Hi Nick,

Sorry to hear about your problems, by the way it sounds to me like
this has the potential to cause a severe stroke regardless of what
your doctor said. If I were you I would talk to another neurologist
and maybe get some different types of MRI's done. I wouldn't be
surprised that if they looked a little bit harder that they would
find something. They did my pfo and I just had a couple of really
tiny white spots on my brain and I never have really had any stroke
symptoms as severe as you have described. Remember it's up to you to
make your doctors properly diagnose you because the majority of them
will usually take the easy route and just say you are fine when you
know damn well there is something wrong. The more I learn about how
much doctors actually know about the brain the more I realize how
much we actually are in the dark ages when it comes to medicine.

Good luck,
Dirk


--- In PFOSupport@yahoogroups.com, "nickcolwell" <nickcolwell@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> With the new buzz about PFO and migraine, I decided last year to
see
> if I have a PFO. I've had migraines with aura since I was 14. I
am
> now 37. My aura consists of visual spots, numbness in face and
> arms, garbled speech, and vomiting and then a whopping headache.
It
> usually knocks me out for a day. I normally get 2-3 a year, which
> isn't as bad as some people get, but I would do almost ANYTHING to
> stop them.
>
> I first had a chest ultrasound and that wasn't conclusive. I then
> had a TEE and they found a small PFO. I talked to 2 cardiologists
> who could seal the PFO. The first wanted to close it, but needed
> proof that there has been some ischemic activity(stroke-like), but
> my MRI showed none. That was good because my aura seems stroke-
like
> to me, because my symptoms are usually on only one side. On the
> other hand, he couldn't close the PFO due to the lack of proof of
> ischemic activity (FDA regulations).
>
> The second cardiologist told me that there were risks involved in
> closing a PFO and since the research doesn't show 100% that if I
got
> the PFO closed, my migraines would stop. He advised against
closing
> the PFO.
>
> So, now I'm back to square one. I know I have a PFO, but can't
get
> it closed. I still have migraines. I guess I will have to wait
> until more studies come out regarding PFO and migraine. If there
is
> a clear connection between the two, then I will get it closed.
>
> In the meantime, the hospital where I got my TEE done has
purchased
> a Trans Cranial Doppler machine. Since they knew I had a PFO,
they
> invited me to try it out so the doctors could see a positive
test.
> It worked and was much less invasive than the TEE. I would highly
> recommend the TC Doppler over the TEE for comfort sake when trying
> to diagnose PFO.
>
> Good luck, juggletax. Let us know what happens.
>
> Nick
>
> --- In PFOSupport@yahoogroups.com, Violet Flame 11
> <violetflame11@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi there,
> > My PFO was diagnosed by a bubble echo and then an TEE bubble
> echo. I'm not sure if the doppler is the best diagnostic tool.
> Anyhow, my PFO got closed because I have a history of 2 strokes.
I
> don't think that the FDA is in favor of closing them in people who
> haven't had strokes. Are you connected with a research study that
> is doing the closures?
> > Vi
> >
> > juggletax <juggletax@> wrote:
> > In an effort to determine whether a PFO is causing my
> migraines with
> > aura, I had a TCDoppler. The results were invalid due to
improper
> > protocol. I'll be getting tested again next month.
> >
> > It's good to know others have my same concerns. It would be
great
> if
> > this whole connection pans out in a fix.
> >
>