hemiplegic migraine

[kaurigirl]

Hi.  I'm new to your community.  I read some posts that were helpful.  I've been struggling with headches and nausea for several months after a head injury and people called it concussion.  I had one collapse where I tried to stand from sitting and crumpled, blanked out and got confused.  Then weekend before last, right arm suddenly got heavy, couldn't use it properly.  Went to hospital via ambulance, admitted and discharged without diagnosis.  I'm a breast cancer survivor so people have been looking at that aspect, but my Oncologist has a friend with hemiplegic migraines and after I had the arm episode and had already had a normal CT scan 2 weeks earlier, he is almost certain it's migraine.  My struggle has been that my doctor laughed when I told her about the arm and said she'd never heard of anything where this happened, and my therapist says its' psychosomatic, that my arm went numb becasue of 'issues with my father'!  I'm working through all of this, plus dealing with this condtion.  I'm very fatigued and having head pain and nausea every day.  Today I wouldn't feel safe driving, I'm fuzzy and dizzy. I've read of other people here having much worse symptoms so I'm feeling fortunate.  It's just getting accustomed to a new health condition.  My family history is mother migraines with aura, 2 daughters had  migraines from  puberty, which later disappeard in their 20's.

[kaurigirl]

Thanks for reply Tracey.  I read your medical history.  I'm wondering about an autimmune connection.  My mother has Sjogren's Syndrome, and i've had chronic fatigue / fibromayalgia for years.  I get the feeling this thing is going to be tough, because I've been unwell for 4 months now, since my first fall.  My first worry was cancer mets or recurrence, but oncology seem happy and just pure luck my oncologist had a friend with the Hemiplegic migraines.  It seems like medicine is only beginning to even question the origins of many conditions.  Thanks again, I don't feel so alone as I've had 2 people say 'hi'  It helps.

[kaurigirl]

Hi.  Thanks for replying.  I've another incidence of it, so I'm tracking it.  Yes i do have a booking for neurology -  our waiting lists are high so it dpends how they prioritse me.  I'm stunned by how this thing has knocked me about.  Today i thought I was 'well' until I had a phone call and tried to do stuff.  I've written to my doctor about my arm going numb again and the headache after and fatigue and sleepyness before and after.  I guess its' just a wait and see.  I think my oncologist got it right, from my reading.  I'm just not sure how other people fare with this level of disablement from it.  Oh well, at least I can play computers a bit.  The thing that upset me most was my therapsit, whose first assumption was that it was psychosomatic because I was abused as a child!  Oh well, I guess its' her job , but I never take physical stuff as psychosomatic without investigation becaue I've had a lot of serious illness.  I'm sorry, I havn't read your profile.  I'm learning my way arounds.  Thanksa gain.  Kaurigirl

[rudyhorse]

What you felt is real!  I have a diagnosis of silent migraines and also have numbness without the ability to use my right leg correctly, it drags.  For 3 years or so have had some balance issues with many falls, we are still working to find out more since I have a terrible history of stroke & heart attack in my family.

Please find a good neurologist that won't give up and listens.  You need a follow up, this is real believe me.

Best wishes, Keep us posted!
Tracy

[marileew]

The fact that your doctor has never heard of this just shows that your doctor doesn't know much about migraines!! If it was a migraine, then it wasn't psychosomatic at all!!!! Migraine is a neurological condition and can have many neurological symptoms!! Including stroke-like symptoms like numbness and paralysis. Most people who experience numbness don't experience true paralysis.... I think that is rare... but, numbness is not really very rare, many people experience numbness and partial paralysis. Half of my face has gone numb with several of my migraines! And... the hospital did not laugh at me at all... I was really scared and thought I was having a stroke and they were totally nonchalant and all like "it's just a migraine, half of your face being all numb and sorta paralyzed is totally just a migraine, it's no big deal, it's just a migraine" and i was like "NO BIG DEAL!?!?!" and they were like "yeah... no big deal... just a migraine... what more do you want from us? it's just a migraine!" so... yeah. some doctors don't know anything about it and will laugh at you or they will be really shocked and freaked out. and then some doctors who do know about it will be like "what's the big deal, so what, it's just a migraine." anyway... what you need is a neurologist that understands migraines. please ask your doctor for a referral to a neurologist so that you can get treated for your migraines properly. even if that means that you need to go back to the hospital next time this happens in order to get a referral to a neurologist, then you can do that too (and i wouldn't normally suggest this unless someone was experiencing very severe painful migraines... but, in your case, it makes perfect sense since you are experiencing very odd stroke-like symptoms which can be an emergency... no one would blame you for going to the ER ever in that situation. and you could ask them for an out-patient referral to a neurologist for a follow-up after you were assessed.)