05 November 2023 , 07:18
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There's an often-ignored and unexpected symptom that someone could be suffering a stroke, medical experts say.
Vertigo, a sensation that everything around you is spinning, can make it seem like you’ve lost your balance. But it could be a sign that something is really not right and shouldn't be disregarded if it doesn't go away.
Many of us are aware of three common signs that appear when someone is having a stroke, remembered by the first part of the FAST acronym: facial drooping, arm weakness and slurred speech - but that's not all we should be aware of. An attack of vertigo can last a few seconds or hours, and in extreme cases can go on for days.
Vertigo could be an early sign that you are suffering a stroke (Getty Images/iStockphoto)"Recurring episodes of vertigo should receive medical attention because they may indicate a serious medical condition," medical website HeathLine states. "Recurring episodes of vertigo may be a predictor of a stroke. For people in primary care health settings and emergency departments, it’s not necessarily a symptom of something more serious."
Cardiac Screen, an independent medical clinic in London, explains: “The signs of a stroke often appear suddenly, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have time to act. Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke.
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“If you take note of these symptoms and seek help even if they go away, then your chances of a good recovery are much better. Don’t ignore the early warning signs. You aren’t overreacting if there’s a chance you’ve had a TIA."
Ignoring vertigo isn't advisable. One women who did before eventually making a trip to her GP says she was given a diagnosis that left her shell-shocked. Barbara Geraghty-Whitehead first began suffering from the symptoms during the first lockdown, but quickly dismissed them and put them to the back of her mind.
She was a healthy and active woman who enjoyed travelling, walking her dogs and going out with her family. It wasn't until September 16 last year that she visited her GP and underwent blood tests. She said: "I started not feeling right and I couldn't figure out what it was, but I didn't do anything about it, I just left it.
"Normally, I would be up and about, making use of the time that we had off during the summer, but I found myself just sitting around not really having the motivation to do anything. I never ever got hot flushes. Even though I was put on HRT patches, it was mainly for my bone pain, so I just put it to the back of my mind and I thought no more of it." However, as these symptoms persisted, she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that something was amiss. After months of hesitation, she finally decided to consult her GP.
Within hours of her visit, Barbara, from Cheshire, received a chilling phone call from her doctor. They said: "We're concerned about how high your white blood cells are, it could be blood cancer." A week later, following further tests, the mother-of-two was hit with the devastating news that she had chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), an incurable disease.
Barbara said: "You say you want to carry on as much as normal, but from that second nothing else was going to be normal anymore. I wanted to go in and for them to say, 'No, it was a mistake, it's something else,' but they didn't, they said it was CML."
Symptoms that could hit before a stroke:
- Complete paralysis of one side of the body
- Sudden vision loss, blurred vision or double vision
- Being sick
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Difficulty understanding what others are saying
- Problems with balance and co-ordination
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)