I have recently had a TIA and am looking for athletes who have had one (or more) for resources, guidance and help.
As you all know, most physicians are pretty clueless with regards to training and athletes. When informed that I was very active, my neuro said, “Well, just walk instead of running.” That will not cut it for me. While I certainly respect the severity of this event, it would be helpful to hear others’ experience of how they have altered their activity and, hopefully, been able to maintain some sort of long term training.
Not a Dr. by any stretch, but I’ll share my story…
My father had a “TIA” 5 years ago. A week later he experienced a debilitating stroke and the changes to his life were permanent and profound. Although only a spectator to his experience, I have had the opportunity to interact with many of his doctors. There are some I have met who feel that there is no such thing as a “TIA”… that the name is a euphemism for a non-debilitating stroke. I don’t know enough to assess that position, and don’t know if there’s anything that could have been done in my Dad’s case to prevent his stroke after he experienced his “TIA”. What I do know is that, in his case, the “TIA” was an indicator that something was profoundly wrong. Based on my experience with my dad, if I were to experience a “TIA” the last thing I would worry about is how much I can run. I would be all over my doctors to test the living crap out of me and not diagnose me based on their so-called experience or intuition.
Sorry for the blunt and somewhat negative response. Best of luck to you.
Not a Dr. by any stretch, but I’ll share my story…
My father had a “TIA” 5 years ago. A week later he experienced a debilitating stroke and the changes to his life were permanent and profound. Although only a spectator to his experience, I have had the opportunity to interact with many of his doctors. There are some I have met who feel that there is no such thing as a “TIA”… that the name is a euphemism for a non-debilitating stroke. I don’t know enough to assess that position, and don’t know if there’s anything that could have been done in my Dad’s case to prevent his stroke after he experienced his “TIA”. What I do know is that, in his case, the “TIA” was an indicator that something was profoundly wrong. Based on my experience with my dad, if I were to experience a “TIA” the last thing I would worry about is how much I can run. I would be all over my doctors to test the living crap out of me and not diagnose me based on their so-called experience or intuition.
Sorry for the blunt and somewhat negative response. Best of luck to you.
TIA by definition resolves within 4 hours to a state of no neurological deficit. Some percentage of people who experience a TIA will go on to have a stroke (symptoms persist for longer than 4 hours, adn frequently much longer sometimes permanent). Of those peopel, 50% of them will experience their stroke in the next 2 days.
it’s fairly standard medical practice these days, at least if you present to the ER with a TIA…that you’ll have “the living crap” tested out of you to try and identify the source of the TIA…in order to determine if anything preventative can be done for a possible future stroke.
As far as the OP’s question, you really can’t get medical advice on an internet forum…BUT…as a physician I can’t think of a reason why walking vs. running…keeping your heart rate down…would be less likely to result in a future stroke. However there are surely other neurogists in your area that could give you specific advice on exercise…after all, there are entire businesses and professionals dedicated to stroke physical rehab. I think if they get a patient from the bed to a walker to walking to actually running…they’d be thrilled.
Get several opinions. I’ve just interviewed several neuros and it’s amazing how different they were regarding stroke (for my job, not because I had a stroke). From my own experiences with MDs, some understand athletes, others don’t. The ones that are runners, cyclists, etc. themselves, seem to “get it”. They have the medical knowledge to give you the right opinion about what you CAN’T do and understand what you WANT to do. I agree you shouldn’t use the internet for a medical “guide”, you should only use it to get others experiences. When it covers to most diseases, everyone is very different. That’s the true art of medicine vs science…
Aggressive neuro programs and stroke teams are using 4 hours, at least at my hospital system. The point is that even if symptoms resolve, it still deserves the same aggressive evaluation for the source as a stroke does. A high percentage of post tia strokes happen in the next 48 hours so rapid identification of treatable contributors is key.
I agree with your point. My issue was with your definition. You said TIA by definition resolves within 4 hours which is patently unequivocally incorrect. It is 24 hours. I believe what you mean is the window for decision to thrombolyse. That is completely irrelevant to the definition of TIA.
In my hospital we thrombolyse up to 6 hrs post onset of symptoms. Some centers are pushing it up to 8 hrs.
And yes obviously risk factor modification ASAP is what is needed to prevent subsequent stroke.
Well at least we agree on the principals. 24 hours is an old definition an while a new endorsed definition that reflects common occurance of tissue damage present with TiAs lasting only 6 hours is lacking, neurologists at my institution are using a more aggressive definition. The window for TpA is now out to 4.5 hours.
Thanks to all of you for your responses.
It was a TIA as symptoms resolved within 24h and have not recurred (original event was Monday a.m.).
As far as treatment, I have added daily aspirin and nothing else as I’m still undergoing testing to determine the cause.
Everything thus far- cerebral and cervical (including carotid) vasculature clean as a whistle ( I knew that all of that hard training would pay off somewhere).
I’ve maintained some of a training regimen: have swum 2 days perhaps 2.5k each at a very low intensity and Computrain-ed 1.5 h. 1 day without incident.
To the person who asked me to respond privately: I’m unable to do so (as I’m probably too new here for that benefit ?)
I have recently had a TIA and am looking for athletes who have had one (or more) for resources, guidance and help.
As you all know, most physicians are pretty clueless with regards to training and athletes. When informed that I was very active, my neuro said, “Well, just walk instead of running.” That will not cut it for me. While I certainly respect the severity of this event, it would be helpful to hear others’ experience of how they have altered their activity and, hopefully, been able to maintain some sort of long term training.
I have had 6 random TIA’s over the last 10 months. Have had extensive testing showing nothing to this point, and all indicating I am very healthy. I have no typical risk factors. The difference may be where my TIA’s occur. Mine are always in my left eye. Amaurosis Fugax. I lose vision for three to 5 minutes at a time. I am now seeing a hematologist who is testing for clotting disorders, and some other rare conditions. I’ve completed seeing the cardiologist who performed a carotid ultrasound, f/b wearing an event monitor, f/b a TEE and all found nothing. All my doctors have all said the same thing, including the neurologist, and especially the cardiologist. Keep running, keep training, no restrictions on time or effort. At this point I no longer think about it much. I take asprin 80mg (down from 325mg in the initial stages) once per day. The TIA’s… their diagnosis, not mine, still occurred anyway. It’s probably vasospasm, but there is no way to diagnose that as far as I know.
To atl_runner : Two questions 1) What is f/b ?
2) Did your neuro (or any other physician) give you any resources (journal articles. web sites, etc. ) which you might be able to
reference for me?
Thanks for a bit of reassurance. I’m still in early testing with no leads thus far.
I’d love to find out what you’ve discovered over the past three weeks. I was diagnosed as having had a TIA last Sunday while on vacation. I went in today for a chest and neck ultrasound and a brain MRI, so I’m still a bit clueless as to how this is going to play out.
