Does any else suffer with the inabili... - National Migraine...

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Does any else suffer with the inability to use numbers or talk with migraine..

HarleyQuinn profile image
17 Replies

when i have my migraines.. (every 7/8 days . they last 3 days then off again)

for the first day i can not process numbers and my speech is affected.. i can see the words i want.. i know the object but i can not say them, for examplei know its a telly i can see its a telly but im damned if i can say the actual word ..

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HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn
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17 Replies
Tearfuldragon profile image
Tearfuldragon

I can''t do numbers without a headache!, but seriously, I do find speech difficult and lose words, particularly names of things. Another symptom I get is that if I'm trying to work though a migraine, I type words the wrong way round, all the right letters are there but not necessarily in the right order!

HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn in reply to Tearfuldragon

Glad im not the only one and i aslo have the typing issue its like im writing in code some times. i just dont bother any more, but the speech thing is frustrating, im lucky my partner is used to it now.. but there have been times when im out shopping and grrr !! its horrid.

skullsandponies profile image
skullsandponies

I definitely have problems with speech when I'm getting or had a migraine. I have real trouble recalling a word and often say the wrong one (not in the general sense everyone does, but really struggling). I spoke to my GP about it and she said it's all connected to migraine.

I also have a terrible memory and will repeat conversations with people and then realise I've already had it. Apparently it's not to do with memory but to do with attention. Your brain is so busy managing the pain it never gives 100% attention to any task!

The speech thing is so annoying though - if I'm with someone I'm comfortable with I can usually say the word straight after e.g. "I was on the truck today I mean bus not truck".

HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn in reply to skullsandponies

i can completly relate to that, and it is frustrating but often after we laugh at the messed up words ive thrown out there. .

the memory thing is something else that i do. or get up walk out of a room to do something and then ping its gone. im forever wondering aimlessly around because i forgot what i was going to do.

skullsandponies profile image
skullsandponies in reply to HarleyQuinn

It's really frustrating when you try and tell non-migraine folk this though as they respond with "oh i get that too haha im always saying the wrong thing" and i'm thinking you really haven't got a clue! My friends and family are all pretty good and help me to keep my place in a conversation. I really struggle just after a migraine - i have to stop and take breaks and try again. Sometimes it just comes out as gibberish!

It's comforting to know that other migraine sufferers have this though. Makes me feel much more at ease with it!

I agree - laughing about it after is the best way of dealing with it!

HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn

Hmm . the frustration i have with people that dont understand migraine and they say "its a bad headache" or the others that "i have a migraine " and carry on functioning like normal as it really is just a headache..

it is good to know others out there have similar symptoms, doesnt make me feel so odd :) x

Puzzled profile image
Puzzled

I have dyscalculia (number dyslexia) anyway which is made far worse by a migraine, words are really bad with migraines, i loose them, try to ask where the keys are and end up asking where the fridge is, that kind of thing. when i type i also get the letters round the wrong way, my speech can be a little slurred - something i never noticed until at work one day i had an attack and thought i think i slurring my words a little and asked a good friend colleague of mine and she said yes a little. It's trying to think and only half of your brain is awake and responding.

Also it takes me far longer to actually be able to form a reply, it's like they are speaking spanish and i'm trying to translate and then form a reply, number wise forget it! i think possibly sometimes if i over do the numbers (doing too much with numbers does make me very tried as it requires extra thinking) can no doubt trigger a migraine.

Oh yeah so love the whole lost word conversation with non migrainers - like you said Skullsandponies very frustrating - people always look at you like you've seriously lost the plot when you come out with the wrong word and then stand there looking at you waiting - yeah like im going to get the word now with you staring at me!! I'm very lucky because my best friend knows me so well, she doesn't even say anything and the conversations just carry on as though i'd said the correct word :oD - i find that i do the same with other people my brain automatically puts the correct word in.

HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn in reply to Puzzled

Thanks for your reply , as bad as it is its good to see others that suffer that same way,, (not that i wish it on any body)

Im so luck in that my partner has got to know what im like . and understands me now. and to top it she sufferedher first migraine a month ago, and felt the ice pick through the head pain !

micks_missus profile image
micks_missus

Glad to know I'm not the only one who 'loses' words! Trouble is - the older I get the harder is it to remember where I put them! lol

(Well if you don't laugh about it you end up getting depressed and what good does that do you - life is hard enough with this condition as it is...)

HarleyQuinn profile image
HarleyQuinn in reply to micks_missus

well said :) xx

Elvira45 profile image
Elvira45

I lose words and can't see numbers clearly with a migraine. I find I lose thoughts, slur and can't articulate properly with migraine. Fun, isn't it!

elliott profile image
elliott

I will join in the club ,When I have H/M attack i think Im talking ok and saying the right things but my family say they have problems to understand what Im saying .My speech is slurred and hey I know what Im saying in my head like you say you must laugh .I have a bril family and friend and that what gets me though

NaomiThomas profile image
NaomiThomas

When I have a very severe migraine I cannot speak I know what I want to say but the words come out in a jumble.

The 24 hours before a migraine I seem to fall over my words a lot or forget what I want to say. Basic words I use daily are illusive. I only noticed this a couple of years ago!

teadrinker profile image
teadrinker

My typing goes all over the place and I struggle to talk.

Once went into the pharmacy to buy some emergency medication and told the girl "I'm having a microwave". Wordlessly, she handed over a packet of Migraleve.

Also, struck down in a fancy restaurant on our wedding anniversary (isn't it always the way?) my husband was eating something with "haricot vert" (whatever that might be) and I slurred at him, "Are you enjoying your varicose veins?"

popit profile image
popit

I'm a constant slurrer and stutterer through chronic migraines and i get worse under stress, when I'm anxious or even just when I'm surrounded by a lot of people. I lose words and I've found that I can't seem to hold a conversation without losing sentences and not being able to grasp what is being said to me. I also know what I want to say but can't find the words. It's as though my brain won't engage. I look at an object and there's just no word for it. Sometimes I don't even know my kids names.

I'm finding numbers even harder to comprehend. Not all the time though. I have good days and bad. My brain won't engage and I can't seem to do things like simple maths or multiple choice questions unless I have at least a couple of minutes per question to answer.

I have just been told about a condition called Aphasia. It's associated with strokes and other Neurological conditions.

xXx

skinnycthulhu profile image
skinnycthulhu

I have experienced a cluster of migraines over the last 8 days with the symptoms you have described (previously they were characterized by sensitivity to light and sound with a lot of pain). This week I have not been able to speak at all sometimes, on the occasions that I figured out what I might want to say, I have ended up stuttering and slurring at people and looking vacant when people have talked to me and being confused to the point of tears.

I really hope this isn't going to become a regular thing, the other migraines I was having were easier to handle because at least I still knew my own mind, it has been a scary week. I should have checked this site out sooner because, although it's no fun for any of us, it is always a comfort to know that other people are having a similar experience.

x

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