Hello I’m new here & have ready most of the wonderful success stories from yall. My journey hasn’t been like most. (Sharing complications on Unruptured Annie),
My first anxiety attack landed me in the ED June 2023, that’s when the Annie was discovered I learned through CT that I had a 2.2mm Annie located on my left ICA.( No symptoms). I was a general healthy 41yo , until I wasn’t. I have no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no high cholesterol etc. I did however live an Extremely stressful lifestyle. My then husband was in another state on his death bed waiting on an organ donor to receive a new heart and kidney. I was mom and dad. You can imagine the stress of that itself, and add being a mom to 5 kids under 18yo. working, you name it. Life was Stressful and I had an anxiety attack for the first time in my life. I made frequent trips with the children until we agreed they didn’t need to see dad in his condition. Fast forward, my Neur-IR said the 2.2mm Annie was stress induced, and gave me the option to coil & stent the Annie. So out of fear of my husband not making it, and my fear of my children being left with no parents I elected to have the surgery. I DID NOT do my research, I trusted the highly trained neuro ir, he does this kind of thing for a living right. He didn’t go over the risks of stroke and other complications. I have the office visit recorded because I’m a busy mom, I didn’t want to forget anything important. July 29, 2023 my husband successfully had a donor and I was scheduled for brain surgery on 31st. I had surgery pipeline flow diverter & coiled. In November 2023 neuroIR did repeat angio to check for occlusion, all was well, until it wasn’t. He discontinued my DAPT & 10 days later I had a stroke and few sub acute strokes. I never knew this could happen. Back on DAPT for 30 days I went. I eventually was lowered to only taking baby aspirin and Lexapro for anxiety. I was slowly getting back to my old self after 15mnths. I went to see my pcp for a regular visit & he took me off the baby aspirin. 10 days later May 2025, I had another stroke & sub acute strikes, only this time, the deficits included partial paralysis on my right side & speech issues. Expressive aphasia I think, & my memory was horrible. I’ve done PT and regained use of my body again, still in speech therapy for now. I am getting severely dizzy on a regular basis, so much so it affects my daily routine, and have to lie down. I absolutely hate laying down there’s so much work to be done etc. I have been seeing a counselors since 2023. I have learned to keep stress at bay. And since becoming a single mom not by choice life has been somewhat good.
Has anyone else experienced strokes and TIA’s after having stent and coils?
Thank you so much for sharing your story. Between the procedures, strokes, and stress, it sounds like an incredibly tough journey. I don’t have personal experience with this, but I wanted you to know your story was heard. It’s encouraging to see how much progress you’ve made with therapy and counseling, even with the dizziness making things difficult. I hope someone gets back to you soon to share their own experience, and in the meantime I wish you continued strength in your recovery.
Good morning and thanks for posting a new topic! When I read your story, first thing that popped in my brain was stress is an understatement. Had a BIL who was waiting for a triple organ transplant, someone sent him down to the ER instead of treating whatever had come up, he contracted whatever flu was going around down there. His body had no immune system, cardiologist and other specialists very upset. The stress the family was going through was phenomenal with them living in the South and BIL up in the Midwest.
For those who don’t know what DAPT is, it’s Dual Antiplatlet Therapy, the drugs we get so there’s no clotting when a stent is put in. We get the one stronger, I had Plavix started prior to my stent and aspirin. The Plavix or whichever drug the doctor uses is stopped within a few months usually. We are then put on usually low dose aspirin for life.
I’m surprised your surgeon didn’t go over the risks. I’ve always had to sign that they did from the surgeon and the anesthesiologist right before I go in. I used to know all the risks so well I’d get to tell them or correct them when they didn’t say one. My Neurosurgeon trained me well. The anesthesiologist goes over them before I get wheeled off usually. Some seem to blow the ones we are most concerned about off, in my experience.
Sorry, I now need to type Good evening, had a couple of specialists to see an hours drive away from each other. I’m not driving today bad brain day…
I did avoid having an ischemic stroke so I have no personal experience with them for myself, just family members. However, I’ve been to PT and ST several times. They know me by name and the check me in before I can get to the desk. Remember to do any exercises they suggest at home, I call it homework. Reading out loud was one of many speech exercises, it wasn’t easy but eventually I got better at it.
Please check with your brain surgeon about the baby aspirin, I’m not aware of any of us being taken off of it. There might be, I just don’t remember anyone mentioning it.
Hang in there, hopefully someone who’s had an ischemic stroke following stent placement or even with a diagnostic angiogram will come share their story.
I would like to mention a few words about the baby Aspirin, 81 mg that we take on a daily basis.
When I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon last year, four years after my rupture, he mentioned something like this; I could technically stop the Aspirin as the stent is embedded into the artery-as it should be- but he wanted me to continue with the Aspirin, for life to make sure that the blood flowing through the stent and not forming a blood clot.
He also mentioned that if I have to have surgery of some sort in the future I could stop the Aspirin and resume it when the actual surgeon finds it to be ok.
I had a stroke during the placement of my first flow diverters. Luckily I was on the table and they could see it. It was treated on the spot. I woke to no feeling on my left side but regained functionality over the coming weeks/months. Leg recovered fastest, fine motor skills in hand took longer. Lots of other stuff progessed in between. I have some damage to the frontal lobe but now that I’m a few years out, it goes unnoticed by most others. I am not shocked your GP wasn’t aware you shouldn’t stop aspirin, but i am shocked you weren’t advised by your neurosurgeon not to go off. I got told that repeatedly. Just switched to a neurosurgeon who mentions it before leaving the exam room. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
I don’t drop aspirin even for surgery, but of course that would depend on the type of surgery. I was on 81mg until an angiogram showed reduced blood flow to one eye, so i was raised to 325mg. Then I dropped to 81mg for a procedure and I lost vision in the other eye. I now stay on 325mg and won’t go below 162mg for a very limited period for a procedure. I’ve had a few incidents over time but supposedly no lasting damage. I’m guessing with your stroke history you are now on dual antiplatelets again? You will also need to be your own advocate now that all this has happened and emphasize your continued need for daily aspirin. You definitely should not have had to learn that the hard way.
Hey y’all drive by - as always Hi Christina - so sorry to hear your road as been so rough. Hopefully, it will get better soon! @Moltroub funny you should ask - I just had a 3 year MRA following placement of the stent on the other side of my head in 2022 - I swear he put it in there just to make sure I was balanced. Anyway, the original coils and the other stent were circa 2018. Anyway, my arms were so bruised and skin so thin from the aspirin, doc told me I could stop it. Never had those problems on Plavix or Brillinta, just when switched to the low dose aspirin. I guess if my head explodes again, it will turn out to be a bad idea.
My general doc was well aware I had stroke and factor 5 Leiden (blood clotting disorder). But it was the end of his long shift and told me to come off. I’ve not seen him in over a year. I fired him. My struggle is the fear of having another stroke. I’m almost 3yrs post the 1st stroke and 1 yr post 2nd stroke and I find myself loopy dizzy and having to rest all throughout the day. Anyone else with these issues I don’t know if it’s from strokes & brain damage or the stent. I am on 325mg aspirin only
I’m sorry to hear you are still having issues. Have your seen a neurologist? Given a choice, a vascular neurologist would be most qualified but a general neurologist can likely assist. Vascular are a bit more specialized with strokes. They can order an MRI (not MRA) to check on stroke damage and ischemic changes. There are some other things they may order depending upon symptoms.
You might have to wait some time to get in. If you have a doctor to give a referral and push it through, it helps. Alternately you could make appointments with 2 different doctors and if they are far out, get on a wait list and hopefully you’ll see someone sooner vs later. Any new developments that scare you, there’s always the ER.
Avoid caffeine, remain hydrated (dehydration is a little known stroke risk). Drink 1/2 your weight in water per day. I drink 60-65 oz per day. Keep your BP under control. Avoid drugs that constrict blood vessels, including triptans and ibuprofen. Avoid second hand smoke.
I wish I could say I’m back to normal…I still have scares but that’s another story, and I dont think it’s anything that can help you or I’d share it. I’m so sorry you are going through this. I know the feeling and calling it hard is an understatement. Let me know how this plays out…I’ll be praying for the best for you.
Along the lines of what Judi is saying… I haven’t been on the site for a bit but I just got back from “vestibular PT” and wanted to share! I had a ruptured BA Jan 2024 and a series of coil stent procedures all of 2024. I started working/consulting part-time in March this year and for the first time experienced severe vertigo shortly thereafter. I have regularly been dizzy and light-headed off and on (depending on fatigue or time of day) since the rupture, but I felt like it was more distinctive these past few months. The dizziness and occasional vertigo had me schedule an appointment with my neurologist. (Okay, side note: my procedures were done by my neurosurgeon, who is a fantastic surgeon, but I had to proactively ask for a neurologist to discuss my neurological symptoms). So a couple weeks ago, my neurologist suggested getting evaluated with the vestibular Physical Therapy team and I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical at best. After this evaluation though, for the first time in two and half years, I felt “heard.” They did a “test” with movement of my eyes that got me instantly dizzy and it validated that there is a connection to the aneurysms’ locations in the posterior interior carotid arteries. They are telling me that they can work with me through PT for the next 8 weeks to help with the dizziness and that the brain has great plasticity and can be retrained. I would say ask your neurologist to refer you to vestibular PT.