The 'Stroke' Case - under construction
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Lynn came to me because the UCLA stroke specialist told her, "I don't think you had a stroke.
I don't know what else to do for you. You have 3 choices. You can go to physical therapy to
stretch your neck. You can go to UCLA headache clinic. Or you can go see this lady (that I
heard about from a neurologist colleague of mine - my edit)."
One year ago, Lynn ,65 yrs old, had a sense that something was horribly wrong. She kept
telling her PCP, "you have to do something, something is terribly wrong with me, something
bad is going to happen." Her PCP diagnosed her with anxiety and put her on Zoloft (an
anti-anxiety, anti-depressant). Then in November 2008, she passed out in her driveway and
hit her head on the pavement. She was taken by ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital.
In the ER, she met Dr. Ohanian. The ER doctors thought that she had a stroke. Testing was
negative. She followed up with him. In the meanwhile, her blood pressure was erratic and she
was put on Diovan 80mg twice daily. Cardiologists did not think that she had a heart issue,
nevertheless, to be cautious, they insert a loop recorder in her L upper chest.
No one knows what is going on. One day she has a 'panic attack' and drives straight to UCLA.
The cardiologists who thought she was a crazy lady noticed the state that she was in. They
drew blood levels and found that her dopamine levels were "sky high." They now take her
seriously and start a full body scan to look for a dopamine secreting tumor -which is never
found.
Lynn has had migraines for 20yrs. Her body is a physical mess.
I don't know what else to do for you. You have 3 choices. You can go to physical therapy to
stretch your neck. You can go to UCLA headache clinic. Or you can go see this lady (that I
heard about from a neurologist colleague of mine - my edit)."
One year ago, Lynn ,65 yrs old, had a sense that something was horribly wrong. She kept
telling her PCP, "you have to do something, something is terribly wrong with me, something
bad is going to happen." Her PCP diagnosed her with anxiety and put her on Zoloft (an
anti-anxiety, anti-depressant). Then in November 2008, she passed out in her driveway and
hit her head on the pavement. She was taken by ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital.
In the ER, she met Dr. Ohanian. The ER doctors thought that she had a stroke. Testing was
negative. She followed up with him. In the meanwhile, her blood pressure was erratic and she
was put on Diovan 80mg twice daily. Cardiologists did not think that she had a heart issue,
nevertheless, to be cautious, they insert a loop recorder in her L upper chest.
No one knows what is going on. One day she has a 'panic attack' and drives straight to UCLA.
The cardiologists who thought she was a crazy lady noticed the state that she was in. They
drew blood levels and found that her dopamine levels were "sky high." They now take her
seriously and start a full body scan to look for a dopamine secreting tumor -which is never
found.
Lynn has had migraines for 20yrs. Her body is a physical mess.