I am a 42 year old female.
Has anyone come across a hemiplegic migraine diagnosis in your search for answers? In early September after spending a few days in 40+ degree working as a photographer (Celsius) I became very ill. I have been heat intolerant for a few years but in the past three my body shuts down. I become weak, dizzy, fatigued to the point of narcolepsy and very uncoordinated. (I am even when I am not in heat) The next day I started to have numbness and tingling in my right arm and hand. The next day the front of my thigh around to the back and down my leg. There is a history of things like this happening and a few with me losing consciousness. No answer was ever given. I cannot take warm showers or I get weak, dizzy and nauseated immediately.
I went to the ER (I am a procrastinator because of years of chronic treatment resistant migraines, I fear being labelled as a pill seeker or hypochondriac. (so I foolishly wait to see if something goes away on its own) I was admitted for testing to make sure I was clear of a brain tumour (my Dad passed from glioblastima) or stroke. I was given a Cat Scan and MRI without contrast. Both were negative. I was sent home with suspicion that I had hemiplegic migraines or was "crazy"
While I do get migraines, they are without Aura and were always without nausea or vomitting and certainly never numbness and tingling. My migraines are on my left side and my symptoms of numbness etc were on my right.
I had about a month of no symptoms (other than my migraines 5x's a week) for just over a month and then the numbness returned with severe vertigo, eye issues (decreased vision, blurred, double, loss of contrast, spots) crawling sensations on my legs, incontinence, severe speech disturbances, memory issues, attention deficits, crashing fatigue, throat tightening, some difficulty swallowing and my favourite, the rib pain, something I have dealt with for years now and nobody has ever figured it out.
This all got better after another three weeks and then after another 5 weeks hit again, but worse yet again. I will be standing and have the feeling of my leg being electrocuted and when attending to my children helping them get dressed I have a similar pain go down my neck when bending over.
I am seeing my family doctor next week (I keep putting it off because I know I will sound like a hypochondriac) and I am worried that because I have a history of migraine and anemia my symptoms may be passed off instead of investigated. Any suggestions on how to approach would be appreciated. This has consumed my life over the past few months and I have been hiding it from family (we recently lost another person) and my children. My children are beginning to refer to me as "always sick" and I am concerned.
Thanks so much everyone x