Re: Stroke and AF

[Guest guest]

> I had two non-coated aspirins,

> 325 mg each, which I swallowed with some difficulty

~~Guess I'm screwed, I'm allergic to aspirin. :-( I have a history

of DJD and severe arthritis in my family and can't take Celebrex or

other aspirin based meds. *sigh*

dawn

[Guest guest]

> aspirin might be counter-indicated in hemorrhagic strokes, but since

> the AF strokes are of ischemic origin, the risk would be very minimal. I do

not

> want to jump to any conclusions based upon one example, my own, but I

> believe that the two aspirin " first aid " I used can also be used by

> any AF sufferer immediately after the stroke happens.

Hi Alfred,

do you think your advice applies to the people taking warfarin?

Is there anyway they could distinguish between a hemorrhagic and

ischemic stroke?

--

D

[Guest guest]

> Do you think your advice applies to the people taking warfarin?

> Is there anyway they could distinguish between a hemorrhagic and

> ischemic stroke?

>

>**************************************************************

, I think you bring up a valid point. Will check with my

physician, but I would 'think' that aspirin in the case of a

hemorrhagic stroke would be counter-productive. I believe, we should

all check on this with our physicians.

Lee

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 03/11/2004 07:17:25 GMT Standard Time, pixel7@...

writes:

~~Guess I'm screwed, I'm allergic to aspirin. :-( I have a history

of DJD and severe arthritis in my family and can't take Celebrex or

other aspirin based meds. *sigh*

I'm also allergic to aspirin, and so I take Plavix (Clopidogrel) an anti

platelet that works in a more similar wy to aspirin than to Warfarin.

I have no problems with it thank goodness as I react to a lot of drugs I

have tried. _MedlinePlus Drug Information: Clopidogrel_ (h

ttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601040.html)

Haze

[Guest guest]

I agree with this procedure, seems logical...and when my father collapsed at

home with chest pain the emergency Doctor gave me soluable aspirin to

dissolve for him to drink, while we waited for the ambulance to arrive, he was

assuming he was having a heart attack and wanted to start to dissolve the clot

as soon as possible.

He had a long wait in ER..on a heart monitor, was transferred to a cardiac

ward, then transferred to another specialist hospital where he was told he had

a ruptured aortic aneurysm that was bleeding badly. He died during the

operation to try and repair it.

I don't suppose the two aspirin will have actually caused his death but they

sure wouldn't have helped.

It's a difficult situation and the odds are on that if you have Afib it will

be a stroke of the clot variety..but then again how many are on

warfarin...and they may well have a haemorragic stroke from the warfarin..

My brother also had a ruptured berry aneurysm in the base of his brain .

He was 35 yrs old at the time, and had been a perfectly fit young man. We

were told he wasnt going to make it, as he was in deep coma, and would probably

not regain consciousness.

However he did regain consciousness and he did recover, had a repair

operation and now lives a normal active life.If he had taken anything that had

stopped his blood from clotting, maybe he wouldn't be with us today...

Just putting across things to consider..at the end of the day its our

lives and I would go with taking anti platelet at signs of a stroke (I am

prescribed Plavix rather than Aspirin).

Tough call but its ours to make.

Haze in UK

In a message dated 03/11/2004 03:10:06 GMT Standard Time,

virucort50@... writes:

& #65279;STROKE AND AF

A FIRST AID TO BE ADMINISTERED WITHIN FIVE MINUTES AFTER A STROKE

AN IDEA BASED UPON MY EXPERIENCE WITH STROKE

On July 7, 2003, without any warning, I was hit by a stroke while

removing some packages from the trunk of my car. The package I was

holding dropped from my left hand, my left fingers became numb, I

wanted to say something to the person helping me, but only garbled

sounds came out of my mouth and I was told that the left side of my

face dropped. As an AF sufferer since 1992, I was expecting this to

happen sometime and I was prepared. I had two non-coated aspirins,

325 mg each, which I swallowed with some difficulty and then was

driven to the emergency room of a hospital about one hour away. The

emergency room was crowded and I had to wait for my turn in spite of

the fact that my registration form stated that I had suffered a

stroke. Finally, after about two hours, I was wheeled into an

examination room and waited another two hours. Finally, about five

hours after I had the stroke, I was examined by a physician

who put me on a heparin drip and took me to my room. I was given some

folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12 and had to wait until the next

morning for an MRI. The two tests, with and without contrast, were

performed and I was informed that indeed, I had a stroke (ischemic)

but apparently the clot that had induced it was practically dissolved

and minimal damage was done. I quote, " MRI of the brain with an

without an IV contrasting agent showed fluid restriction in the

posterior distribution of the right MCA (middle cerebral artery)

consistent with infarction with minimal ischemic changes. " One day

after hospitalization, I regained the use of my fingers, was

able to speak again; and 24 hours later was able to shave with my

left hand. Four days later, I was discharged without any traces of

the stroke that I had suffered five days before. The treatment

indicated was Zocor 20 mg, since they found that my cholesterol level

was 230, vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.

From my discussions with the attending physician, to whom I related

my " First Aid, " it looked like they believed my benign stroke was due

in part to the fact that I had taken the two aspirins immediately

after I was struck. In this way, the process of dissolving the clot

started just a few minutes later.

Let's get down, for a minute, to the basics of a stroke, and how to

minimize the effects of a stroke.

A stroke is a cerebral vascular accident (CVA) due to a clot found in

the heart that will migrate through the vascular system to the brain,

where it would block an artery followed minutes later by the death of

brain tissues, paralysis in parts of the body, loss of vision,

reathing difficulties or swallowing, numbness, loss of consciousness

and others. In the case of a stroke, it is recommended that the

patient commence treatment within three hours after the stroke occurs.

Even so, the hospitalization might take weeks, followed by months of

rehabilitation, and even then, many people will still be left

disabled for life.

There are two major forms of strokes, ischemic and hemorrhagic. Most,

if not all of the strokes occurring in an AF individual are of the

ischemic type, i.e. due to a clot. For these types of patients, two

aspirin taken within a few moments would be able to start the process

of dissolving the clot within minutes instead of hours. Aspirin might

be counter-indicated in hemorrhagic strokes, but since the AF strokes

are of ischemic origin, the risk would be very minimal. I do not

want to jump to any conclusions based upon one example, my own, but I

believe that the two aspirin " first aid " I used can also be used by

any AF sufferer immediately after the stroke happens. That is

particularly pertinent to strokes occurring to individuals who are

unable to make it to a hospital within three hours; either because of

long distances to a hospital, or on a plane, train or boat, and

senior citizens with meager ways of communication.

Regardless, the stroke victim should be taken immediately to the

nearest hospital, but I believe that the use of aspirins immediately

after the stroke will gain precious time since the process of

dissolving the clot would then begin right away.