Could a person have a mild stroke and not realize it ?

[kbrooke77]

Curious if someone has had a mild stroke and didn't realize it, could they show any symptoms physically but not seem to notice it ? If so what kind of symptoms would be to look for?

[Angelpaws]

I think it is possible. My own stroke showed no physical symptoms at all - no droopy face etc. All i had was a headache that built up over five days to sheer agony, and my husband took me to A & E, where they thought it was a sinus infection, until the doctor did some tests on my vision, e.g. follow the fingers without moving my head. I had double vision at this point, and that is what made them CT scan my head and they could see the blood clot. Otherwise, no obvious symptoms, apart from feeling very unwell. Hope this helps. Larraine.

[Salty]

Yes, it is not that uncommon for a person to have a head CT or MRI (for whatever reason) and for there to be evidence of an old stroke or strokes and there were never symptoms of a stroke. Some areas of the brain are "silent."

[KarenOR]

Yes you can, though hospitals miss them too, I was told I was drunk in hospital and was told to go sleep it off in my own bed and not waste the hospitals time. Though in the A&E the doctor there could see I was having a mild stroke and wanted me to go to the stroke department I went to another ward and not the stroke one,and that is where I was told I was drunk. Lol I don't drink so not possible to be drunk. But mild strokes can happen in yoyr sleep and you only know when you wake up. My doctor said about 55% of mild strokes are not noticed or missed each year.

[Hidden in reply to KarenOR]

That's terrible and I find that wholly offensive on your behalf! I wish some of these so called "professionals" would think carefully before they make such sweeping statements. Trouble is when you're feeling so terrible you just don't want to fight with them. I hope you have now had all the support you need.

[KarenOR in reply to Hidden]

Downside its happens all to often if a doctor is just not an expert in that area they will just guess at whats wrong instead of going getting advice. I was told by a Neuro I did not have APS, though when I questioned his on his knowledge he was not aware of the many ways ASP shows its self everyones APS is different and he just dismissed it out of hand. Thankfully as he was doing this dismissing that I had it the blood nurses had arrived to take my blood and said Hi Karen lets see how sticky your blood is today for you APS checks, at that point the doctor shut up and walked off. Though the hospitals need to do cross area training more as in some areas you are under more than one department and need the smooth running of treatment and a clear understanding from the departments to deliver the best support and care to you.

[pluto5 in reply to KarenOR]

Quite frequently I have found that when I say APS the doctors ask me what it is?

[MaryF Administrator]

Hi there, it does appear that many people have experience this happening, and a valid point to raise on here, just to see all the answers come in with the various detail. Mary F x

[Leigha]

Yes, it is possible. I was also told I was drunk in hospital, while I was having mild stroke. Horrid experience. Since then have had a couple of times where have had bad migraine and afterwards notice side of mouth has drooped, so realize have had a tia. Doesn't happen often but with APS it is something am aware can happen.

[emmaj]

I had one of the occipital lobe - lost the sight in both eyes to the right and blurred vision - no symptoms just a couple of blackout instances where i didnt lose consciousness everything just went black momentarily - two neuros and two mris, and two years passed before a specialist by chance looked and saw the evidence!!! St Thomas also found more evidence of brain damaged due to aps and i just thought my depth/distance/balance issues were due to the sight loss- it was all due to that other part of the brain affectedx

[pluto5]

Usually when I have mini strokes I get symptoms: my eyes wont focus or go in and out of focussing, I get pains in my head, a realy horrible feeling in my chest and I feel quite faint-sometimes I do collapse.

If you don't have any smptoms why do you suppose you have had a stroke?

[Herb]

Yes.

Symptoms to look for include dizziness, weakness in any part of body, difficulty saying or remembering words, confusion, vagueness, cannot hit correct keys on keyboard, numb or pins and needles, funny feelings like smelling a bad smell when no bad food around, feeling like deja vu, migraine auras, blah blah blah too many to list.