There are few times the body ambushes with no warning. Mostly, people just didn't
understand the signs.

The cardiovascular system gives a loud message before it fails.
The tragedy isn't that the body didn't say anything.
The tragedy is that nobody took the time to learn the language it was speaking.

And here is that language spelled out in clear, complete terms:

Unusual, unrelenting fatigue that even sleep cannot fix.
Not regular tiredness but a profound exhaustion that begins occurring during activities
that were never exhausting before.
Climbing steps that had no trouble.
Walking without ever having the urge to stop and catch one's breath because the heart
was struggling to handle the load with messages it sends in the form of the one
universal symptom.

Chest discomfort that occurs irregularly enough that most people don't notice. Not a crushing pressure.
Just an awareness that there is discomfort, possibly even a tightness during exertion.
But because the episodes occur sporadically, and the person feels fine other times, the
symptom seems minor enough to keep to oneself.
Unstable angina means a clogging artery reaching the point where its messages can be
dismissed no longer.

Pain in the jaw.
Discomfort in the left shoulder and upper back muscles between the shoulder blades.
These areas are linked neurologically to the heart, which means that the brain will map
heart pain to them when it can't identify the source of the discomfort. Patients are often seen in their dentists offices or physiotherapist clinics dealing with
referred cardiac pain that wasn't related to the teeth or skeletal muscles at all.

Unexplained breathlessness.
Struggling during physical activities that have never been breathless before. Because the heart has become inefficient, causing increased pressure to build in the
lungs.
Fluid begins to accumulate quietly, in the lung tissues, leading many to assume that the
problem is related to poor fitness or obesity when it's not.

Disturbed sleep occurring for no apparent reason.
Awakening during the middle of the night at 2 or 3 AM. Feeling restlessness that one's
consciousness cannot articulate but that the nervous system responds to.
The body's emergency responses being activated because of the cardiovascular stress
occurring in a state of unawareness.
While it's supposed to be the period of repair.

Foot and ankle swelling that occurs for no reason.
As a result of inefficiency, the heart pumps less effectively, so the fluid gets backed up in
the circulatory system, resulting in swelling in the extremities.
Shoes suddenly become too small.
It's not because of weight gain, but because of an inability of the body's fluid regulation
system to cope with the situation.
For strokes, the signs are somewhat different but equally critical.

Sudden vision problems in one eye.
Curtain descending over the visual field.
It can be easily confused with eye fatigue, but it's caused by the fact that the ophthalmic
artery is of common origin with vessels of the brain.
Therefore, visual disturbances can be the first signs of cerebrovascular disease.

Temporary weakness/numbness in one part of the body that persists for minutes but
disappears completely.

It's a TIA - transient ischemic attack. It means that the brain has experienced blood flow
disruption for some minutes that could last for minutes.
But it's exactly the resolution of symptoms that makes people ignore this.
It shouldn't.
Thirty percent of patients experiencing a TIA develop a stroke within 48 hours if no
treatment is given. Symptoms resolve only because of it.

Suddenly experiencing the severest headache, described as the worst one a person has
ever had.

It's a thunderclap headache and considered a medical emergency until proven otherwise.
The brain cannot experience this kind of pain without a reason.
It isn't the symptom to ignore and report the next time.

Feeling dizzy and losing balance suddenly.
The cerebellum responsible for maintaining balance is supplied by blood vessels from the
posterior circulation, which is also often affected by developing a stroke. Therefore, such symptoms may indicate cerebrovascular pathology.

Anxiety without any apparent cause.
The nervous system detects cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disturbances long before
the consciousness understands them.
The feeling that something bad happens but a person cannot name it.
It leads many to begin meditating and seeing therapists as they assume the problem is
psychological.
But in reality, the body was trying to communicate something.

This symptom cluster creates a critical window in cardiology and cerebrovascular
pathology.
A patient presenting with multiple symptoms mentioned above over weeks who seeks
help during that window has a completely different conversation with his doctor.
The most dangerous cardiac/cerebrovascular activity that can be documented in medical
research involves the decision to wait and see.

I changed my approach to everything dramatically after hearing something from someone during one of the scariest times of my own family life.

It turned out to be a quiet library of forgotten knowledge that Amish communities and
families of the Old World preserved and passed to each generation, considering it sacred
knowledge.
These communities knew the heart and brain not as organs to be treated pharmaceutically but as living entities responsive to food intake.
Food fortifying the blood vessels.
Preparations that support cardiac muscle function and cerebrovascular blood supply.

It wasn't meant to be an alternative for cardiologists.
It was meant to change everything that happens between visits.
Indeed, I understood fully that the heart and brain speak for weeks before they fail.
And the people who hear them in time aren't usually luckier ones.
They are always those who know more.

Your body has been talking to you.
Probably for weeks.
Maybe right now.
The only thing remaining to be done is to speak its language.

Full story: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-signs-that-your-body-is-preparing-for-a-stroke-
or-heart-attack

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