Anxiety attack that looks like a stroke? Or, FHMOBPOS???

[Bertha Venation]

Anyone heard of this? My 14 year old nephew last night. Here are the symptoms, from my sister:

"He suddenly felt really hot, and within about a minute after that comment, he had to lean on the kitchen counter for support and began to groan and cry uncontrollably about a severe headache. I led him to the couch and spent a few minutes to calm him down enough to tell me what he felt, and he said the left side of his head was trying to explode, said he could feel it pressing on his skull. I got him an advil and a glass of water, which he gulped immediately and asked for more. He gulped 2 more glasses of water, then said he was beginning to feel a little better.

"I then tried to get him to go lie down, but as soon as he moved, his head started to throb and he started crying again. I got a cold rag to put on his head/face and just sat with him on the couch for a while, and in a few minutes he was asleep. After about 10 minutes, I woke him up to get him into bed. During the walk from the couch to his room, he became nauseous but did not throw up. I he got undressed and into bed, I put the cold rag back on his head, and when he tried to tell me how he felt, his words were all scrambled and incoherent. He realized it and became very frustrated, and tried talking very slowly to make sure he got it right but it still didn't come out right. Also, he was having muscle spasms in his arms and legs whenever he tried to move them (the movements were very jerky and he said he didn't feel he had normal control of them).

~snip~

"After checking in at the E.R., around 5:05, we sat in the waiting room and I saw a cooking magazine with his favorite guy from Food TV on the cover, so I showed it to him. We turned to the page with the cover story, and I asked him to read one of the larger captions - I think it said "Jacques Torres has a show called Chocolate with Jacques Torres on Food TV" or something like that. When he read it, he said "Jacquesss Tor shows chollic". He tried a couple more times, slower, and finally got it almost right.

"His main complaint by the time we were seen at 5:30ish was pain on the left side of his neck. They did blood & urine tests and a CT scan, and found nothing out of the ordinary. We left around 6:30 with a diagnosis of "anxiety" and a recommendation to follow up with his primary care physician."

Anxiety? Stroke?

Is the ER just FHMOBPOS (fucking HMO bastard pieces of shit)?

EDIT: Let me amend this post by saying that I'm not requesting medical advice on my sister's behalf. She's got it covered. But while I'm anxiously waiting for word, I'm desperate for clues about what might be going on.

[realisticphish]

1. keeping in mind that i am

only a psych student, that does NOT sound like an anxiety attack.

[steve2470]

2. um I'm not a neurologist but I am a MHP. That is NOT

anxiety. It sounds more like an neurological event. Get him to a neurologist.

[NuckinFutz]

3. Sounds like a migraine to me...

I think your final conclusion is correct...FHMOBPOS... BIG TIME.

[ewagner]

4. TIA???

I would have him check with a doc as soon as possible.

I just went through a class on strokes and TIA (mini-strokes) and I'd be suspicious as hell and have the docs check him out.....

[Bertha Venation]

7. my sister has had TIAs, they think...

yeah, could be...

[radwriter0555]

19. HEY, how's the KID????

We all wanna KNOW!!!!!

[Bertha Venation]

22. UPDATE ON MY NEPHEW

He's fine. He slept about 38 hours in two days' time, and ate a lot whenever he woke up. Of course they're still going to have him checked out thoroughly -- but my sister still has not heard from her "primary care physician" yet --

fucking hmo bastard pieces of shit

Thank you for asking, Radwriter.

[Cadence]

5. Sure sounds like it.

That doesn't fit with any description of anxiety I've ever heard. The not being able to read words correctly or speak correctly sounds more like a stroke symptom to me to. I would get him checked by a specialist quickly.

[prolesunited]

6. Only way to tell for certain

would be an MRI scan on his brain, which would detect any bleeding. However, anxiety is not all in your head and can manifest itself in very real physical symptoms that can be measured, like increased heart rate or breathing.

They should go visit their regular doctor ASAP for a complete assessment.

[radwriter0555]

8. Sounds like he threw his neck out and got a headache from it, and got an

anxiety attack from the headache pain.

Since the CT scan didn't indicate a stroke, the ER docs are most likely right.

How is the child now?

[Bertha Venation]

9. angry, scared, frustrated, but resting -- and waiting to hear from the

fhmobpos doctor's office

[GOPisEvil]

10. Sounds like what they told a friend of mine.

He literally thought he was going to die, and they told him that it was an intense anxiety attack.

He eliminated caffiene and has been fine that I know of. :shrug:

[caledesi]

11. Go a Neurologist ASAP. This is not anxiety. I know bec

I had many of the same symptoms when I was 25 and went to THREE emergency rooms when they finally brought in a Neuro and they did a spinal tap. I had viral encephalitis.

My symtoms: speaking jibberish (called aphasia), then speaking okay.

- numbness in right side of body (eventually became temporarily paralyzed).

- the worse headache I have ever endured in my life.

- stiff, stiff neck

By the time the paramedics arrived, I was vomiting, couldn't move the right side of my body, couldn't even speak at all, wicked headache....

This is nothing to fool around with.

[u4ic]

12. That was my first thought as well,

Meningitis.

[Akoto]

13. He should see a physician.

I have suffered from anxiety and migraines since I was about your nephew's age, but I've never had symptoms like those. It's better to be safe than to assume, especially when the incidents are as severe as what you have described. I've certainly *never* had issues with speaking correctly, even in the worst of my migraines.

[elehhhhna]

14. Hubby had that with a migraine--i thought he was having a stroke--

he had some doozy migraines when he quit smoking and once was slurring and aphasiac--

But he also had Meningitis at 18 and it's exactly as described above (encephelitis post) , plus a high fever...

[Akoto]

15. Speaking from personal experience ...

I've never had anything like this happen, or at least not all of these symptoms together, and I've got migraines severe enough to be perscribed some knock-down painkillers.

I could be wrong, of course. I'm not a physician. Just the same, this sounds too different (to me) to not get an alternative diagnosis. :)

[elehhhhna]

16. You're absolutely right--this is all anecdotal...

but vision and speech can temporarily be affected. (i've got migraines, too, but NEVER liek that).

[caledesi]

18. Forgot, I had a fever too w/ encephalitis. nt

[Nikia]

17. He should definitely be checked out

He could have a couple things going on. He could have a number of physical problems, which may have triggered a panic attack. Many panic are a physical anxiety reactions to real physical events, both major and minor. Both problems can continue to reinforce each other for a while. That is why I think that doctors should do a better job of trying to figure out whether people with panic attacks have any physical problems whether it is something serious like strokes or something realatively minor like chronic acid reflux.

[bigwillq]

20. Give the kid my best

I am not a doctor so I won't try to pretend to figure out what happened to him but I've had anxiety attacks for the last two months or so and they're not fun.

[osaMABUSh]

21. I had one anxiety attack ten years ago - what a trip!

Here's the scenario: various personal issues (job troubles, newborn baby , finances) plus having just come off nose surgery that used liquid cocaine (I guess) as the local anesthesia plus Percocet for pain (I normally rarely take even an Advil) all contributed to an anxiety attack.

So I left work unable to concentrate and could barely walk to my car and then barely drive home. Got home, thought I was dying, but no idea why. My wife took me to the ER and there was absolutely nothing physically wrong with me.

I recovered fully a week or so later and never had another attack. The trick is never taking anything too seriously - especially work. I just don't worry about it.

The coolest thing during the attack was that music sounded so awesome and clear (like a moment of clarity). We had the radio on the way to the ER and it kept me going and was totally awesome - like I had never "heard" a song before. Just that experience was almost worth the attack. Maybe that's what LSD is like...