Did I have a silent stroke?

This all happened a year ago and now I'm really rehashing the signs because nothing makes sense. 

Here is a list of the symptoms I had:

- 2 weeks of nonstop migraines, unresponsive to medication

- flashing lights in my eyes 

- blurry/double vision

- inability to speak clear english or understand English 

- extreme fatigue

- extreme weight loss/loss of appetite 

- sleep disturbance/constantly waking up

- irrational thoughts and behavior 

- extreme vertigo 

- extreme sensitivity to light and sound 

Eventually I ended up crashing my car and totaling it, due to being completely confused and disoriented. At the E.R. they diagnosed me with permanent rear brain damage and chalked it up to a concussion, even though I know I never hit my head. I just let them think that because I wanted to go home. Now I'm not so sure...could I have had a silent stroke and just not known? None of those symptoms ever happened to me before. 

2 Answers

  • 2 months ago

    Silent stroke means no symptoms, so no

    , not a silent stroke. This is a question for neurologist with your scan results

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  • Justin
    Lv 7
    2 months ago

    If your head was whipped back and forth violently enough during the crash, you could get a severe enough concussion to show up on x-rays even without ANY physical impact to the head. Concussions are from brain movement inside the skull, which can happen without any actual blow to the head.

    A 'silent stroke' shows up on MRI's as a white spot which is pretty hard to miss. It sounds more like you just had a case of severe and disabling migraine headaches followed by a non-impact head injury caused by foolishly driving during a migraine episode. Diet and exercise routines can help with the causes of migraines, even if they are precursors to silent strokes. Even that is pretty visible on film as it forms so you could have those films done if you want to, but it sounds like a bunch of expensive nonsense that will lead you back to the same place, which is to figure out what is causing the migraines and do something about it. It will probably be slight diet changes, more or better rest and mild but regular exercise. 

    I also don't buy the idea that you have 'permanent damage' to the center of your brain that controls voluntary muscle movements. You would know that for sure if that was the case because you would have a permanent disability. It is more likely that this will heal too with proper rest, good circulation, diet and regular but mild exercise. 

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