TIA (aka Mini Stroke), Seizures & Denial
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 54
TIA (aka Mini Stroke), Seizures & Denial
Hello all,
Now that I have almost been a month sober I have been thinking about a lot of things. Weird how clear your mind and life become when you get it all out of your system. I've been thinking of one of my closest friends, also an Alcoholic even if he won't admit it yet and makes excuses.
About a year ago we were in Athens Greece (I am a Greek American and I go to Greece about twice a year). As usually we had gone out the night before and got drunk. I had only drank wine (weird for me since it is usually wispy or vodka) and he drank a lot of Jack Daniels. I was not hung over but he was. We went to lunch were he had 1 beer. As we were near the apartment he started talking funny. At first I thought he was joking, but he was mumbling and not making any sense. His face looked funny and his lips were kind of crooked. All I thought was STROKE...! I am 43 and he is 44 so we are still young, at least I like to think we are... LOL He was walking fine and we got back to the apartment. He sat down and I calmly looked up the emergency number in Greece for an ambulance. He came out of it and he said he was fine. We were leaving for NYC the next day so I said it was fine (Greece is not exactly the country you want to be stuck in if you have a medical emergency) as long as he went directly to his doctor. He went to the Dr. and the Dr. said it sounded like a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack - aka - mini stroke). I figured as such since my father was an MD and I knew about this stuff. My friend has High Blood Pressure and Hight Cholesterol. They scheduled him for some tests. The next week he went out with some friends and met up with me and 2 other friends. I was the only one sober (at this time I was trying to quit). We wen to this bar/restaurant and sat down to eat. I thought he was passing out, but he went forward and then sideways landing in one of his friends laps till he fell on the floor. He got up and didn't know what was going on. I was totally confused, but it seemed like he now had a seizure. I'm not sure why we didn't bring him to a hospital right then and there, they would have did all the tests on the spot (he has health insurance). Anyhow, he had a bunch of tests and they found nothing. But sometimes you can't see a TIA or Seizure, if they are small. What scares me is that if he is having small strokes in his sleep he might not notice. He is in such denial and I know I can't do anything until he comes to terms. I had horrible indigestion before I quit drinking, and he kept telling me it was the food I was eating. I eat a lot of raw veggies with olive oil and everyone kept telling me I'm getting old and it is starting to affect my stomach. Well, I quit drinking and 3 days later it was 100% all gone no matter what I ate or eat. It was the Jack Daniels and the Vodka killing my stomach and esophagus, not that raw Cauliflower... :-)
Any experiences with TIA or Seizures? I've never had a seizure but I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, but now that I'm almost a month with no alcohol I think I'm okay. :-) But the TIA (mini-stroke) and booze is new to me? Was it new to all of you before you quit?
Now that I have almost been a month sober I have been thinking about a lot of things. Weird how clear your mind and life become when you get it all out of your system. I've been thinking of one of my closest friends, also an Alcoholic even if he won't admit it yet and makes excuses.
About a year ago we were in Athens Greece (I am a Greek American and I go to Greece about twice a year). As usually we had gone out the night before and got drunk. I had only drank wine (weird for me since it is usually wispy or vodka) and he drank a lot of Jack Daniels. I was not hung over but he was. We went to lunch were he had 1 beer. As we were near the apartment he started talking funny. At first I thought he was joking, but he was mumbling and not making any sense. His face looked funny and his lips were kind of crooked. All I thought was STROKE...! I am 43 and he is 44 so we are still young, at least I like to think we are... LOL He was walking fine and we got back to the apartment. He sat down and I calmly looked up the emergency number in Greece for an ambulance. He came out of it and he said he was fine. We were leaving for NYC the next day so I said it was fine (Greece is not exactly the country you want to be stuck in if you have a medical emergency) as long as he went directly to his doctor. He went to the Dr. and the Dr. said it sounded like a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack - aka - mini stroke). I figured as such since my father was an MD and I knew about this stuff. My friend has High Blood Pressure and Hight Cholesterol. They scheduled him for some tests. The next week he went out with some friends and met up with me and 2 other friends. I was the only one sober (at this time I was trying to quit). We wen to this bar/restaurant and sat down to eat. I thought he was passing out, but he went forward and then sideways landing in one of his friends laps till he fell on the floor. He got up and didn't know what was going on. I was totally confused, but it seemed like he now had a seizure. I'm not sure why we didn't bring him to a hospital right then and there, they would have did all the tests on the spot (he has health insurance). Anyhow, he had a bunch of tests and they found nothing. But sometimes you can't see a TIA or Seizure, if they are small. What scares me is that if he is having small strokes in his sleep he might not notice. He is in such denial and I know I can't do anything until he comes to terms. I had horrible indigestion before I quit drinking, and he kept telling me it was the food I was eating. I eat a lot of raw veggies with olive oil and everyone kept telling me I'm getting old and it is starting to affect my stomach. Well, I quit drinking and 3 days later it was 100% all gone no matter what I ate or eat. It was the Jack Daniels and the Vodka killing my stomach and esophagus, not that raw Cauliflower... :-)
Any experiences with TIA or Seizures? I've never had a seizure but I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, but now that I'm almost a month with no alcohol I think I'm okay. :-) But the TIA (mini-stroke) and booze is new to me? Was it new to all of you before you quit?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,380
I'm not sure what you're asking, GG, but yeah I had several TIAs in my last detox - I had a prior history of strokes though (non alc related)
The main legacy for me was some aphasia. It took a while but I feel near enough to completely recovered now.
D
The main legacy for me was some aphasia. It took a while but I feel near enough to completely recovered now.
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 54
Not sure what my questions was either... lol
I guess I was wondering if he had the TIA because of alcohol. I know that alcohol can raise your blood pressure dramatically (I can't believe how much mine has dropped these few weeks thank God)... But I don't believe alcohol does anything with Cholesterol.
I also didn't think you could have a seizure while drunk, I thought that only happened when you are in detox mode. But who knows why some people are prone to seizures during detox and others aren't? I know it is a low percentage that have seizures, but there is also frontal lobe damage and wet brain. I didn't learn about all this stuff in school Hopefully they are teaching it now to kids.
Had to look up what Aphasia is, I didn't know. I'm glad you are getting better.
Did you notice the TIA? My friend claimed he had no idea or recolection of it.
I guess I was wondering if he had the TIA because of alcohol. I know that alcohol can raise your blood pressure dramatically (I can't believe how much mine has dropped these few weeks thank God)... But I don't believe alcohol does anything with Cholesterol.
I also didn't think you could have a seizure while drunk, I thought that only happened when you are in detox mode. But who knows why some people are prone to seizures during detox and others aren't? I know it is a low percentage that have seizures, but there is also frontal lobe damage and wet brain. I didn't learn about all this stuff in school Hopefully they are teaching it now to kids.
Had to look up what Aphasia is, I didn't know. I'm glad you are getting better.
Did you notice the TIA? My friend claimed he had no idea or recolection of it.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,380
I'm not a Dr so I really can't comment with any authority on whether your friends TIA was alcohol related or not.
I think it's fair to say though that there were a range of factors in my case - and alcohol abuse was one of them.
I've never had a seizure so I can't comment on that either, I'm afraid
D
I think it's fair to say though that there were a range of factors in my case - and alcohol abuse was one of them.
I've never had a seizure so I can't comment on that either, I'm afraid
D
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 5,554
I have no idea why your friend had a seizure or TIA.
I do know alcohol definitrly contributes to elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, both directly and indirectly. Triglycerides are a direct relationship. If you track those things, watch how they go down in sobreity. Sugar and carbs will also raise triglycerides in excess. Other cholesterol numbers can rise with inflmmation in the system. Alcohol can cause this. That would be more indirect, and related to other factors as well. This is no medical advice to anyone, just facts easily found in any search on the subject.
I do know alcohol definitrly contributes to elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, both directly and indirectly. Triglycerides are a direct relationship. If you track those things, watch how they go down in sobreity. Sugar and carbs will also raise triglycerides in excess. Other cholesterol numbers can rise with inflmmation in the system. Alcohol can cause this. That would be more indirect, and related to other factors as well. This is no medical advice to anyone, just facts easily found in any search on the subject.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
