It looks like we've found the source of my strokes.
I had my 'biggie' stroke aged 35. I'm in my early 50's now. Since then, I've been plagued by TIA's . In a nutshell, little strokes. The 'T' stands for temporary. The heck they are. The idea is that they clear up in a few hours. But it's a half truth. You lose something - anything from paralysis, cognitive and speech functions, or combinations thereof.
Already knackered by the 'biggie', as you can imagine, it's not much fun. But, what happens is that with a TIA is that you lose a lot, but you get some back again. But not everything. If you have repeated TIA's the loss has a cumulative effect.
Not complaining. One has to take what life chucks at you. Well, ok, I do get fed up sometimes.
I've been tested and fed tablets 'till I've turned funny colours. Seriously. I spent 3 months an odd yellow colour. One of the tablets messed up my liver functions. I'm on 23 tablets a day :)
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But the medics and I have found the cause. Macrocytosis. Big Red blood Cells. Now, this is quite common amongst alcoholics and vegetarians. Excess alcohol causes the bod to absorber less B12 and Folate. Folate is otherwise known as Folic acid. Likewise, alcohol prevents the absorption of B12, otherwise known as Thiamine.
Vegetarians don't get much folic acid or thymine. There is no Thymine in veg. That comes from meat and dairy products. Many have to take vitamin supplements.
Stay with me here :)
Phew. With low levels of thymine and folic, one's bone marrow produces immature red blood vessels, which are quite large. These clog blood vessels, and lead to strokes.
I rarely drink. But a knock-on effect of my 'biggie' Stroke is that I never, ever get hungry. That's due to the brain injury. Unless there is someone around to remind me to eat, I often forget.
So, I'm not eating enough, and not eating enough of the right stuff. Hence the TIA's.
Vegetarians don't get much folic acid or thymine. There is no Thymine in veg. That comes from meat and dairy products. Many have to take vitamin supplements.
Stay with me here :)
Phew. With low levels of thymine and folic, one's bone marrow produces immature red blood vessels, which are quite large. These clog blood vessels, and lead to strokes.
I rarely drink. But a knock-on effect of my 'biggie' Stroke is that I never, ever get hungry. That's due to the brain injury. Unless there is someone around to remind me to eat, I often forget.
So, I'm not eating enough, and not eating enough of the right stuff. Hence the TIA's.
~~~~
And, just to make life complicated, I have, what appears to inherited, type 2 diabetes.
1 comment:
Some interesting results, Wheelie. I had my first recognised stroke when I was 28, 'though I suspect there were a few mini-blips before that, and my major brain haemmorrage in my mid forties. I have 'episodes' that aren't termed TIA's because although they follow the same lines, they are caused by electrical disturbances set up by the broken pathways in my brain. Like you, I find that it is a little bit like walking in butter - for every six steps forward I take, I slide back four!! They've stopped testing me, but what I found interesting about what you said is that I have been a vegetarian all of my life, have anaemia issues and an enzyme missing that transports the blood effectively around the body. Apart from the odd glass of wine at a celebration or social event (perhaps 3 a year) I drink no alcohol. Interesting connections...it is partly through survivors piecing together common denominators that the breakthroughs are going to come. x
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