Silent migraines with anxiety

By bentley Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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I have been diagnosed with silent migraines, migraines with no pain. Had one severe migraine when I was 16 lost vision with pain, put me in the hospital, and then nothing for 16 years until 6 months ago. Im now 32. These migraines are very strange, I will get numbness somwhere on my left side, the first one I had, my left side of my face went numb, and sometimes my arm, or half my tounge or nose. The worst part is the way it made me feel, when it first started, I had the worst feeling of panic and anxiety, I could not sit still, I kept walking around, my wife would ask what is wrong, and I would say, I dont know, I just dont feel right, I feel like I'm dying. I tried to sleep it off, I woke up all night with diaharea, panic, numbness, and chest pains and indigestion. I though maybe I was having a heart attack. Went to the doctor the next day, and he first diagnosed me with anxiety, but after going over my history of migraines, and all other symtoms, he sent me to a neurologist who diagnosed me with silent migraines. All the tests, EEG ,EKG, MRI, all came back normal. I have never had anxiety or worried about anything, I'm almost certain that migraines can cause anxiety, and wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I can see it being assumed that someone with a painful migraine would be anxious or panic because of the severe pain they are experiencing, or know they are about to experience. But with my migraine, there is no pain, and it causes me the worst panic ever. I now have to try to calm myself down when I start to feel the numbness coming on but it is very difficult sometimes, I'm now afraid I will have a full blown panic attack every time I experience my migraine symtoms. It is affecting my life in a bad way. I havent had any bad ones lately, but have been getting more chest pains with my facial numbness and symptoms are almost daily lately. Wish this would all just go away and I could get back to normal.

Comments (26) | Add comment

Vijay

5/15/09 10:25pm

I have had problems with vision. I would see wavy flourescent black and white shapes like an optical illusion in the corner or upper eye. I was sent to a neurologist who diagnosed me with anxiety migraines. I would have them sporadically. I couldn't put a time on them because they could come 3 or 6 months apart or I would go for a year or more without having one. I also didn't feel like I was panicked or anxious about anything until I actually started having it. A few minutes into one and I would get a feeling of slight panic or anxiousness. I would try to calm myself down and concentrate on breathing or something other than what I was feeling. These would last for approximately 1/2 hour.

Currently, I have started having them again but now they are coming almost every day. Luckily, they are only lasting a few minutes so the feeling of anxiety only last a short while. I too feel as though something is wrong and this time, I am getting slight pain in my forehead area the lasts only a minute or two. I'm off to the Dr in a couple weeks and if I find out anything useful, I will pass it on.

bentley

5/16/09 8:51am

Thank you, keep me posted. Mine can be like that also, coming and going, and sometimes only lasting a few minutes and then going away. Was the diagnoses migraines caused by anxiety, or anxiety caused by the migraine? my next neurologist visit is in mid June, I have alot of questions to ask. Thanks again, and good luck to you.

Vijay

5/19/09 2:09pm

Actually, I never thought to ask that. Thanks and I'll be sure to remember to do so. I'm not anxious at the moment it starts but once the lights begin, I start to feel anxious. Something that seemed to cause it before was reading the newspaper....again, not a stressful situation, just seemed maybe the newsprint itself may have triggered it. I do need to add that I am one of those people who do not handle stress well so it could be a contributing factor.

hemiswat

5/17/09 4:20pm

Anxiety is one of my top migraine exacerbators and has, unfortunately, been a lifelong companion. Used to get major panic attacks. I'm taking clonzepam three times daily along with Cymbalta, Depakote and Amrix (an extended release muscle relaxant) as prophylactics. I don't talk to myself as much any more and generally am much calmer. Still sometimes get migraine attacks that have all the anxiety, numbness, and raging, pacing-type symptoms but no real headache pain.

Also get many from cervical spine problems that generally stay in back of the head, and also many of the screwdriver-through-the-eyeball type. Am working with clinical therapist on mind over matter pain management skills to help me control what I can. Yoga and deep breathing help a lot with the raging/anxiety ones, when I can force myself to just lie down and breathe and stretch. It's hard, very hard. I have to work full-time, so I close the doors to my office, apologize in advance to my office workers that it's a bad headache day, try to get myself under some control. Long walks with dark glasses and earplugs help during those days, too, I find.

Mark

5/19/09 11:51am

I have had very strange migraines as well. I am 35 yrs. old, and about 8 years ago I had my very first visual type of migraine. I was just simple blind on the left side of my left eye. Kind of like my peripheral vision was just blinded. I had no idea at the time, and I was at my parent's house. My dad knew an eye dr., and he called the dr. right away. They looked me over, and found nothing. It went away, never to return for about 5 years. Then, I had a full blown migraine attack driving home one day. I just started to initially feel this weird tingly sensation in my right hand at first. Then, I started just feeling like I was out of my body or something. Really scary. At that point, I literally lost the ability to speak. I was very confused, and started feeling numbness in my face, mouth, and one of my legs. My wife thought I was having a stroke, so she rushed me to the ER. They found nothing, and I ended up having a light headache on my left and front side of my head. I went to bed that night, then woke up the next day with vision problems, so I stayed in bed all day and by the next day I woke up, it was gone. However, I felt a lot of depression for a week or so there after. I never had another one until May of 2007. Basically the same thing, and it was during a time when I also had Strep Throat at the same time. FUN. Then, I just had one last night. May 17,2009. ALMOST exactly 2 years after my last. If I had to guess, I would say that all these are due to stress related anxiety and is completely self induced at the root cause. I believe that I had a tendancy to be anxious, stressed, etc., and eventually my brain just reacts. I can't speak for anyone else, but is there anyone out there reading this that agrees with me? I honestly feel like my problem is self induced and purely from my lack of ability to handle stress.

I have ready some other stories about other people having migraines, and I think that their stories sound similar to mine in many ways. It is terrible what stress gone unchecked can do to us. I live a life of prayer and devotion to God and our blessed Mother. Yes, I am Catholic. I just try to place all my trust in God. He is in control of what happens to us. Everything happens for a reason. I am just trying to figure mine out. I am also taking an anxiety course from Lucinda Bassett called Attacking Anxiety. So far, and it has only been a few sessions, I have not heard of anyone having migraines from her patients. BUT, it is early. It will not surprise me if I do.

I also think that typically really good people, worriers, and caring people get this problem. I could be wrong in some cases, but I really think that this disease is due to a lot of inward mental stress and worry.

There is my 2 cents.

Mark

Teri Robert, Health Guide

5/27/09 11:14am

Mark,

You said, "... I really think that this disease is due to a lot of inward mental stress and worry."

At one time, there were people in the medical community who held this type of theory too. However, this theory has been solidly disproven. Migraine is a genetic neurological disease caused by genetics and overactive neurons in the brains of Migraineurs.

With all due respect to Ms. Bassett, she is not a doctor. Her program may help some people, but valid medical research has shown that the cause of this disease is not anxiety or worry.

Teri

Nolin

5/21/09 9:27am

About two years ago , I was sitting and watching television. Suddenly a strange feeling came over my head, like a switch is put on and off. Numbness and tingling feeling in my left cheeck and hand. This made my very anxious and I thought I was having a stroke or something. My vision was slightly affected and I had to concentrate hard wat to say to my husbund. My heart just raced, which makes it all harder. My GP refeered me to neurochiriurg. He did all the test and everything was normal. He also diagnosed 'silent migrain'. At that time I thought he just didnt know what to say.

I may mention that my fourth child was 2 months ols , so there was normal tension that goes along.

Two weeks ago I had an minor opreation. I was stressful beforehand. It is now two weeks after and almost the whole time I carry this heavyness on my head, like there's a brick on my brain. I went to see the surgent, but he checked alll the vitals and said he thinks my simptoms is not related to opereation, but maybe stress surounding it. My left side again tingels and go numb; it feels like somthing is putting pressure around my head (sometimes with pain) even my throat. Because of that I get anxious. Sometimes it feels like you're unbalanced. What worries me, is the first time it was an incident that past. Now it stays with me. I wonder if it could be aftereffect of the anaestetics. My GP think it is anxiety, but who wouldnt stress it he gets this weird simptoms?

I have 4 Children (35 years old) and never had any depression or anxiety. Overall I am just happy with life. This simptoms is stressing me, big time.

bentley

5/26/09 9:44pm

After reading the book from Panic to Power by Lucinda Basset. I think that my "silent Migraines" are actually caused by anxiety. I also felt that I was happy, not depressed, or anxious, but after reading the book, the people she describes and the symptoms, it is totally me. I never realized, but since a young age I have suffered from anxiety, and I still believe I have had migraines, but my latest round of "silent migraines", was no more than a panic attack. In the book it described how an anxiety attack can cause all the same symptoms, numbness in hands, legs or face, chills or hot flashes, racing heart, etc. I never knew mentally or subconciously you could physically do that to yourself, but you can . Once this is happening it is hard to stop, but you can stop it before it happens, or as it starts by changing how you think. Your case sounds just like mine, and I agree with the previous writer, yes it is self induced, and we dont even relize we are doing it to ourselves. It is our inability to properly deal with stress, and our "what if " thinking that causes this anxiety, and these panic attacks. Read this book, it will help you, just knowing what causes this, and knowing I can control it has lifted a heavy weight off of me.

Nolin2

5/27/09 6:14am

Hello Bentley

Thank you for your response. It makes a lot of sense - I will definitely read the book. My problem is me and my husband is leaving in 3 weeks times on our first holiday without the kids. I really want to feel better and are looking for a qiuck fix, I guess. Just dont know who to go and see or what to use. Did you use any medication? My GP prescribed Xanor, but still the heaviness on my head is still present and affecting my emotions a bit. I cry easily, which was never the case before.

friendly greetings and be positive!!!

Teri Robert, Health Guide

5/27/09 11:20am

Bentley,

As I explained to Mark, at one time, there were people in the medical community who held this type of theory too. However, this theory has been solidly disproven. Migraine is a genetic neurological disease caused by genetics and overactive neurons in the brains of Migraineurs.

Migraines are NOT self-induced. There are very real physical triggers.

With all due respect to Ms. Bassett, she is not a doctor. Her program may help some people, but valid medical research has shown that the cause of this disease is not anxiety or worry.

Please be very careful about these theories. Migraine disease increases our risk of stroke and caridovascular events. It is important that they be treated appropriately.

Teri

Teri Robert, Health Guide

5/27/09 11:02am

Bentley,

Migraines have many potential symptoms. During a Migraine, mood swings, anxiety, and even full-blown panic attacks can occur as actual symptoms of the Migraine. Part of what happens in the brain during a Migraine attack is changes in the levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin. You can find more about the phases of a Migraine attack and their potential symptoms in Anatomy of a Migraine.

Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you need more information.

Teri

bentley

5/27/09 9:37pm

I'm no expert, but if the book I was recomending can help with the symptoms , isnt that a good thing? Just as it is said in the Anatomy of a migraine page 3.

"In addition, there's always an emotional comfort factor to knowing what is causing us to feel depressed or have other symptoms. Add in a bit of control - once we learn to recognize these symptoms and use them in our Migraine management, we gain a bit more control over Migraine. Any time we can do that, it's a positive move." This is exactly what the book teaches. For me so far the worst part is the anxiety, the feeling of losing control. I still have very little actual headache pain, sometimes pressure, but no real pain. I do get almost all the symptoms, numbness in the left side of my face, or burning, or a numb arm. I get nausea, and or diahrea, and moments of severe panic that come and go. Maybe I'm in denial, but I'm still unsure if I actually have migaraines, or If I'm just suffering from severe anxiety. One example, I was lying in bed watching tv and all of a sudden I got so cold, I couldnt get warm, I put on a coat, got under a heavy blanket, and I was still cold, and shakeing, I couldnt stop. Then I got paniced and felt like I was dying. It lasted an hour, then I was fine. Another one while riding in a car, my face goes numb, I get dizzy and sick to my stomach, lasted for the 4 hour drive, within minutes of getting out of the car I'm fine. If it is being caused by a migraine, can it just come and go like that. I wish I knew. Drove almost all day today, with heaviness in my head, and facial numbness in and out most of the day, and a couple of moments of panic for no reason that just comes and goes. Now just a stiff neck, and feel in a haze, not myself. I really dont know what my problem is anymore. Went 32 years feeling great, and completely healthy, and now I have been a mess on and off since January of 2009. I dont know when to take medicine or not to or if it even works. Like I said the worst for me is the panic, is there a migraine medicine that treats anxiety and migraines together?

Teri Robert, Health Guide

5/28/09 1:07am

Bently,

With Migraine, "helping with the symptoms" isn't the only goal. Even if you do something that relieves the anxiety, or the nausea, or whatever, the Migrainous process is still going on in the brain. That's true even in "silent" Migraines without the pain. With what research is showing about Migraine being a progressive disease that can cause brain damage, it's important to prevent as many Migraines as possible and abort (stop the Migrainous process in the brain) as quickly as possible for those Migraines we do get.

Additionally, there are so many misconceptions about Migraines, including that they're "all in our heads," self-induced, etc. Those misconceptions hurt Migraineurs by making people less tolerant and understanding of the fact that Migraine is a disease. This hurts people at work, in personal relationships, in many facets of life.

Migraine abortive medications, but stopping the Migrainous process in the brain, do address the symptoms, including those such as anxiety.

You really do need ot find out if you're having Migraines or anxiety attaciks so you can be treated appropriately.

Teri

Nolin2

5/28/09 5:43am

I am starting to feel that it might be that 'thing' that happens in your head that causes the panic. I was feelling better for two days now. My mood was lifted, although the heaviness remained. Last night when I was in bed the pressure got worse, it was a severe burning pressing sensation that stretches over my head- top to neck, top to neck. Again the numpness in my hand and I gradually started to feel panicky about it. Struggled to went to sleep. This morning I feel a bit down in the dumps again with a slight burning pressure. I think stress can worsen it. The way I feel this morning I think I agree with what Terry says. Well we are to help each other figure it out. I am still wondering if the anestetics I got with my operation didnt trigger this, because in this case it started the day after.

Good luck Bentley, I know how this feel.

Jennifer

11/16/10 4:35pm

I figured this was the case. Lately I've been for no reason suddenly feeling this vague generalized anxiety in my body for anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or two. Then the migraine starts with a feeling like there's a clothes-pin pinching something in the middle of the right side of my brain. When the migraine pain starts the anxiety vanishes completely. I actually find the anxiety more of a problem than the pain as it makes it hard to eat and I'm not sure why I'm feeling so scared and it gets a little depressing. Pain is pain, but anxiety has a stigma. Once the pain starts and the anxiety ends it's rather a relief. Weird, huh? :)

I consider this anxiety to be part of my migraine aura which also includes seeing pinpricks of light, flashes of light, blue blobs of light, getting the hiccups, having waves of mild nausea, and being sensitive to light and sound (voices and low basey sounds especially annoy me for some reason sometimes).

esgorzen

7/19/09 11:23pm

I was diagnosed with anxiety attacks a few years ago because I had several of the symptoms you describe. Then for the last year for some reason Ive had only a few episodes. Recently I began having the symptoms again but I didnt feel particularly panicky until after the symptoms of numbness, tingling, confusion and weaknesss began.

I went to a neurologist because I'd began to become worried that I might be experiencing mini strokes. The neurologist told me that I was experiencing silent migraines. I thought he was nuts! How could I have migraines when I didnt have any pain. I have since been reading up on these type of headaches and was amazed that the symptoms are so very similar to what I feel.

Its great to me to finally have a diagnosis because I was feeling out of control. I have not yet recieved a treatment as the neuro doc wants to run a few more tests. Im not even sure what treatment can be used. It will be interesting

10/22/09 1:38pm

Hello everyone,

I'm a 22 year old male, live in London lead an absolutely normal life, gym, football, martial arts, girlfriend and just secured a job in this terrible economic climate. life actually couldn't be better, stress shouldn't even factor into my life right? Apparantly wrong. Which is why I can't understand why this is happening to me.

After a night out with friends I woke up with a hangover, a standard for someone who has just come out of university and began with the regular ritual hangover cures of eating pizza and going to the pub to watch football with friends.

After going to the pub (just soft drinks if you're thinking what I thought) I came back and on the way home I was sitting in the car with my friends and remember looking at an old person struggling getting into a car, as morbid as this sounds I remember thinking to myself, "It must suck to be that close to dying".

Obviously I'm sure everyone has thought about dying and shrugged it off as I too had on the times I'd pondered it. This time however it felt like someone had flicked a switch, I started getting dizzy (probably induced by the hangover) but with intense fear as other people had described here, like something was wrong in me and that I was dying. My arms started going numb and it felt better to keep them clutched in near my chest. If I thought of anything bad it made the 'migrane' worse, I had to keep walking and doing things to keep my mind off this terrible sensation, the worst part was there was no pain involved at all, meaning I thought I was going absolutely mental and having a nervous breakdown.

Eventually after a few hours of walking round the garden i drank some water (swallowing was hard) and I vomited a few times, lay down and watched something funny on TV to calm me down, luckily I had took the train to have the night out but on the way back was hell, it was like my inner ear had been effected, my balance felt off so anything that swayed or felt like it was skidding threatened to set me off again. The symptoms lasted for a week with mild depression then went away. Naturally, I thought I was another victim of Britains Booze generation and cut it out straight away while still regularly exercising and eating well with lots of water.

After a month of nothing I drank again, although more lightly than I had the last time and yet again on a hangover I started to feel the symptoms again, not as soon as I woke up but well into the morning, this time decreased in power but still with this fear of death like nothing I'd ever experienced. This time, after the hangover the depression didn't last long and I just took it easy. Unfortunately it came back a few weeks later while I was lying in bed watching a movie with my girlfriend, at my most of most relaxed, I too jumped to the conclusion that I was having minor strokes, though I could get my words out fine, I found it hard to describe my symptoms to my girlfriend, who thankfully is supportive and didn't think I was going crackers.

I went to the doctor who said that I was suffering from anxiety induced migranes, but what the hell? I'm probably the most relaxed I've ever been with everything going fine and everyone around me supportive and loving, with an awesome career ahead. The migranes are still happening now with vision imparements like discribed by others. What I was getting at was that I don't suffer from any kind of stress at all.

Anyway, I'm glad people posted these symptoms on this site, it makes me feel better to know people, if a small percent of you, get these terrible things aswell as me, makes me feel less alone and weird.

bentley

10/22/09 9:15pm

I havent been on this site for quite some time, because I truly believe that I'm not having migraines, and have also been fine for months with no real symptons or sensations. I had an anxiety disorder. I know someone will jump on this post saying how horrible I am. I'm not saying migraines arent a real problem an that they are all self induced. My 9 year old daugther has severe Migraines, and is on Topomax and Maxalt, she is getting better, but she still gets bad ones that will make her vomit. Hers started back up with school, she was good over the summer, but the stress of school has caused her to start to get them again. And like this site says, stress can trigger a migraine, if so, isnt that somewhat self induced. No one wants a migraine, or stress, but we are in control of our thoughts and feelings. If we can learn to eliminate the stress , then maybe eliminate, some if not all of your migraines. Migraines also occur at certain times of day, or certain days, usually when you know you have time to let down, why, maybe because it is self induced. Again, I'm not saying you want a migraine, but it is subconscious, your subconscious mind is doing it to you. Our minds are so powerfull, they control every part of our body, and sometimes the mind does things to us subconciously. This idea is rejected by most doctors, but I have experienced it first hand, I will give you a few examples. When I go to the doctor, my blood pressure gets very high, my blood pressure is normal at home, at drug stores etc. I have my own cuff, and never get a high reading, except when I'm at the doctors office( I bring it in to visits to check it). Now I feel completely fine when I'm at the doctor, so why would my blood pressure go up, for some reason , my subconscious mind is casuing it to happen. Could you make your own blood pressure rise by just thinking about it? No, but your subconcious mind can . Im not talking about a little bit, my pressure goes from 120 over 70 to 169 over 100 at the office. The doctors put me on blood pressure meds, and then it got real low at home. my last visit where it was at 169 over 100 my doctor took some time and started talking to me about my family and a recent trip to hawaii, and she told me to think of the beach in Hawaii, them she took my blood pressure again, guess what it was 127 over 80. Another example, I was towing a trailer on a road trip, having facial numbness, feeling panicky, just horrible. Then I blew a tire on the trailer, and now I had a real problem to deal with, pulled over changed the tire, and the symptons instantly went away, and didnt come back. If I was truly experiencing some migraine, or other serious medical condition, could it just go away at the drop of a hat like that? I dont think so. I have more examples, but this response is getting long. All I can say, is our minds are very powerfull, and they control everything, if we can learn to realize this, then maybe we can learn to make ourselves feel better. And to you my British friend, you sound like you have plenty of stress, a girlfriend, a new job. I too thought I was stress free, boy was I wrong, I had been repressing my stress, causing many of my problems. I read 2 books that changed my life, the first is more of a system that cured my anxiety. The Linden Method, by Charles Linden, he too is British, if you have anxiety, this works 100% of the time. And then a book by Dr. John Sarno, The Mind Body prescription. I'm not a doctor, but your case sounds a lot like mine did, it sounds like you have an anxiety disorder. Read these books, it will help you, it did for me.

Andy

3/10/10 4:11pm

I'm not sure if you're coming back to read this but you're the first person I've ever read anything by who is experiencing exactly what I am. I'm also 22 I live in Orlando Florida and I now daily get that vertigo sensation. Occasionally, if at all I will experience what I consider to be a mild migraine headache but it's not close to the worst of symptoms. I typically get this panic everyone else is describing and I usually get a very brief but drammatic increase in the intensity of my vision especially if lights are on they seem to brighten drammatically. As far as this fear of dying and panic, it's actually due to vertigo. Vertigo has been proven to induce the sensation or the the instinctive reaction that you are in fact in danger of dying at that moment. Even if you talk yourself out of this, you are fighting an instinctive reaction not brought on by logic but rather biological matters. Your brain is literally convinced, without your reasoning, that it is in immediate danger. I typically fight these sensations nightly now while trying to go to sleep. It effects me greatly and I experience what I would consider to be a high level of depression afterwards. At this point I'm trying to determine if the depressed feeling is due to the persistence of this condition and it's effect on my life or if it's chemical in my brain. Another thing to keep in mind, at least for me, is that I am in a state of fear for several days afterwards praying that I don't get another severe attack.

Jennifer

11/16/10 4:57pm

There's a major flaw in your argument: EVERYBODY has stress/fear/anxiety but not everybody gets migraines. A normal healthy human being experiences negative emotions/reactions without getting a migraine. Therefore, it's not our subconscious that causes our migraines.

Anonymous

11/ 3/09 9:12am

Hi there,

I too don't get headache pain, or rarely anyway. I feel the blood pulsating in my head and pulsating in my legs. I got numbness in my left leg and then my arm. I hate sleeping because it goes really numb and I feel nauseas and have lost my appetite. I went to emergency Because I too felt so sick and thought I was a having a stroke or dying etc. They ruled out stroke and I am being referred to a neurologist. A previous neurologist says that I have migraine. I can relate to how horrible the numbness is. I will take pain over that any day since it can be treated more easily. I was becoming so sleep deprived from my symptoms that I went to my family dr. yesterday and he prescribed a sleep med which is also a relaxant called zopiclone. I am finally sleeping although when I wake up I still have that yucky numbness, but at least maybe my body is gettting rest so that it has a chance to normalize again. Perhaps you could try this too.

Lor

1/25/10 6:30pm

I'm not normally an anxious person, but don't like it when my reality is distorted. It makes me feel anxious, just like you would describe.

I had a botched dental problem which was putting pressure behind my eyes, blurring my vision & making my head hurt as if I was stressed. But I wasn't stressed. The pain I felt from my toothache gave me symptoms that felt like stress, thus causing me to feel anxious.

If you have any tooth problems it'd be best to fix that fast, as it can cause a lot of pain & undue stress on your system. =) Hope you feel better =)

TAC

4/28/10 10:46am

I too was diagnosed with silent migraines yesterday (April 27, 2010) by my Neurologist.

Previous to that, I went to emergency twice with the same symptoms, numbness on my left side, pain in the chest area and extreme anxiety. I had a CT Scan, Chest x-rays, blood work including enzymes, carotid ultrasound, EKG, ECG and finally the MRI. In addition to these symptoms, my blood pressure would spike. I normally have low blood pressure so this was new to me. I had suffered from migraines in the past, but since going through menopause (I am 55) they nearly disappeared. Or so I thought.

Initially when the symptoms came on suddenly (Apr 10/10), I thought I was having a stroke because my head suddenly felt weird, cloudy, like I was short circuiting and my left side began going numb, so my husband rushed me to emergency. Although I was numb on my l left side, I still passed the neurological exam, I could grasp the doctors fingers with my hands and squeeze, my vision was OK, I could walk and do the other tests they administer. So, the first time I was sent home and told to take an aspirin and see my General Practicitioner; which I did.

He ordered blood tests and took my blood pressure (which was on the high side of normal). So, for the following week I took my blood pressure and noticed a pattern, it spiked at work, then came down to near normal while at home. I have to add that I do like my job, so this was alarming. Like many civil servants in BC, we have lost staff and the work loads have been heavy, but I thought I was handling it. Apparently not.

A few days later at work I felt extremely dizzy and scared, my chest hurt, my blood pressure spiked, so I had my husband pick me up from work and take me to a different emergency department. They got me in immediately, did an EKG and then monitored me, did more blood work, a CAT scan, chest x-ray and ruled out a heart attack. The doctor that day was on the ball and she said that they had done all they could but it was time to turn it over to the specialists. She had me in to the out-patient stroke clinic to be seen by a neurologist. The symptoms were similar to a TIA or mini-stroke. Once I was discharged from the hospital, I was in the stroke clinic within a few days so I praise our medical system here in British Columbia.

The diagnosis after the MRI was silent migraines. I had never heard of these, but they do minic some pretty scary things, like stroke or MS. Now that I know what these are I can at least rest assured that I am not going to die.

I will continue to monitor the stress levels at work and do what I can to deal with the work loads by making sure I take care of myself.

grassguys83

3/13/11 12:00pm

I know I am a little late to this forum, but I recently found it when searching for symptoms I have been having.

I am a 28 year old male that has been going through a similar situation. It all started when I found out that my wife and I were expecting a baby. It has been getting progressivley worse through the winter months. I have had migraines ever since I was in high school but they were once a year or less. Since graduating college I have expereinced them more periodically. At the worst point a few months ago I was getting a full blow migraine a few times a week. I tried the chiropractor, MRI, cutting caffeine out of my diet, etc. I saw my neuro and he gave me anti-nausea meds that do wanders if taken when I see an aura coming on. I still get the headache, but no nausia and vommiting which was the real debilitating part. I was a college athlete and have always kept in great shape, never had any medical problems, or anxiety. In the past few months I have been so anxious. I have had some slight panic attacks and there are usually always a precursor to something going weird neurologically. I have had the numbness starting in my lip, then cheek, and then in my finger tips. Its as if it moves from my pinky finger to my thumb. I have recently had a couple of odd episodes of going cross eyed. It feels like a buzzing sensation in the front of my head and lasts for about a minute. If I close one eye I can see fine, but when I open both I cannot focus on anything.

I know this thread is about two years old, but I would love to know if you have found any additional info. Has it gotten better? What has helped you?

Regards,

Jon

Teri Robert, Health Guide

3/13/11 11:41pm

Jon,

The panic attacks and periods of anxiety you mention could be Migraine symptoms. That's not unusual. The only time in my life that I've had panic attacks have been during Migraines. It can happen because the Migrainous process in the brain causes changes in the levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine. Take a look at Anatomy of a Migraine for more information on the possibel phases of a Migraine attack and the potential symptoms. You might also want to take a look at Acephalgic or Silent Migraine - The Basics.

If your doctor isn't able to help you, it may well be time to consult a Migraine and headache specialist. It's important to note that neurologists aren't necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.

Hope this helps,

Teri

kate

9/11/11 8:30am

bentley, did you ever find out more from your dr. about your silent migraine? I think I have been misdiagnosed for years with panic attacks but it maybe a silent migraine. My symptoms start, usually with stomach discomfort/diarhea and then I feel the worst emotional pain in the world. I feel like my brain shut off its serotonin production. I want to jump out of my skin. This is intense but brief. Sometimes it is so intense I vomit. Could this be a silent migraine?

Silent migraines with anxiety

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