Not to be alarming, but my mom is having a health issue

[olnacl]

I agree with getting her to a doctor right away. I had experience with both my father and a friend who each had TIA episodes with similar symptoms.

The good news in their cases is they had no permanent damage and lived for years afterwards. My best wishes to her and all the family.

[Black]

Could be electrolytes-- sodium, potassium . . . perhaps in combination with a UTI; still cause for immediate treatment though.

[SteveO]

Thanks everyone...took her to ER, did some CTs. They didn't find anything abnormal, so that was good. They think it was either a TIA or a migraine-related event (though she wasn't having a migraine at the time so I'd rule that out, personally, but what do I know). They released her last night and said fu with a neurologist for further testing, etc.

Big sigh.

Thanks again, all.

[wowzer]

It is not a TIA as the time frame is longer than 24 hrs...and even this time frame is being called into question.

Did they test her electrolytes? Sodium levels (especially too low) may cause this as well.

The other possibility is hypothyroidism, but usually other clinical signs/symptoms are present.

If a CT is negative, it definitely does not rule out a stroke. MRI is far more accurate...CT's are done to rule out large emergencies (like bleeding/masses/etc).


BTW- does she still have problems remembering conversations?

[SteveO]

Doc said they ruled out metabolic, so they did test her electrolytes. EDIT: Although, this was several hours after the event. So it could have been that. Her mom died from a stroke (although she was somewhat elderly) so that was my big concern that something was going on that needed immediate attention.

The time frame in which she didn't have memory was about 5-10 minutes, sorry if I didn't make that clear. After that, she remembered it all, and even remembered being confused about it. No further problems, knock on my head.

[vision63]

Sounds like good news SteveO. She'll feel better and better.

[wowzer]

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1160964-overview


Did your mother just stop beta-blockers for high blood pressure? Transient global amnesia may be the proper diagnosis. I think they were concerned about 'migraines' as this could be a cause of TGA.

[SteveO]

No, she doesn't take any Rx drugs. Thanks for your thoroughness, wowzer.

[dmann]

Glad to hear she is doing well! Thanks for keeping us updated.

DM