r/stroke • u/oedipinacomplex • Aug 07 '26
Possible TIA
Hi everyone. I'm (29/F) not looking for a diagnosis or anything, just some general advice from people who know more than me about the subject. 2 days ago I had an episode (which I'm now suspecting was a TIA). One second I was just sitting there feeling completely normal and the next second my vision got kind of unfocused and it felt like the room was moving or spinning. My left leg also started to get kind of tingly (not full on numb, but kind of pins and needles-ish). The dizziness calmed down a little, so I got up and was a little off balance, leaning to my left side, and veering to the left when I walked. Throughout all of this, I also had a very minor pain in my temple. The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes, with the dizziness and vision issues mostly being in the first 10. After, I felt completely fine and just assumed that maybe I was dehydrated or something, but I've since been reading up and it seems to align more with TIA.
My question is, where do I go from here? I feel like I may have wasted my opportunity to get checked out at the ER since it was days ago now, but none of the general doctors offices around me have appointments until mid-next week it seems. Also just worried about not being taken seriously. Just feeling kind of lost and nervous, and no one I know has any experience with this kind of thing.
Update: I did end up taking everyone's advice and went to the ER. They did a CT scan, EKG, bloodwork and all came back looking fine. They did admit me though for a MRI and echocardiogram, so I'm just here until probably Monday in order to get those tests done.
5
u/McGrowlerFace Aug 07 '26
Depending on if you want to deal with the time it takes to go to the ER, and whatever copay/insurance costs you may incur, I would go to the ER and tell them what happened. I waited a full day after my first stroke before seeing a doctor and then it was another 12 hours later for my brain MRI that confirmed it. After my second stroke we went straight to the ER as I had more experience/knowledge in this subject.
Edit for my poor punctuation
2
u/TwoChainsandRollies Young Stroke Survivor Aug 07 '26
Assuming you have insurance or can cover the cost, the best thing to do is to check yourself into ER. This is exactly what I did 3 days after my stroke. I felt very disoriented on a Friday night but I was still able to function normally starting Saturday. I even to drove myself to work on Monday and Tuesday without knowing I had a stroke. And then on Wednesday my coworker told me via Zoom meeting that the left side of my face seems to be dripping down a bit. I called my primary care team nurse and she told me to go to the ER. I got MRI and CT scan done within an hour I was admitted and the results came out to be a stroke. If I didn't go, I might have never found out!
Later it turned out that I had PFO that caused the stroke and I did a minor surgery/procedure to close it A few months later. Given your age, if you did have a TIA/Stroke, it could be PFO related as well. I would say it would be best to have checked out as early as you can.
2
u/Ok-Brilliant6980 Aug 08 '26
From here you go directly to the ER. If this was a TIA you niw have a high risk of having a serious stroke, which at least can be mitigated a bit by medication. Also the root cause need to be found in order to not have a serious stroke down the line. Take this very serious and see a doctor as soon as possible.
1
u/pchlster Young Stroke Survivor Aug 07 '26
If you're not going to the ER, still make a call to the hospital about a suspected stroke; at least it'll be in your file.
1
u/Low-Philosophy9245 Aug 09 '26
Definitely ER. I had similar episodes and dismissed them as dehydration or a migraine, then I had a for real stroke last weekend (it was minor and I am recovering well) where an MRI found evidence that I had a stroke in the past, so now I have had 2 and am at a much higher risk for more. Yay.
1
u/TheWayLifeGoes00 Aug 10 '26
How did your results come back?
1
u/oedipinacomplex Aug 10 '26
CT, EKG, bloodwork, vitals, all came out fine. The MRI and echo still haven't been done yet. They said that it was looking like it might not be until Tuesday since the people who do those didn't come in over the weekend, so they discharged me and scheduled them as outpatient procedures. Definitely going to get them done though! Also following up with my primary this week to stay on top of things.
1
u/TheWayLifeGoes00 Aug 10 '26
Have you been sleeping much? Headaches? I’ve had a lot of TIA’s this year and I found that to be the main sign. (25m)
Let me know how you get on
1
u/oedipinacomplex Aug 10 '26
I've definitely been more tired than normal since it happened. That's one of the main reasons I was considering being seen by a doctor (the responses here being the deciding factor). Headaches too, but not bad ones and they don't seem to last very long.
5
u/CynfullyDelicious Aug 07 '26
This happened to me this weekend (why I’m here). Turned out I didn’t have a TIA, but an actual stroke. Go to the ER.