Suddenly unable to speak

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JustMeUC

Recycles dryer sheets
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I've tried to google this but I'm only coming up with something related to strokes. I thought perhaps someone here had heard of this?

I'm back home visiting family, and my aunt and I decided to go shopping at the mall. She drove. 3 different times over a 4 hour period my aunt suddenly was unable to speak. It would last for less than a minute and afterwards for just a minute or so she seem to be slightly confused. I asked her what was going on and she said she had been to the doctors about it and it was nothing to be worried about. I asked her if she was able to drive still and she says yes of course she could think clearly she just couldn't get the words out.

I asked another family member about it and they told me that it has been going on for over a year but it had increased the last month or so. Is anyone ever heard of something like this or know anything about it?
 
She needs to get to a doctor, ASAP:

Common stroke symptoms seen in both men and women:

  • Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg -- especially on one side of the body
  • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
  • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
  • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
  • Sudden severe headache with no known cause
Click to expand...
National Stroke Association
 
She has RA and goes to the doctor regularly. Everytime I tried to google it all I am coming up with is stroke also but this has been going on over a year.
 
I've tried to google this but I'm only coming up with something related to strokes.
Click to expand...

Probably a reason for that. Could also be a really really rare condition that will stump everybody trying to find it. Get thee to a doctory
 
It does not have to be a big full blown stroke.... there are things called mini strokes... my mom suffers from them...

She is getting a lot worse with her dementia.... as far as we know she never had this symptom...

I would try a different doctor.. no problem in getting a second opinion...


BTW, many decades ago my mom had a pinched nerve... she went to MANY different doctors who told her she had to live with it... it was arthritis.... she finally found a doc who knew exactly what it was in the first few minutes... she got a couple of shots of steroids and it went away forever... no, she did NOT have to live with it...
 
I'm actually leaving today to go back home. I'll try to talk my sister into encouraging her to go back to the doctor regarding this but my aunt is not somebody that you can TELL to do something. She's seventy years old and was out in the yard, up a ladder using a chainsaw other day. My sister's husband told her he would cut it down after he got home from work that day but she said that she was able to do it herself. Telling her that she has to go to the doctor for this is not going to be an easy thing!
 
samclem said:
+1. I would go to a different doctor than the one who told me it was nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

+3

A rheumatologist is not the ideal doctor to consult for emergency stroke treatment, AFAIK. Take her to the emergency room.

Also, I would not want to be riding in a car that she is driving. She probably should not drive until this is sorted out.
 
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I could no more take her to the emergency room that I could load up a bull and take him. I know she has a full physical scheduled in the next couple of weeks I'm going to make sure that my sister goes with her in case my aunt doesn't mention it my sister will.

I definitely worried about her driving but once again I can't control her. I suppose I could report her to DMV but I'm really not sure how I would go about doing that or what they would do.
 
I don't think any competent doctor would hear a patient say "For a few minutes I was unable to speak. When I come out of it, I am confused" and tell her, without a very thorough workup or a referral to a specialst, that there's nothing to worry about. Your aunt either heard it wrong or is in denial (maybe thinks she can "walk off" a stroke).
If these are mini-strokes, there are good and effective treatment. She's at big potential risk for a life-altering or life-ending stroke. Pour on the guilt: "Who's gonna tale care of ______ if you can't because you are bedridden for 10 years because you wouldn't go see about this? It's serious!"
If she goes to an ER she'll probably get a good workup right away, and they'll give her instructions on what to do when it happens again. She'll probably also get a referral to a doctor who is trained to treat this.
Edited to add: This was crossposted, I didn't see Post 11 before writing it.
 
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Sounds like it could be a minor seizure type of thing also. Possibly a small brain tumor or other neurological involvement.
 
I, too, advise a second opinion -- this is way too serious to ignore.

Now, having said that, this could be a side effect of some medicine she is taking. Several years ago (5?), about a week after starting on a medication, I got in my car backed out of the driveway, went to the end of the street and stopped at the stop sign. Suddenly, I had complete amnesia -- I didn't know who I was, where I was, where I was going, how to get back, etc. Obviously, there was pure panic... a feeling of overwhelming terror. As suddenly as it started, it ended (and took about as long as it took to tell of it.) Well, a week later I had an appointment with my doctor and mentioned it. Although, he was very interested, he didn't feel there was anything to worry about. Well, a week after that, it happened again but this time for a much shorter time -- perhaps a few seconds. I, then, read the sheet of paper that the pharmacy gave me with the medicine and found that (among a long list of side effects) rarely it would cause hallucinations. It has not happened since and I still take the medication in the same dosage. Yeah, I know, there is no proof but...
 
She is on at least a dozen medicines, some really strong ones like methotrexate, for her RA.. so could be the side effect if one of them I suppose.
 
While it could be seizures, I think the most likely cause is TIA (transient ischemic attacks). Your aunt may not be fully aware while they are happening so she is not an objective observer, and either way she is a danger on the road. It's essential that she get proper medical attention as soon as possible. She is at risk of a major stroke at any time.

I had a similar experience some years ago when visiting my elderly mother (who did not drive). She would repeatedly stop suddenly in the middle of a conversation and be unable to speak for a minute or so. Then she would pick up where she had left off. She was completely unaware this was happening. I took her to her family doctor that day where she was prescribed low dose aspirin. The symptoms never recurred and she lived several more years without ever having had a stroke.

Disclaimer: I am a retired doctor, but not a stroke specialist.
 
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Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I just got off the phone with my sister and she is going to sit down and talk with my aunt about this tomorrow. She hopefully will get thru to her and try to get her to go to the doctor ASAP but if not, then she will definitely accompany her to her physical which she said was on the 29th. Hopefully we can get it sorted out.

If this is TIA's is this normal that it could go on this long, more than a year, and the if they are getting more frequent, is this a sign that a major stroke is becoming more likely?

Perhaps she is in denial, but if so, how do you convince someone that they need to seek help NOW?
 
Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I just got off the phone with my sister and she is going to sit down and talk with my aunt about this tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I don't think the URGENCY of this has been fully communicated. If these are mini-strokes or if they are TIA, there is no way your Aunt should be driving. There's no reason to believe that a future attack will selectively affect speech in an easily recoverable way. Imagine a future attack while driving at highway speed that involves losing motor control, or vision, or simply knocks her out. She needs to get this diagnosed (and treated if possible) before she gets on the road again.

These can also be warning signs of conditions that could lead to a more severe stroke. Get diagnosed and treated before a more severe stroke leaves permanent damage.
 
JustMeUC said:
If this is TIA's is this normal that it could go on this long, more than a year, and the if they are getting more frequent, is this a sign that a major stroke is becoming more likely?
Click to expand...

Yes and yes. (A non-medical person's opinion.) I have know people who have had TIAs for so long (years) they no longer see them as a threat -- a serious lapse in judgment. It goes something like each TIA destroys a small portion of the brain that is compensated for until the destruction is so great the healthy portion of the brain cannot handle it -- death by a thousand cuts.

A Google search should be useful here.
 
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My MIL had tia's for a long time. Never had a major stroke. Died of natural causes at 92. She said she could see bright colored stars on the floor. When she would see them she would sit down and wait for it to pass. I guess in this way it is like a hallucination.
 
JustMeUC said:
Perhaps she is in denial, but if so, how do you convince someone that they need to seek help NOW?
Click to expand...
For one thing, don't go along with her treating it lightly. I don't know if you rode in the car after that episode but don't do it again, and make it clear to her that you won't because you don't feel safe. Call her every day because you are afraid she'll be incapacitated by a stroke. Maybe she won't let you tell her what to do, but perhaps if you treat her like she's got a potentially dangerous health issue she'll get it.

Can you call her current doctor now and make sure he/she is being told the full story, and find out why the doctor is not concerned? The latter probably can't happen unless your aunt gives her consent for the doctor to give you information, but at least you can tell the doctor everything you are seeing and express your concerns.
 
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