How severe migraine can be - like a stroke...

This is interesting. At first, doctors mistook   hemiplegic migraine for a stroke:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2061529/My-stroke-migraine-lasted-TWO-YEARS.html

We do know him from other discussions, dr Goadsby, I think he moved to USA and is currently working in UCSF in California.
Tracey was referred to Professor Peter Goadsby at the National Hospital of Neurology, who diagnosed hemiplegic migraine.

wow.. what a story. poor woman. I wonder how is she doing now...

Risa

Migraines that are considered "complicated migraines" can in fact present as stroke. If someone has the features of stroke, even if they think it's a migraine should go to the ER. I had a stroke in 06. The symptoms of a complicated went away, but left permanent damage. If your brain throws something different out than what you're usually faced with, then it's ER time.

Also, a good lab panel checking for inflammation, clotting, and cholesterol plus maintaining a good blood pressure is key. Even if it's a false alarm, you should get in at first notice that something's not right. Usually someone will notice something different with you. Take that as sentinel moment.

One type of my migraines presents as a stroke. When I get this type I can't talk properly, see properly or sometimes even walk. These are the ones that scare me the most.

Hi All,

Interesting Article. It is hard to believe that the doctors diagnosed a stroke so quickly. Migraine, even hemiplegic migraine, is a diagnosis or exclusion. Basically, one would normally do scans and bloodwork in order to rule out strokes or other causes of headache. If nothing shows, then it is probably migraine. It is hard to believe that it took two years for someone to identify the problem. I'm glad that they did.

Yes, more severe migraines can present like strokes.


In fact, about a year after my migraines became chronic, I woke up one morning and couldn't think of word and had slurred speech. My head wasn't hurting much, but I did go to the nurse to ask for Aspirin. I was eighteen and at boarding school in Maryland at the time.  I couldn't speak well, so I wrote it down. She gave me the medicine and sent me back to class. 10 minutes later, the nurse pulled me out of class and told me that my neuro wanted me to go the ER immediately. I was met by my neuro's partner- who did an exam, then called for a STAT MRI. The school nurse had already called my parents and told them that their 18 year old daughter was having a stroke. (Both parents are physicians and my father correctly diagnosed it as a complicated migraine. This did not stop my Mom from getting on a plane, though.) I did not have a stoke. It was a complicated migraine.

There is an increased risk of stroke with migraine.  Most drs who see a complex migraine do some sort of test to rule out stroke or other causes for headache. Migraines can be scary and can mimic stroke symptoms. When my father had his first complicated migraine as a teenager, he experienced numbness in his legs and was absolutely convinced he had polio. This was at the height of the polio epidemic, in the early 1950's. His father told him that it was a migraine.

I hope this helps.

Pain free days,
sconesail

Thanks for the input Sconesail, what an interesting story!

Risa

This happened to me in 2011, it was called a "Basilar Migraine" presents like a stroke. Very scary and I am glad it never happened to that extent again, although there were multiple times during migraine I had a difficult time speaking but could speak.

Trinity