Stroke with negative MRI

[Eyriu]

Where can I find more information on stroke with negative MRI?  I have found one article by M. Alberts.  Does anyone else have this situation?  I was diagnosed as having a stroke 10 years ago.  I have made a fairly good recovery though I still have weakness on my right side, tire easily, some trouble finding the word or being able to say the word/s, some difficultly understanding language, mild confusion at time when I am tired,a bit wobbly without my cane, trouble grasping or holding things in my right hand.  Some short term memory loss. Anyway, I recently had another MRI to check to see if I had had more recent TIAs.  No evidence was found of recent TIAs.  However, there was also no indication on the MRI that I had ever had a stoke. The neurologist's words indicated that the "alleged stroke" was all in my head. I have been struggling with this for 10 years and now to be told it doesn't exist  is frustrating in the extreme?  Or does anyone have a clue as to what it could possibly be if it  is not a stroke?  In the past 10 years at least 4 doctors have said that it was a stroke - classic stoke symptoms - but not all of them read the MRIs.  (The first MRI 10 years ago was read as "inconclusive" if I remember correctly.  But to see me was to know that I had had a stroke.

[newdawn41]

Hi i was just reading your post, wow what a relief i'm not crazy...lol. i have had 3 stroke no tests showed anything. the last stroke i had july 10, 2015 i was in the hospital for 1 week, the doctor i had on the stroke floor thought i was fine,but crazy. thank goodness my new family doc believes me, just don't know why i'm having strokes (right side deficits) although my nureo in london, ontario diagnosed me with pheripheral nueropathy. so anyway just wanted to say hang in, believe in yourself & listen to your body,take care of you! i know that is what i need to tell myself.

[skillet2008]

Hi Gil. While it has been a few years since you wrote this....I can tell u there are some real wacko docs out there. I had my first stroke at 36 in 2003. At the time my only health issue was SLE. I did have a foreshadowing event that I had an issue.....when pregnant....I developed blood clot in my legs. The stroke was massive. I lost all movement on the right side. My then current Rheumatoid doc just kinda shrugged her shoulders as she didn't know why I had the stroke. It devastated my body. I applied for disability at the hospitals encourement. I want to make clear...I did NOT have an attorney and I did receive it. I got a new rheumatologist.... Who found I tested positive for Antiphosphidlipid Syndrome. I had another stroke in 2006 due to the fact.....I was told that I allowed my warfarin to slip. Again the right side was affected badly....and now I was nearly 40 so it took a lot of rehab to get me back. Things were going good and then just before the holidays in 2008 ....I had another episode. I was eating out w/my husband and I could tell something was wrong. I couldn't make my mouth move and bit myself really hard. My husband too me to a different hospital as time was the essence.....something we didn't have on our side with the previous two. Boy did I get a nightmare doc. She said it was all in my head. She said I never had a stroke. She said I didn't have SLE nor antiphosphidlipid syndrome. I told her she was the crazy one and she was messing with my very life. She countered with.....basically I was suffering from a mental illness called conversion. My husband ( a PharmD had me discharged immediately.) I had a hard time that Christmas and struggled. My regular docs found out what happened to me and ordered pt and ot at home. She wrote all of this on my discharge papers and then to add another insult ...she said I was bitter and angry. ( who wouldn't be?? This doc makes it sound like I wanted to be sick. Are you kidding me??) I certainly didn't fake this "neurological event". I am highly educated and respected teacher.I had to take early retirement....which nearly killed.me.as I loved my job and I was very good at it.)  While my life isn't perfect... (Who's is?) There wasn't anything going on that Christmas...mentally that is. Its one of my favorite time of year. She also made it seem.....in how she worded things that I was going to see my own psychiatrist.... Like I already had one....which I did not. The entire thing was absurd. I had a port at the time (she claimed I manipulated the drs into giving me this port.) The whole thing was absurd and I looked like some crazy person. She was NOT a Neurologist....she was NOT a Rheumatologist.... She was NOT a Psychiatrist and yet made diagnosis in all three areas. This report ....which I had no idea was out there until recently became a permanent part of my records. My four docs completely ignored it calling it complete nonsense which is why they never mentioned it to me. I recently started to do research on strokes that don't show up on MRIs. There is an amazing amount of literature out there on patients who had a stroke but either it didn't show up on MRI or showed up days later. ( I only had one MRI.) She didn't talk to one of my docs nor did she review records from my other two strokes. She wanted to hold onto her belief system and wasn't going to have anyone dispute her. The neurologist that diagnosed me with my first stroke said unfortunately and most dangerously.....that proof on an MRI has become the holy grail of strokes. Many docs wronly buy into the notion....No proof on an MRI...no stroke. My Neurologist said she believes(She is at the top of her field and well respected.) That its possible to have a stroke deep within the brain where an MRI still doesn't map well. She also made it clear that for all doctors know about the brain....it is just a drop in the bucket..as there is so much about the brain that they do not know.which is something many docs don't want to admit. They know 15% of the brains complete functions....so much of the brain is unknown. So to finish the story....I looked up this supposed diagnosis of conversion. It is supposed to be that some huge trauma in your life occurs and you can't handle it mentally so it manifests itself physically. If not treated by a mental care giver....this physical manifestation could become permanent. Being a science teacher....I would have respect for this diagnosis if it had science to back it up. However, it doesn't have any scientific data whatsoever. (Which is bothersome to me regarding not just this diagnosis but much of the psychiatric diagnosis have not one shred of scientific studies to back up this finding. A committee of folks in the phyciatric communist invent this diagnosis and it's definition .....they vote on it and ....bam...now its in the diagnostic book for psychiatry. While my husband and I are not psychiatrists....it sounds like...the medical community can't explain what happened....so if the medical community can't explain it....then the psychio community can. That is absurd and most importantly dangerous. A patient has an ailment that docs can't figure out...as a result...your ailment didn't go away...so you are mentally ill? At 42....I had a stable life...married to the same guy at that point for 19 years...two great kids....plenty of supportive family and friends...we have only moved twice in our lives....I have worked at the same school for 5 years ....been teaching for 14 until I had to retire....but I suddenly develop a mental illness out of the blue? In the form of a stroke? That isn't science....not by a long shot...that is science fiction. Still it bothers me that pts havent any rights about what is said about them in their medical charts. Especially when there is research out there refuting what this doc said about my stroke.

[RoRo40]

I was in the same situation as you all.  Nothing showed up on the MRI or CT scans.  The doctors/neurologists diagnosed me with what is called a Lacunar Stroke.  It occurs in the small blood vessel that feed into the larger ones in the brain and don't normally show up on the tests.  These happen in the deep recesses of your brain.  This happened October 1, 2008 and I am still recovering.  My former doctor wanted me to believe my symptoms were physcosomatic and threw all other emotionally disturbed terms at me.  What happened to me was real and I am not crazy!  I am thankful to have a whole new team of physicians who reacted quickly to correct what my former doctor failed to acknowledge.  I had all the symptoms and ended up in speech, physical and occupational therapy to get me back to some semblance of normalcy.  I'm still not 100%, but I am starting back to work and doing more and more of my daily routines. Did I tell you I am only 40 years young????  Ask your doctors about Lacunar strokes....Be blessed and I wish you continued recovery.

[Gil G]

Exactly a year ago, I suffered what doctors called a "stroke".  Accumulation of blood was to the left side of my brain.  I recovered quickly and was released in 6 days.  However, I still suffer from some right side peripheral vision loss (in both eyes), moreso the right eye.  I also have, to a degree, short term memory and constant fatigue.  I sleep over 12 hours a day....the more the better ;).  Anyways, the two MRI's I received revealed nothing.  Doctors don't know what caused this.  A cat scan also revealed nothing and 'til this day, I'm no closer to knowing what caused the blood accumulation to the left side of my brain.  Anyways, they changed my condition from stroke to intracranial hemorrage. Anybody else with this condition is more than welcome to correspond with me.  BTW, my New Year's resolution is to do more exercising and eat more fruits and veggies.  Happy Holidays!