Hi my migraine story ,pain ,hemeplegia and a family of sufferers .

My name is Jacqui i am a 45 year old single mum of one . I have been suffering with chronically painful migraines for 10 yrs ,last year i had my first full on hm attack . I was at work at the time and started to feel dizzy and cold sweats and pain to the back of the head into the neck and shoulders ,also very nauseous . I told the lady i care for (as i am a p.a part time for a disabled lady ) that i felt unwell and left ,somehow to this day i don`t know how i drove home in one piece i had to stop on the way to throw up quite violently (my poor car ) as i was driving i could feel all the strength draining out of me my vision started to go hazy ,it was like an out of body experience the pain in the left side of my head was white hot intense and i was numb and and getting deader on my left side by the second ,there is a huge history of strokes in our family so i thought this was what i was experiencing .I literally crawled to the front door and collapsed ,my father who lives with us drove me to a&e i had to be wheeled in the whole experience is hazy i remember trying to speak to begin with but faces just looking at me blankly .A&E gave me an injection they said was pain relieving which didn`t work then i was shot full of morphine left to sleep for a bit someone examined me and allthough i could barely move they sent me home and told me to see my gp and get referal back to my neuro who i already attended for migraine ,i spent the week in bed sleeping never knew tiredness like it ,and the tiredness ,depression ,suicidal thoughts creep in and out in a cycle along with the migraines which continue my left side is weak sometimes more than others and i have lost some spelling ,memories fairly recent ones to 5 yrs bk ,and speech goes doolally ,i am just coming off of topiramate and will be starting new meds when letter gets to gp can`t remember name i think its epilem or something like and a different stronger triptan and a nasal spray pain relief , topirimate reduced the level of pain but side effects where hell on earth still had same ammount of migraines just they where 4-7 instead of 10`s .I have an M.R.I booked in for july 1st so we will see what comes of that .Currently my 12 yr old daughter has been seen for migraine aura and pretty much all of my family has aura or migraine headache . I am determined to try and have as normal a life as possible have just done some decorating and as a consequence i am in bed with tingly left side and extreme tiredness but i won`t let it beat me especially for my daughter ,i still work only part time allthough have to come home shower and go to bed some days after ,and i can drive still at the moment ,i just pray it doesn`t get worse ,my sympathies go out to all the fellow sufferers on here and many who are far worse i hope one day things get better for all of us xx.

Oh Babes bless I was just about to sign out and go to bed myself!!
Welcome to the site
You sound so much like all of us>
But do little and often and get lots of sleep when you can.
We Have all had bad thoughts I think,Well I have anyway, but the kids keep us going, some of them come from the meds.
You will meet some great people on here but for now I am not good got to go
Loads of hugs x x x
Sheena

Thankyou its so nice to hear that from someone who understands (have damn tears rolling down my cheeks now so can tell i`ve overdone it lol ) ,because although my family all have some form of migraine some dormant now they are mild cases and they have never been under a neurologist for treatment so sometimes i feel they don`t get the tiredness side of it and i`ve really had some mean comments especially from my sister very hurtful . Nice to meet you Sheena and i hope you feel well soon xxxx

Welcome Jacqueline I am glad that you have managed to find the forum and some support.

As we are all sufferers or carers we do understand the stigma and difficulties you are facing.

Just as I think I have learnt enough about migraines I find myself on a new learning curve..so we are all learning together here.

I expect you will be trying to take it easy today but don't forget we are hear to help and listen if needed.

((((HUGS)))
Jane
x

Hi Jacqui

So glad you managed to post - welcome

Your story is like many on here, and we all understand. That first HM sounds very scary, you poor thing.

It is hard to get people to understand this. Of course some are sympathetic- but they still do not get it. I found a moving pic of one of the aura I see yesterday and showed my husband (who is brilliant by the way) and even he said wow that's tough. As for sisters!!!!! I say no more!

As Sheena has said we have all had those bad thoughts - some of the meds do not help with that and Topamax is one of the worse. So I am pleased you are coming off that. The new one you mention sounds like Epilim. It is another epilepsy based drug, but does not have as strong side effects as the Topamax. It does make you gain weight though. (there is a thread on here about it)

I am also soooo sorry to hear about your daughter, I started at 12 too and my son had his first at 5. Its damn hard watching you kids have them too. But you will understand for her and hopefully your experience will help her.

Hope the MRI goes well - do let us know how you get on

((BIG HUGS))

Tee

Thankyou guys ,so glad i finally came out of my bubble and posted on here ,glad to be coming off the topiramate too ,have just read the list of migraine auras and could not believe some where related to migraine attack symptoms ,it has opened my eyes no end as i have extreme and very vivid dreams have done for many years, dejavu crops up a lot and many of the others listed ,my Daughter bless her has the aura where she looses sight in her eye scotoma i think if i remember right (which would be a miracle ). Will let you know about the M.R.I ,and eeeeekkkkkk don`t like the sound of epilim already ,neuro didn`t mention that (hasn`t he noticed my bums big enough already thankyou !) . ((Hugs back to you all )) Jacqui xx

Hi hun, just wondering how you are , not back in that bubble I hope?