My inr has been within range for the last few months and I self test each week. But in May I suddenly developed problems with cognitive skills and am now much better. Brain scan didn't show anything obvious but it didn't 14yrs ago when I had a similar episode (that was before I was diagnosed with Hughes) I have been seeing a neurologist who has ordered some blood tests and heart checks but I have had these before and nothing showed up.
He admits that we will probably never get to the bottom of what happened as what happened in 1998 but everything points to a tiny stroke. Has anyone else experienced this?
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panda60
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I am currently going through the same - MY INR has been largely in range, or in fact too high at times - my range is 3 - 4 but I have gone up to 5.6 anyhow - for the past 2 or 3 months I have been having problems with working out money, ie when paying for things I count the money, but then get confused if I have counted it right, even though in my head I know I have. I give my family and friends much laughter, when I call grapes, giraffes, and although I know I am saying the wrong word, cannot say the right one, Strawberries can be sausages, beetroot pinapple lol you see what I mean :). I consistently say my hoover is in the fridge with cleaning materials under the fridge rather than the sink etc etc. I have regular low oxygen levels due to lung disease and damage from PE's, and am due to have a MRI and angio of the brain on Monday, like you to look for small strokes (Tia's) or small bleeds.
I do so appreciate your reply. Whatever happened seems to have more or less gone (I hope!) but I hope the neurologist can give me some answers. Each 'incident' has been related to a particular event - 1998 was a minor operation, this time a flight from Glasgow to Gatwick. It is exhausting when your brain doesn't work properly. The episode was very frightening, especially since it was the second time and I am hoping that it doesn't happen again.
Interesting that you are having an angio of the brain - this wasn't suggested to me, but then again you do have a different history to mine as I haven't had any PEs.
I have a question. Is the self test you do the finger prick and then use the machine to test? If so, that might be one of the problems. You might be getting wrong readings which leave you vulnerable to problesm.
I was told that people with APS can get false readings on those machines (about 30%). I have even experienced it. My doctor/medical institution insist I come in for a blood draw so they can get an accurate reading. If you google aps and home test machine you will see several articles on it. Here is a link to one:
I have been self-testing for 4 yrs at the suggestion of the consultant at St Thomas' and they have been quite happy with that. The neurologist who is treating me at the moment has asked me to have a venous sample to compare with the prick test so will be interested to see the result. I do know that I have never tested positive for LA and all the others are either normal or a very weak positive.
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