looking back i can now see i missed early warning signs of having a stroke
first was leaving work and struggling to do up my shoe laces doing up my coat and my hand slipping on the gear stick and my i could not use my indicator leaver and also struggling to use a fork and having to think to say something and make myself understandable
i wish i known that then and got help sooner
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I too missed early signs of my stroke although I would never have imagined thatâs what they were.
A couple of weeks before my stroke I had an episode where I felt really spaced out. It only lasted a short time and never thought any more of it.
I also had a pain across my right cheek which went up behind my eye & went into my head. I mentioned the pain on the day I had my stroke & was told it was likely connected
I donât dwell on any if it though as I am notvsure I would have done anything differently if I had that time again & I canât undone what is now done.
It does show the importance of not ignoring anything that is out of the ordinary.
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We all have regret in life. If only I did X differently, Y may not have happened.
Like most people I think I had a warning sign of stroke two days before I had one but it might not have been. Also Iâm 33, if I went to hospital saying I felt a bit off theyâd shrug me away 
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In my case , I had no early warnings at all prior to my stroke last September, I woke up in the morning with a mild headache, not unusual for me as I also suffer from mild migraines occasionally, but this headache was a bit worse than normal, I took 2 migraleve tablets but it did not disperse it as usual.
I sat down to watch the news on TV while having my breakfast, it was then that I realised that my eyesight was all wrong, any thing stationary was ok, but anything moving WBAâs seen in an unusual fashion, the actual movement was seen in a totally different way, ie a gliding motion, that was when I realised some thing was wrong.
The upshot of it all was that after my wife drove me to ER the next day, it was confirmed
I had had a stroke in my sleep, and was later told I had a possible focal seizure as well, but still to this day is unconfirmed, DVLA has banned me from driving for 6 months which has been very hard, as I enjoy driving, especially my classic 1957 Chevrolet Be Air, and especially as the seizure is still unconfirmed, still waiting for MRI results.
Sorry to be so long winded and deviating from the subject, but my case just shows that the typical FAST symptoms donât always manifest themselves.
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I started getting migraines a couple of weeks before my stroke. I asked my doctor to be seen but that was declined. I canât help but wonder if theyâd have seen me if theyâd have taken me off the contraceptive pill that caused my stroke. I try not to dwell or feel angry about it but itâs a question I know will never be answered.
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So many stories about the pill causing stroke in young women. Itâs so dangerous in many ways yet so ânormalâ to be taken
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My husbandâs stroke happened in his sleep too.
When he got up his right side was weak but he still managed to get around our small home and even had his shower.
I am a retired nurse and looked very carefully for signs ( FAST ) etc but we both concluded his hours of digging the previous day had caused a nerve issue which would wear off shortly 
I will never forgive myself for not acting immediately and getting him to the ED but thankfully he was seen very quickly when I did insist we go to ED a couple of hours later.
He had quite a big stroke though the doctors didnât think he had until the MRI results.
He is 78 and has always been fit and well and physically active.
Unfortunately not everyone gets the obvious signs.
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So, looking back, I did have warnings of my impending stroke. I was seeing multi-coloured âlightening strokesâ in my right hand vision. But the day before I had flown back from India and on that day I had driven back from London to Devon and I just put it down to being tired. But, to be fair, even if I HAD realised I was having a stroke it would have taken AT LEAST and hour to get an ambulance and then triage and the scans, basically it would have made no difference.
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Before covid I had to have a pill review every 6 months or they wouldnât prescribe me anymore. Then along came covid and they gave them out without seeing or speaking to me. That continued right up to my stroke.
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Unfortunately my husbandâs stroke happened after i left for work in the morning and i discovered him at 5.
Ambulance called and they were brilliant and phoned the stroke ward direct to get him seen to asap.
The nurse on duty refused him on the grounds he should go to A&E to rule out sepsis!!!
They did argue he had previous stroke history but to no avail.
Does make you wonderâŚ
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Hi, I can really identify with how you feel. Iâm a retired nurse and prior to retirement worked in stroke rehab yet even I didnât recognise the early signs in myself, for which I feel stupid and angry about. I woke up and felt as if I was on a boat. I had no visual difficulties, no head ache, so weakness. I felt well. I couldnât fathom it at all and was more annoyed that I couldnât get out for a walk across Dartmoor where we were staying for a few days. I even convinced my GP who I phoned when we got home later that day, that it couldnât be a stroke surely? I can stand on one leg etc etc. When my symptoms worsened in a further 48hrs I did then get double vision and start to find sentence construction a challenge so had a trip in the ambulance. Had missed the thrombolysis window too. Iâm mostly annoyed at my own stupidity as a nurse albeit retired and I guess that is how you feel too but some how we have to say to ourselves that so many strokes do not present as we are led to believe ie FACE. I now go around telling my friends and people I meet that if they wake and think they are on a boat presume it is a stroke first until that is ruled out. Interestingly the lady in the bed next to me described the onset of her symptoms in exactly the same way. Use your experience to warn others and try not to beat yourself up. ! There is nothing to be gained by that, although its easier said then done. Thinking of you.
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You are absolutely right in that it is much more positive to spread the word that strokes can present so differently rather than continue to feel guilty for something we canât change now.
Thank you for that reminder 
Best wishes for your recovery 
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Hi I can identify with the eyesight issue being the first odd thing I noticed. This was as a passenger in a car when I remarked that the road seemed weird as if it wasnât following the same route as the car and I was glad I wasnât driving. I couldnât explain it and it was very minor so I ignored it.
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