Had a Minor Stroke!

mr. ed wrote:


I do have a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist who visited me in the hospital. I hope he'll prescribe a drug that can regulate my heartbeat. That will eliminate the probable cause of the TIA. I'd rather get to the root of the problem than having to use expensive and possibly damaging anticoagulants. I wouldn't mind popping baby aspirin every night if that will offer protection. I consider that pretty innocuous in comparison.

Thanks to all you others who've joined this discussion. Your posts were read and appreciated!

Mr Ed I also had a scare, but not a stroke, passed out, ended up in ER then in hospital for 3 days. They did all the tests, Like you, cat scan, MRI lots of blood tests. Final verdict was A Fib. No follow up by my doctor except that he sent me to a neurologist which was a waste of time.
It happened again a few months later, this time he sent me to a cardiologist and he put me on a Holter Monitor for 24 hours. I would ask for that. They then found that It was Paroxysmal A Fib. That is when they told me that I had a very high risk of a stoke, NOW THAT SCARES ME.

Long story very short, it is now 3 years later and after a lot of different meds I have found one that works for me. It is a rate control, there is also a rhythm control, but rate control works best for me. There is also a thing called ablation that will work but like the meds it is only 60 or 70% effective, no matter what study you read.its a tossup

I also am on that Rat Poison that some one else talked about, Warfarin. It is cheap and in all the research I have done has less side affects than the other drugs. It has it's drawbacks like the monthly checks and some dietary restrictions, but they have a self test kit much like the ones that diabetics use, I was also afraid of being not able to travel too. But they assured me that I could use the self test kit and call them or go to any hospital that has a lab and they can fax the results to them thus giving me more freedom.

All I can say is this. If it is Afib get it under control because the side affects of it is a STROKE and that scares me more than all the other things combined. I lost my SIL to a stroke and have seen up close what even a small one does to loved ones and friends.

There is a lot of information on the web about it, I read up a lot and made notes so when I saw the cardiologist I was ready. I hope you do too. Good luck with it I hope that this helps and any questions just ask.