TIA clinic referral

[tiaworried24]

Hoping someone can put my mind at ease...

Went to A&E yesterday with loss of vision in my left eye. Referred first to eye clinic who couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes, then back to A&E for MRI after I said there is a history of strokes in my family, and mentioned i'd had some trembling in my hand this last weekend.

Nothing on MRI, nothing on ECG, doctor did all the general checks for numbness/uneven sides of my body etc, all good. Doctor suggested it was migraine or B12 deficiency, but was waiting for neurologist to confirm. Vision came back after a few hours.

Later I was discharged and told I have to take asprin for 2 weeks and will be referred to TIA clinic. Was a bit taken aback and asked if that meant I'd had a TIA- docs had all gone home (I'd been there 12 hours at this point) and nurses thought a doctor had already gone through it with me so didn't have much info. Was tired and blindsided and keen to get home so left without asking too many more questions- stupid I know.

Today I spoke to them on the phone and they said they don't ever diagnose TIA in A&E (this can't be true???) and the clinic will do that- referral is likely due to family history and the clinic will say for sure whether or not I had a TIA.

My appointment with the clinic has been made for next week, 8 days after my symptoms stopped. Looking online, urgent referrals happen with 24 hours, so I assume they are not actually worried that I have had a TIA, and honestly neither am I.

HOWEVER.

I am due to fly next week for work, prior to my clinic referral. Short haul and there and back within 2 days. I know if I have had a TIA they will tell me not to fly, but so far nobody has told me I've had one (and it seems unlikely that I have).

I am also due to drive the day after my clinic appointment as moving house 150 miles, but that's another story- and I think I can figure out how to work around that if needs be.

Nobody has said I need to not fly/drive yet, but realise if I have had a TIA the advice will be not to. But then they're clearly not too worried as my appointment will be over a week from when I had the symptoms, if it is one. Also they did an MRI and saw nothing!

Basically I think it's all fine and I should fly and not worry. But wondered what the hive mind think??

Thank you for reading this far!

Sorry- I had a CT scan in A&E, not an MRI.

That's interesting, I once had a suspected TIA. They gaveme a CT scan straight away which didn't show anything, but didn't rule out stroke/TIA until I had an MRI scan the next day.

Also, the fact they've told you to take aspirin (and referred you to the clinic) would seem to suggest they do suspect a TIA. It's really poor that they haven't communicated properly. Could you contact your GP for advice?

Thank you for responding.

I agree it’s poor- I was there for so long that I saw about ten different members of staff (as you do in A&E) and they definitely didn’t hand over key info from one to the other.

There was only one neurologist on staff, and as I was waiting for his report on my CT scan someone came in with a confirmed serious stroke which kept him occupied for several hours (which is obv fair enough!) so I wonder if he was too busy to look at my scan properly and just said “oh just refer her” as it was 2am and I’d been waiting for him for hours.

It feels unlikely they’d keep me waiting over a week for a clinic appointment if they were immediately concerned, but the communication has been very unclear and maybe I’m just concluding what I want to conclude!

I doubt I’d even be able to speak to my GP before the clinic appointment, it takes forever to get a GP appointment sadly :(

Yes I was thinking as I typed that trying to speak to your GP was probably a futile suggestion!

I agree there can't be an immediate concern, but I'm not sure there would be any immediate action to take if it was a TIA, other than prescribing blood thinners.

Although having said that, I was admitted to hospital overnight and monitored before having an MRI the following day, even though my symptoms completely resolved whilst in A&E (in my case it was sudden weakness in one arm, eventually diagnosed as a trapped nerve).

I know you say you don't feel worried it was a TIA (funnily enough I felt the same, and it turned out I was right, but then again i don't know what a TIA would feel like!), but I think I would be really hesitant to fly before getting some clarity on this, because TIA has not yet been ruled out for you.

Thanks @ScaredSceptic- I know you're right, it's just so hard when you're left with no information (and no way to get any) but in the meantime, life goes on!

I work for myself so it will be a pretty big deal if I don't go on this trip- obviously if it's at detriment to my health then that's just how it is, but it would be quite significant to not go if it turns out they're just being overly cautious.

I just don't know!

You've been left in such a difficult position, I totally understand the dilemma, especially as you work for yourself.

Hopefully it wasn't a TIA, but if it was, you're at increased risk of having another, or a full stroke, and flying can increase that risk further. I personally wouldn't take that risk until I'd been given some definitive medical advice. I know you weren't told not to fly etc, but you also weren't even told they suspect TIA. I wonder if whoever you spoke to when you rang actually looked at your notes to see what the doctors had recorded?

I don't know how quickly they work, but I wonder if it would be worth trying to contact PALS at the hospital you attended to see if they can help get answers from the A&E doctors. Or perhaps 111 can help you access a GP appointment?

I'm fairly confident they did look at my notes- there was a right faff while the system loaded them up etc and they asked me to respell my name several times. He also said looking at my notes he thought it was most likely a migraine, but also said he couldn't confirm I definitely hadn't had a TIA (I guess they want to cover themselves before the clinic appointment).

I've reached out to PALS today, but they say its a long wait for a response.

That's so frustrating for you!

I hope you can get some advice, and ultimately I hope it wasn't a TIA.