Stuttering and Migraines
Hi guys! Was just wondering if any one else is dealing with this.
I've been stuttering and struggling to speak. I've only been dealing with the chronic cluster headaches for about 3 years now. There's no one in my family or my husband's family who have had migraine or headache problems that I could turn to so all of this is new to me.
These little stuttering episodes don't happen very often. But when they do they're quite disconcerting. It feels like an electric shock that just goes through your system and then all of a sudden you repeat a word, or stutter over the word, or simply can't get the word to go from your brain to your mouth. And, as my luck would have it, that's always in front of my boss. Sure why not.
I'm on large amounts of medication right now just to function everyday so I really thought these little episodes were due to the medication. I even thought maybe they were a long covid side effect.
A new lady started in my office about 3 months ago and turns out she's had migraines since she had her car accident. One day both of us were completely incoherent, stuttering and struggling to think-the whole thing.
She explained that she starts stuttering and not being able to talk right as a sign that a migraine was coming on.
Does anyone else deal with this?
, thank you for becoming a migraine.com community member! We are glad to have you here. Migraine can certainly impact us on many levels. Affecting our speech and ability to communicate is both frustrating and scary. I'm sorry you are experiencing this. My husband has chronic migraine and what you are describing is very similar to what he experiences. For him, it is part of the first wave in a migraine cycle. There were many times he would be unable to communicate with his team and supervisors. He describes it as his brain seizes up. Either he can't get anything out or what does come out doesn't make sense. TIA has been ruled out on several occasions by ER staff, and while he is aware of what is happening now he is still mindful if it 'feels' different to him. Certain medications, like topirimate, can really wreak havoc in the area of cognitive functioning for some people. My husband could not tolerate it at all and discontinued it after a few months of giving it a chance to help his attacks. Here is a link to an article he wrote about his experience with aphasia and brain fog during a migraine cycle. As always, it's a good idea to document your experience how it impacts your life. Share this with your doctor so they can have a more complete picture of your experience and how it impacts your daily life.
https://migraine.com/living-migraine/aphasia-brain-fog
I hope you find comfort in knowing you are not alone with what you are experiencing. Please keep in touch. We are here to support you along your migraine journey! Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com teamThank you so much for the article! I appreciate any suggestions. Take care!
Hi! You are definitely in the right place here with us -- many of our community members and staff struggle with aphasia surrounding migraine. Sometimes it's medication related, sometimes it's the migraine attack itself, or a little of both. Remember that migraine is a neurological disease so there can be all kinds of strange symptoms involving communication and processing. In addition to the great article Cheryl sent you, I thought you might like a link to the archive of all of our aphasia content. I hope it might be a comfort knowing that you are not alone in this. Maybe you'll pick up some tips, too. So glad to have you! I've really been enjoying your posts so far. Take care!
-Melissa, migraine.com team
