Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

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Symptoms & Signs

Symptoms of TIA are the same as those that occur in stroke and include the sudden development of:

• numbness, tingling, changes in sensation
• weakness, heavy feeling of extremities
• speech difficulty (garbled speech; slurred speech)
• vision changes
  • loss of vision in one eye
  • decreased vision
  • double vision
• sensation that the person or the room is moving (vertigo)
• loss of balance
• lack of coordination
• gait changes, staggering
• falling (caused by weakness in the legs)

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• facial paralysis
• eye pain
• confusion

Note: Symptoms begin suddenly, last only a short time (from a few minutes to 24 hours) and disappear completely. Symptoms may occur again at a later time. Specific symptoms vary depending on the location (which vessel is involved), the degree of vessel involvement, and the extent of collateral circulation. Symptoms usually occur on the same side of the body if more than one body part is involved.