Wednesday, July 16, 2008
It's that time of the month again -- time for the July Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival. This month's theme is How Spirituality Helps Us Cope with Migraine Disease.
Check out the May Headache Blog Carnival, How Spirituality Helps Us Cope with Migraine Disease.
What's a blog carnival? Gen...
Hey Teri I've gone to the emergency room many times due to a migraine. I have all of the signs of a hemoplegic migraine...It either starts with nubness from the fingertips, tongue, legs..wherever it decides to start then slurred words, a droopy face. Sometimes it is on the right side, other times it's on the left..The last one I had started with blotchy spots in my eyes. The thing i'm not finding that I need to know is that Im only 19, they've been happening since 14. Well, the weird thing is, is that they only happen once a year and it's always in the same week in October...Except one timeit was in October and then in January. But everything I read is that the migraine comes before the numbness and everything...my migraine comes after all of these symptoms. And every doctor doesn't seem to understand what I'm talking about. Is it just what kind of migraine it is or do you think it could be something else. I barely get migraines, it's really only these.
Hi, Wendy!
When you say your other symptoms come before the Migraine, do you mean before the headache? The other symptoms are part of the Migraine too. Do you experience any true motor weakness or paralysis? It can be difficult to differentiate between basilar-type and hemiplegic Migraine. Only hemiplegic cause motor weakness or paralysis.
Even though these episodes aren't frequent, they do need to be diagnosed. What you've described would fit hemiplegic Migraine, but they also fit basilar-type Migraine. Take a look at:
• Basilar-Type Migraine - The Basics
• Hemiplegic Migraine - The Basics
What kind of doctor have you seen about this? You may need to see a Migraine specialist to get this sorted out. If you need help finding one, see: Patient Resommended Migraine and Headache Specialists. I know it may seem overkill for one or two Migraines a year, Wendy, but if you're having basilar-type or Hemiplegic Migraines, you need to know. Those types of Migraine require different treatmen than other Migraines.
Hope this helps!
Teri
Yeah, it comes before the headache.. The paralysis usually come first but eventually I lose my speech, one side just droops...like for example, if it's on the left side, the left side of my face will droop. I'll feel really heavy on one side and I can't move it. I get delirious and depending on the severity of it, i'll pass out. I can;t even tie a shoe. It's all signs of pretty much a stroke as my mom says but every hospital adnd doctor I've been to have no clue what it is. I've seen a nuerologist once but he basically told me the same thing and can't pinpoint it...So I'm pretty much not knowing what it is
Oh and thanks for the information! It does seem to be more of a BTM....The numbness usually only lasts for a few minutes before something else starts, but next time i see a nuerologist, I'll definately bring up these 2 kinds of migraines and hopefully he'll have something. Thanks!