Migraine now with added bits?

[MrGLB]

Hello everyone and thank you in advance for any replies, I'm a 56 yr old male and this is my first post, so apologies for it being rather long. I have experienced Migraines with and without Aura's since my first one at around 20. I usually only have the Aura variety which last's about 30 mins and involves a variety of symptoms including partial sight loss, slurred or delayed speech, feeling like i'm wrapped in cotton wool and sensory deprivation especially taste. I would fortunately put myself in the "occasional sufferer" category only having sporadic events and sometimes with many months in between attacks. My GP's have never considered my migraines as worthy of note although one did prescribe Migraleave once which was very effective but since then I have found taking a paracetamol as being enough. Although my migraine's are infrequent and I have come to see them as more of a nuisance because they rarely lay me up for more than a few hours. I do occasionally get nasty headaches that attack the right hand side of my head and neck and these can be brutes that last for several day's. As I have said my migraine's have been more of a inconvenience than anything but about 2 weeks ago I experienced 3 Aura attacks over 5 days and since the last one I have been experiencing some very strange feelings and sensations including memory loss, dizziness akin to (for those who know the feeling) having a few to many wines, vision problems especially when reading (almost as if letters/words disappear), with my right eye feeling like it is stiff or playing catchup and a general feeling of anxiety or dissociation. I have read a number of accounts here and I noted that some of what I'm describing is associated with their own attacks and I'm wondering if anyone has a recommended course of action, any advice, or words of wisdom because this current attack is very unsettling to say the least. I have made an appointment to see my GP and wonder if I should ask her to look for, or test for anything in particular.

[Cally01]

Hi there 😆 welcome.

Your descriptionis me up until 2yrs ago now when one day i got a horrific migraine, neck & temple pain, behind eyes, dizzyness, forgetfulness. .. all on the left side. I had daily persistent migraine for 18mths and went through every migraine prevention med, botox, occipital nerve block...the list is endless...

Finally found it was a problem with my jaw which I'm in treatment for.

Might be worthwhile finding out if you have an imbalance in your levels. I had blood tests for B panel, magnesium, folate and cortisone, waiting results.

Does migraleve still help? Got through about 30yrs on those.

Cally

[MrGLB in reply to Cally01]

Hi and thanks for the reply Cally01. The migraleve worked really well but unfortunately I had a heart condition a few years back (all fixed now?) but it lead to raised blood pressure with a knock on effect to the kidney's which has meant having to avoid aspirin. I have had a lot of blood tests over the last couple of years and generally all is well but the last one about 2 months ago revealed low Vit D so now on a D3 tablet a day. Is your jaw treatment in relation to dental or neck, the reason I ask is that it has been suggested that my old amalgam fillings could be the source of my migraine's.

[Cally01 in reply to MrGLB]

Hey , yeah asprin wouldn't be good for you but glad thats sorted.

No it turned out i had no cartridge on the left side of my jaw ( yrs of chewing gum then a near miss in the car jolted the cartridge out of place. Long road via migraine treatment route bacause ive had them 38yrs now but became uncontrollable the specialists didn't look anywhere else even though i kept saying my jaw hurt!!!

Your life really is in their hands but when they won't listen it's up to us 😆

[MaryF]

My migraines and episodes turned out to be Hughes Syndrome/APS an autoimmune conditions, often in a family with this, there will be other autoimmune disease including thyroid problems, strokes and heart attacks at a younger age, plus women having multiple miscarriages or stillbirths. MaryF

ps all my children have this also to some degree plus other relatives.

[MrGLB in reply to MaryF]

Hi MaryF, Thanks for the reply. Was this picked up because of the Migrain's or was it something that was found and thereby it has the same symptoms as a migraine?

[MaryF in reply to MrGLB]

I have multiple diseases including Systemic Lupus, but if any of the above family history fits, or these symptoms, then you can get tested even just to rule it out: However if you do decide to test, take the forms to the hospital and then do them there as samples taken are time sensitive.

What are the symptoms of APS

APS can cause both low-grade symptoms and potentially fatal events as a result of blood clots.

In pregnancy, APS is the most common, potentially treatable cause of recurrent miscarriage, and is also associated with other complications such as pre-eclampsia, low weight babies and stillbirth.

Some people are affected by symptoms more than others while others simply have the antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in their blood but do not develop any blood clots, experience pregnancy complications or display any symptoms at all. As of yet, we simply don’t know the reason why these anomalies exist because so much research still needs to be carried out.

The typical low-grade symptoms of APS are:

headache and migraine

memory problems

dizziness and balance difficulties

visual disturbances

blotchy skin (livedo reticularis)

arthralgia

fatigue

The common acute events caused by APS are:

thrombosis – DVTs

strokes and mini-strokes (TIAs - Transient Ischaemic Attacks)

heart attacks

pulmonary emboli (blood clots on the lung)

recurrent miscarriages

As APS is a blood disorder and blood flows throughout the entire body, nearly any organ can be affected. Consequently, the brain, eyes, ears, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, bowel, skin, nails, bones and joints can potentially all be affected to varying degrees.

Remember - it is NOT necessary to have all the symptoms to be diagnosed with APS.

Blood Tests

Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL)

Lupus anticoagulant (LA)

Anti-beta2-glycoprotein-1 (anti-B2GP1)

MaryF

[DAVEnGLASGOW]

Hi....I'm David.im a tb/meningitis and grand mal convulsions survivor.i have a few mental health issues and one or two physical issues.I've suffered from migraines for 43 yrs...I suffer with daily aura.I'm currently taking candasartine, frovatriptan and volterol suppositories but it's not a proof remedy as sometimes it works n others it doesnt.I am waiting on a urgent appointment for the Neuro...who knows how long this will take

[Cally01 in reply to DAVEnGLASGOW]

Good luck Dave hope you get relief 😔