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Confused

Posted , 5 users are following.

charlie19
charlie19

I am new to this forum as many of my present neurological symptoms point towards some sort of possible migraine diagnosis or least cause. Apologies in advance if I ramble.

8 weeks ago I woke with horrendous tinnitus. I have had unresolved tinnitus for 10 yrs. nothing like this though. It was loud and my ears were airplane full. Every sound was amplified. Following day I had severe vertigo, ended up in ER, all vitals checked and they were good. The doctor spoke of Menieres, however the length of time and lack of hearing loss goes against that. I then had about 4 weeks of intermittent headspins and nausea with tinnitus, the latter slightly better. These headspins were brief, they started to be accompanied by neuro symptons, electrical sensations, formication on my face, tingles in my fingers etc. 4 weeks back in ER with massive headache and head tingles, vitals checked again all good. Doctor then mentioned migraines. Had a CT scan, all clear. 5 weeks in started to be fatigued, weak limbs, muscle twitches. I should say the headspins continued daily. I had a few more headaches but they have declined. I was referred to a neuro, thinking it was MS, had an brain and spine MRI, both clear. All my clinical neuro tests, plenty of the, were spot on, balance, strength etc all good. A week ago I had a sudden return of a headache, followed by a visual aura quickly followed by what I believe to be a sensory aura, perceived weakness and tingles in right side. Back in ER as it felt like a stroke, all clear, the above symptoms resolved with an hour. Shock, fatigue and plenty of adrenaline knocked me about though.

Bit of history. I have had visual auras without pain or any other symptoms since I was 21. I am now 56. I probably went about 15 yrs in that time without one. During the past 12 or so yrs I have had about 4 to 6 per yr. I knew what they were, thought they were harmless, in essence they were, very consistent, no pain, lasted about 20 mins. Last week was the first time ever I had an aura with headache. 12 yrs ago too I had a raft of symptoms much like the last 8 weeks, however minus the tinnitus and vertigo. I had a clear MRI back then too. I have heard that migraines with aura can cause white matter lesions on the brain? If so could neuro type symptoms arise from these?

So is this all down to migraines? Or do I have a number of issues overlapping? I have further neuro and ENT visits this week.

Should say that I have been unable to work for the past 4 weeks. Thanks for listening.

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • agentdove
    agentdove charlie19

    Posted

    So sorry to hear of your symptoms Charlie. I can only Imagine how debilitating they must be for you.

    I have been suffering with Hemaplegic Migrain or some call them migrain with Aura. For a number of years now.

    I have learned that this kind of migrain affect each person in different ways and few are the same. Over the years mine have manifested and changed in presentation. These started for me some years ago when I suffered them just once and then another many years later. Now they occur about once a month. They can come with or without vertigo and with and without visual disturbance. But always seem to affect my left side. As for the tittanous thankfully I have never suffered with this so could not comment if it where also a symptom.

    I really do feel for what you are coping with and hope you find a good and understanding neurologists to support you.

    • charlie19
      charlie19 agentdove

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply. I have neuro type symptoms for years, nothing which has effected me tremendously. Strange now that they may be atributed to migraines. It was the last thing on my mind. However the more I read and hear the more it seems possible. I am hoping the ENT and Neuro have some answers this week. In your experience how long do your neuro symptoms last after the migraine?

      Sorry to fire the questions at you but have you heard of long term neuro damage due to migraines?

  • laura76427
    laura76427 charlie19

    Posted

    Hi charlie sorry to hear this its not nice ive suffered for nearly 5 years got nuro next week, have you thought of anxiety at all as strange enough my symptoms have led me to belive im suffering from anxiety disorder as symptoms are similar, or migraines mimicing anxiety, if nothing shows up on ur mri or ct they wont do anything and just diagnose migraine unfortunately, and stroke is so easy to find in symptoms as my son had one 3 weeks ago and the symptoms he had was just one headache thunderclap on left side then hes face drooped and he was sick, went to bed after this was at 10am in the morning he had just woke up couldn't move his right side that was it no headaches before no symptoms was healthy so u know when its stroke he was white as a sheet and was rambling his word he was acting disabled he then couldnt walk so ambulance was sent luckily hes ok he has a blocked carotid artery in his neck, I hope this sets ur mind at rest stroke is sudden ms shows up on mri have you mentioned to ur doc about the trigeminal nerve as this can cause alot of jip, ive gor hemiplegic migraine with weakness on left side which develops 30 mins after aura then passes 20 mins after, but no headache with that.i hope u get sorted its not nice suffering I know what it feels like u just cant get an answer from anyone take care laura.

  • Paula2019
    Paula2019 charlie19

    Posted

    Hi Charlie, sorry to hear about what you have been experiencing. Its definitely worth checking with your neurologist if you have Hemiplegic Migraines. Can be very scary, I suffer with these, am still recovering from my last one a week ago which resulted in me being signed off from work. My symptoms started as soon as I woke up, the room was moving up and down and I was struggling to focus, got out of bed, tingling down right side, head to feet, slight numbness, dizzy, bumping into things and started slurring. The first thing I do is drink lots of water incase I am dehydrated. Went back to bed and slept another 3 hours. The worst was over with, had a thick head, sore neck speech ok but my tinnitus increased. From then until now I have felt exhausted and spent best part of the week in bed. Still have tingling down right side that will last for a while. Doctor confirmed I havent had a stroke.

    Also get thunderclap headaches with neuro symptoms. Another thing you can get your neck discs checked out, I get cervogenic headaches which gives me photophobia and migraines, I have this one under control, they can last weeks.

    Just wanted to share my symptoms to see if you can relate and check next time with your doctor. Good luck with this.

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