Migraine with many symptoms, difficult to determine cause

I am a 21 year old female, in good health, a non-smoker and occasional drinker.

I experience severe headaches which do not go away without the help of 'migraine cocktails' and often speculate as to the possible cause/s but I can't determine a pattern in the events of the migraines; I don't eat chocolate but do drink coffee.

I started experiencing migraines about 4 - 5 years ago and it always starts with a de-ja-vu sensation, followed by what is best described as a type of panic attack, a sense of rapid movement as if someone were attacking me from behind. At this point I would usually squeez my eyes shut and involuntarily flinch from the 'movement'. This is often accompanied by a flashing of lights. Afterwards, everything is extremely quiet in comparison to the tension of before and that's usually when my left eye goes blind temporarily, accompanied by extreme, stabbing pain in the right eye.

I suspect a muscle problem first and foremost, but the other side effects are really concerning and I would appreciate any advice or explanation.

Good day Ann,

The frequency differs from time to time, sometimes one a month and other times I go one or two months without having any.

The migraine cocktails, as far as I know, contains a pill for muscle relaxation, a sleeping pill, one for nausea and one for pain. There sometimes is a fifth pill depending on where you buy it, I am not sure what the last pill's purpose is.

Without medication, the intense pain lasts about 3 hours, accompanied by the lack of vision and a light headache remains for a day or two (I have a rather strong pain threshold so I usually ignore small headaches) but the migraine also seems to leave me physically lethargic for a while.

They always occur in the morning or start very late at night - when it starts in the morning it is more likely to be accompanied by the pain though, as opposed to late night attacks consisting mostly of the 'light flashes' and blindness. I have read somewhere that most migraines occur at 6 in the morning for some strange reason, and that does seem to have formed a pattern with me.

If you had to deliver an opinion, would you say that the above is a neurological issue which had been triggered, or something causing the problem which I could prevent?
I know it is difficult judging via a forum without physical medical inspection, anything helps :)

Thanks so much,

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,

The first thing that struck me when I read your post were the words: deja-vu, panic and involuntary muscle flinch. It almost sounds like a seizure (maybe some temporal lobe involvement?). Now do I think you are having seizures? No, there can be a lot of overlap between seizures and migraine, and the later is much more likely.

If you're thinking about preventatives, one of the common anti-seizure drugs also prescribed for migraine may be a good place to start. I agree with Ann; get yourself into a headache clinic (and in the mean time, a neurologist if there is a waitlist).

It may be worth asking your doctor about taking a low dose of a benzodiazepine (e.g. sublingual Klonopin) at the onset of these attacks. It's certainly worth trying to see if it will prevent the migraine form fully developing. A word of caution; benzo's can be addicting, lose effectiveness over time and have some nasty effects if you take them frequently. If you're taking them once or twice a month, then I don't see a huge problem.

Talk to your doctor and best of luck!