Comments on: What Causes a Complicated Migraine?

By: Megan

Megan — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:57:28 +0000

Hi!
Well I get complex or complicated migraines too. I am 17 and I have been getting migraines since I was 2. They were the kind with the aura and intense pain and would last from 7-14 hours. They evolved to the complex or complicated migraines four years ago. It started like all my other migraines had, I got the aura and the pain started. My parents gave me excedrin and put me to bed. They came in to check on me and I started to complain that my hand and face felt weird; they had gone completely numb. Well it was the middle of the night and my parents didn’t want to leave my siblings alone at that time so we went to the hospital the next morning. By then my hand and face were fine but my head was still aching. I got a ct scan and was told I was normal. Then two years went by before I got another one. I had gone to the doctor after the last one and he had put me on zomig;it sped up process of my migraines but it made the pain and the symptoms twice as bad. So I got a migraine and took zomig. An hour or so later, my face, arm, and legs went numb I couldnt walk or talk. My face was drooping and I was drooling. My mom thought I was having a stroke. On the way to the hospital I was in and out of consciousness and I threw up. At the hospital they gave me another ct scan and morphine. The scan came back normal. I was there for a few hours and sent home. I did over react to the morphine and I had to be put on oxygen but was told that was normal. Then I had severe headaches but no migraines until this year. I had three migraines in the spring of this year. The last one I had got really bad again. My face and hand went numb, as well as my tongue. I couldnt walk or talk either. My parents took me to the Er. There I was given what they called a cocktail. It was supposed to stop the pain but not make people over react and have to be put on oxygen. Well I still over reacted and had to be put on oxygen. I was there for a few hours and was sent home. A few days later we got a call from my doctor they wanted me to come in for a follow up appointment. One of the nurses apparently thought my reactin the the cocktail was weird and suggested I get tested for PFO. I got the MRI and it came back normal. I haven’t had any migraines since then. I don’t know what causes them or how to treat them. My doctor has given me pain pills but I would rather not just pop pain pills everytime I get them. Is there anything I can do to find how they are caused and how to prevent them? Thank you so much for your experiences! I don’t know anyone else personally that has migraines like I do and it helps to know I’m not alone.

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:29:30 +0000

I was diagosed with complicated migraines 7 years ago. They worried it was MS due to my symptoms but testing proved negative. They told me the primary cause was sodium deficiency. I started to increase my sodium through food and for the most part it helped (can of Coke and some Doritios often did the trick). A year ago I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, meaning my stomach quit functioning. I have not been able to eat and subsequently lost 10 lbs (I am at 114 now) and so my migraines have returned. This week I started to feel out of sorts, then the tingling in my fingers and arm started and weakness on my right side. Next came the shakes, difficulty with my thought process and “fuzzies” in my vision, followed by the lovely headache. When I told my husband at night he told me the day before my one pupil was dialated. I have seen a pattern that when one pupil dialates a migrain is next to follow. I have gone to the eye doc to be told there is nothing wrong with me and the neurologist 7 years ago didn’t seem too concerned, so my question is, is it worth going back to the doctor if they can’t and/or don’t do anything about these?

By: Luan

Luan — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:11:40 +0000

3 years ago I started feeling twitches and spasms in my muscles all over my body.they alone freaked me out.Then my left hand and foot went tingly and numb and I had what felt like electric shocks on rhs of my leg.Then the aura in my left eye started.It was a blind spot which turned into what looked like a heatwave which lasted about 20 minutes.These symptoms were over a few weeks.Doc did blood tests and eventually referred me to hospital where I was diagnosed with migraine.I was given Prozac as by that time my mental health was shot to pieces and propranalol.Thankfully i was much better for months and months and stopped taking the drugs ages ago.However I woke up recently not bring able to see out of my left eye all was blurry and went to a&e.By the time I got there vision was back.They checked eye and sent me home.Then the headache kicked in on left hand side temple and was in bed all day.headache lasted 3days and am left with tingly arm and scared.Back to docs in a week.

By: Beth

Beth — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 23:06:11 +0000

Four years ago I had two “attacks” close together that everyone was afraid were signs of a TIA. During the second attack, I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance to make sure I wasn’t having a stroke. Four days in the hospital later, I was told I didn’t have anything fatal. I had had a CT, MRI, echocardiogram, carotid artery Doppler, EKG, transesophogeal echocardiogram, and a 24 hour EEG. Everything was normal. Three days ago, I had the same symptoms: unable to walk, speech difficulties, my tongue felt too big for my mouth, numbness and tingling in the right side of my face. My neurologist did a full exam, and sent me for a stat MRI to rule out stroke ir a tumor Of course everything was normal. My doctor said it is probably a complicated migraine. What I want to know is whether or not there is treatment for this? It is so scary when it happens. If there were a med that you could take when the symptoms first start, that would be great. Otherwise you are so sure it is some major neurological thing. And then, after all the tests are normal, you get brushed off! I hate that. It us still serious to me!

By: Iris

Iris — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 03:09:07 +0000

For the past 15 years I have suffered with migraines. I am 33 and i’m scared because a few months ago my left side went numb, tingly and I was having chest pains and shortness of breath. I and everyone else thought it was a stroke. I saw 5 doctors within 2 weeks and they would say I needed rest and others that it was a headache and would give me some crappy medicine. Then I thought of using my mothers neuro and hes awesome. Dr. Brian Loftus in Houston Texas. I scheduled for the day after I called and by the next day I was up and walking. I feel so blessed to have found him. Its hard to find a good doctor after your pcp has given up and the medicines arent helping any more. I hope that migraines one day end and we can be normal. I have to miss work alot and its very difficult not even being able to have insurance.