Perception that stroke is related to heart condition

[cfoster]

This has been on my mind a lot lately. I feel that when I tell someone I had a stroke, they immediately think I have heart issues (i.e. high cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.). So many people seem to equate stroke with heart attack. Even though I am overweight, my numbers are excellent so that was definitely not a reason for my NASAH. I have had every test possible since my stroke and there is no reason anyone can find for it. I guess I just feel frustrated that an assumption is made just from saying the word "stroke." Anyone else run into that?

[Winb143]

Hi CF,

I take cholesterol, blood pressure pills as at the time of SAH mine was sky high BP.

They want me to lose weight but I like my food, look pigs flying in the sky.

I don't really need them, but still take them BP was okay when I left them off for 2 weeks.

Be Happy and fairly well, what we have been through we need choc ,cakes, etc etc .

Now be happy and fairly fit xx

Regards

WinB143 x

[MaryB]

Yes, I think that is why using the word stroke for a NASAH or SAH is misleading. Several of us have had our neurosurgeons say to us "IT IS NOT A STROKE!". I had both and no one really understands that the stroke caused by the SAH and my blood pressure being so high from that. And of course you get into a whole story etc... I say brain hemorrhage to people that need to understand more but if I am panicking in the grocery store for my wallet I cannot find and start looking dumb I aplogize and say "I am sorry I had a stroke and I sometimes I get overwhelmed".

I do however have high LDL cholesterol and my blood pressure was all over the place a year prior and up until I recently started to take a channel blocker. I do worry that I can have a stroke caused my cholesterol.

Maryb

[VanessaW]

I always say I have had a brain haemorrhage, it sounds more dramatic, deservedly so and gets a big response. Well, may as well enjoy the response and the amazement of people at us having survived such a bad event!!!

Best wishes to everyone here, not been on the board for a while. I do hope everyone is well and still recovering nicely, coping with the aftermath of SAH. I'm back at work full time now in respiratory medicine. It's going well, it makes me incredibly tired but am managing shifts up to 10 hours..........not sure how long I want to be doing these kind of hours. In august, I will be starting longer shifts of 13/14 hours, not looking forward to that.

Anyway, my symptoms are still improving nearly 9 months in. I am surprised by this, but I hope it gives other newcomers to the board hope that the recovery carries on for a long time.

best wishes to all

Vanessa

xx

[kpaggett]

I too had no 'risk factors'. I am skinny, have low BP and cholesterol, never smoked, wasn't too stressed etc. I just say I had a brain-stem hemorrhage. It seems to work best for me as I do not have too many symptoms out in public anymore...I somehow save them up for home. The shock is from the word hemorrhage, but when I say brain-stem, no one starts to talk really slow or assume that I can't put two and two together like they do if I say stroke or bleed in my brain.

~Kris

[Teechur]

I also had no risk factors outside of the xx chromosomes (slightly higher risk in women then men). I always say I had a brain hemorrhage. I used to weigh 100 pounds more than I do now. I am a long distance runner (76 marathons or ultra marathons since 2005), a personal fitness trainer, a weight loss and wellness coach, high school teacher, and am extremely fit. Don't drink or smoke, never have. Sometimes it "just happens."

I did use stroke at first because it was easy, but it also tended to scare others as in, "if Tory can have a stroke, what about me???" I just tell them that it can happen to anyone, but the blessing of being healthy going into it is that there was only a single issue to deal with (the SAH, no underlying problems or other illnesses to contend with), and perhaps I might not have made it had I been dealing with high BP or heart issues.

What we had is sort of a kind of a stroke, but there is not a blockage. We leaked blood into the cerebral spinal fluid and damaged the area surrounding the bleed.