Re: HELP...Is this Migraine or what?!!!

Posted By Karyn S. Huntting on June 13, 1998 at 03:16:31:

In Reply to: Re: HELP...Is this Migraine or what?!!! posted by CCF NEUROLOGY MD/in on May 24, 1998 at 18:05:40:






I have searched the internet and have not found anyone who has all my symptoms.  I would love to know that I am not the only one!
My ordeal started one morning with a Migraine Aura (black spots in my vision).  I have a 22 year history of migraines, I am 40 yrs. old.  The headache never came that day, but I experienced an episode of numbness/tingling in my lips, tongue, nose, right side of my face, and down the right side of my body.  An "electrical" feeling started in the back of my head and traveled up and over my head and face and I had a feeling of passing out---but never did.  I was left weak for the remainder of the day.  Similar episodes continued  daily for the next 6 days.  On the 7th day the "electrical" feeling came about every 5 minutes!
That was almost 2 years ago.  I have had 2 MRIs of my head, an MRI of my neck, a CAT scan, an EEG, lots of blood work--- all normal.  Through the process of elimination my Neurologist's educated guess is that my symptoms are migraine related, although for a person who had daily headaches, I rarely have them now.  
As of today my symptoms are constant (24 hrs. a day) numbness/tingling in my lips, tongue & nose, burning on the right side of my face (with a rash), constant neck pain (as though I was in an accident!), weakness in my rt. foot and arm, and a general feeling of just not feeling well.  Oh- 7 months into this I developed panic attacks!  I take amytriptaline & zoloft. ...ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!  




Dear Ann S:
The fact that you had these symptoms for so long without any finding on the various tests you were subjected to, is good news because it almost rules out serious organic disease.
Usually migraine headaches do not occur on daily basis, therefore most of your symptoms are atypical for migraine.
If all the tests are normal, the possibility of stressors affecting neurological condition is the most probable in your case.
I would suggest that you get a Neurological second opinion in order to review all your tests. If the opinion is still consistent with no organic brain disease, I suggest that you check with a Psychiatrist reagrding the possibility of so called conversion disorder.
Good luck
You might not want to rule out the possibility of Basilar Artery Migraine or familial hemiplegic migraine. The symptoms, residual neurologic deficits, and age of onset are consistent with Basilar Artery Migraine. I'd recommend finding a neurologist with whom you can discuss this as one possibility. For more info, check out information on The Basilar Artery Migraine Page (link below).


The Basilar Artery Migraine Page