I just had a minor stroke (end of June). It happened at a band practice and I could hear the others saying, from about a hundred miles away, 'ok Trev, you can get up now...', and feel them poking me with their feet!

It wasn't until the next day that I realised I was losing sensation in one side of my face, went to the docs and the panic button was hit. I'm not overweight (well not much, anyway!), my cholestrol levels are low, but, get this,my BP was for some reason through the roof. I had no idea - I hadn't been poorly so I hadn't had it checked. It was only afterwards that I made the connection with headaches and nosebleeds, and a couple of days after the episode a blood vessel in my eye went pop. I looked even more like Freddie Kruger then usual.

Everything is more or less back to normal now - the doc even says I'll be able to play the guitar eventually - improvement there then! The moral, for me, is obvious - my BP is going to be tested regularly, for ever and ever - mind you, it seems I'm going to be taking pills for ever and ever as well.

Good luck!