It began when my friend and I were driving around in her car and I suddenly got dizzy and slumped over on my right side. That was the first episode, which only lasted a few minutes.  Just as I recovered from the first, a second hit me, I got dizzy again, and slumped to the right side, but this time lost my ability to speak too. This episode lasted 10-15 minutes. I felt like I was having another stroke, which would leave me paralysed on my left side and I lost the ability to speak. We drove straight to the hospital after the second one started and I got admitted straightaway. I was there for a few days and I didn’t have another episode until the third day. Luckily I was in the hospital this time and the nurses could see it happening., They described it as a mini-stroke. I stayed in hospital for about 10 days, getting lots of blood and neurological tests to try and find  a definitive diagnosis.

 

After 10 days I was discharged, the professionals thinking that I was having TIAs. I was told I would “most likely have another massive stroke which looks  inevitable for you”. I wasn’t sure how to cope with such disheartening news.

 

Around this time, the shit hit the fan with my flatting situation. None of them wanted to be around me when I could have the massive stroke, so they tried to force me to move out. This toxic situation made everything even more stressful for me. I understand why they felt uncomfortable, but  timing was the worst, and I felt they were far more physically capable to move out than me.

 

During this time I was getting dizzy moments when I could not walk or speak, and I would need aide till ‘it’ passed. Small episodes would happen most days.

 

One particular time, after I’d had a chat with someone who made me feel stressed,, I went for a walk to the pharmacy for my INR test. Just as I entered, I managed to say the pharmacist's name and slumped over in the chair. I was lucky to get to the chair! I lost my speech again and they said it looked like I had a TIA. My movement took longer to recover, but after a few seconds, my speech came back. I was taken to the hospital again and more tests were done. Doctors wanted to send me home straight away, but I could still not walk, so I was referred to the physiotherapist.  After a week in hospital with my walking skills slowly coming back, I went into rehab for about a month to learn to walk normally again. While I was there I was diagnosed with Neurological Functional Disorder which can be described as ‘brain freeze’ and is common around the time of stress. Although there is no actual brain disease, connections between the brain and the limbs and/or speech faculties become frozen.

 

For more information

www.neurosymptoms.org