Frankie Muniz suffers ‘mini-stroke’ at age 26

Frankie Muniz 27th birthday is a mixed blessing: he may be partying tonight, but he's also recovering from a health scare. The "Malcolm in the Middle" star revealed on Twitter on Tuesday that he suffered a "mini stroke" on Nov. 30, "which was not fun at all."

"Have to start taking care of my body! Getting old!" Muniz tweeted.

Sure enough, an Instagram photo posted by his fianceé, Elycia Marie Turnbow, showed the actor in a hospital bed with tell-tale tags around his wrists.

"Please be ok," she wrote.

See also: Frankie Muniz engaged to Elycia Marie Turnbow

The Huffington Post defines a mini-stroke (or "transient ischemic attack") as being "when no blood flows to the brain for a moment of time" with symptoms -- numbness, confusion, balance problems, vision changes, headache, speaking problems -- only lasting as long as a day. It is reportedly sometimes caused by a blood clot, blood vessel injury or reduction in blood vessel size and those at risk include diabetics, those with a family history of strokes and people with high cholesterol.

Although Muniz didn't provide further details on his illness, a 2009 editorial written by Dorian Cox, guitarist for U.K. band The Long Blondes, reveals his experience with suffering a stroke at age 27.

"Frustratingly, the doctors cannot tell me what caused the stroke, but my advice to people is to live a normal, boring life and you should be OK," Cox wrote. "Who knows, I might well have had a stroke anyway, but the lifestyle that goes with being in a band would have a detrimental effect on anyone's health. Always travelling, not sleeping enough and drinking more than you should is never great."

As it happens, Muniz joined the Pennsylvania band KINGSFOIL earlier this year as their drummer. With them, he has already set out on a 30-date tour and appears on their second album, "A Beating Heart is a Bleeding Heart," which dropped in September.

See also: The cast of 'Malcolm in the Middle' reunites

Before joining the band, the ex-child star made his first foray into music in 2010, playing drums in the Phoenix band You Hang Up. In 2004, Muniz told Entertainment Weekly that he had learned the drums from his old friend Zac Hanson of the Hanson brothers.

"All I want to do is be a drummer. But I don't want to be known for it. I want to be John Mayer's drummer, in the background. I just go on stage, play the drums, nobody looks at me, and I leave. I just want to play music," he said.

Before forging a career in music, Muniz veered off into pro car racing in 2006. He took part in 14 races in his first year alone, followed by 12 the next season. In 2008, after appearing in the comedy "Extreme Movie," he devoted himself to car racing full time and signed with the Pacific Coast Motorsports team, finishing in eleventh place that year.

KINGSFOIL is due to head back out on tour again on Dec. 7. No word yet on if Muniz still plans to go, but we're betting that when it comes to his health, he might not want to take any chances.