About a year and a half ago (and before my autism diagnosis) I had a TIA. Doctors were unsure for a while as to whether it was a TIA (mini stroke) or some kind of ear infection. Just for context, I don't smoke, I'm not overweight, I exercise regularly, have plant based diet and drink only occasionally.
After quite a stressful and exciting day at work, I got home at about 10pm. I just felt really tired and it just felt like I was too tired to speak. I was slurring my words and just felt reluctant to speak. I was really dizzy/ brain foggy and then when I went to stand up to do something my leg kind of gave way. This was when I was taken to hospital but by the time I got there I could speak and walk properly but I just felt a bit fuzzy and out of sorts. I'd also lost my balance. At the hospital doctors concluded that they thought it was an ear infection but a week later the neurologist told me that it was a TIA. He gave me blood thinners and statins to take for life. Following this I had a number of tests to determine the cause of the stroke inc. MRI scan, ambulatory ECG, scan of my neck, blood tests, X rays, and later I was tested for bowel cancer and they couldn't find anything wrong or any cause.
I don't know whether it's normal for people not to know the cause of their TIA and whether this is something I should continue to pursue ( although it really feels as though doctors have explored every avenue!) Without a cause, I am wondering whether it wasn't a TIA at all and rather some kind of shut down due to massive overwhelm and having to mask. I wasn't diagnosed as autistic at the time and so I was trying to push through and just do what was expected without feeling that I could tell anyone what I needed. The day was actually full of quite nice events but they were all so ambiguous and so my day was full of extreme masking a mimicking and by the end of it I just didn't have any energy left. It was a mental/ emotional exhaustion. I felt embarassed to tell anyone that it was stressful for me because a lot of the things I was doing were ( on the surface) just nice, enjoyable things, so I didn't know how to explain how and why they were difficult for me. I still don't fully know how to do that.
I actually think I might be taking drugs I don't need. They've told me repeatedly that there's nothing wrong with my blood but at the same time have given me blood thinners. My cholesterol is also fine but I also have statins to take every day. This doesn't seem to make sense to me.
I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or knows anyone who has or any thoughts on this.
Many thanks for reading! x
