Having a stroke under the age of 21

[iAM-IncReDiBLe-]

Here's my little story. Friday I was at work folding silverware an all of a sudden everything started spinning ridiculously fast. I wasn't able to walk straight as if I was incredible drunk. My supervisior had me sit down told me I was pale an sweating. She said to call for a ride an clock out. I took two steps an she had someone catch me before I fell. Eventually my mother came an took me to the hospital.

They took a cat scan an found a small abnormally in the back of my brain. They doctor told me it looked like I had a stroke but he was shocked because well I'm 21yrs old. A stroke at that age is very uncommon. They didn't have a neurologist at this hospital so I had to be transferred to another one that was only about 20 mins away to get an MRI/MRA. My dad got to palm bay Florida from pompano beach in an 1hr an a half an they still hadn't transferred me so my mom started going off. Eventually I was transferred an the next day took the MRI.

The neurologist told me it didn't look like this was caused by a stroke. I was relieved because I'm never sick. I don't even catch colds, even during my stay at the hospital all my vitals an everything else was perfectly fine I was just incredibly dizzy an couldn't walk straight because my balance was off.

They decided I might have a viral infection. So they did a spinal tap to get fluids sent off for testing. I'm getting released from the hospital today an won't get those results until a week or so. The doctor came too see me an he told me that this dizziness wasn't caused by a stroke but from looking at the cat scan it still looks like I had a stroke in the past. Which again shocks me because that means I had a stroke under the age of 21.

Basically my question is what could cause a stroke for a perfectly healthy young man at that age. Could it be stress related because to be perfectly honest I been under an enormous amount of stress lately due to my mother, work, this damn girlfriend (I could write a book bout them) I ask here because OS is full of so many different individuals who might be able to give me some insight onto this. I'm just kind of shocked an just wanting to lay in bed an rest ( aka play some skyrim) when I get home. Been a long weekend an put some things into perspective for me. Basically I need to move out before my mother drives me insane lol.

Sorry for any spelling errors etc. I did all of this from my EVO.

Sent from Jesus EVO

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Stress is a killer. Effective venting of it helps a ton whether it be working out, finding a stress free hobby, or skyrim. I had shingles last year and its very uncommon for someone my age to get them. Less than 2%. I was 22. Caused by stress. Also good to pick up some relaxation pointers. I'm a really stress free person but even tho you don't feel it, your body does.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Stress is a killer...I get sharp pains in my arm/chest daily because of it. It's scary because those symptoms are shared by heart attacks. Effective venting is indeed a huge help. I need to do a better job of that myself.

[BurghFan]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

That sucks man, hope you get better soon.

Stress can be a contributing factor especially if it results in elevated blood pressure, but usually his has to do with abnormalities in the blood vessels of the brain. You could have what's called an arteriovenous malformation which are abnormal bundles of blood vessels. There was a football player for the Eagles who was diagnosed with that during the preseason. This does require a specialized test to diagnose but can also be corrected with minimally invasive surgery.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Yeah stress can lead to a lot of things.....strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, etc. That is why it is always best to speak your mind and don't hold stuff in.

One thing about strokes, once you have one, you are very prone to having them a lot more often on a regular basis.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

It very well could be stress. I had one moment about ten years back when I was helping a friend and I felt like I had a mini-stroke. He tied a mattress on the back of the truck that I used to have, and the thing nearly broke free on the freeway. I thought I was going to be responsible for some poor driver behind me getting killed. Luckily, I was able to pull over and tied the knot myself. Before that moment my head hurt really bad, worse than a migraine. Nothing like you are describing though.

Whatever you do, don't over exert yourself, and get plenty of sleep, and drink lots of water. Maybe those that closest to you will sense that you need to be free from a stressful environment.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

My father had a stroke, hasn't been the same since. I still remember everything exactly. He had it after work, however, the crazy part is, he didn't know. He got home, went to sleep and didn't wake up for his other job. I thought, it's ok, he is tired and can use a day off. It was December 16, 2007. I remember it so well because I was watching the Cowboys vs Eagles when my family was at the dinner table. My father could not get a grip of the cup, we knew something was wrong, didn't know what, though.

Ever since that moment, my life has been incredibly different. I'm 23 now, but at 19, the world as I knew it then, came crashing down. Doctors said 6 months he will be fine. He hasn't fully regained use of his entire left side. He walks with a limp, and his left hand is still unusable.

Such a stressful time. You learn who the caring people are in your life.

Now, life couldn't be better. My dad has received a new found energy and is working hard physically to regain strength, and my family doesn't have to worry about whether we will make it day to day.

Anyway, completely random but just something I had to get off my chest. It was a life changer, it took some of my youth away, and I resorted to heavy drinking, but it also made me a much better person and I learned what really matters in life.

[slickdtc]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Thanks for sharing.

I'm sure we have some people here with some medical experience, but your doctors have all the charts and tests so they'd be best served to make the diagnosis or point you in the right direction.

That's scary. Everything's fine, then one day something goes wrong and it turns your whole life, your life's plans, upside down. My girlfriend has a cyst that she has to keep an eye on to make sure it never becomes malignant, and sometimes she gets pain in that area and she has to get it checked out. Those are always stressful times. All the day to day hardwork you put in to set yourself up later in life can come crashing down like that. It's incredible, in a mysterious and depressing way, how life can go from top of the world to rock bottom just like that.

Good luck with yourself. It's a sign you need to make some changes, I believe. Sounds like you already know that.

One last thing: make them check for vertigo. And KEEP pressing them. All your vitals are good, so that's why I say this. My girlfriend has vertigo back in February. Doctors were baffled for a week or two, so we were bugging out pretty hard ourselves. Finally, she got a neurological specialist and there's these crystals in your ears, and they were out of whack with her. Turns out, he just made her do a few exercises (and made sure she had antivert medication for when symptoms popped up) and rattled her head about and, viola! Things were better shortly thereafter.

I actually posted about it here. http://www.operationsports.com/forum...1-vertigo.html FlyingFinn's final post was helpful, as that was before her specialist enlightened her to the whole crystal thing.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

And therapy isn't a bad thing. It doesn't mean you're crazy. A therapist knows how to help you channel and control stress. Plus its a good way to say what you feel and wanna say without having to worry about what they think or if they'll go tell someone else. Remember, they've heard worse things. Lol

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

The plot of last nights House was a HS kid that they thought had a stroke.

[BestServedCold]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

The plot of last nights House was a HS kid that they thought had a stroke.

I was just about to say that this is going to end up on House lol

[IndianBird]

My wife had a stroke at 23. It's rare but can happen. More common in women due to BC. They usually can't pinpoint in younger people. She was in the hospital a week and came home without a clear explanation of why it happened. Just have to take care of yourself the best you can. Take what you are prescribed. Pray it doesn't happen again.

[iAM-IncReDiBLe-]

Thanks for the support guys. Yea i usually go to the gym at least 3 times a week to work off my stress. I'm the type to keep things to myself. This past weekend has put some things into perspective for me. I been wasting time with some people an not doing what's best for me. This little stroke scare I had showed me that at any time life can end for you. You can be perfectly healthy an something can still happen to you. So ima just focus on me for a bit. Worry about what I want an need. If I'm doing things that make me happy then ima be less stressed.

Sent from Jesus EVO

[fistofrage]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Make sure they do a thorough check for Menangitis and check your sodium levels.

To make a long story short, about 10 years I got an urgent call at work and they said my mother had a stroke and her vitals were fading quickly so I rushed to the hospital and there really wasn't much activity left on the vitals hooked up to her head. They ran a braqin scan and everything was black. It didn't look good at all, I thought she was going to be a vegetable.

Anyway a few days later she came around. She was released from the hospital and they really had no explanation.

No one can say for sure that it was menagitis, but she has had a few episodes since then and she starts out really dizzy like you mentioned. When we take her in, her sodium levels are way down and that causes all types of issues with the brain. And like I said, it looks like a stroke on the brain scan with some dark spots showing inactivity, but she's always snapped out of it.

Good luck, hopefully they can find the source of the issue for you.

[LivingLegend]

Re: Having a stroke under the age of 21

Stress can really mess you up man, I dropped about 30 pounds and had multiple problems with my heart when I was going through a custody battle for my kid.

Don't know if that's what caused your problem, but whatever it is I hope it turns out okay and I hope you feel better man.