I've been having bad symptoms with vision loss, tinnitus, vertigo, etc.  It has been strange, and I also have migraines.  I was in the ER recently as I woke up in the middle of the night with severe pressure on the top of my head, swelling on the left side of my neck, and my left arm was numb. It was terrifying.  They said to follow up with a cardiologist.

I finallly got the results of the MRI with contrast, I was very scared to get it as i knew that something has been going wrong for some time.  And apparently I was right. The MRI revealed that I have had a stroke. It was extremely upsetting to hear, yet I am not surprised.  The bizarre symptoms are starting to fit together-and I know that my cholesterol is very high. I have been asking the doctor about it for years and years, they keep telling me it's "good cholesterol"  (some times it's been up to 300) and at times my blood pressure has been high.  All this does increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.  The pulsatile tinnitus and vertigo I now understand can fit with cardiac issues and blocked arteries.  I will admit I am scared. This obviously was a small stroke. I was always suspcious during these migraines that I was in fact having a stroke instead. I guess I was right.

So I was told to start taking aspirin every day.  From what I read, stroke can be caused by plaque breaking away and disturbing blood flow.  When I woke up that night a couple of weeks ago there was a tremedous pressure on the top of my head, I felt like there was water in my head. They told me I didn't have a stroke that particular day. I was surprised to hear there was one earlier.  Wow.  My real concern was some kind of growth due to recent intermittent vision loss (that also can be a heart issue too)

I guess I have some follow up work to do. This has all been very very scary. One of the nurses said when I was there I must have been having a panic attack???  Ok sure...