Hemiplegic migraine

Hemiplegic migraine is described as:

"a rare type of migraine that causes temporary weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, similar to a stroke. This can be accompanied by other typical migraine symptoms, such as severe headache, nausea, and visual disturbances. The paralysis usually resolves on its own but can be frightening and requires medical attention."

I had my first hemiplegic migraine in Vienna, on a weekend city break. We'd taken my parents to the Christmas markets - neither of them had been before and we wanted to share our love of Austria with them.

The day after arriving, I woke up and couldn't speak. My head was banging, my face had dropped, and I was scared. I was focussed on trying to stay calm and keep everyone else calm. But, in the back of my head, I thought I'd had a stroke.

Me being me, I didn't want to ruin anyone's weekend (!), so I sent my husband out for some medication, and then slept it off for the rest of the day. The next day I was fine.

I contacted my GP investors to the UK. She put it down to a hemiplegic migraine and I was sent for an MRI as a precaution which, of course, came back clear.

This was some 20 years ago now and I can count on both hands how many times they've occurred since.

Skip forward to February 2023.

I was excited to be starting a new job and had to drop some paperwork off at their offices during the day. My migraines ALWAYS start during the night. Except this one. I sat chatting to the HR team for a while, my head pounding. I made my escape and by the time I got to the car just a few minutes away I felt nauseous, in severe pain, whoozy, and really not very well.

I drove the 20 miles home and rang my husband on the way to tell him. He was waiting at the door for me but by that point my face had dropped, my speech was slurred and I couldn't speak coherently.

Just put me to bed. I'll be fine. I wasn't fine, because that one migraine triggered a massive vertigo attack that lasted 8 months.

I cannot stress enough that, if you feel like this, you should go and get it checked immediately, at the time of a hemiplegic attack. I know now that it's important for you to be assessed so they can see what's going on and make sure you get into the system to be seen and treated. And this is why....

I went to my GP the week of the hemiplegic migraine and, again, it was put down to a hemiplegic migraine. She also treated me for BPPV with the Epley manoeuvre, but it didn't work. Because I'd not had an MRI for a while, and because I'd now gone into a spell of vertigo, there was a period of to and fro between my GP, neurology and ENT to decide who should investigate what was going on.

I'll talk about this in another blog as it relates to BPPV and PPPD ... but, the moral of this story is ... if I'd gone at the time of the hemiplegic migraine attack, I'd have had all the tests and been seen at hospital there and then. As it turned out, these investigations took 18 months to get through and I have just been formally diagnosed and started a path of treatment. In August 2024.