Oh such a shock I had last night. I went up to see my Husband he had
gone up to bed early as he had a migraine and had it all week. That is normal
for him. He was sitting on the floor talking rubbish to be honest. I got him to
bed and thought he had taken pain killers for his eyes. He used to get such
dreadful eye pain and was on morphine for two years but thank God, he only gets
mild eye pains now. Like it’s not bad enough having any sight, but he is given
excruciating pains too? He used to pass out with the pain it was so cruel. I
did not know what to do about it. I guessed just wait till the morning and see
if he would be ok and the pills would have worn off and he would be ok. I was
surprised that he had taken the pills as he had not had eye pain for some time
now. Well through the night he began talking nonsense again and said he could
not feel the side of his face or his arm, well that was hearing between the
mumbo jumbo about digging a trench for the army and more rubbish. I called NHS
direct and after telling them he was not making much sense, they asked to speak
to him. I passed the phone and listened in, prompting him for correct answers.
Well after speaking to two people, he came off the phone fifteen minutes later.
I asked what they said, as I heard no diagnoses. He said they did not know. I
told him I was going to call a taxi and take him to the hospital but he told me
in slightly clearer words that he thinks he had suffered from
Hemiplegic migraine. I thought, that is a very bad
head ache, which would not make your face numb or speech poor? Then I read up
on migraines and he told me he had this many years ago and they thought then he
had a stroke, thank God for the internet and my findings on migraines. I wanted
to share this with you.
Hemiplegic migraine.
is referred
to as a “migraine variant”. The word hemiplegic simply means paralysis on one
side of the body. A person with hemiplegic migraine will experience a temporary
weakness on one side of their body as part of their migraine attack. This can
involve the face, arm or leg and be accompanied by numbness, or pins and
needles. If the right side is affected the person may experience speech
difficulties, vision problems or confusion. This can be a frightening
experience for the individual as these symptoms are similar to those of a
stroke. This weakness may last from one hour to several days, but usually it
goes within 24 hours. The head pain associated with migraine typically follows
the weakness, but the headache may precede it or be absent.
What causes the symptoms of hemiplegic migraine?
To understand this, it is important to look at the
mechanism of hemiplegic migraine. The brain and nervous system depend on a
combination of electrical and chemical signals to function. When a nerve
impulse (electrical) of sufficient strength passes down from one nerve cell
towards another, it opens a so-called ‘channel’ which acts like a ‘gate’. This
process releases neurotransmitters (or chemical messengers) which contact the
neighbouring cells and tell them how to respond. If a channel in the brain is
not working properly, neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, may be released in
an abnormal way. In the case of hemiplegic migraine, the way the channel
dysfunctions is known to have a role in the condition.
Types of hemiplegic migraine
There are two types of hemiplegic migraine – familial
hemiplegic migraine (FHM) and sporadic hemiplegic migraine
(SHM).
Familial Hemiplegic Migraine
Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is defined as
migraine attacks occurring in two or more people in the same family who
experience weakness on one side of the body as a symptom with their migraines.
On average 50% of children who have a parent with hemiplegic migraine will
develop this disorder.
At least three different genes have been implicated
in FHM. In half of the families where FHM occurs, a gene with a defect on
chromosome 19 has been identified. This causes the related calcium channel to
work incorrectly from time to time, and when it does a series of biochemical
changes result in a migraine attack. For other families chromosome 1 is
implicated which alters the behaviour of a channel involved in cell energy and
in still others a sodium channel gene on chromosome 2 is altered. Even these do
not account for all cases so more genetic causes will be found during future
research.
Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine
If someone experiences all the physical symptoms of
FHM but doesn’t have a known familial connection they are diagnosed as having
sporadic hemiplegic migraine (SHM). The cause of SHM is unknown; some are due
to new or so called ‘sporadic’ gene mutations.
Research has shown that people with SHM usually experience all four of the typical aura symptoms – visual, sensory, aphasic and motor symptoms – during their attacks. It was reported in the people who were studied that the motor weaknesses were always one sided and more often experienced in the upper limbs. For two thirds of people the symptoms lasted around an hour; whilst only 8% experienced this weakness for more than a day. None experienced the one sided weakness in their body without experiencing other symptoms as well, and the most common of these accompanying symptoms was visual disturbance. All experienced the headache of the migraine.
Research has shown that people with SHM usually experience all four of the typical aura symptoms – visual, sensory, aphasic and motor symptoms – during their attacks. It was reported in the people who were studied that the motor weaknesses were always one sided and more often experienced in the upper limbs. For two thirds of people the symptoms lasted around an hour; whilst only 8% experienced this weakness for more than a day. None experienced the one sided weakness in their body without experiencing other symptoms as well, and the most common of these accompanying symptoms was visual disturbance. All experienced the headache of the migraine.
- World
Headache Alliance Website: www.w-h-a.org
He is sleeping now. God bless him, earlier in the week, my cousins
daughter gave birth to a little girl called Brook Ellis. Last night I was
scared stiff that I could have my love of my life taken from me just like that
and it got me thinking. “There are people right now around the world, who said
goodbye to their spouce this morning and are going to bed alone, with the
knowledge that the other side of the bed would remain cold. God bless all those
people and God bless little baby Brook! Thank God for my darling, my Teen, my
dogs and even my canary… God bless my
Yam and DD and my closest and dearest friends, from the U.k, America Russia Miranda and my only living relative Aunt
G and my brother in law Night lovely people I shall await now for my Teen
coming home from his party, knowing the sky is dark and it’s a wild world out there.
xx
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