whole time.

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  1. I thought I was done with that bitch but apparently not. I wish she would just leave town already and never come back.

I got it about 10 days early but I would assume it’s either because of the perimenopause or else the stress of being in the ICU.

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Question 2. The cerebellum is also divided into a right and left hemispheres. I believe they are calling it a lacunar stroke because only a small artery was occluded. Here is an article discussing cortical vs. lacunar strokes. You are correct that you don’t fit into any of the classic “lacunar syndromes”.

Question 5. Can you avoid a repeat? Good question. If you aren’t smoking, hypertensive, taking BCP, or overweight, it may be difficult to impossible to pinpoint why you had this happen. Another article.

Question 1. I can’t tell you the results of the tests without the, well you know, results.
Here is a page telling likely lab tests and reasons that pertain to stroke.

Frequently you are able to see the results through a patient portal. These are sometimes very slow to be posted. Like weeks.

Glad to hear that you have made a mostly complete recovery!

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I had a stroke in October 2016, I was 58. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I dropped a dish, fell to the floor when I tried to pick it up and then was confused when I couldn’t get up. I am thankful that my husband was home, he came in and noticed that my left arm wasn’t working and one side of my face was drooping, and called 911. At the hospital I was treated with tPA which really saved me I think, they said they don’t usually see function come back as well as mine did. I have no impairment in cognition (that I know of anyway!) or walking, there is just the slightest difference in how quickly I can tap my fingers against my thumb between my left and right hand when the neurologist tests me. I don’t usually talk about this to people but I noticed that you had an impact to your sense of taste, and I wanted to tell you I did too. It really bothered me at first, things I had always loved tasted weird to me. I think it was the worst with meat, and least noticeable with sweets. My luck, I have always had a terrible sweet tooth and would be better off if they tasted worse! It slowly got better and now after a year and a half I’d say it’s about 85% normal.

As to the cause. I did not have high cholesterol but they wanted me to take a high dose of atorvastatin anyway, and now my cholesterol is very low. I did not have high blood pressure. My heart looked ok but they had me wear one of those monitors for a month, and it picked up a brief episode or two of atrial fibrillation, which they wanted to treat with a beta blocker so I take that. I also take the blood thinner Eliquis. They asked if I ever snore and when I said yes, they wanted me to do a sleep study. I didn’t think I had sleep apnea but I was wrong, I have a moderate case. So I use a CPAP machine now, which I hated at first because it triggered claustrophobic feelings (you can imagine how I felt about the MRI!), but I stuck with it and got used to it. My other known health issue is being overweight. I have lost over 30 pounds and am still working on it. I am also strongly encouraged to exercise and I try to use the treadmill regularly.

I can’t think of anything else right now, will come back if anything else comes to me and to see how you’re doing. I am very glad you are recovering well and getting follow up care. I hope your sense of taste gets back to normal soon, I know how weird that feels to deal with. Take care and let me know if there are any questions you have about my treatments or anything.

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I hadn’t had a period in about four years (age about 50-ish) when I had to have throat surgery to remove a node. I got my period right after the surgery, but never got another one ever. (I think I’m safe now; it’s been more than 15 years.)

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Oh, gosh, viva! I have zero advice, but I wanted to send good wishes along to you.

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Thanks! I am doing well overall, and I think my sense of taste is recovering a bit.

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ICU psychosis is a real thing. Glad it didn’t come to that for you. My dad had a few hospital stays over the past decade, and he did not cope well with it at all. He was very prone to anxiety attacks if left unattended, and this was not at all what he was like outside of the hospital.

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I’m sorry to hear about this - scary stuff, hang in there.

My mom, a very healthy and active 72yo, had a stroke two months ago. She has taken Phen in the past, I forwarded this thread link to her.

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I posted a few months ago about a stroke (minor subarachnoid bleed) and, as an added bonus, the discovery of severe stenosis of the right mid cerebral artery that put me the hospital for a week - five of those days in ICU. I mentioned to one of the ICU nurses the lack of sleep. Her response was something along the line of, “We’re here to fix you. You can sleep and get better upstairs and at home”. Fix me, they did but it was a long five days. I had questions about repeating the experience and all they could say was, “We don’t know. Go live your life”. Ignorance is bliss I guess. Best of luck with your recovery.