I’ve had “headache-less” migraines for about 14-15 years. Usually the only symptom is the auras (I call them prisms) that I see floating in front of my eyes, which can last anywhere from a couple of minutes to half an hour.
Occasionally, though, I lose my ability to find the right words or even compose sentences properly - both orally and when I’m typing. This has happened only about 10 times in the past few years, but it is terrifying. A neurologist told me it is nothing to worry about, it is just a symptom of my migraines, but nonetheless it is very disconcerting.
Does anyone else experience this?
Only as a symptom of severe stress. And even then, i don’t become aphasic; just that it becomes harder and that I start to mix up words and say “thingy” a lot.
When I do this in the evening, my husband usually tells me to stop stressing out and go to bed, and I happily oblige.
I had it happen once, during an ocular migraine (aura/scintillating scotoma) incident. I’ve been fortunate enough to hit upon a migraine treatment that’s worked for my case so far (thus no more migraines of any kind), but I agree, it was terribly distressing when it happened.
It happened to me, a few times, during ocular migraines. I remember one case where I was trying to say the word “cucumber” to a neighbour, and it kept coming out as “computer”. I was very frustrated, attempted it several times and failed.
BTW, one of the ocular migraines I had was terribly scary. I went totally blind, all black in front of me, except for a thin circle of very bright light around the rim of the black circle.
I don’t know whether the OP is a woman or a man, but I’ll add that since I hit menopause, my migraines have almost disappeared, down to about 4 or 5 a year!
It has happened to me on two occasions (across nearly 4 decades, so not exactly often). Apparently it is totally consistent with what can happen during a migraine. FWIW, the majority of my migraines are just an aura and nothing else (well, maybe a slight feeling of nausea after the aura - but it’s very mild).
You might want to read Oliver Sack’s book on migraines - it will give you a clear picture of what a range of symptoms a migraine can encompass.
Not me, but my mom. She got ocular migraines around the same time she started perimenopause, and along with getting tunnel vision, she sometimes had language problems. The only reason I recognized my first migraine for what it was, was because I was already familiar with hers. Mine seem to be stress related, and are also pain free.
Yes, my whole life (the first migraine I can remember with scary symptoms, I was 4. But I got headaches before that). I had 2-4 migraines per week growing up, most of them ocular with strange symptoms, now I’m down to just a few per year, and very few are ocular, so that’s awesome.
Along with the usual pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea, I get aura of various sorts, floaters among them. General confusion, slurred speech, inability to think or speak clearly, ‘losing words’ - usually I remain ‘out of it’ until the next day. I also get loss of vision in one or both eyes, dizziness, numbness and tingling of my face, tongue, and hand, usually just one side of my body. I should be used to it but it’s still scary.
Me and rhubarbian could be Migraine Twins.
I’ve been getting them for 25+ years, though in the past few years, it’s only been 2-4 times a year, mostly when a major high-pressure system is starting up.
I get the word confusion, slurred speech, and inability to read for about 15 minutes about 2/3 of the time. It’s a pretty reliable indicator that I’m going to be in a world of hurt in the next hour or two.
Ugh. That happens to me too. The very first time I had one it scared me. This was back in 2008. I found that if you take a Benadryl (the gel one, not the little pink one) when you notice the aura it will make it go away really fast. So that should help you the next time you have the aura. Migraines are annoying. 