Constant Migraines. HELP

[Shmily1969]

I'm a 23 year old female who've had constant migraines over 5 years now with no relief.  For 4 years I didn't do any medications so it's not transformed or rebound.  It's not Hemicrania Continua either because I had that test done.  Meds don't work either.  They are worse when I awake every morning, but they are sort of low grade all day and have times all throughout the day when they are bad, especially after eating or being exposed to triggers.  I really watch my diet though and stay away from triggers but even that doesn't leave me migraine free.  The migraines never go away.  I have never had an aura, so rule out anything with that.  They are sort of throbbing and tight or feel like heat and are on the right side, but they've switched sides before and over 5 years ago, when I was 18, they started out of the blue.  I'd always had headaches and was getting migraine like symptoms but they were very mild.  Then I awoke in the middle of the night with spasms and from that time on the migraines became 90% worse and never went away and I really think they are related to the events of that night which I will explain but before I do I just want to mention that I've had a sleep study done so it's no sleep disorder as migraine cause.  Also I know that migraines can get so bad that they can cause seizure type things but I didn't have a migraine when this happened and I had never had a migraine before until after this event which I will now explain. I was asleep one night when suddenly I was awaken by the muscles in my back spasming violently.  I tried to reach out my arm and it twisted back to me.  Then I tried getting up and my legs started spasming where it was difficult to get out of bed and walk.  I was bobbing up and down and bumping into walls because of the spasms in my legs.  Then I tried screaming to wake someone up and I couldn’t.  I couldn’t even talk.  My neck was so tight that I couldn’t turn it at all.  The only thing I had control over was the movement of my eyes.  I tried to open my door but since my hands weren’t cooperating, I had to grip it with my forearms and turn it.  I just wanted to wake somebody up.  The spasms had only lasted a few minutes before they stopped almost completely.  My arm was the only thing that spasmed and twisted periodically for a few days after that.  The next morning I went to work where at noon, around the same time I’d always have to leave school, I suddenly got what I later found out was a migraine.  The right side of my tongue went numb and dry.  Then the right side of my face did the same thing.  It was numb and tingly, the same sensation as when your foot falls asleep.  I also had brain fog and couldn’t think clearly.  I went home and it lasted maybe 5 hours before it went away, and then happened everyday after that at about the same time every day, and lasting for the same amount of time.  The migraines changed later to where they aren't tingly anymore.  For about 2 years after that night I got light spasms in my legs every night, before I went to bed and was still awake, and sometimes while I was sleeping I’d wake up because of them.  They are gone now but the migraines are still there but they have gotten probably 50% better since the first started, due to lots of things I've done and the way I eat, etc.  I can't find a cause for all of this though and neither can my doctors and I wonder if there are types of epilepsy or seizure disorders that present themselves mostly with migraine symptoms, or if there are causes of constant migraines that could cause these symptoms.  Please help if you know of anything.  

[Shmily1969]

It's not Basilar Migraines, mine don't last 60 seconds, they last hours.  I had lots of test done on my heart and there's no mitral valve stuff or any problems with my heart, I thought about that too.  I appreciate all of your help but it's not any of those things you mentioned.  I'm going to talk to my doctor about the parietal lobe epilepsy and tell you how I'm feeling in a month or so.  

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi,

One differential here is a basilar migraine. Basilar migraines may present with numbness and tingling sensations, visual symptoms and speech difficulties. The headaches are accompanied by these symptoms and these symptoms should be reversible and should last for less than 60 minutes. Is this true in your case?

Also, were your blood clotting factors checked? Coagulation factors are substances  in the blood which prevent bleeding. It allows blood to clot readily. Problems with the factors may increase the chance of blood to clot and may cause disruption in blood flow. This may present with neurologic symptoms. Examples of these tests are aPTT and PTT. Also assessing fibrinogen levels may help.

Was your cardiac function assessed as well?

With regards to migraines and seizures, "epileptic seizures and classic migraine episodes may occur in the same patient. Migraine and epilepsy share several genetic, clinical, evolutive and neurophysiologic features."

Source:Arch Neurocien (Mex)Vol. 11, No. 4: 282-287, 2006
Source url:http://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/arcneu/ane-2006/ane064j.pdf

A 24 hour video EEG may be able to catch the presence of true seizures and delineate this from migraines.

[Shmily1969]

hey thanks for the suggestion but I've already been tested for lupus and do not have that.  I also have an appointment with a headache specialist soon.  I too think I have something more going on than just migraines.  I think it may be some sort of epilepsy, and maybe parietal epilepsy because it moves and can appear as frontal lobe epilepsy, which sound like my spasms, and temporal lobe epilepsy which sound like other symptoms I've experienced.  I'd like to know if that epilepsy could be causing these migraines.  I don't know.  Could they be doing something to the brain waves or something to cause constant migraines.  What could be going on?  I'll ask my doctors about this but I don't have an apt for a month and would like some feedback from anyone that knows anything about this stuff.  Thanks

[emtd65]

Hi,

I have suffered from migraines since I was a child and have Lupus and all that comes along with it. I mention that because I do not believe your sole problem is migraines. Is it safe to assume you are seeing a neurologist ? And have had the gamit of tests such as Ct scans, MRIs, EEG etc ? I would not be surprised if there is an underlying cause at play here. Consider seeing a neurologist or another one associate with a large hospital.