If someone has had a TIA in 1996 and they recovered with minimal residual effects. (weakness on left side.) Then, they attended college to be rehabilitated to learn another profession (making honor roll) what could cause them to gradually develop a paranoid schizophrenic disorder and now have a anti-social phobia?
It isn't to the point of being agraphobic. (But almost.) This person is under many Drs. care and is on many different medicines.
(Prozac,Buspar,Zyprexa,Depakot)
I am wondering could this person be having mini strokes in their sleep? What could make a person change like this? Is it a part of the brain that has been affected from the TIA 5 years ago? If so, then why did it take 5 years for it to manifest?
This is something that I can not talk to my friends about and have no-where else to turn. I have been letting the Drs. handle all the decisions concerning medications..(changing them until they find something that will help.)I have spoken with the Drs. and they tell me that they have to just keep trying until everything comes out right. I love this person dearly, and it hurts me to see them go through this torture that is created in their own mind.
Thanks in advance for your answers and advice!

From my understanding TIA's are so called mini strokes that have symptoms while they occur that reside. There should be no cellular death in a TIA. A stroke would cause brain damage in what ever area affected causing neuron death. In rehabilitation therapy, sometimes other pathways can "learn" to take over and regain use of the deficits left behind by the cellular death caused by a stroke.

I would suggest consulting a neurologist for further evaluation. If a stroke occurred, it would show up on a CAT scan. Some people have small strokes and don't even know it until it shows up on scan. Make sure there are no changes from the previous state first before assuming psychological problems.

In this case, I would strongly suggest reevaluation by a neurologist. Without this information, it is difficult for a psychiatrist to accurately assess the situation.

Thank you Wildflower!
It seems like my next step would be to have another MRI done.(through neurology)
My husband had one done in 1994 (after his stroke.)
His personality and mannerisms have changed as of December 2001.
Would this show any connection to his recently acquired phobias and conditions?
Thanks again!

I worked in a physical therapy hospital for five years. You have to keep in mind that I only knew the after stroke person. Family members have told me of personality and behavior changes, some more subtle and some major.

The goal is to get the person to their maximum functioning. They may never be the same as before a stroke. I have seen people after a stroke that appear to have some sort of psychosis. It does take much less time than what you are describing. The stroke occurred several years ago. I wouldn't think the two are necessarily related. If there happened to be a small unnoticed stroke before these symptoms started to occur, there may be some explanation. Depending on the medications he is now taking, there could be some sort of side effect. It could be anything that may effect the brain (not to scare you, but even a brain tumor for example), but what is the question.

I would go to the same neurologist that is familiar with your husband. He needs to be reevaluated to rule out any physical cause for these disorders. Pharmacist are pros (actually a better source that the doctor who prescribed them in the first place) when it comes to drug side effects and interactions. You may also want to ask a pharmacist about your husbands symptoms to see if they could be drug related.

With or without physical cause, sometimes problems that you are describing are not truly curable. The psychiatrist appears to be doing what he realistically can. Drugs work differently for different people. Hopefully through trial and error something will help. There is so much that we just don't know about the human psychology.

This is a very difficult thing for both of you to go through. My best wishes to you. I hope something can be done to help.

Thanks again WildFlower! I appreciate you taking the time to reply with such an informative reply!
I have been asking myself.. What triggered these conditons to "suddenly" appear 6 years after his stroke?
That is why the thought of min-strokes came to mind. You are right, I will make appt. with neurology and take it from there.
Thanks for your understanding and concern!

Another thought, your husband probably needs to see the regular family doctor also. Get a very thorough general check up. There are things like thyroid dysfunction that can also cause psychological changes that can be cured completely.