Friday, May 01, 2009 Mary Doria Russell asks

Q: painfree migraine?! with fortification aura, dyslexia and aphasia, 90 min. duration

I just got out of the hospital after what we thought was a TIA. It's been diagnosed by a neurologist as a migraine with fortification aura followed by dyslexia, followed by aphasia, all of which developed, increased, and resolved and disappeared within 90 minutes. There was never a headache at all. Two hours later I was reading Marcus Aurelius again.

At 59 and in excellent health, I've never had a migraine before and never heard of anything like this -- painless, but also involving language centers. Can you give me any insight into what just happened to me?

I'm a novelist and even the temporary loss of language skills was scary. Is this likely to recur?

Answers (1)

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Teri Robert

5/ 3/09 4:18pm

Mary,

Migraine is a genetic neurological disease caused by genetic propensity and overactive neurons in the brain. Although Migraine attacks can begin and occur at any age, when they first begin after the age of 50, special care needs to be taken to rule out other possible causes for the symptoms such as stroke or TIA.

You didn't mention what, if any, imaging studies were conducted? They can be key to ruling out other issues. Unfortunately, there is no diagnostic test to confirm Migraine. It's diagnosed by reviewing your medical history and symptoms, conducting a full exam, and ruling out other conditions.

That said, all of the symptoms you describe could well be from a Migraine attack, and a Migraine can occur without the headache phase. You can read more about this in Acephalgic or Silent Migraine - The Basics.

Hope this helps!
Teri

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Q: painfree migraine?! with fortification aura, dyslexia and aphasia, 90 min. duration

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