Hi FAST is a great message which undoubtedly saves lives. I did not have any of these symptoms with either of my strokes but woke up not being able to see properly, vision problems, I knew the FAST message and watched it on the TV adverts so thought I knew what the signs of a stroke were. I did not know that change in your vision was a possible sign of a stroke too. I do think V should be added to FAST message. I think it would have made me and maybe people around me more aware I was having a stroke. VFAST best wishes x
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@Elle1 Different Strokes use BEFAST as their stroke signs with B being Balance & E being eyes. Both of which were some of my first signs. Not sure if knowing that would have made me get help sooner - Iâm a bit stubborn when it comes to getting medical help I always think things will pass in time - but it might have made think a bit more about seeking help.
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Hi@mrs5k I know if we only knew what we know now ah I was so confused about what was happening stroke was not on my radar. I didnât know vision was a symptom of stroke, well I do now,Hope you all have a good weekend x
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I had none of the symptoms of FAST, but I still had a stroke. My vision went double at about at night, and my balance was poor when I stood up. I put it down to tiredness and the extra glass of wine I had drunk. The following morning I got up feeling fine, had breakfast, and then a Zoom meeting with work (this was during lockdown). 30 or so minutes later 8 began to feel ill, and began to vomit. I rang the doctor, but he said it sounded like vertigo. However, he would send a nurse to check. She arrived at about 3 pm. After checking she discovered ataxia in my right arm, and immediately called an ambulance. My stroke was finally diagnosed at about 6 pm that night, about 19 and a half hours later. My stroke was in my cerebellum, so could have been very serious. Thankfully all I am left with is some balance issues and occasional fatigue. My point is, if I had known about the eyesight and balance issues I would have reacted differently and received treatment much earlier. The USA uses BEFAST as its warning, which includes EYESIGHT and BALANCE as well as FAST. Why donât we? While not as common as the other symptoms covered by FAST, they are fairly common and lives saved or at least serious incapacity reduced.
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From what is being said here, it appears that quite a significant amount of people donât present FAST symptoms.
Therefore when will it be accepted and promoted that BEFAST will inform others that, although FAST is a good indicator, there are other signs of someone of having a stroke.
Surely the priority should be to catch every sign of a stroke as soon as possible not just those presenting FAST.
Also while weâre on this subject, why are so many young people who go to hospital with signs of having a stroke are told that they must be drunk or on drugs?
No one is too young to have a stroke, they should be treated with the same urgency as someone older.
The late diagnosis is devastating for all concerned and the young shouldnât be dismissed as being drunk or on drugs!
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Exactly! Almost any issue with young people is thought to be drug or alcohol related at first. Could be, but a bit of listening and believing the patient unless it is proven, rather than assuming and trying to get the patient to prove different, could make a big difference.
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Ive said previously that having FAST at the top of this of the forum makes me uncomfortable.
It isnât meeting the stroke associationâs Goal-A as strongly as could be easily improved by extending FAST .
And Iâve just read the whole of this thread and none - zero - of the people who posted had fast symptoms at the start.
Quotes
My own âI had none of the FAST symptoms in the first 36 hours I was in hospital .â
Slow Processes 
I know one peer reviewed article in Canada suggested fast could be proved not to be reliable guidance in 15% of cases. We have a non peer reviewed cross-section in this thread of 100%. I would unscientifically guess the anecdotal evidence passing by me in the last 3 years is that it is north of 30% - Why hasnât medical best practices kept up?
Anchored to old messages
The stroke association and other organisations should be very proud of the public awareness they managed to create with the FAST campaign - but as the loudest voice they owe a duty of care to moving on repeating an old message anchors practises in the past
So
Is it now appropriate to suggest that laggardliness in sticking to fast when it is known to be less than best practise with devastating consequences for so many people is avoidably exacerbating the damage to some peoples lives - eg everybody in this thread.
is it prioritising a re-printing and web page maintenance budget over providing best advice with sadly devastating effects on many lives ?
Better advice
Both FASTER and BE FAST (and I liked the one above I hadnât heard before
Should now be moved front and centre of all awareness building.
The R in faster is for Reactions
There is nothing in either though that guards against the misinterpretation of the stroke symptoms as intoxication. The suspicion is one thing, but acting on that suspicion when it has decades of consequence is inappropriate
Footnote
I also wonder why we have a thread in our forum on recognising the symptoms? The people who are here already know them. Is it to drivetraffic for search engines?
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Or smiled at and dismissed because when I was asked why I was in A&E, I said I had a headache my husband had to stay with the children in the car so I was alone I stumbled in the waiting room with a burst aneurysm brain bleed. I couldnât explain anymore to her as I was being sick too. Think she thought I was drunk. I wasnât of course.
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It is important for us all to recognize different symptoms in all of us. We may need them again for ourselves or for someone else.
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The great irony - and one that makes me deeply unsettled - is the head of this forum has a post that perpetuates the misrepresentation of FAST as a reliable and complete diagnostic.
It is a incomplete even often irrelevant and unreliable test that our own experiences here show is wrong in the order of 80% of the time
There are many post stroke lives that may have been blighted by its shortcomings - my own included
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