Diagnosing my headaches

Hello,
I am writing because I am trying to determine what kind of headaches I am having.
I am 21 and have been having headaches since I was 11. Generally they are migraine with aura, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity and extreme head pain. I have between 2 and 10 a month. However, in the last year I have been having attacks, which share some symptoms of my migraines, but are much more severe.
The symptoms are:

Disorientation
Blind spots in vision, total blindness, light flashes, double vision, hallucinations
Extreme forgetfulness, confusion
Inability to speak
Inability to understand speech
Inability to read or write
Lightheadedness, blackout flashes
Very high blood pressure, high heart rate (generally I am 90/60-ish)
Peripheral numbness, complete numbness in face, fingers, arms, sometimes only in the right side
Unbearable headache
Light sensitivity
Sound sensitivity
Detachment from body, inability to feel pain, feeling that arms and legs are not a part of the body


The first time I had one of these attacks I went to the ER and they performed an MRI within two hours. There were no visible problems. I've also seen a neurologist, and she told me that I was absolutely fine and had nothing to worry about, mostly because she thought I was too young to have any real health problems. However, these symptoms are not good news and I know that they are absolutely not typical of my body. I am also continuing to have these attacks, and want to know what they are.
Please let me know if you have any insight into the nature of my headaches, and if you have had any similar experiences.
Thanks!
Amy

Amy,

I have had migraines since the 3rd grade.  They became really chronic and dibilitating in my 30's and 40's. (I am now 49).  I had almost all your symptoms and I was diagnosed with PFO.  You can google PFO and migraines and see what it is.  My Dr. told me that 30% of the population has this and 50% of all chronic migraine sufferers have it.  They tested me by TEE with bubble study and I had it.  After suffering with migraines so severely I was glad they had found what was causing it.  I had my PFO repaired 9/29/09 and I haven't had a migraine since.  I am off all my migraine prevention meds and living a normal life.  My Cardiologist and some of the web sites say that PFO symptoms such as migraines get worse in the 4th decade of your life.

Just a thought and you can ask your Neurologist about it.  PFO can cause a full blown stroke and TIA's which are mini strokes.

No more migraines

You definitely need to see another neurologist. I had to find a neurologist who is a headache specialist to find someone who did not think I was crazy.