Aura after a migraine
Hi everyone, I've had a few instances of migraine aura symptoms lingering on and off in the days after a migraine. I haven't read about this as a typical migraine hangover symptom, so I'm wondering if anyone has experienced this.
Thanks!
Other details;
I have hemiplegic type migraine, so the lingering symptoms are a super mild version of typical aura, and come and go over time, including tingling fingers on one hand and a very thin colored line in my vision that doesn't spread into a full scintillating scotoma. I would generally ignore symptoms like that but I became more frustrated about it this week when I was preparing a sixth grade level text (as a special Ed teacher) and I couldn't make sense of the story! My speech/language center was too scrambled, and even though I could speak just fine, comprehending a story and tracking characters by their pronouns was just too hard. It was so disheartening to be defeated by a children's text when there was no obvious reason that I couldn't understand it, nearly four full days after a migraine. I'm trying to track these symptoms so I can present my experience quantitatively to my neurologist, but he's had few answers for some of my other neurological symptoms other than "maybe your brain is doing migraine-y stuff even when you don't have a full migraine." Anyone have any insight?
I'm sorry to hear that you are suffering from migraine disease. It can be a very frustrating and challenging condition to manage even during the best scenarios. My husband suffers from chronic, intractable migraine and regularly has aura symptoms throughout his cycles that don't always track in the normal phases. In that respect, you are not alone. Hemiplegic migraine is one of the scarier types of migraines as the symptoms can often mimic those of a stroke especially if they are severe. I had a stroke so I am very wary of my husband's symptoms when he has attacks. It is an excellent idea to track and document the symptoms you are having so you can present them to your neurologist. Are they also a headache or migraine specialist? If they are not here is a link to help you find one near you.
https://headaches.org/resources/healthcare-provider-finder/
I hope you don't suffer from attacks too often! Have a blessed day! Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team
Thanks so much for posting this question. It sounds a bit like you may be having some brain fog in the days following an attack- or, like your doctor said, having an attack without the head pain. This does happen- and can be odd to experience as the head pain (and/or aura) is our usual tip off. If we change our treatment regimen, it can also alter our experience of migraine including the symptoms we have. Lastly, if we have a number of attacks in close proximity, we can feel drained from the experience as the prodrome symptoms can begin to get tangled up with the postdrome ones to create the feel of a symptom soup. Here's some information on these issues: https://migraine.com/search?s=brain%20fog
https://migraine.com/living-migraine/cgrps-changing-attack-patterns. https://migraine.com/living-migraine/chronic-bodys-slow-leak. Hope these resources prove helpful. Please let us know if you've any questions or need for clarification or support. We are here for you! Warmly, Holly (migraine.com team).
I have had visual "auras" with no symptoms attached at all, and most often when they happen I've only had symptoms turn up 10-17 days later! When I have symptoms I rarely get the scintillating light auras at the same time.
But I do get brain fog. This must be so difficult for you as a teacher. I am sorry that happens.
