Vertebral Artery Dissection

Personal VAD & Stroke Stories - Page 4

These are just some of the personal stories people have sent to me since April 2008.  There are many more but problems with email accounts mean I don't have emails previous to that.

Please share your personal story on the site.

Go to Page 1, 2, 3, 4 

The stories are in no particular order and I have purposely not included names or personal information.

Bi-Lat VAD, Stroke, Chiropractic Manipulation, F36

I didn't realize that so many others have experienced what I had until I happened to find this page Googling vertebral artery dissection.

I was home alone and outside running a snowblower on a Sat morning in December, when suddenly the whole world was spinning and I was falling to one side. I got myself in the house somehow and then started to feel worse. I found my cell phone in my pocket but couldn't think right to call 911. I pressed speed dial and got a friend. By this time, I couldn't feel my entire left side and couldn't talk. My friend couldn't understand half of what I was saying but got help and hospital out of it. The ambulance came and they said they believed I was having a stroke. A stroke at age 36!!! I got to the ER and they did CT scan, showing nothing except a sinus infection. They were stumped. They did a spinal tap and saw nothing there. They admitted me to the hospital without any real diagnosis, but I couldn't walk and was still super dizzy. At least I could feel my arm and leg again by this time.

The next day the hospital doc came in and she was a young woman near my age. She was determined to find the cause of the original symptoms and did an MRI. They found bilateral artery dissection and that I had also had 3 small strokes.

I spent 9 days in the hospital over Christmas, and went through the typical heparin drip & anti-clot shots in the belly. I had days and days of spinal headaches from the tap but they couldn't do the blood patch due to the level of my blood, so I just had pain meds to deal. After finally getting home, I eventually could walk some without getting dizzy.

I have recovered fairly well in the last 3 months, although I still have a few lingering effects. Sometimes I stutter really bad, especially when I'm tired. I have horrible anxiety that is making life difficult, and I'm still trying to get back to driving. When I drive, I can only handle a short amount of time before it's just too much information for me to handle. Same with large crowds of people; too many conversations at once and for some reason my brain wants to listen to every one of them. Hopefully with more time and practice these will all get better. And now my migraines that I had been seeing chiropractic for are back and am having to find a new way to deal.

If I had known that the years of chiro care I had been getting for my migraines would cause this to happen to me, I certainly would have found an alternative. This has been the hardest thing I've had to handle.

VAD, Stroke, Spontaneous, F28

Last May, I answered the telephone at work around 10 am on a Thursday.  I began having shooting pain in my ear, horrible headaches and over 3 weeks, 6 doctors couldn't figure out what it was.  I worked at a chiropractic clinic and began having ultrasounds done on my neck.  I was always scared of manipulations and would not have them done.  After going to the ED for help and being told there was nothing on the CT and that I had a severe ear infection, I told my boss about everything and he suggested I get an xray to make sure I was free of fracture. In the following week I saw and ENT who said I did not have an ear infection and the xray came back negaitive.  I took a week off of work and began taking numerous pain medication and muscle relaxers, perscribed by my GP, just to be able to "function."  May 29, 1:30pm I had my appointment with my chiro.  (it is important to note that only one chiropractor at the practice refused to do the manipulation with out an MRI).  The c-sp
 ine adjustment was fast and the sound was horrible.  I expected that.  I did not expect to have the most painful, shooting, heat through the center of my head.  I screamed and then shut up because we had a client in the waiting room.  I sat up and moved to the chair in the corner of the room.  I never lost motor function but I did lose complete feeling in my right side.  The chiro helped me walk back to the table and ran a few tests on my face; then called the owner of the clinic.  I was told it's a stinger like in football. The next thing I knew I was being put into an ambulance.  I was not tested for stroke until around midnight at the hospital.  Everything else was considered first because I was only 27.  In the hospital I had the standard heprin treatment (which they messed up) followed by the coumidain.  I recieved my DC from OT and PT while in the hospital.  I asked to be put back into therapy in the month following.  I went through 6 months of OT, PT and cognative the
 rapies and I had to stop because we lost insurance.  However, my case was mild and I have been able to continue getting stronger at home.  I have regained most feeling and function.  Obviously I had something going on before the manipulation but was it a dissection?  who knows.  We do know that the adjustment kicked out a clot and caused a stroke; the doctors could not tell me how the dissection occured.  I was considered healthy, no trauma, and the only medication was oral contraceptives. I'm in the Dallas area and was treated at Presbytrian Hospital Plano.

Also, it is worth noting:  no tests were preformed to rule out VAD.  There are tests avalible.  In our clinic there was a release from stating the possible side effects of adjustments.  I no longer work there; in fact I have not returned to the work force since then.  My joke the day of the stroke was I'd rather be paralyzed than feel this pain...be careful what you ask for.

VAD, No Stroke, Spontaneous (but fell), F54

I had a VAD in August 2003. I am in fine health now. This is my story:  While vacationing I had a fall that may have jerked my neck; I also suffered a severe whiplash 15 years prior. After the fall, I lost fine motor control in my right hand and had Horners Syndrome in my left eye. I also felt sick with a sore throat, sore neck and shoulder muscles and fatigue. I went to an ER and the physician told me I had Lyme Disease. I went to my PCP at home, he sent my to an eye doctor, the eye doctor sent me to a Cleveland Clinic Opthamology Neurologist. After MRI he told me I must have had a dissection of the carotid artery although he could not see it. I then went to another neurologist at CCF who ordered an angiogram. The angiogram showed the occluded VAD.

It took 10 days days to get the diagnosis. I was on Coumadin for 3 months and restricted activity. It was frightening. I was so tired. I needed naps and I have never slept so deeply. My neck, shoulder and arm were sore as the blood vessels rerouted themselves. 

I slowly got my life back. I have been on 325mg aspirin,fish oil and Toprol XL since then. For the first few years, I would get easliy confused, especially when I had to do accounting . My brain would freeze. I also experience a tingling feeling on the top on my head and pulsar tinnitus upon rising from a sitting position. There are portions of my memory that are completely gone now. 

I was told that I had a stroke- they could see it in the MRI. My other VA took over and it is working well. I know I was blessed not to have any worse complications. I am glad you have a site where others who have gone through this can learn from eachother. When I had my VAD in 2003, there was very little information available. 

I hope I can give encouragement to someone who may be going through the early stages of recovery. Hang in there and take good care of yourself. It's worth it!

VAD, No Stroke, Spontaneous, F48

Well its nice to know I'm not alone. I have a VAD on the left side. I was diagnosised in January 2009. Never thought I would be 2 months out and no closer to the cause. Either birth defect or collasped interior artery wall. Still having symptoms. I was hospitalized for 3 days. The neuro came in .for the first time the nite I was released and stayed a total of 5 minutes Stated he agreed with the GP that I had a TIA and the MRI, MRA had shown a VAD of the left artery. Strange, all my numbness and other sysmtoms are on the LEFT SIDE also! Neuro stated to follow up with him in 2 weeks. Ha! Can't step on toes in this town. Still waiting for appt. with neuro of choice, Have to have that referral! My family has a history of heart disease. I made me an appt with cardio dr. an got that checked out. No blockages there. Hope I get an appt. soon. Went to the eye M.D. today for my swollen and numb feeling eye. Have some nerve damage. Sorry I got on my soap box. They took my hormones have given me nothing for my mental support. Plavix an aspirin. I take cholestriol medicine now to help my already great numbers. I've never been sick. Always worked out an watched my diet. The not knowing and holding my emotions in check because my family has never seen me down and doesn't want me to be is about to get the best of me. Anyway thanks for the ear and I would love to hear from the person with the "burning pain" up the back of their neck into their head.

VAD, Stroke, Spontaneous, F?

Hi Chris.  Just came across your website.  It’s amazing how much material is online now compared to 8 years ago when I had my VAD—there was nothing!  Sharon Stone had it shortly after me and it got in the news, then more info. started appearing about it.  I haven’t been online looking for years so am pleasantly surprised to see there is more out there. 

My neurologist here in Kansas City was a complete dickhead, and didn’t know much about dissections.  So I went to the Mayo Clinic after finding a couple white papers written on VAD by a dr. there.  He gave me totally different advice than my KC neuro, so I’ve chosen to live my life on my own terms.  (one said—go live your life, take no precautions, you have nothing to worry about; the other said—you should avoid any extreme exertion to your body; having a child? make sure it’s a C-section; don’t participate in boot-camp like sports; just don’t exert yourself, etc.)

I recovered fully after my VAD, even though I did have a stroke and lost about 40% of my cerebellum.  All fine (never even had PT—pretty much walked away from it).  My left vertebral artery closed off from the dissection, but the right VA has ‘taken over’ and continues to feed my brain stem.  No problems.  Except when I work out.  Sometimes I get the vision aberration and a small headache when I’m working out hard.  I freaked out a couple times and went to the ER when this happened initially, but my (ridiculous) KC neuro (that I hate) said I’m just having migraines.  Thing is, I never had a migraine in my life until this VAD thing and it was causing mini-strokes, which had symptoms just like migraines.  Hard to swallow that’s a coincidence.  Are they really migraines (and why do I only get these when I work out hard), or is it some after-effect from my VAD 8 years ago (maybe bloodflow is already more restricted to my brainstem and when I work out, it’s even more so and it causes low oxygen to go to my occipital lobe, leading to the vision and neuro symptoms); or is it a new dissection rearing up?  Maybe I don’t want to know.

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Read other Personal Stories of VAD's and share your personal story on the site.

Chiropractic Adjustments Causing Vertebral Artery Dissections?

"Is it true that getting your neck adjusted by a chiropractor can actually cause a stroke?" - "Absolutely"

Sandy Nette's Story

Sandy's goal is for chiropractors to stop neck manipulations.

Britt Harwe's Story

One of Britt's goals is that chiropractors be required to offer an informed consent form.