Symptoms of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Other symptoms of CAA

So, we have all probably heard about the symptoms of a stroke to watch out for. The acronym FAST comes to mind. Look for weakness or sensory changes in the FACE and ARMS, particularly on one side, difficulties with SPEECH and act quickly (TIMELY) to seek medical attention.

This message looks different for someone with CAA. Of course, if these symptoms occur take the same action as advised because the person may have had a significant bleed in the brain. However, smaller bleeds and microbleeds look very different. How might these manifest themselves in symptoms that you can see? The answer is they may not. You and the person with CAA may be completely unaware that they are having one or more microbleeds. However, my experience is that you might notice:          

  • They are more fatigued or more confused than usual or they report feeling “a bit off”.
  • A higher degree of agitation or impulsive behaviour but nothing that makes you feel the need to take action. It's just a bit out of character. Hey, we all get a bit cross some times don't we?
  • Memory for day to day affairs becomes worse.
  • Sensory changes in the hands and face for a few minutes
  • Trouble with learning new tasks. Getting a new television, for example, can be very difficult to navigate.
  • Having trouble with technology in general even though they have previously been able to use the devices.
  • Reduced interest in everyday activities.

These are just a few symptoms, and could equally be said to be symptoms of slowly progressive dementia, however they are not dementia. The microbleeds cause gradual deterioration of cognitive function and are sometime quite subtle and not necessarily noticeable to friends and others in the early stages.

So the reality of CAA is that when these sorts of symptoms occur, you keep a watch. You become hyper-vigilant. We were advised not to rush to hospital and generally adopt a bit of a wait and see. I am always on the alert for how long the symptoms last, and also is it the start of a larger, significant bleed that may be life-changing? My husband’s first major stroke took 24 hours before it revealed itself to be an obvious stroke. In that 24 hours I just thought he was more quiet than usual. It was 24 hours later when he became confused and his speech affected that I realized that he’d had a major stroke, this time easily picked up by a CT scan. It was about the size of a golf ball, in his left frontal lobe.

Hyper-vigilance becomes part of your life as a carer. Not especially helpful or healthy over a long period of time for you, but an inherent part of caring for a loved one who has this insidious disease.

Welcome to the “Arena of CAA”. How are you going in the arena? Still standing or crumpling under the pressure and down on the ground. No judgement here. It’s a tough place to be in. Be kind to yourself.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brene Brown and Vulnerability

Image
In the arena of being a carer Over the years when I have found times to be tough, I go back to thinking of the quote "The Man in the Arena" but of course these days it would be good to re-title it as "The Person in the Arena". Theodore Roosevelt many years ago captured beautifully the courage of the person in the arena who "dares greatly", sometimes over and over again. Being "in the arena" is hard work. Sometimes you feel strong and can roll with the punches but at other times you feel like curling up in a corner of the arena and just taking a rest. Other times you may need to exit the arena temporarily or for a longer period but no one can ever say you didn't give it a crack and you can take pride in the fact that you were not one of those "cold and timid souls" who prefer to point the finger from the sidelines. What does this have to do with CAA? It's a tough job as a carer and tough as your role changes from th...
Read more

Amyloid Spells

  Amyloid Spells: What are they? This is a term that I only recently became familiar with. If you do an online search you will probably come up with something like this   Amyloid spells, also known as transient focal neurological episodes (TFNEs), are brief recurrent neurological episodes that can occur in people with CAA.   They can mimic seizures or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and are often misdiagnosed. Amyloid spells are caused by the deposition of amyloid-beta protein in the walls of blood vessels in the brain, leading to vessel fragility and potential neurological events.   So .... this explain s a lot. My husband's new neurologist   explained these at his last appointment. When asked about what signs and symptoms he had experienced since the last appointment we discussed: Days when his memory appeared to be worse than usual Difficulty writing and/or reading Sensory changes in his face and arms Additional confusion when confronted with tasks Repo...
Read more

Compassion and Connection for Carers

 Compassion and Connection can come from surprising places. Some time ago I presented to Accident and Emergency with mild chest pain. I was not concerned but thought that it was prudent to have it checked out as we are always being told. I was not surprised that my cardiac function was fine.  The staff did a couple of other tests and while waiting for the results of these, one of the A and E doctors came to see me to have a chat. I mentioned that my husband had Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy and I had recently started taking an anti depressant and that it was probably just some physical manifestation of mild anxiety. What did surprise me was his reaction when hearing of my circumstances. He took one look at me, went and shut the door to the cubicle and pulled up a chair and said to me with such sensitivity "that is a horrible, horrible disease". Most medical and other practitioners that I and my husband come across have never heard of the condition. Not only did he immediately u...
Read more