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Confused

I am new to this forum as many of my present neurological symptoms point towards some sort of possible migraine diagnosis or least casue. Apologies in advance if I ramble.
8 weeks ago I woke with horrendous tinnitus. i have had unresolved tinnitus for 10 yrs. nothing like this though. It was loud and my ears were airplane full. Every sound was amplified. Following day I had severe vertigo, ended up in ER, all vitals checled and they were good. The doctor spoke of Menieres, however the length of time and lack of hearing loss goes against that. I then had about 4 weeks of intermittent headspins and nausea with tinnitus, the latter slightly better. These headspins were brief, they started to be accompanied by neuro symptons, electrical sensations, formication on my face, tingles in my fingers etc. 4 weeks back in ER with massive headache and head tingles, vitals checked again all good. Doctor then mentioned migraines. Had a CT scane, all clear. 5 weeks in started to be fatigued, weak limbs, muscle twitches. I shoudl say the headspins continued daily. I had a few more headaches but they have declined. I was referred to a neuro, thinking it was MS, had an brain and spine MRI, both clear. All my clinical neuro tests, plenty of the, were spot on, balance, strength etc all good. A week ago I had a sudden return of a headache, followed by a visual aura quickly followed by what I believe to be a sensory aura, perceived weakness and tingles in right side. Back in ER as it felt like a stroke, all clear, the above symptoms resolved with an hour. Shock, fatigue and plenty of adrenlin knocked me about though.

Bit of history. I have had visual auras without pain or any other symptoms since I was 21. I am now 56. i probably went about 15 yrs in that time without one. During the past 12 or so yrs I have had about 4 to 6 per yr. I knew what they were, thought they were harmless, in essence they were, very consistent, no pain, lasted about 20 mins. Last week was the first time ever I had an aura with headahce. 12 yrs ago too I had a raft of symtoms much like the last 8 weeks, however minus the tinnitus and vertigo. I had a clear MRI back then too.

So is this all down to migraines? Or do I have a number of issues overlapping? I have further neuro and ENT visits this week.

Should say that I have been unable to work for the past 4 weeks. Thanks for listening.

  1. Hi watts41,

    I'm so sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time right now. That sounds very frustrating. Let's see what information I can give you that may help.

    The first thing that comes to mind is something called idiopathic intracranial hypertension, IIH, formerly called pseudo tumor cerebri. I'm not suggesting you have this, rather something you may want to discuss with your doctor. This is a condition where our body does not absorb cerebral spinal fluid correctly - that's the short description of it. It is diagnosed with a spinal tap or lumbar puncture. When you get chance take a look at these articles;
    https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-comorbidities-idiopathic-intracranial-hypertension/ and https://migraine.com/blog/migraines-have-triggers/.

    It is possible to have more than one type of headache disorder. I have both migraine without visual aura and IIH, which is under control at the moment.

    I hope this helps, let me know what you think!
    Nancy

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