I’ve been having migraines for about 2 years now. As long as I pop a couple of Excedrin Migraine (the only thing that really works for me) and lay down in a dark room without moving AT ALL, I’m usually okay after a couple of hours. I usually get the whole shebang–visual auras, nausea, sensitivity to light, noise, etc and then the headache hits, usually one-sided and horrific.
With my last few migraines, I’ve had a new symptom that seems to accompany the aura. My right arm feels sort of weak from my shoulder to my fingertips. Sometimes my fingers are tingly and sort of numb too. It’s not very weak where I can’t grasp or anything like that, just generally a weak feeling overall in that arm.
This symptom usually disappears shortly after the migraine does and never occurs without a migraine.
My question is–is this normal? Does anyone else have this odd symptom with migraines?
(And yes, I am making an appointment with the doctor just to be sure. I just want some reassurance because I am a hypochondriac and any neurological symptom out of the ordinary just screams “brain tumor” to me. )
I’ve had migraines for over 15 years, and I get the tingling in one hand and often around my mouth on the same side. The first time that happened was a few years after my first migraine, and I thought I was having a stroke at the ripe old age of 16, but it turns out to be a fairly well-known part of the whole classic migraine experience. For me the tingling usually passes with the end of the aura and the beginning of the headache, but sometimes it lingers. I can’t say I’ve particularly noticed weakness in the arm, though.
As Aholibah noted, what you describe is a part of the classic migraine phenomenon. But run it past your doc anyway. And if you haven’t asked in the past, you may want to ask about using triptans (like imitrex) to abort the migraines before they get far. If those don’t work for you, products like caffergot can sometimes do the same thing.
I’ve treated thousands of migraine sufferers, and when the above-mentioned meds work, they work very well. Unfortunately, they don’t work for all migraineurs.
I thought I was having a stroke at the ripe old age of 19…
Same deal: Right side of my face went tingly-numb and my right arm went tingly and I had a little bit of difficulty with the TV remote in that hand.
I was pretty sure I was too young and healthy for a stroke, but hadn’t ever had a migraine before so we went to the hospital to be sure. Indeed it was “a classic migraine.”
Thank you all for the advice. It makes me feel so much better to know that I’m not the only one and that I’m most likely NOT dying of a brain tumor.
Qadgop the Mercotan, thanks for your suggestions. I have read a little bit about caffergot but I haven’t tried that yet. It’s weird that the most inexpensive OTC migraine medication (Excedrin) works the best for me, but I’m sure not complaining.
