Can my mom's anxiety/panic attacks lead to her getting a stroke?

Yes, increased stress that mom is having also increases the likelihood of heat attacks, strokes any sort of illness.

Willy, every time I post the same question to you. Have you talked to her doctor? There are medications for anxiety.

My mom is experiencing the same thing but her MRI did show a small stroke in the brainstem and was put on Xanax .25 mg twice a day.  She has had multiple TIAs in the past. 
For a week all she wanted to do was stay in bed and could not participate in therapy, so the Neuro changed the Xanax to take as needed.
I'm confused as to what is best for her. When she gets anxiety it looks like she's trying to have a stroke also.

I second Barb's concern. You post question after question which really you ought to be asking your mother's doctor.

Simple question for you: is your mother receiving qualified medical attention, yes or no?

Willy yes I believe stress can lead to stroke. That is what my father passed away from. He was the major caretaker to my adult siblings. He worried more about them and unfortunately they only took even more advantage. As already mentioned get professional help and hopefully stress relief thru meditation therapy counseling to the root of her stress. Xanax is very addictive as far as I am aware and some doctors will no longer prescribe it. I hope you find resolution soon. Please keep us posted.

Willy, I only saw one other post by you on someone else's thread, and you did address some issue with a medication. I don't remember which one now.

But if you're not comfortable with that med, have you considered SpiritDancer's suggestion for meditation therapy, or other noninvasive, nonmedical methods of distressing?

If constipation and stress are the reasons for the stress (not to be redundant on stress causing more stress), how have you tried to address those, as the underlying causes? Is she eating a healthy diet with adequate fruits and vegetables to avoid constipation? If it does happen, does something like a little bit of prune juice work? Does she eat nuts? They're helpful as well.

Perhaps if you find safe solutions to the causes, the stress may at least be minimized.

But stress can compound already existing stress. So try something like music therapy, art therapy, pet therapy, or nature therapy. My father is in a terminal state now, and has a lot of challenges, including limited ability to move around, to eat and to drink. For years we've used natural therapies, so I wasn't surprised when one of the nurses told me that a day or so ago he kept calling out for music, music, music!

So I'm buying a new portable CD player, taking his CDs to the rehab facility today, and taking more home to dupe and also take to the facility tomorrow. Some of the CDs aren't easily replaceable now that the wonderful Borders has closed, and I don't want to take the chance of them disappearing at the facility.

So think about it - try something nonmedical for stress reduction.

And back to your question - stress after the 2017 inauguration was I'm positive the cause of my own stroke. So I try to avoid listening to news on the fiascos and embarrassing juvenile behavior carried out in DC.

some have suggested going to the moms doctor. I have done that with my mom. Even my moms doctor told me my mom is so worked up all the time that she (the doctor) is worn out after ten minutes with her. She has prescribed meds, but my mom wont take them. The Dr. told me she of course cannot make my mom take them.

GA; just to note, Willy's mom isn't "actually" constipated; she thinks that she hasn't gone and so gets upset, demands a laxative, etc. Placebos have been suggested. I believe that Willy has use baby aspirin as a placebo with good effect, except a baby aspirin is an actual med, and may be contraindicated. Which is why I keep asking if s/he's talked to the mom's doctor about this fairly common dementia related issue.

My mom suffered from anxiety and depression her whole life. Her PCP gave her a benzo to take "as needed". Of course, as a child of an alcoholic father and siblings, she was afraid of addiction issues. so she never "got ahead" of the anxiety.

Once we switched her to a geriatrician, who hooked her up with a geriatric psychiatrist, mom was put on a proper dose of a better antianxiety med, on a regular basis. She was under "doctor's orders" to take this med. And it helped with ALL of her other issues. She still resisted the idea of taking an antidepressant, which we all (including the doctor) felt would help her day to day functioning.

Came the stroke and mom was in intensive rehab. The geriatric psych at the rehab said to me "as part of the post stroke protocol, we put patients on an antidepressant". I said "no arguments from me". It helped with mom's recovery.

Barb, thanks for the clarification. I thought constipation really was a problem, based on this post and one other which I happened to stumble across.

Karsten, my mother sounds similar to yours. I have no doubt that panic and anxiety must raise blood pressure. Anti-anxiety meds for my mother have been suggested by a neurologist (PCP said she doesn't like to put her older patients on them; she suggested social support and checking in on my mother every day...ummm...NO, you do not tell ME what to do, Dr.!).

My mother wouldn't take any such meds, anyway. So she gets herself stressed, and I'm sure raises her bp. She's had TIAs and has atrial fibrillation, so she is at increased risk for stroke.

My mom woke up yesterday with shaking hands and the anxiety kicked in again. This time nothing seemed to trigger the anxiety. She took a .25 Xanax and calmed down and does have a doctors appointment in the near future regarding this with a Geri. I'm wondering if there's some other drug instead of Xanax that is better and what question should I ask ?  These panic/anxiety attacks  are happening more often now.

Bella, were the shaking hands a symptom of the anxiety or are they related to another condition, like Parkinson's?

My mom's geriatric psychiatrist was a believer in getting ahead of the anxiety with small regular doses of klonopin,, rather than a larger dose when panic had already set in. There are also SSRI and SSNI antidepressants that have antianxiety properties.

She said her hands were very shaky, when she woke up at 7 am, weak in extremities and then the anxiety kicked in as the morning progressed...spilling food at lunchtime, almost fell and that was when she took her Xanax.
Your last paragraph makes total sense and I responded to you in a another thread. My mom's physical therapist and occupational therapist privately suggested to me it could be the starting of Parkinson's! 😞   Her hands don't shake all the time, maybe they're a little always tiny shaky I can't figure it out yet...when she's having a spell of anxiety her voice definitely sounds like she has Parkinson's.
With her last TIA, the MRI showed another mini stroke at the brainstem area