hemiplegic migraine

[Michelle6]

hi, my name is michelle , im 20yrs old and i am just wondering if someone cane help me.

2years ago i was diagnosed with epilepsy because of the seizures i was having, every time i would have a seizure it would start with the left side of my face becoming weak and it would then follow through with my speech becoming difficult to understand then sometimes followed by jerking of one side of my body so my neuro put me on tegratol and put it down to complex partial seziures but still was not a hundred percent sure. when i became pregnant these became worse and i was then put on epilum as well. Both my mum and aunty have also been diagnose with epilepsy my aunty 7 yrs ago and my mum 6mnths ago. My aunty went and saw a different neuro yesterday and he doesn't believe that she has epilepsy he believes that she has hemiplegic migraines. this has both made my mum and myself question our symptoms aswell because i was diagnosed with migraines when i was 5 and they are also through my family, also every time i have had a seziure i always get a migraine before of afterward my aunty's neuro said that this is also due to the thickening of the blood and so he has put her on one asprin a day. What he has said to her makes alot more sense as most of our family have problems with thickening of the blood and he also said to her that the facial weakness is a hemiplegic migraine and the seizures (jerking of the body) is stress related. In my opinion this sounds right to me as i didn't think for one that you could get epilepsy this late in life and i didn't think epilepsy was genetic either so could someone please help me with an opinion as i cant see my neuro until mid year next year thanks.

[noops01]

Hi Michelle,
There are two types of hemiplegic migraine familial type and sporadic type. Familial hemiplegic migraine sufferers usually have positive family history.It is characterised by two attacks of aura with motor weakness accompanied by reversible visual symptoms (flickering lights), sensory symptoms (pins and needles, numbness) or speech symptoms. FHM usually makes an appearance in the first or second decade of life. Since your aunt has already been diagnosed, i think there is a possibility that you and your mom may be suffering from FHM as well. Please consult a migraine specialist but this condition is easily confused with stroke and epilepsy. Hope it was helpful!

[hava]

Try this exercise, while you are waiting and also tell mum and aunt.I will tell you some more after you have done it for more than a week.
Anulom Vilom - Deep Breath-in through left nostril keeping right nostril closed
then - Breath-out through right nostril keeping left nostril closed
then -Deep Breath-in through right nostril keeping left nostril closed
then - Breath-out through left nostril keeping right nostril closed
and repeat this cycle for upto 30  minutes twice a day(maximum 60 min/day).