Thursday, November 27, 2008 Jef asks

Q: Anyone else had a migrainous infarction (migraine stroke)?

I have been diagnosed as having a migrainous infarction (migraine stroke) please see my profile and share for details. I have been told that it is exceedingly rare but I'm also reading some sources that claim it is a leading cause of stroke in younger people. To date I have not found another individual with a confirmed diagnosis, but I'd like to so that we might discuss treatments, problems and such. Any other confirmed migrainous infarctions out there?

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Answers (8)

Teri Robert, Health Guide

11/30/08 5:08pm

Hi, Jef,

Hopefully, some of our members will see this and answer you. I know we have other members who have had Migrainous infarctions.

You might also want to post this question on our discussion forum. Some people who post there may not see your quetion here. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.

Good luck,

Teri

karen

12/ 4/08 8:22am

hi yes i am 38, female and hace suffered a migrainous infarction. i have lost a small fraction of sight in the place where ialways experienced my aura

Sydders

12/ 4/08 10:33pm

Jeff,

Given that you have a family history of chronic headaches, and you have had early strokes, I wonder if your physicians have checked your anticardiolipids. If not, it would be a good test to run just to rule out a primary antiphospholipid syndrome.

Jef

12/15/08 1:01pm

Thanks for your responses so far.

Yes Sydders, I have been tested for anticardiolipids syndrome, I was tested at 3 different times over the course of the past 2 years by 3 separate specialists. Their logic for retesting was that maybe a problem not evident at first would reveal itself over time, but all have been completely negative. So, good call, it seems to be a prime suspect... but no go.

Karen, sorry to hear you have suffered this as well. Other than a permanent visual aura, did you experienced any other persistant symptoms such as mobility issues or speach problems? I found that stroke rehab helped me with these issues but nothing has completely removed the aura from my right eye (although I find it less irritating now, but I think I'm just getting used to it).

Thanks again for answering.

jef

cking

5/13/09 2:47am

HI Jef:

I just met a woman tonight (age 48) who had a migrainous stroke at age 24. She has been without functional use of her right arm for most of her last 24 years, but she adapted beautifully--raised two children, worked, and is an artist! She is amazing. She had physical therapy to help her regain partial use of her upper arm, but the lower part does not coordinate well. The physical therapy has helped her as she is able to "clamp" things with her other arm and the inside of her right elbow.

She did not have elevated blood pressure or cholesterol, but had the stroke during a migraine attack. Migraines run in her family, but no other members had strokes. The past 24 years she has not had another stroke. I hope that you will not have another one, either.

Take care,

Clemmie

john rutter

4/ 7/11 4:58pm

hi i am a 64 year old man who had a m/stroke at the age of 42 it was diagnosed as basilar artery migraine. this followed 1 year of terrible headaches . it paralised my right side and chopped my vision in half leaving the left half only. however it all returned within half an hour of admittance to hospital, baring a sliver of vision in the right lower quadrant. the basilar artery is a major one which feeds the lower brain stem, it has hospitalised me 4 times over a 10 year period i takea drug called pizotofen twice daily max doseage and epilem 500 along with asparin. during the period from 42-55 years old i had several blackouts then continued to have milder attacks every 2 months (you could set your watch by them)they would repeat hourly for 5/6 hours however in 2008 i had major surgery for a new aortic heart valve. and since then attacks have lessened in intensity and dare i say it ....have been free for 8 months now. is it linked ?? hope you can get relief its not nice.i recomend the british migraine association hand book it may help, if i can help further only glad to do so...kindest regards john

Moderator's Note: For your privacy and security, please do not post personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers.

cking

4/ 7/11 11:27pm

HI John:

It is interesting and wonderful that your attacks have "lessened in intensity" and perhaps frequency since your surgery. I don't know much about the data linking migraiens and your particular surgery, but there is a heart condition called patent foramen ovale that HAS been linked with migraines and stroke risk. And by closing the "hole" into the heart, the migraine attacks and stroke risks diminish.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope your migraines continue to lessen in severity and frequency, and that you enjoy much better quality of life.

My friend who had the stroke many years ago has fewer migraines now, probably due to being into menopause. I surely wonder if in your case the faulty valve was linked to your headaches. Take good care! Clemmie

john rutter

4/ 8/11 4:07am

hi clemmie

i read about a canadian trial some years ago which was asking for case historys of the symptons i had . i applied for this trial but was rejected as to old. if i remember correctly, it maintained that a small hole between the 2 chambers of the heart could under certain circumstance lead to a build up of unoxygenated blood due to the leakage. during my bad period of headache and after my first stroke i scoured referance libraries for information but it seems even the experts dont have the answers...... kind regards john

cking

4/ 8/11 9:36am

Hi John: The linkage is more "researched" now, but there are still some unknowns. You can read about patent foramen ovale on this website by typing it into "Search Heathcentral" at the top of this screen, within "migraine". In addition, a series of clinical trials are being conducted to determine whether closing this "hole in the heart" will impact migraine in a significant population. I am so sorry that you had a stroke, and that more was not known about link at that time. It is so serious. Thank you for sharing your experience, and take great care. Clemmie

shhaz

8/31/09 4:12am

hi i ave had 4 but the last 1 was diagnosed as that before they just put it down to migraines i had 1 last tuesday and ended up in hospital with it they r now tryin me on sum different tablets

chrisDeFouRire

6/15/11 6:15am

Hi there,

I've been diagnosed in march 2004. I was 32 years old. I spent 10 days at the hospital for various exams to eliminate all possible causes... That lead to the diagnostic : migrainous infarct.

I've recovered most of my visual symptoms, save for a blind region where my auras usually take place.

Since then, I've had 4 migraines (with aura), one of which was severe and atypical enough to end at the hospital.

I've always suffered migraines WITH aura and never experiences migraines without it. These migraines happened once every one or two years and started when I was 20.

All of them were easily related to high stress situations which I perceived as blocking situations, "without any possible issue"... and most of them were related to my parents trying to convince me I would cope... but I didn't...

The last migraine was this saturday... I suffered 3 auras with 30 minutes and 2 hours between them. All symptoms vanished during sleep.

Hope this helps...

Sue

3/15/12 11:45am

Yes! I have had one as recent as later half 2010. I had a bad migraine but when I got up to call my employer my speech was slurred and my mobility was forcing me to walk towards the left. 4 days later I went to the doctor he ordered an MRI and it showed white spots through out my brain, however they told me I had what was considered to be a "grand mal" mirgrain. I had never heard that term before.

Sue

Q: Anyone else had a migrainous infarction (migraine stroke)?

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