At the age of 21, Nia Tyler was like any normal university student. She enjoyed socialising, going on nights out and believed that she was perfectly healthy.

But, one morning, seven years ago, Nia woke up with an agonising headache so severe that she was unable to get out of bed.

Nia, from Cardiff, believed she was suffering a migraine. It would take a week before doctors found the true cause: a life-threatening stroke.

The brain blood clot condition was once considered rare in young people, but data shows it is on the rise.

And experts say that the symptoms of migraines and strokes are often confused – putting lives at-risk.

At the time, Nia, who was also experiencing vomiting, blurred vision and balance issues, went to her GP surgery hoping for treatment.

Instead, she says she was fobbed off. Her GP suggested that it was a migraine - or even a hangover. But Nia had not drunk the night before – she and her friends had watched a movie and got an early night.

‘I wasn’t able to eat, had no appetite and had vomited the toast I tried,’ says Nia. ‘I was only leaving bed to use the toilet when I was desperate.

‘But I could barely lift my head from the pillow otherwise. I knew I wasn’t hungover, as I hadn’t had alcohol since Wednesday – and this was Sunday.’

Nia was sent home with painkillers and told to rest up. However, 24 hours later, when her symptoms hadn’t improved, Nia called 111, the NHS non-emergency number. 

Once again, she was given the wrong diagnosis – this time she was told she had an ear infection.

But it was a visit to see an optician about a new pair of glasses that ultimately found the true cause of Nia’s headaches – and arguably saved her life.

The eye specialist noticed that her optic nerve, which transmits visual information from the eye to the brain, was unusually swollen.

Nia was sent for a brain scan, which revealed a blood clot. It had been there for more than seven days, slowly cutting off oxygen to Nia’s brain.

Studies show that one in ten patients die of a stroke within 30 days of symptoms beginning.

Nia was admitted to hospital and was kept there for two weeks, as doctors administered blood-thinning drugs to reduce the size of the clot.

Thankfully, she survived the ordeal but believes she is lucky to be alive.

Nia says she does not know why she suffered a stroke, as she had no underlying health problems that could raise the risk of the condition, such as obesity or diabetes.

Experts say that strokes are on the rise in young people – and this increase appears to be most pronounced in women for reasons that are still unclear.

While the number of new stroke cases diagnosed yearly has dropped in older age groups over the last ten to 20 years, it has doubled in those under 55, say researchers from the University of Oxford, who last year launched a study to try to understand the reasons behind this rise.

A quarter of strokes in the UK, around 20,000 cases, now occur in people of working age, according to the Stroke Association.

Experts also say that, because strokes are considered rare in young people, they are often mistaken for migraines.

For this reason, they argue there are key symptoms that patients need to spot.

‘The most useful distinction I give patients is this: migraines build, strokes strike,’ says Dr Eric Anderson, a neurologist and chief medical officer of Lin Health.

‘A migraine develops over minutes to hours. The headache is often one-sided, throbbing, and worsened by light, sound, and movement. 

'It’s miserable, but it follows a pattern, and most people with migraines know their pattern well as they usually have been living with it for years.

‘Stroke symptoms are sudden and typically maximal at onset. One moment you’re fine, the next your arm doesn’t work, your face droops, your speech slurs, or half your vision is gone.’

Dr Anderson adds that women and younger patients are more likely to experience a headache during a stroke than older patients.

‘The classic red flag is the thunderclap headache, pain that goes from zero to the worst of your life within a minute,’ he says. 

‘That can signal a ruptured or leaking aneurysm and is an emergency every time, even if it fades.’

Nia, 27, is now a professional singer – but is still suffering the effects of the stroke seven years on, including migraines, brain fog and balance issues.

She says that, due to her age and gender, she wasn’t treated soon enough.

‘Because I’m a young woman, we’re not given enough credit for knowing our own bodies,’ she says.

‘It’s also the assumption that young people have less health issues, so it couldn’t be anything serious.

‘I also didn’t present with the “classic” stroke symptoms, so that didn’t help.

‘More absolutely needs to be done to prevent this from happening again, though.

‘There should be a wider spread of understanding that strokes can happen to anyone, at any time, and more respect to young people should be given.’