Just found out I’ve had a silent mini stroke (TIA). Had this?

Posted by ginger123 @ginger123, Sep 21, 2024

After a fall, my doctor ordered a CT scan, and an “incidental” find was a silent mini stroke (not TIA) in a small vessel. Age indeterminate, so not sure how long I’ve had it.
I’m scheduled for Carotid artery Doppler, and a coronary artery CT. Doctor put me on .81 aspirin, and awaiting results of scans.
I’m quite concerned that this increases my risk for a large stroke, or more mini strokes. I’ve changed my diet, losing weight, getting cholesterol down (which wasn’t overly high) and watching BP, (which is normal). I’m 73 and otherwise in good health…. I thought!
Have you had similar findings? What have you experienced?
Thank you. I love our Mayo Clinic group.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases Support Group.

Profile picture for westwoman3698 @westwoman3698

I had TIA, didn’t realize until routine brain MRI for MS two months later. Remember mentioning to someone that I couldn’t get my body to do what I wanted. Went to bed for days. Then I had stroke a couple months later. Hospital, all the in-home therapies for months. Probably wouldn’t have been able to ID stroke if not for info given after TIA. Best wishes.

Jump to this post

@westwoman3698
You are so right that knowing about the tia’s helped us stroke when it happened
When I had a stroke and they did an mri they discovered I’d been having multiple tias. Wish I had known
Only indications of any problems was that my foot would “fall asleep”
occasionally after I’d been working at my computer
Didn’t find that odd at the time. Wish I had

REPLY

I had TIA, didn’t realize until routine brain MRI for MS two months later. Remember mentioning to someone that I couldn’t get my body to do what I wanted. Went to bed for days. Then I had stroke a couple months later. Hospital, all the in-home therapies for months. Probably wouldn’t have been able to ID stroke if not for info given after TIA. Best wishes.

REPLY

After a fall and head injury, I accepted advice to be taken to an emergency room for a head Ct scan.
Only because of these posts was I able to realize what happened to me in the ER.

I was diagnosed with an “old” TIA 3 years later.
I was puzzled by the fact that I could recall no TIA symptoms like those described in these posts. I was left for hours in the ER hallway AND allowed myself to be discharged WITHOUT a Ct Scan of my head. I had my phone with me but it did not occur to me to contact family members when I was literally abandoned in the ER.
I am not that kind of person my friends would tell you. My probable TIA rendered me incapable of advocating for myself.
Maybe another reason to have an advocate in the hospital even if it looks like a hangnail.

REPLY
Profile picture for kikiluu @kikiluu

@guyrien
Sorry to hear of your wife's troubles. Am very interested to hear about her health and treatments for her. I am also a female in my mid fifties and had a TIA over Thanksgiving. Getting with doctor this afternoon for follow up. Hope your wife is feeling better.

Jump to this post

@kikiluu - wondering how your doctor appointment went?

REPLY
Profile picture for guyrien @guyrien

My wife is in her early 50s. In very good health. No smoking, just social drinking (4 oz a night), just 10-15 pounds above her high school weight.

About 3 years ago she had some facial twitching and slight speech slurring. She was in her late 40s and didn't realize it was her first mini-stroke. Recovered within an hour or two.

About 1 year ago she had a major episode. Speech slurring, severe facial twitches. Taken to ER and kept over night. All tests/scans returned negative. So just put on blood thinners and cholesterol meds. Doctors think it was a mini-stroke but no damage per scans.

Today she had a third event. She had gone off her blood thinner for a week as it was causing lots of bruising and she was going to talk to the doctor about a replacement. This was a slight event. Face/arm/lips were numb. Fully recovered with 2 hours.

All events effect her right hand side.

We are at a lost what to do. She feels like a ticking time bomb.

Jump to this post

@guyrien
Sorry to hear of your wife's troubles. Am very interested to hear about her health and treatments for her. I am also a female in my mid fifties and had a TIA over Thanksgiving. Getting with doctor this afternoon for follow up. Hope your wife is feeling better.

REPLY

I am 71 and had retinal surgery and at my post-op visit the surgeon discovered I had a retinal vein occlusion which is a stroke within the retina. I am taking treatment for this and when I told my primary care provider she ordered a carotid ultrasound. I was diagnosed with CAD & have an appointment with a cardiologist soon. CAD runs in my family and I was healthy - eating well, exercising for 40+ years. I went from not taking a statin to one of the most powerful statins. I actually feel better as I had started having problems with my heart rate going too high during cardio at the gym. My recovery time was getting bad also. I just thought I need to go to the gym more often! The retinal surgeon not only saved my sight he probably helped save my life.

REPLY
Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier

@californiazebra - that does sound scary and like quite the experience with your TIA. Glad you are feeling a little more normal today. What did the doctors tell you to expect for continued recovery from the TIA back at home?

Jump to this post

@lisalucier
Oh, I’ve also always read that TIAs don’t cause permanent damage. Not sure if that’s true after what the neurologist said, but I just read that temporary damage can last weeks or months. I had always thought of temporary as being days.

REPLY
Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier

@californiazebra - that does sound scary and like quite the experience with your TIA. Glad you are feeling a little more normal today. What did the doctors tell you to expect for continued recovery from the TIA back at home?

Jump to this post

@lisalucier
The neurologist just said he can’t tell if the damage is temporary or permanent but it’s new and either way I need to be on blood thinners. They wanted to put me on Lipitor too but I can’t take statins with my neuropathy. He said now that I’ve had a TIA my LDL needs to be under 70 instead of the usual 100. It’s at 97 now. I was also told 10% of people that have a TIA will have a full stroke within 30 days.

REPLY
Profile picture for Zebra @californiazebra

After several retinal TIAs in the past 3 years, I finally had a cerebral one. I suddenly had aphasia which was scary. Suddenly I started typing gibberish and became confused. Fearing it was a major stroke I tried to talk and heard gibberish coming out. Luckily I still had full physical capacity and the presence of mind to quickly go to close neighbors for help. I couldn’t communicate but one neighbor knew gibberish is a stroke sign and called 911. I was able to speak again by the time paramedics arrived so I knew then it was a TIA. I was in the hospital for 24 hours receiving a battery of tests. I was in afib the day before it happened so likely a clot. I’m on Eliquis now. The MRI showed a small amount of damage to my speech center. After a week of feeling a little foggy, losing my train of thought, etc. I felt a little more normal today. Still having trouble hitting the right keys on my phone (much more than usual haha). I sure hope that’s my last TIA.

Jump to this post

@californiazebra - that does sound scary and like quite the experience with your TIA. Glad you are feeling a little more normal today. What did the doctors tell you to expect for continued recovery from the TIA back at home?

REPLY

After several retinal TIAs in the past 3 years, I finally had a cerebral one. I suddenly had aphasia which was scary. Suddenly I started typing gibberish and became confused. Fearing it was a major stroke I tried to talk and heard gibberish coming out. Luckily I still had full physical capacity and the presence of mind to quickly go to close neighbors for help. I couldn’t communicate but one neighbor knew gibberish is a stroke sign and called 911. I was able to speak again by the time paramedics arrived so I knew then it was a TIA. I was in the hospital for 24 hours receiving a battery of tests. I was in afib the day before it happened so likely a clot. I’m on Eliquis now. The MRI showed a small amount of damage to my speech center. After a week of feeling a little foggy, losing my train of thought, etc. I felt a little more normal today. Still having trouble hitting the right keys on my phone (much more than usual haha). I sure hope that’s my last TIA.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.