May is Stroke Awareness Month. I survived a stroke - and I had NO idea that’s what was happening at the time. 

I’m continuing to share my personal story over the next few days - not to scare anyone, but to help someone. I had a kind of stroke I’d never heard of before; a non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. It came without warning, and I looked “fine” on the outside. I want you to know the signs. 

What is a stroke? It’s when blood flow to the brain is suddenly disrupted - either by a clot or bleeding (mine was caused by bleeding.)

There are two main types of strokes: ischemic - from a blood clot; and hemorrhagic - from bleeding in or around the brain.

Mine was the second kind. I had NO idea what I was experiencing was actually a stroke.

What is a subarachnoid hemorrhage? A subarachnoid hemorrhage is bleeding in the space between the brain and its covering tissues. My stroke was a non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage - meaning no aneurysm burst, but there was still sudden bleeding around my brain. I had no Idea that was even possible. But it is. And it happened to me.

My symptoms… I detailed the onset of my headache in Part One of my story, but in short, my symptoms were 1) a sudden, intense LEVEL 10 headache (like a thunderclap), 2) nausea and vomiting (after the headache began), and 3) a little bit of neck stiffness. Others experience sensitivity to light and confusion. Many people also lose consciousness. 

A key takeaway I want you to remember - I didn’t lose consciousness. I didn’t have slurred speech. But I had a thunderclap headache and a gut instinct something was wrong. Listen to your body. If something feels ‘off,’ trust yourself.