Transient Ischemic Attack or as I Will Call a Mini Brain Attack

I had an episode in 1995 and nothing since. I don't count my bypass because that was a different issue. I was kept in the hospital overnight because they told me if there was going to be a stroke it would probably happen within 24 hours.


Nomad

My husband had one about 4 years ago. Hospital could find nothing wrong but he was very scared and carried aspirin and cayenne pepper around with him for a long time, but has not had any other episodes. It affected his eyesight, speech and was weak all over.

Thanks everyone. Nomad and Rita your experiences were just what I was hoping to hear ! I am on the lookout now believe you me. I hope it was a small clot if it was indeed a TIA, and the 81mg aspirin along with all of the greens and sprouts we eat will hopefully keep this Demon at Bay!

At my last eye appt. a couple weeks ago, I had my eye pressure checked and they were 20 in the left and 21 right. They had been checking me twice a year for glaucoma and they came to the conclusion that just maybe these pressures were normal for me. Average persons is about 15 and 20 is the high end of the 10-20 normal range. Don't know if this helps any just letting you know.

Thanks HeelSpur. That too is reassuring. I know the key is not ignoring pressure increases and having the Opthalmologist check for damage.

Rick,

I hope you don't mess around with this too much, and seek proper medical treatment.

I lost my grandmother to strokes. We look back, and realize that some of her symptoms were not just headaches, and spells of feeling bad. The first big stroke left her paralyzed on one side, and totally blind. Many of us wonder if she would have gone to the hospital when he headache started if she would have been able to avoid the first big stroke.

Medical science has come a looooong way since the early 80's, when my mamaw had the big stroke.

She was one of the finest people to ever walk the face of the earth, and we loved her dearly.

Still praying for you, Rick.

Thanks Clove. I am honored that you speak about Mamaw and me in the same breath.

I will go to the E/R the instant I have symptoms like that again. I gave 911 directions to help drivers, and anytime Ann cannot see me I will have a radio. This is already our practice. Now I will call her every 45 minutes to stay in touch.

I still am not convinced it was not heat and dehydration. It is not something to mess around with, so I will treat it seriously.

Rick I would take it very seriously.

My mother just passed away 2 weeks ago from stroke complications. It stemmed from a heart valve replacement 7 years ago. In those 7 years she had 4 major strokes and more TIAs than i can count, at least 40. The major strokes did cause some severe damage and eventual death but the TIAs in my opinion were much worse due to the accumulation of effects. The TIAs basically took her mind away, initially like minor dementia then having to be placed into a locked dementia ward to the point where she could not communicate, feed herself and was entirely dependent on other people helping her. It was a very difficult process to watch and not to be able to do anything about.

As others have said I would get to an ER immediately if the symptoms happen again as well as going to a doctor to get a full battery of tests if you can.

Take care

Don't wait till you have symptoms. The next time it may not be a mini stroke but the big one.My husband did exactly what you are talking about and had a major stroke that has devastated our lives. If he had had tests including a carotid artery scan it may have been avoidable. Being able to talk clearly etc only says the part of your brain that controls speech was not affected. My husband had no speech impairment but lost use of one side of his body along with some cognitive function that was not immediately evident (like doing math and reading). It happened during the night so they could not give him clot busters as they didn't know the exact time, and they need to know that.
Don't risk your future and that of your family this way.

Rick,
Been there and done that. TIA was ruled as the culprit after everything else was ruled out. I didn't have the stroke within a year but because I was so sensitive and paying attention to symptoms so I "caught" some uncalled for chest pain and got to the hospital in time (before the heart attack). Wound up laying in the hospital for four days to flush the plavix out of my system before the surgeons could perform triple bypass....Bypass was performed 8mo after the TIA. As to the TIA, most symptoms went away within 30min of so with some lingering numbness in my fingers for a couple of days.

The only risk with taking aspirin for a tia is that your tia could be caused by a "bleed" ruptured vessel versus a clot, in the er we ONLY give the clot busting medicine after you have a ct of the head and it doesn't show a bleed and you meet other parameters, like the 3-4 hour time window.

Taking aspirin or any blood thinners could actually make a tia worse depending on the cause (clot versus bleed).

This is not a bash or my opinion, just facts.

Usually the reason people have clots are irregular heart beat, and high cholesterol. Clots usually break off due to high blood pressure. There are unusual reasons people have clots, genetic disorders like "Factor 5".

Bleeds, are usually caused by high pressure and or high pressure behind a clot or injury to your head.

Firstly I definitely think it is you right to do what you want with your body, but just be aware that brain tissue does not regenerate.

Good luck.