On Sunday, February 26th, I was out for a day with my hubby having breakfast in Denver, shopping for some new jeans, then back to Colorado Springs to have lunch at a local Indian restaurant. There I decided to try a new dish, a coconut curry chicken. We were eating our respective dishes and the curry was hotter than the medium I assumed I would get.
During this time I noticed that it didn’t taste very “coconutty” and was trying to explain that to my husband. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the word coconut in my brain. I tried and tried and could not find the word. When my husband said the word, I knew it was correct but could not get it to stick in my head and it didn’t “sound” right.
When the owner came by to ask how we were liking our meal, I had to have my husband give the owner the word coconut. I could only come up with the fact that it didn’t taste like the thing.
This experience lasted about 15 to 20 minutes. I couldn’t produce the names of our cats. I am sure most of us have written a word that “just didn’t look right.” That was my brain during this period.
This is not the first time something like this has happened to me. I have had stroke-like symptoms for more than 20 years of my migraine experience.
The first time I lost the ability to speak clearly was when my husband and I were living in a little Sears home just west of downtown here in Colorado Springs. The hardwood floors gave way to the two-by-fours in the main living space. This was in 1997. I had gone home with a terrible migraine and was laying on the couch. This happened to be one of the bad headache bouts with aura after aura hitting. First, it was visual, then numb hands, numb face, and finally, it felt like my tongue was just failing to help me articulate.
Fast forward a few years, I woke up one morning raring to go have an interview with a father and daughter for a project I was completing. Unfortunately, it felt like only half of my brain woke up that morning.
I could still move and talk, it just felt like I was talking from inside a can. That entire day I didn’t feel like I was part of myself. It was scary. But, I kept going and eventually, my brain returned back to normal.
Sure, I should have gone to the ER, but what would the expense and tests say? Told me I have lesions on my brain? I already knew that. That they don’t know what is causing it? I already knew that answer. Test me again for MS which would come back negative… again?
I tried to be a runner for health and the belief that I might find that “runners high.” I ran every day for nearly 3 years I would run/walk 3 miles, rain or shine, summer or winter, I would go out there and run. During these runs, I experienced nothing of a runner’s high. What I did experience was from time to time I would have an aura, numb hands, numb face, and even weakness in one half of my body.
In 2018, after a strenuous workout, I had that same one-sided weakness, and I thought to myself, well that sucks, I will just sit down and let this subside. But after a couple of minutes, I thought I should check my face to be sure that it isn’t something worse. When I did, I noticed my left side would not raise when I smiled.
I grabbed my stuff and ran to get help.
I mumbled I think I am having a stroke, and they called 911. I asked them to call my husband because I couldn’t speak well enough. I had our only vehicle with me at the gym.
When the paramedics arrived, the symptoms had all but fully resolved. But I was scared enough to be willing to go in the ambulance to the ER. Three miles and $1700 later I was at the ER, where I received immediate attention, IV, blood tests, nurses, and doctors were all there.
The blood tests showed that I was dehydrated. Of course, I was dehydrated, I had just rowed 4 miles on the rower.
Once again, it felt like I was outside myself and wanting to share what I was thinking and feeling but it felt slow coming out of my mouth.
My hubby and brother came to be with me, and after treatment for dehydration and a battery of tests, they agreed I had a TIA and that it has resolved so I could go home.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I went home, ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and took a bath, when it happened again. Not quite as severe but the same symptoms. Another visit to the ER and I went home again with no clue about what was happening to my brain.
It took me a full 5 days to feel like myself again.
All the tests by all the doctors came back inconclusive and didn’t find anything that would point me to a diagnosis.
Since 2018, I have had some similar experiences and following the doctor’s direction, as long as it resolves quickly, it is likely an unexpected expansion of my migraine symptoms and not to worry about a stroke.
To this day, the left side of my face is still droopier that the right. Every time I have any strange feelings on my face or body, I flash back to the concerns I have from then.
It is hard to have any semblance of a life when it is constantly interrupted by things like auras, weakness, brain fog, and the like.
I was an athlete all my childhood and into my adult years. Now, I end up on the couch more than outside. Winter is especially hard because of the cold. I can’t go ride my ebike, which I love to do. Walking outside feels miserable. I am in my early 50s and I feel like I am acting and living like I am in my 80s.
I have come to the realization that I will likely reach the end of my life without a diagnosis and effective treatment. I am not giving up…simply coming to terms with the fact that being wired funny is a reality of my life and that some days will be harder than others.
One thing I am seriously considering, as long as I can source it safely, is micro dosing. I have tracked and read about this sort of treatment for correcting brain connections. I don’t need to take a trip. Traditional medicine has not garnered the results I need. Finding information or resources are still shrouded in fear and outdated ideas.
I am grateful that these bouts have always resolved quickly. I am a work in progress. Being Me.