Aphasia vent

Have had 2 strong migraines with stroke-like symptoms this evening............had my usual auras - confusion, numbness and unresponsiveness for about 30 minutes followed by extreme exhaustion. Second migraine though also added aphasia just so it could be different from the first one...........been unable to speak now for over 2 hours - really hate that I have no control over these - just stops me in my tracks and I want my voice back! Also feeling hopeless after trying and failing with another preventative.........thanks for listening! Leslie

Leslie, so sorry to hear that. Hang in there. This too shall pass

Hi,

I'm sorry about the aphasia- it really is scary. I get migrainous aphasia with bad headaches quite often and it is always frustrating and scary.

The first time I got aphasia I was at boarding school in Maryland. I simply woke up with it one morning- strangely, my head did not hurt- I just couldn't think of words and my speech was slurred. I went up to the school nurse and actually wrote out a note asking for aspirin. The nurse, of course, realized something was wrong. She gave me the aspirin- I went back to class. Ten minutes later, she sent a student down to bring me back to the infirmary. The nurse had already spoken with my neurologist, who told her to take me to the ER immediately. She also called my mother and told her that her 18 year old daughter was having a stroke. I was being treated at Hopkins at the time. I remember being taken straight back to a room in the pediatric ER. (Unfortunately, the other scholl nurse- the mean one, was the one who took me to the hospital- and left me there shortly after I got put in a room.} I was terrified, alone and having a hard time communicating. My neuro sent her partner down to the ER immediately. She did a neuro exam and then scheduled an emergency MRI. In addition to this, all the neuro students must have heard that there "was a weird case in room five." The students kept asking me to speak. I tried. They resorted to bribery- if you speak, you'll get a cookie. I spoke, but my speech was still slurred. When I came back from the MRI, the doctors told me that my mother was on her way. I didn't believe them and kept saying "No, my mother's at home." She came to Baltimore. My father, who had migraines as a child, knew it wasn't a stroke, but a migraine. All tests came back normal and I was diagnosed with migranous aphasia.

I still get it quite often. I am a very verbal person, so losing the ability to think of words or read is hard. I found that a course of decadron would often stop the aphasia for me- especially if it lasts more than 24 hours. In college, I had to dictate some notes to English professors explaining that my paper would be late due to aphasia. i also have migranous alexia, and lost the ability to read. It is always interesting to tell an English professor that the paper will be late because "sailing has temporarily forgotten the english language."

If this is the first time, you have had aphasia, do tell your neuro about it. Now, I pretty much deal with it as it comes, I have found that forcing myself to speak helps it go way a little faster.

So sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with it. Please know you are not alone. migraines are funny things.

Pain free daysm
sailingm

I've been tongue tied but never completely lost speech, and for so long!!!

I can't help but wonder what type of residual damage is done after each episode where we seem to be getting more and more symptoms....frightening