Hemorrhagic Stroke:

Also known as Cerebral Hemorrhage 

Wat is a Hemorrhagic stroke?

This is an emergency condition in which a ruptured blood vessel causes bleeding inside the brain.

The leading causes are the following:

• Uncontrolled High Blood pressure 
• Trauma (such a car accident)
• Overtreatment with blood thinners (anticoagulants)
• Protein deposits in blood vessels walls that lead to weakness in the vessel walls
• Ischemic stroke leading to hemorrhage
• Smoking, high alcohol consumption, and use of recreational drugs such as cocaine
• Inactivity and excess weight around the waist and abdomen
• Stress and anxiety

Symptoms:

• Bleeding
• Decreased and/or altered levels of consciousness 
• Difficulty speaking and walking
• Fainting and dizziness
• Sudden, severe headaches 
• Numbness/weakness in the part of the face, arm or leg
• Seizures
• Sensitivities to light

How to recognize early symptoms of a stroke:

Remember FAST F = Face (is one side of the face droop when person smiles)

A = Arms (when they lift both arms, does one arm drift down?)

S = Speech (is the person’s speech slurred?)

T = Time (Call Emergency Immediately if the answer to any of the above is yes)

Stroke from the inside out

Below is the experience from my side. I am not that young anymore, but I am a stroke survivor. This accident occurred 12 years ago. The memories are still fresh, and I still do battle with some of the effects. BUT, like I mentioned – I am a stroke SURVIVOR, not a VICTIM. 

So are you…

So the abovementioned facts can be found anywhere, right? How about hearing the symptoms from a stroke survivor? Let’s start with the facts and causes of this patient’s stroke:

• Female at the age of 25yrs.
• Active and healthy, no history of stroke in family
• Cause: body’s reaction to prescribed, chronical medication 
• Diagnosis : Large acute (Left), non-traumatic, intracerebral hemorrhage

Symptoms before diagnosis:

• Headache. Excruciating headache. Worse than a full-blown migraine or a hit against your head. No medication or tablets ease this pain
• Vomiting. Non-stop vomiting until the bleeding was stopped. So this was 2-3 days of vomiting, resulting into dehydration and complete exhaustion, as long with abdominal muscle pain.
• Neck pain. Extreme neck pain only on one side of the body, but enough to make it feels like being stabbed in the neck.
• Sensitivity to light, and focusing on anything – a picture, someone face, etc.
• Difficulty walking, and even sitting up (feels like the headache is keeping you from doing anything).
• Confusion and delusional. 
• Battle to answer a question, while the answer is on the tip of the tongue – frustration.

Symptoms after Diagnosis: 

• Emergency operation: drainage of bleeding was needed
• Induced coma for several days
• Right upper and lower muscle movement was affected, but recovered fully in two days.
• Extreme muscle atrophy and weakness
• Extreme headaches persisted
• Recognition of friends and family – no recall of names. 
• Speech and communication (+- 9 months of Speech Therapy): 
  • Short term memory difficulties is still present.
  • Expressive aphasia and cognitive-communicative difficulties
  • Anomia (word finding) was presence for a long time, and is still present. 
• Signs of depression was diagnosed, and treated. 
• Recurring migraine: migraine is the result of scarring on the brain due to the operation/drainage of the bleeding. 
• Possible Myoclonic Seizures, causing Migraine.