Has anyone had aphasia?
I had a terrifying aphasia attack last night with an atypical migraine. It's never happened to me like that before, and even though it resolved relatively quickly with a rescue med, it's left me terrified. My doctor thought I was having a stroke, I spent most of the day ruling it out with testing. Now I'm petrified that every time I mistype a word or misspeak it's starting again and I'm going to sound like a baby babbling when I try to speak.
I know this is a relatively rare symptom, but now that I've had it once, am I likely to have it again?
Hi Rhii,
Thank you for sharing that with us. I can imagine that was a scary episode.
Aphasia can be a migraine with aura symptom and I know many who have experienced it. I may be wrong, but I don't believe this means you'll have it with every attack. I can tell you if we have four or more server migraine attacks a month, it's time to discuss migraine prevention with a doctor who is knowledgeable in treating migraine disease. You can read more about aphasia in this article; https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-symptoms-transient-aphasia/.
One of the most famous cases of aphasia in recent times is reporter Serene Branson having an attack on air. You can read more about her story here; https://migraine.com/blog/what-happened-to-news-reporter-serene-branson/.
You may want to start keeping a detailed migraine diary to determine if there are any patterns to your attacks and help identify your migraine triggers. Here is another link that may help; https://migraine.com/blog/keeping-migraine-diary-basics/.
I hope this helps. Please keep me posted on how you are feeling,
Nancy
I completely understand how frightening this is for you! I began having attacks like this about 5 years ago. The first time, I thought I was having a stroke...I only last week finally got a hemiplegic migraine diagnosis. What a relief! Doesn't change the terrifying feeling when I cannot speak, have trouble breathing, the awful feeling, etc., but I have hope now that THIS neurologist knows what she is doing and maybe the new preventive meds can make a difference. I just found this site today and am so relieved to know that I am not alone and to see other people describing what I have felt so isolated with is nothing short of amazing. Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like!
Hi tdeboer73,
Welcome to the Migraine.com discussion forum and thank you for your kind words!
It's good to know we're not alone and validating at the same time. I felt a ton of relief once I realized there were others like me! A good support network is invaluable.
Hemplegic migraine is a rare form of migraine disease best treated by an expert, I'm glad you are feeling hopeful!
Please keep us posted on how you are doing,
Nancy
