Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire You're HAVING A STROKE!

Excellent advice here.

Dave, thanks and best to you.

I'm sitting here with a Skoal in my lip...but I've been thinking about quitting. I've read that quitting can immediately lower your BP by 10 points.

Different kinds of strokes; hemorrhagic and ischemic. Obviously, a hemorrhagic stroke is a bleed - a brain bleed - and aspirin being an anti-platelet, would thin the blood and make it flow much easier making the stroke worse. Ischemic stroke is a clot (platelets are sticky) and aspirin can reduce the chance of getting a second. Getting to the ER quickly so they can do a CT is so very important.

To further complicate matters, there are good clots and bad clots.

Thrombolytics are used (think Drano for the artery) in the ER to help clear an ischemic stroke. They have about a 3 hr window.

This should drive home Dave's point that time and quick action is paramount. Get to an ER as soon as possible. That first Golden Hour is everything.

I might just add a word of caution on the aspirin and maybe someone with more medical knowledge can chime in.

Strokes come in two flavors, blockage or bleeder. In the case of blockage (which is probably the majority of strokes), aspirin is a good move. However, in the case of a bleeder (hemorrhage) the aspirin will make it worse.

It might be a moot point though as I believe the damage from a hemorrhage are typically pretty severe and the options to treat it are pretty limited . I lost my dad to a hemorrhage and the doctor said that even if they were in the operating room and ready to do surgery, there's very little chance to have a good outcome.

This is a timely posting as I've been feeling crappy for a while now.

I'll be 55 in July and I made the decision to do a "health intervention" on myself and start making some lifestyle changes. I travel almost weekly and it's really been starting to take a toll on my health since I turned 50 and it's come to a point that is completely unsustainable. I weigh more than I ever have, I'm tired all the time (probably sleep apnea as I now snore like a freight train), I'm not getting near enough exercise and my eating habits need to change.

I had an annual checkup last week (actually been 2 years, because of COVID restrictions) and they started me on blood pressure medicine. I had a burst eye blood vessel a few weeks back that can be an indication of high blood pressure. The doctor recommended a sleep study, but I told them to hold off and we'll see if I feel better when I lose weight.

With my traveling lifestyle, it's hard to have any kind of schedule as my work hours are hard to control. I think I can get a handle on the eating habits, by starting to stay at suites that have kitchenettes, but trying to fit is some exercise is going to be a bit of a chore. Hard to get motivated to exercise when you start your day at 5- 6am and work a 12 hour day.

If I understand it right. Nicotine constricts your blood vessels. Makes your heart think your going up stairs all the time.
Hasbeen

I quit dipping 17 years ago by using nicotine gum. I started with the highest concentration and over the course of a few months, stair stepped my way down until I was just chewing regular gum. I eventually got tired of chewing gum.

Very important!!!
Heart attack, yes. Stroke, no.

Stroke could be a clot or a bleeder. Only way to know is go to the ER.

If it’s a bleeder, aspirin might well aggravate the situation.

Dave, chin up, 'tis not what it seems today. I lost both retinas by the age of 50 and had enough TPA due to blood clots to make the docs very, very nervous. Seven years ago, I thought "the fun life is over", all my goals will remain unmet, yada, yada, yada.

'T weren't a lot of fun, and one episode alone was well north of $100K (that TPA stuff works, but it's pricey). Thing is, though, the body is incredibly adaptable, and the brain is as well. We all go through phases in life, and what we think our "golden years" will look like when we are in our forties is nothing like what we want in our sixties. Interests do change, naturally, and we adapt to limitations almost without noticing it.

Close to a decade later, life is good here, different, and maybe not feeling as bullet proof as before. But still having a blast at the farm, and enjoying watching the kids starting to think about grand kids.

So, chin up, it's not going to be what you think will be today. It's just another adventure.

Damn, glad you pulled through, good thoughts for a full recovery.

Older Gent that worked at the feed store was home sitting in his chair Christmas Eve night, he was waving a finger back and forth across an empty palm, his Wife asked, what are you doing? he said, i want to save this on my phone, she freaked, jumped up to get her cell and call 911, she heard the thump of him hitting the floor behind her after just a few steps to get her phone.

We "have" no "guarantees" gentlemen.

Exactly, Gunner.

Dave, it isn’t all gloom and doom from here on out. I was in St. Paul with my dad when his left side quit working. He was about 80 at the time and back then I didn’t know about that 90 minute window that they talk about for getting him to an ER. I got him into the car and drove five hours home. Dad made a full recovery and lived another twelve years just fine. A wake up call to be sure.

I'm not telling you what to do but if I were you I'd get that sleep study at the earliest possible time. If you do have sleep apnea a C-pap will do wonders for you.

I know... I know... I just can't stand the thought of sleeping with scuba gear on. I'll reevaluate after I drop 20 lbs.

Good luck in your recovery. Thanks for the reminder regarding balance and vision

Sorry to hear this. Good luck in your recovery.

Exactly! Time is of the essence once a stroke occurs. I watched a PBS seminar several years ago about strokes. Three of the speakers were neurosurgeons from Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic, and the fourth speaker was a young woman who had suffered a stroke. She spoke of the symptoms and what happened to her. It was not pretty.

Aside from many valuable pieces of information, all three of the neurosurgeons stated emphatically how important it was to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. They also said to NOT drive -- or have someone drive you -- to the emergency room at the hospital. Call 9-1-1 immediately and tell the operator you're having a stroke!.

(Of course, there could be exceptions to this, but not many.)

The paramedics who arrive already know what is happening and they will also call/radio the hospital to alert the proper doctors what has happened and they are delivering a stroke patient to them in a few minutes. A stroke team will be waiting to immediately treat the stroke victim in accordance with their proper procedures.

If you go to an Emergency Room, you'll be losing a lot of time to check in, wait, and lose those precious minutes wherein the stroke doctors and nurses could be helping you.

My father died from an hemorrhagic stroke and my wife died from a stroke and complications of Alzheimer's dementia.

Observe BEFAST. Believe you or your spouse is having a stroke? CALL 9-1-1 immediately!

Best of luck to all who have suffered strokes.

L.W.

I don't care how old you are or how healthy you are if you sit in front of a computer all day you are at risk of having a stroke. I've had jobs that required a lot of time on a computer but I always flexed the muscles in my legs and butt while I was sitting. I also got up and walked around occasionally to "stretch my legs". If you want to prevent another stroke then you need to start taking a baby aspirin every day, stop using nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, lose weight if necessary, get your blood pressure down if necessary and exercise.

I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack) on the morning Jan 6 of this year. I woke up and my left arm was so week I couldn't push myself up to get out of bed. I finally rolled out of bed and stood up. I was very dizzy but was able to walk to the bathroom and look in the mirror. My vision was blurred and when I smiled and the left side of my mouth wouldn't go up. I was sure that I was having a stroke because my father died of a brain bleed years ago and he told his neighbor that he was having the worst headache he ever had before he passed out an went into a coma. I chewed up 5-6 aspirin and called 911, by then I was slurring my words. They got to my house about 10 minutes later and by that time my left leg was so week I couldn't walk. I crawled to the front door to let them them in. I told them I had just taken a bunch of aspirin. I was inside the emergency room 20 minutes later. They immediately gave me a CTA scan and all my symptoms were gone before the scan was complete so my attack only lasted less than an hour. They did a brain MRI and admitted me for 24 hour observation. I had a heart sonogram and was checked out by a physician and a physical therapist the next day. I was discharged right after lunch and I was never told that I had to wear a face mask by any of the doctors or nurses the whole time I was there.

I saw my Cardiologist a few days later and we both agreed that my TIA was caused by high blood pressure and since my attack lasted less than an hour the I probably won't have another one. My blood pressure slowly crept up last year because of Fauci's fake pandemic lies and all the election fraud. I was spending 3-4 hours on my computer every morning reading about it and drinking a whole pot of coffee. It's real bad for your health to be pissed off all the time. I seldom drink alcohol so giving up caffeine and alcohol was easy. My blood pressure returned to normal (120/70 or less) about 2 weeks after I cut out caffeine. My resting heart rate is still 60 or slightly less so I'm in real good shape for a 78 year old man. I thought I was bullet proof but don't think so now.

Like. Charlie Foxtrot said it depends on what type of stroke it is!

True ,but 90% of strokes are from clots.

This + 10 it did for me. Mb