Hi group,

This is a bit of a difficult question for me to ask, as I know that this has got to be an uncomfortable and unnerving ordeal to have to go through.  Because I have *never* been able to ask my son in a matter that he would understand, I am curious:

What do you experience or feel during a TIA?  Can you hear correctly?  Can you see correctly?  Do you remember experiencing the TIA?  Do you get extremely tired afterwards?

These are just some of the many questions we have wanted answered from/for Michael for years, but 1) He lacks the mental abilities to explain what he is experiencing in a way that can be communicated to us and 2) He doesn't know, understand, or can completely comprehend what feeling "right" is.

God, that is worded aweful and I mean no desrespect.  It is hard to explain things with an emotional tie to it, even with smileys and such sometimes...   :-/

-= Dewski =-

P.S.  Michael had another TIA this morning.

Dewski,
        I'm sure others will respond but I can only answer with the symptoms my daughter had and it was dizziness and once she almost passed out and got real white. I know numbness is also a sign and some slurred speach temporarily.
                                 Nancy
                               

Hi Dewski -

Unfortunately, that's a difficult question to answer as different people experiences different sensations or feelings.  Of course, I'm not a doctor (!) but what I experienced was a tingly feeling (almost like pins-and-needles, like when your hand starts to fall asleep) and numbness in my hands and sometimes my face.  I also experienced slurred speech problems and sometime I wasn't even able to talk at all.  That was scary!  But my TIAs rarely lasted more than 10 minutes.  

According to webmd.com:

TIAs may affect vision, speech, behavior, and thought processes and may cause loss of consciousness, seizure, dizziness (vertigo), and weakness or numbness on one side of the body. However, unlike a stroke, a TIA does not cause lasting symptoms. Symptoms usually go away after 10 to 20 minutes, although they may last up to 24 hours.

TIA's are usually warning signs of a stroke.    One of the things that MM patients are told consistently is to make sure we stay hydrated.   It's very important.

I hoped this helped a little.  I have to give my disclaimer - I'm not a doctor.  Always check with a MM specialist...just my  [smiley=twocents.gif].

-Shari

Thank you both for your replies!  Other than we know that they scare him, we have never honestly known what he deals with while going through these.  

He may say something like:  "Buddy, buddy, buddy"  (  :)that's me), or "mom, mom, mom" or "I want you, I want you, I want you".  It is usually something short and he repeats it, loudly, at least three times.  It may even be "No, no, no" sometimes.  Then he gets as limp as a noodle once we are with him and he knows that he is ok.  Then he starts swallowing, as if he is over-salivating.  Once the TIA appears to be over, (they seem to last honestly about a minute), he starts to yawn and falls asleep about 95% of the time.  [smiley=sleep.gif]

He will wake up in about 15-20 minutes and you would seldom know that he had ever had a problem a short while ago.  He'll get up, want his shows on the TV and is ready to play.   :D

That's one of the reasons that I call him "the Mystery  Man".  Hehehe

-= Dewski =-

Cara isn't an adult but has had way too many TIA's/seizure-like spells......she knows when its happening but can't talk for 45 seconds but comes to me writes with her finger TIA in the air...her mouth slightly open, tongue seems to be frozen in place...15 to 30 seconds....then closes mouth (sometimes little drool)...then yawns...as it ends (shes had over 300 by now..but so tiny but having that we notice it immediately.   But she doesn't fall asleep though.   Shes been on anti seizure medication (Trileptal) about 10 months now.   She was having up to 12 to 14 a day....now some days none...some days three or four.   I learned alot by going on the eplipsey website even though her doctors tell us they aren't seizures.  

Thinking back when Cara had her stroke that took her personality and many things away, including bladder control, had no fear of anything or excitement.....she did go through a period where she was repeating things several times.   She was like a two to three year old but was six and half.....it was a set back between surgeries...after the second....she moved leaps and bounds pretty fast over six months...little things we started to notice...such as hearing loss...that has come back alot.

I can fill you in more...realized now got to run to Church.

;) CarasMOM  

CarasMOM wrote on Jul 24^th, 2005 at 7:51pm:

Cara isn't an adult but has had way too many TIA's/seizure-like spells......she knows when its happening but can't talk for 45 seconds but comes to me writes with her finger TIA in the air...her mouth slightly open, tongue seems to be frozen in place...15 to 30 seconds....then closes mouth (sometimes little drool)...then yawns...as it ends (shes had over 300 by now..but so tiny but having that we notice it immediately.   But she doesn't fall asleep though.   Shes been on anti seizure medication (Trileptal) about 10 months now.   She was having up to 12 to 14 a day....now some days none...some days three or four.   I learned alot by going on the eplipsey website even though her doctors tell us they aren't seizures.

Our neurologist has given us a name for these different episodes that Michael goes through.  He calls them partial complex seizures.  I was glad to have a name to put to it, because while we have come to terms to knowing what a TIA is, we have also noticed that the last few months, Michael has had something that while seemed dramatically different, does not resemble an epileptic seizure at all.

For example, Michael never "shakes" or "convulses", like you might see in a grand mall seizure.  But, while he is "no-no-no"ing, sometimes he gets as stiff as a board.  Sometimes, he will turn his head to the side and moving his head into a different position is impossible.  One way that I "label" these as different than his TIAs, it that his mother and I cannot control his bodily movements any better than he can.  During a TIA, we can.  

He also becomes DEAD WEIGHT during a partial complex seizure.  It's a bizarre thing that I have never understood.  He is 75 pounds (or so) any other time of the day, but let him have a partial complex seizure and this kid feels like he is made of LEAD.


Quote:

Thinking back when Cara had her stroke that took her personality and many things away, including bladder control, had no fear of anything or excitement.....she did go through a period where she was repeating things several times.   She was like a two to three year old but was six and half.....it was a set back between surgeries...after the second....she moved leaps and bounds pretty fast over six months...little things we started to notice...such as hearing loss...that has come back alot.

Good deal!   ;;D  

Michael, at 17, has never been toilet trained.  He was "trip trained" for about a year, meaning that if someone could always be available to put him on a toilet EVERY 40 minutes, all day long, and never forget - he would not wet himself.  As he changed teachers throughout his schooling, and yes, we became lazy with it as well, he went back to wetting his diaper.  He has NEVER used the toilet for "#2", which is why I say he has never been toilet trained.  I'm honestly not sure if he has any control over that.

Thank you for your post!

-= Dewski =-