I suppose that I should mention that I was released from the hospital, late this afternoon.
About 11 pm last night, while I was taking a shower, I suddenly noticed that the right side of my face was becoming numb. A minute or so later, my right hand and arm began to become tingly and numb, slowly progressing up to my bicep. Since this is exactly what happened last July 19, and no attempt at intervention was attempted by ER personnel, I didn't immediately go to the ER, but chose to finish my shower, and "wait and watch", instead. I did call the "night nurse" number at the hospital, but of course, their advice was that it was my choice - I could wait and call my PCP today, or play it safe, and go to the ER, last night. Their recommendation was to go to the ER, of course, sooooooooo, after changing my ileostomy body seal, (since I had been wearing the current one for 8 days, and it was time to change it), I went to the ER, on the outside chance that they might actually do something, this time. (After two hours, my symptoms were no worse, but not significantly better, either, so I arrived at the ER roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes after the symptoms began.) Surprisingly, they did do much more testing, this time. I suppose you have to prove to them that your body is serious about trying to commit stoke, so the second episode is much more convincing than the first.
Besides the usual blood tests and EKG, they promptly did a CAT scan of the brain, (to rule out any hemorrhaging), and when that was negative, they decided to hold me for a day or two to "observe", and make further tests. They did a series of MRI imaging of my brain and neck, (carotids), and again, didn't find any obvious problems. They sent a couple of neurologists to my room, (one was still in training, of course), and they checked my existing pheripheral neuropathy, and everything else that might be connected with neurological issues, (such as limb strength, range of motion, etc.), and they discovered that my lower limb reflexes are much improved from what they were a year ago, and so is my balance and coordination, so obviously the Metanyx, (megadoses of B-12, B-9, and B-6), seems to be working as advertised. It is claimed to actually reverse the peripheral neuropathy damage caused by diabetes. I don't have diabetes, of course, but the peripheral neuropathy that is sometimes caused by gluten crossing the blood/brain barrier, is very, very similar. I suppose that explains why my balance is better than it was a year ago.
Anyway, they agreed that while Parkinson's disease couldn't be completely ruled out, there doesn't appear to be enough evidence to diagnose it at the moment.
The bad news is that my attending physical insisted that even though no clear evidence of a cause for my symptoms exists, the evidence is sufficient to classify me as a high risk for a stroke, and as such, the primary goal is to lower my cholesterol level to the lowest possible level, regardless of any other considerations. You know what that means, I assume. It means that in addition to Lisinopril 10mg, once a day, (which I was already taking), I am to take Metoprolol Tartrate 25mg, twice a day, plus Plavix 75mg, once a day, plus, (you guessed it
), Simvastatin 20 mg, once a day.Unless, my systolic BP checks at lower than 100 mmHg, at pill-taking time. In that situation, I am to skip both the Metoprolol and the Lisinopril, depending on whether one or both are due at that particular time, (either breakfast or bedtime - I take Lisinopril only at bedtime). All the docs insisted that where significant stroke risk is involved, not taking a statin, is not a debatable option.
Of course, I didn't get any sleep last night, and all the testing was kind of tiring, so even though I tried to write this post soon after I got back home, I kept dozing off, and had to postpone it until now. Anyway, that was my last 24 hours. It's interesting how life takes in different directions, from time to time. 24 hours later, the right side of my face still feels as if it had a shot of novacane that hasn't quite worn off, yet, but my arm/hand feels about 98% normal.
The MRI scans lasted a full 30 minutes, so I was mighty thankful that I don't have a claustrophobia problem. It was all I could do to keep from laughing a couple of times during the test, though. They instruct you to lie perfectly still, of course, but more than once during the scans, the vibrations become so intense that they actually physically shake you around. I kept thinking - "how the hell am I supposed to be still, when this thing is shaking me around like a rag doll".
And, to make things even more interesting, they stick plugs in your ears, and then expect you to hear their verbal instructions to hold your breath at certain times during the scans, when they're on the other side of the room, and the machine always maintains a certain level of background noise. LOL. I hope your day was much better.
Tex
