This topic will help you out:
STROKE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of a stroke depend on what part of the brain and how much of the brain tissue is affected.
* Stroke symptoms usually come on suddenly—in minutes to an hour.
* There is usually no pain associated with the symptoms.
* The symptoms may come and go, go away totally, or get worse over the course of several hours.
* If the symptoms go away completely in a short time (fewer than 24 hours), the episode is called a
transient ischemic attack (TIA).
* A third of all strokes occur during sleep, so people first notice the symptoms when they wake up.
* These are the common symptoms of stroke:
o Weakness in the arm or leg or both on the same side: This can range from total
paralysis to a very mild weakness. Complete
numbness or a pins-and-needles feeling may be present on one side of your body or part of one side of your body.
o Weakness in the muscles of the face: Your face may droop or look lopsided. Speech may be slurred because you can't control the movement of your lips or tongue.
o Difficulty speaking: You can't speak, speech may be very slurred, or when you speak, the words sound fine but do not make sense.
o Coordination problems: You may seem uncoordinated and stumble or have difficulty walking or difficulty picking up objects.
o Dizziness: You may feel drunk or dizzy or have difficulty swallowing.
o Vision problems: You may develop difficulty with vision, such as
double vision, loss of peripheral (side) vision, or
blindness. (
Blurred vision by itself is not usually a symptom of stroke.)
o Sudden headache: A sudden,
severe headache may strike like "a bolt out of the blue." Some people have called this the worst headache of their lives.
o Loss of consciousness: You may become unconscious, stuporous, or hard to arouse and could die.