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TIA and Residual Symptoms/Affects Afterwards

My question is, is it normal to experience continual affects of a TIA?   Some of what I have read here leads me to believe that a TIA is a stroke that totally reverses itself and all symptoms go away within 24 hrs.  Other postings indicate that if symptoms continue or periodically return, then that is an indication that it was more than just a TIA or that there are continuing problems.

The problems I continue to experience are occasional light numbness in the left side of my face, (nothing like the initial numbness on the day of the TIA which was on the Right side of my face), weakness and fatigue in my neck, right arm and right leg.   Sensitivity to foods and medications (that didn
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Avatar universal
i would like to ask the same thing i get exactly the same symtoms ,i had a mini stroke where a clot was found in my brain but have recently started havinf tias i get all these symptoms too.

tracy
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....I think it may be important to mention in my case that a ultrasound of my caratoid arteries and my heart after the TIA was normal.  Also, the EEG, Brain CAT Scan and Brain MRI showed no permanent damage or cause of the TIA.  These findings led them to conclude that the TIA was caused by high dosages of Motrin I was taken for a back injury which counteracted with the type of BP Med's I was taken.  I am 44 yrs old, over weight and in a very high stress job.  I have no motor or memory skills problems.  Just the nagging continual symptoms aforementioned.  As a side note, during testing they found that I had a previously unknown condition (Arnold-Chiari Syndrome w/Syrinx) but the neurologist concluded that I am A-symptomatic with that condition and that it had nothing to do with the TIA or the continuing symptoms I am experiecing. Hope this paints a clearer picture....
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Avatar universal
I had a TIA a few weeks ago (nothing found to cause it but large PFO in heart) and I too am having "residual" effects. I all of the sudden will get dizzy and confused, with tingling on my right side which lasts briefly and much less intense, but makes be believe another TIA is coming. My cardiologist said that when the brain is 'in shock' even briefly during a TIA, you can have symptoms...especially when one feels a bit of stress that a stroke may be impending and an asprin a day is all you have to work with. The more he talked, the more I felt he was saying it was all in my head...psychologically, not biologically. I also have an intolerance for caffenine and alcohol all of the sudden. 1 glass of wine feels like 2-3, and same for coffee. I hope it all stops soon.
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Avatar universal
its all very confusing especialy when you get symptoms and tias are supposed to be over in minutes ,well if that really is the case then iam having tias every day .

iam waiting for a scan on my neck as they didnt do this 5 years ago when the clot in my brain caused a stroke .they did lumber punctures ,scans and a heart scan but couldnt find where the clot came from.

my asprin as been upped to 300mg a day now but iam still feel all the symptoms as the lady above.

iam 36 and had my first stroke aged 29.

tracey
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Avatar universal
All these posts indicate how little neurologists can say with certainty about the brain.

I had my brain bleed stroke almost ten years ago, yet I still occasionally have recurrences of symptoms.  The stroke was caused by extremely high blood pressure (250/150) I take medicine now to keep the pressure down, of course. Still, every now and then there will be a burst of light
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Well....in one sense it is reassuring that I am not alone.  In another sense, it is scary to think that there are very few answers.  Truthfully, I have 5 years to work until I can retire and retiring early isn't an option.  What I think is bizarre is the inconsistency in symptoms.  For the last 3 days I have had a terrible ringing in my ears that is driving me nuts.  Though don't understand why I went the 1st 3 weeks w/o this.  Yesterday for the first time I had a pulsating burning sensation in my left lower rib case that just took the breath out of me everytime it hit.  Went away about an hour later then had the same thing in my right upper chest, but only last 5-10 mins.  Also awoke several times during the night realizing that I was having a flushing of sorts in my head which seemed like a mild TIA, resulting in a rear of the head, headache.  I do however agree in part with it being psychological, as I know that my symptoms and the feeling of an onset of another TIA occur more often when I am stressed or thinking to much about my problem.  Though there are days where I wake up feeling great without a care or thought in the world and an hour or two later I start getting symptoms.  Anyone have a doctor prescribe you medication for Vertigo to address the nausea and dizziness? Thanks for sharing...I pretty much have no one to talk 2 about this as those who r close to me, I believe, think this is all in my head. What compounds this is the symptoms often mirror a more serious problem (ie, on-set of heart attack, full-blown stroke, etc) and there is probably more stress in trying to ignore it as just symptoms of the TIA and yet questioning myself, what if I am wrong and I do have the big one.  Ironically, I would want nothing more than for it to all just GO AWAY!
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Avatar universal
...more confused now than ever.  Saw my doctor today and he said that non of the symptoms I am experiencing now are directly related to the original TIA. In short, he believes the symptoms are being caused by anxiety (AKA - Its all in my head).  He feels that I am causing the anxiety by possibly thinking about the TIA and worrying that it is going to happen again.  Believe me if the symptoms disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't think about the TIA ever again.  Unfortunately it is impossible not to think about the TIA when I wake up in the morning and have half a dozen symptoms consistent with when I had the original TIA.  Its not like I'm making it up when half of my face is numb, I can't swallow, I have ringing in my ears that won't go away, and my arm and leg are limp and lifeless.  Maybe someone will post something here to shed some light on this for all of us who share in this.
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Avatar universal
i know what you mean ,back in 99 before i had my stroke i was sent to see the neurologist because i was having all these symtoms the worse being the pain in the back of my head ,he said it was stress to which i replied i wasnt stressed ,he asked if i had kids to which i told him i had a new baby and he replied "well there you are then its stress" no matter how much i told him i wasnt stressed he wouldnt listen ,1 month later i had a stroke with a clot found in my cerebelum.

so when a doc tells me its stress i told believe him ,i think they say that when they cant or cant be bothered to find an answer.

I swear that when i get to see my neurologist again and he says its stress i will flip.Iam fed up now with these symtoms .

tracey
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Avatar universal
hi: my husband had tia startd back in aug 05 had three since then he is 46. he now is out of work and has a problem talking. he is on many medications one being comidian which is a blood thinner to keep clots from going to the brain. he is now in physcal therpy and needs speech therpy. the neuro doctor says if he has one more his brain will not be able to handle it. when he had his 1st one my husband ingnored the signs and didn't go to the hospital. please if anyone has any kind of numbness it's not normal get right to the doctor. first came the numbness then the loss of speech. take care all.
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Avatar universal
I had a tia in july.  I still have symtoms that the neurologist says is in my head.  I lost strenght in my right side, was in rehab inpatient and out for 2 months. I think mine are caused by A-typical migrains.  I have one at least twice a week.  I still have dizzy spells with the headachs and fall.  I am afraid to drive but all test show I am ok.  I am seeking a second opinion and the dr wants me to have a neuropsych test anything about this test?
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Avatar universal
Hi!  I've been having health problems for about two+ years now.  As of now, no one can figure out what is wrong with me.  Symptoms include:  dizziness, mental confusion, visual disturbances (darkness followed by flashing lights in both eyes), clumsiness, heavy legs.  My neurologist is insistent that it is MS.  I have had an MRI and am awaiting results.  But just two days ago, while at my daughter's, she noticed how confused I was.  I was telling her about my father and called him grampy.  But she said I said Fred (my fiance) instead of grampy.  I heard it as grampy.  This is really bothersome to me.  One other day a few weeks ago, I walked into the kitchen talking to myself and realized that everything I said came out wrong.  HELP!
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Avatar universal
Hi,  I am a 32 yr old female and I recently had a possible TIA.  I had a cat scan about 10 days after the attack, an MRI 2 1/2 weeks after, bloodwork and the typical muscle strength tests. My attack suddenly occurred while I was in a chat room. I have had the occassional migraine headache since the age of 16yrs old, and I have had approx. 4-5 migraine auras within the last year.  One migraine aura occurring two days after the attack. The possible TIA attack occurred as I was typing and reading in a online chatroom as I said, began with a sharp headache at my left temple area.  Within about 3-5 min. instantly-what is called Alexia-I could not read the sentences,words I was looking at. It was not a visual deficit. I attempted to sound out each word extremely slowly like a child, trying to put together letter sounds to form each word. I couldn't do it. I am telling you I had to have looked and sounded like a mentally disabled individual. I yelled my husband's name 3 times but couldn't speak right to form full sentences. I could only get out partial sentences, speaking only the important clue words. My tongue for the first time ever went numb along with my upper lip and my right hand, which was also stiff. I definitely had anxiety at that point, but I couldn't speak clear enough for my husband,of whom I had awoken from a sound sleep,to understand that something was seriously wrong with me. This entire attack only lasted up to 30 min. If my perception of time isn't off.  I really don't have a question here, but rather want to let some of the others who have posted here know that there are other disorders etc. which have similar symptoms that they have posted of. I also have been seeing a neurologist for approx. 2 1/2 years and being treated for MS, though I am undiagnosed with MS at this time. My MRI's have been clear of visual lesions. MS has many sensory and other symptoms such as those some of you have posted AND if no lesions show up on MRI, there is no clear cut answer as to why you are experiencing these bizarre symptoms that you are. After the possible TIA that I experienced, the spasticity, tremors and twitching that I have experienced these past 2 1/2 yrs were occuring full force, including a migraine aura two days after the attack. I really do not know,nor do my specialists as to whether this attack was a TIA and a prompter for the MS exacerbation-if that is what's going on, or perhaps it could have just been an exacerbation of MS with rare symptom of alexia accompanying. I also have aortic valve and mitral valve insufficiency and saw my cardiologist today. I will be having a Transesophageal Echocardiography-TEE on Jan. 26, to check my heart and those valves, just in case they are spitting out small clots and caused a TIA.  Either way I am going to have to have some faith in God, my specialists knowledge/experience/education and continue to educate my self as well.  I know that it is difficult to not allow fear to take over, but you must not allow anxiety over "not knowing" cause even more symptoms. I also know that the anxiety can cause you to be hyper-sensitive to everything that you feel in your body. Even to those physical feelings which are normal. Keep a journal and be honest with your doctors. Hang in there. I hope you are able to find within you some comfort for your anxieties. btw. my nickname comes from living with two boys and my husband-too much testosterone! :o)  Take care
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Avatar universal
Hello there.I am 37 years old, male, and I had my first TIA in January 2005. I was then diagnosed with high blood pressure and high(ish)cholesterol. I was not very careful and continued to smoke, not really tighten up on what I was eating, and not get enough exercise. I learned my lesson 10 Jan 06 when it happened again,much worse with paralysis down my right side taking 2-3 days to clear. While there I had a heart attack, had an angiogram,an angioplast, and a stent inserted in my coronary artery (90 pc closed I was told)In total I spent 3 weeks in 2 seperate hospitals. It took 4-5 months before I could return to work, and Im about 95 pc back to what I was.The problem is that my Basilar artery is degraded to the extent of what you would find in a much older person. This, I am told is a hereditary problem, compounded by external factors such as cigarette smoking,salt/fat diet and a slightly below average fitness level. Im on BP tablets, cholesterol tablets, and thinners. I gave up smoking, get regular exercise and (try) to be careful what I put in my body food wise.I still get symptoms (maybe side effects from the tablets, or my arteries reacting to same or effects of my condition) which nag at me almost daily.I get whats called 'shooting pains', sharp needle like pains in my head,neck, temples lasting maybe 30-40 seconds.Spicy foods sometimes give me woeful indegestion across my chest. My balance is still a bit off and I wake up very early and get very tired after 10 at night. My BP is tightly controlled but I have to be careful to keep it that way. Does anyone have the same problem with their Basilar artery? You value everything more when you get a fright like I got. God is looking down on us all methinks?
Tom
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Avatar universal
I had what my doctor thinks is a TIA only three nights ago, though I didn't explain everything completely to him.  I got so scared when he told me it was a TIA and I've been terrified ever since.  Finding this forum is a big help to me because I don't feel so alone.  

I was lying in bed reading (I had been reading all day, though not in bed) and my husband asked if he should turn out the light or if I wanted to read more.  I told him to turn out the light.  

As soon as he did, I noticed my left eye was not "seeing" as well as it should be.  It seemed like there was a black "spot" in front of it.  I covered my right eye and I could see the window in front of me, but not the moonlight coming in through the slats.  I covered my left eye and I could see everything.  I tried covering my right eye again.  Same thing.  I didn't have a "blind spot" but I just couldn't see the light coming in.  The whole window was black, like a TV screen, though I could see it.  I turned and looked back to another window that had more light coming in and I could see, though my vision in my left eye was dimmer.  I know the blindness could have resolved in the few seconds before I put my hand over my right (unaffected eye) but it still seems strange to me that all I couldn't see was the moonlight coming in through the slats.  I thought if vision resolved after a brief TIA, then I'd see the moonlight dimly and see it just grow stronger.

I then ran, really ran, with no problems, upstairs and told a family member I might be having a detached retina.  Then, all was fine.  I went to the bathroom, went to bed and shrugged it off.  I saw the doctor the next day for depression and just mentioned the eye incident as an afterthought.  Now I find myself scheduled to have an echocardiogram and a carotid duplex as well as blood tests, which I'll have, of course.  The doctor also put me on daily aspirin therapy, 81 mg. day.  He said my carotid arteries and heart sounded fine, but of course, the distinctive sound of blockage is not always heard.

I've never been sick in my life except for mumps, measles, and chicken pox as a child and shingles in August, which cleared with no side effects.  I have no family history of cardiovascular disease (I mean none, not even all four grandparents families), am Caucasian, have normal blood pressure (about 120/60, sometimes a lower systolic), good pulse (about 50 usually), exercise an hour daily, eat almost no fat, salmon but no other meat, take vitamins, lots of fiber, never smoked, never drank alcohol, never took illegal drugs, never had migraines.  I am somewhat overweight and dieting.  I'm fifty-nine and look and feel thirty-nine.  People take for thirty-nine or forty.  I considered myself so lucky before this.  

I do have extreme anxiety and depression and have had for quite some time.  The doctor started me on Paxil 20 mg. and I was already taking Valium 10 mg. and Inderal 20 mg. once a day.  Even with all of this, I'm a total wreck of nerves.  No one in my family will talk to me about what happened or my fears.  They think I'm making too much out of it and maybe I am, especially after reading this forum.  But this is totally new to me and I'm just terrified.  I was relaxed, for me, when it happened, by the way, but still stressed.

I guess I am lucky.  So far, I have no residual effects.  I feel fine physically, just a wreck mentally and so, so afraid.  You do value everything so much more after this kind of scare.  I love my life and don't want to leave it.

Good luck to everyone on the forum and thanks for posting.  I feel I'm not alone in this and have friends even though I've never communicated with any of you.

Does anyone else find it odd that the moonlight was the only thing I couldn't see?

Again, good luck to us all and God bless us all.
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Avatar universal
I was diagnosed with having had a TIA out of nowhere aged 29. All tests found nothing except for a PFO, my health generally very good except for a stressful job.

5-6 weeks on I'm still experiencing sporadic tingling (although this is improving), I get pins and needles very easily whenever I lie on a limb, plus persistent tinnitus in left ear, occasional left-sided headaches and also nausea when looking at a computer or TV screen for long periods of time.

The doctors haven't explained at all why i'm having symptoms still... TIA's are supposed to clear up almost straight away, aren't they?!
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Avatar universal
I'm not sure if TIAs clear up right away.  If the doctors can't explain why you're having symptoms, then there's no damage and no ongoing problem.  Did the doctor put you on daily low-dose aspirin therapy?  Mine did.  I know that can cause tinnitus, but if you're on aspirin, you shouldn't stop it.  The other symptoms could possibly be anxiety over the TIA (I know I have anxiety), but if they can't find a reason for the symptoms, maybe you should see another doctor or ask for a mild tranquilizer since your job is so stressful.  I know cutting out caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate, all soft drinks) helped me greatly.  It's really important to cut out caffeine, and that means all caffeine, not just reducing it.  Caffeine raises blood pressure and elevated blood pressure is the biggest risk factor.  Good luck to you.  I hope you feel better soon.
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251222 tn?1270936117
Hi Mnt and Buckeye

I was just diagnosed with the PFO after 4.5 years of terrible health (alot of backstory). My Neuro said that small clots are able to pass through to the brain and cause the TIA's. Is this what you were told also?

Jazzy
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I'm having my echocardiogram tomorrow and my carotid duplex on Friday, probably my bloodwork on Friday, too, so I don't have any test results yet.  However, I've read that small clots can form when one has a PFO or atrial fibrillation.  I think sometimes they close the PFOs and sometimes they don't.  Sometimes they prefer to manage the PFOs with medication.  Strange that people are born with PFOs and yet they usually don't cause any symptoms until adulthood.

Good luck with your appointment, Jazzy.

Buckeye
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Avatar universal
Thanks buckeye... yes on aspirin and will try without caffeine and sugar though don;t usually have much of them anyway.

I saw a neurologist who also mentioned that oxygen bubbles can form and move through the PFO as well as clots.

It is strange why they should all of a sudden cause a problem... and then after the initial TIA keep causing them.

Hope both your tests and appointments went well...  


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Avatar universal
My echo and carotid duplex came back perfectly normal, but the doctor is keeping me on aspirin therapy for the time being.  I had my bloodwork done yesterday but probably won't have the results until Monday or Tuesday.  I still have my opthamologist's appointment, but with the clean arteries and good heart, it's not as much of a priority as it was before.  My doctor says he isn't even sure I had a TIA now.  Well, I hope I didn't.

I think I read that PFOs usually don't cause problems when we're children, but they can in adulthood, though I'm only 90% sure of this.  I know I read that sometimes they aren't surgically treated but are managed in other ways, usually with medication.  If surgically closed, then the risk for clots is gone, I think.

I do know aspirin can cause tinnitus and some people just develop tinnitus for no apparent reason.

Good luck to both of you.  Health problems are awful, aren't they?  I still have a few more to get straightened out.  Again, good luck.
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251222 tn?1270936117
Hi Buckeye, I am glad to read that your tests came back normal, that is wonderful news. I hope you can find out what happened. Good luck to you also!

Jazzy
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Avatar universal
Thanks, Jazzy.  My cholesterol levels are also in the optimal range, so who knows?  Heart is, in the doctor's words, "perfect" and my carotid arteries are 100% clean.  I still have my opthamologist appointment so maybe that will turn up something.  Good luck with the treatment for the PFO.  I hope it all goes extremely well.
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Avatar universal
Looking for a little advice/help please - a close relative has had several TIA's - so this forum has been of GREAT help - all symptoms that no one would believe - blocked throat, explosion in head, aching joints, drooped mouth (of which was the giveaway), blood pressure, cholesterol now under control and on aspirin daily BUT what are the after symptoms?  confused, ratty, forgetfull, argumentative, hyper-active, skin rashes??  are these symptoms that anyone has been left with ?  Or could these be symptoms from the medication.  Doctors seem un-interested with symptoms - any advice would be much appreciated - thanks worried relative
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Avatar universal
With TIAs there should in theory be no symptoms/after-effects after about 24 hours, and all the doctors i've spoken also seem uninterested in symptoms since even my father told me it was probably in my head!). I've recently (after Christmas parties) clearly linked alcohol use to one of my symptoms - something i never had prior to my TIA. So there must be some change in my body since the TIA... not sure if the doctors will listen to that or just tell me it's nothing again.

From reading posts on here it's clear that many people do suffer symptoms/after-effects but with doctors generally not interested in these i can only conclude that either (i) it's common to have psychosomatic problems, which doctors don't know how to treat or (ii) the after effects of TIAs are not fully understood.
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