Sorry to start off with a bit of TMI, but last night, my husband experienced a "sex headache". This is basically when a spike in blood pressure at the time of *you know* causes a temporary headache that typically goes away within a few minutes with no lasting effect. It wasn't his first one; he's had maybe 5-6 (that I know of) in the 18 years we've been together. But he did say it was the most painful one he could remember, though as normal the pain went away after a few minutes.
But a few minutes after that he realized he was experiencing memory lapses. He's gotten ocular migraines (with aura) for nearly 40 years, and with those comes brain fog, memory issues, and fatigue that usually passes after he gets a good night's sleep. But this was worse than any memory issue he's ever had. He was forgetting things like our address, his nephew's name, and what day it was.
He kept having me ask him questions. Some questions he'd answer right, others he wouldn't be able to answer at all. Sometimes he'd get an answer right, but when I asked him the same question a few minutes later he wouldn't remember. He wasn't experiencing any weakness, numbness, paralysis, drooping facial muscles, etc. - all the things they teach you to look for with a stroke. He was walking fine; no change in gait or foot drop or anything. But he said he did feel "butterflies" in his gut and his legs felt noodly, stuff I attributed to the stress and anxiety of suddenly losing chunks of memory. Although he's not one to jump to seeking medical treatment he agreed we should probably head to the ER. Then, as he was saying a quick prayer (he's very Christian; I'm very not but it helps him) he literally burst into tears. Sobbing, had to sit down and cry for 10 minutes. I have never seen him cry like that, ever. I assumed it was a panic attack and sat with him until it passed. Once he calmed down, I drove him to the hospital. Due to what was going on, they took him back immediately.
He had an EKG, CT scan and bloodwork, all of which came back normal according to the doctor. They gave him some neuro tests (touching his nose, lifting his arms, etc.). The ER did have a neurologist look at his scan and although they said they didn't suspect a stroke, they wanted to keep him overnight for observation hooked up to a heart monitor and for an MRI this morning (which he's having in about 3 hours) just in case it was. There don't appear to have been any issues with the heart monitor, and this morning his vitals (BP, heart rate, oxygen, even urine) checked out fine. I asked him some questions with answers he really struggled with last night and he seemed to have an easier time remembering them, though he did get tripped up once or twice. We're texting and he seems mostly like himself.
Now, the reason I'm asking for help calming down is because even though we were told a few times that a stroke "wasn't really suspected", they seem to be pointing him in that direction despite not having the MRI yet. They gave him a pamphlet that looks terrifying. Even if this was a mini-stroke and he was extremely lucky to not suffer any ill effects beyond (what's hopefully temporary) memory loss, I'm so worried that this is just a precursor to a bigger one. I know we did the right thing and he's in the safest place right now but he is so careless with his health that I'm scared he won't follow through with what the doctors advise to keep another, possibly bigger stroke from happening. He's only 53 years old. I know "it's not a stroke until it is", but neuro stuff...it's so scary.
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