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Home > Archive > Neurological Disorders > August 2006 > Stroke, Dementia, and Blood Thinners
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Stroke, Dementia, and Blood Thinners
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| My grandfather, 85 yro, allegedly had a stroke 3 months ago. A CT scan
revealed nothing, but his GP prescribed him Coumadin anyways. He now
experiences "heaviness" in his left arm, and finds tasks such as shaving his
facial hair difficult so his GP increased his Coumadin dosage. The GP also
believes my grandfather is experiencing early AD and prescribed a drug. I
thought the drug was Rapidine for some reason, but it appears I am wrong so
I will have to call my Aunt tomorrow.
First of all, I believe my grandfather needs to see a Neurologist and not
his GP about his symptoms/stroke/dementia. Secondly, and y'alls advice is
appreciated here, I believe my grandfather should have a fMRI, SPECT or PET
scan done to evaluate blood/oxygen/etc. flow in his brain. Am I wrong?
What other tests should he have done? The reason I would like for him to
have a functional scan done is because I am wondering if my grandfather
could have vascular dementia or something else other than AD, and if
Coumadin could make his symptoms worse. If he is having a hemorrhagic
stroke or series of mini-strokes/seizures (guess an EEG couldn't hurt), I
don't know if increasing Coumadin is appropriate.
Any feedback, thoughts, and or advice would be appreciated.
Jena
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| jeremyginzberg@yahoo.com 2006-08-22, 4:28 pm |
| jena i dont know much about the tests you asked about -- altho im
leery, and i do know that pet scan 'research' has been cited by
biological psychiatrists as 'proof' that distress is congenital whereas
many neurologists consider their claims ludicrous -- but i do know a
bit about coumadin.
firstly i call it by its real/nontrade name. warfarin. exactly the same
chemical you can buy in a hardward store ---for killing rats. it
inhibits vitamin k production (vitamin k is clotting factor and w/o it
when you bleed you keep bleeding) and since rats lead a sort of life
whereby you get cuts and wounds then they bleed to death. a drug
company somehow came up with the genius idea that if you give vitamin k
to people who have had blood clots in their brains (strokes) then maybe
they wont have another. this was an experimental idea when my mother
got put on it in the nineties and i dont think the data is much better
now
and there are huge problems with stopping your vk production. it
shortened ma's life considerably since she had all the
contraindications -- ulcers heavy drinking other drugs hard to manage
pt tendency to fall -- that can lead to bleeding. almost died of
undiagnosed anemia when her drinking activated her ulcer. no one should
take coumadin in the absence of a confirmation of the sort of stroke
that it supposedly inhibits having already occurred.
a neurologist sounds like a good idea -- altho my moms was useless,
prescribing the coumadin to someone who should not have had it and
telling her she could have one drink a day. the gp sounds like an
overmedicating moron
_jena wrote:
> My grandfather, 85 yro, allegedly had a stroke 3 months ago. A CT scan
> revealed nothing, but his GP prescribed him Coumadin anyways. He now
> experiences "heaviness" in his left arm, and finds tasks such as shaving his
> facial hair difficult so his GP increased his Coumadin dosage. The GP also
> believes my grandfather is experiencing early AD and prescribed a drug. I
> thought the drug was Rapidine for some reason, but it appears I am wrong so
> I will have to call my Aunt tomorrow.
>
> First of all, I believe my grandfather needs to see a Neurologist and not
> his GP about his symptoms/stroke/dementia. Secondly, and y'alls advice is
> appreciated here, I believe my grandfather should have a fMRI, SPECT or PET
> scan done to evaluate blood/oxygen/etc. flow in his brain. Am I wrong?
> What other tests should he have done? The reason I would like for him to
> have a functional scan done is because I am wondering if my grandfather
> could have vascular dementia or something else other than AD, and if
> Coumadin could make his symptoms worse. If he is having a hemorrhagic
> stroke or series of mini-strokes/seizures (guess an EEG couldn't hurt), I
> don't know if increasing Coumadin is appropriate.
>
> Any feedback, thoughts, and or advice would be appreciated.
>
> Jena
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| mmlevy46@hotmail.com 2006-08-27, 4:33 pm |
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_jena wrote:
> My grandfather, 85 yro, allegedly had a stroke 3 months ago. A CT scan
> revealed nothing, but his GP prescribed him Coumadin anyways. He now
> experiences "heaviness" in his left arm, and finds tasks such as shaving his
> facial hair difficult so his GP increased his Coumadin dosage. The GP also
> believes my grandfather is experiencing early AD and prescribed a drug. I
> thought the drug was Rapidine for some reason, but it appears I am wrong so
> I will have to call my Aunt tomorrow.
>
is your grandfather on other medications? if he is, how long has he
been taking them?
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