Migraine auras and hypo

[t3rr]

Does anyone here also suffer from migraine auras without the headache, I have suffered with these for about five years, sometimes get a very stiff neck for a couple of days after, have been hypo for about twenty years and take T3 and T4.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

I went through a short period (a few months only) in which I had a series of auras.

Seemed to spontaneously resolve, thankfully. I take levothyroxine only.

(I have had just a few "real" migraines in my life - and the auras were very much the same. But little or no nausea, and no headache, just a general feeling of being a bit "delicate".)

[t3rr in reply to helvella]

Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Had a quick look through your past posts

Couldn't see any mention of thyroid antibodies tested

Do you have Hashimoto's? Autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies?

Are you on strictly gluten free diet?

If you google gluten and migraine there's lots of info

[t3rr in reply to SlowDragon]

No, I'm not aware of thyroid antibodies being tested, just t3 and t4, and general tests, calcium etc./ I went gluten free for six months and no difference, also endo has only ever confirmed I have autoimmune thyroid disease, I attended the migraine world summit and eat their recommended diet for migraine, pretty healthily I would say. I will google as suggested, thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to t3rr]

If endo said it was autoimmune disease then this would mean you have high thyroid antibodies (Hashimoto's)

Many patients with Hashimoto's find they are gluten intolerant or dairy intolerant

You may not have any obvious gut symptoms. But on gluten free diet antibodies very often slowly reduce

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

But don't be surprised that GP or endo never mention gut, gluten or low vitamins. Hashimoto's is very poorly understood

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

Ideally ask GP for coeliac blood test first

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

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amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...

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scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

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If you decided to try it would suggest testing antibodies before starting and after say 6 months

[AlisonL]

Hi, yes I have these too and with me they seem to be hormonal and happen at the same time every month. I always feel very tired afterwards. I'm not sure if it's related to being hypo or not really as I was diagnosed over 20 years ago and have only had them for about the last 5 or so.

[t3rr in reply to AlisonL]

Thanks, no I don't think mine are hormonal as in my late 60's, used to have full blown migraines when young, but from menopause to about 5 years ago, completely clear, and now just the auras, sometimes perfectly ok after about an hour, othertimes, with very stiff neck for a day or so. I have wondered if there was some connection with being hypothyroid.

[Kipsy]

YES! Although not diagnosed with Hashis until age 47 I have suffered from migraine auras (loss of speech & almost all sight but no headache) since I was about 11. This was well before puberty. I have never linked them with thyroid but that's fascinating. I get them when I stop if I'm exhausted- e.g. On a plane going on holiday when I finally relax. About 10 years ago, I came round for a few hours after a general anaesthetic then felt a migraine aura coming on, phoned my fiancée (now long suffering husband!😉) to warn him as he was coming to collect me. The next thing I knew was that 2 nights had passed with me in hospital in a coma....all very very odd and never really explained properly apart from I had drunk a lot of water and had depleted my sodium levels. . I've never met anyone else who gets the aura. How often do you suffer?

[t3rr in reply to Kipsy]

Thanks, sometimes just once a month, but can have four/five in a month, has been down to once a month when I follow the diet recommended by the migraine summit I attended, just find it makes me wary to travel too far on my own these days.

[Kipsy in reply to t3rr]

Oh you poor thing- that's so debilitating. Good to hear you've been to a migraine summit and hopefully have got some advice. I really hope things improve for you.

[t3rr in reply to Kipsy]

Thanks

[UHelga]

You’re not alone! I started getting these 5 years ago I think, completely out of the blue. What a weird visual experience! They would leave me feeling exhausted for 2 days. After getting myself checked out and everything seeming normal (incl thyroid levels), I saw a naturopath in desperation. She put me on an elimination diet and I discovered I had several food intolerances (incl gluten). Once I addressed those, the migraines stopped

[t3rr in reply to UHelga]

Interesting, thank you

[Framboise]

I've had two of these, but at times when my neck was extremely tight - it is sometimes so tight that it makes me dizzy, on those two occasions it was tight in a different area. My husband has also has them quite often, without headache, but only since a car accident in which he suffered whiplash - same time I did in fact. He doesn't have any thyroid problems, so I know that in our cases they are due to tight neck muscles. However an under-active thyroid can cause muscle tightness, so they may well be related to that for some people.

[t3rr in reply to Framboise]

Thank you, again interesting as had a bad whiplash injury over 30 years ago, maybe it's coming back to haunt me, a year ago my neck was very stiff and painful and saw a muscular skeletal consultant, and he referred me to an osteopath, who seemed to free things off, and has given me daily exercises to keep my neck moving and to stop it stiffening up, but certainly it is my neck that suffers after an aura.