AIBU? A&E? Migraine?

My adult dd had very similar symptons. She rang 111 and after speaking to a clinician she was told to go to A&E - the numbness and tingling in fingers and toes was particularly concerning. She was in A&E all day, sent home as there were no beds. Had a phone call asking her to come in for a 24 hr assessment which lasted 4 days. She had various scans and tests including CT and MRI. Apparantly these symptoms can be indicators for a number of things and in dd's case they strongly suspected epilepsy but all scans were clear and unremarkable. She was told to go back to GP.
Luckily the GP she eventually saw had a friend who had the exact same symptoms and he was aware of the treatment needed. My dd has a rare type of migraine and she is taking tablets which means she is now (mostly) headache free after having a constant migraine on one side of her head for three months. If she hadn't responded to the tablets the gp said he would have referred her to a Neurologist.

PUSH for a brain scan and do it now.
With two brain tumours in the family...sorry I don't want to scare you....it is very important that an underlying problem is not present.look at the brain tumour charity for advice.
Again I'm sorry and don't mean to be scaremongering I really dont,but please get her checked that this isn't something else.
Also,get an eye test arranged asap.one of mine was picked up at a routine eye test due to position of tumour.hope this gets sorted very soon and it really is a migraine and nothing else.💐

Please let us know what happens if you do go to A&E

Absolutely take her to A&E. She shouldn't have to suffer like that without adequate pain management. Also, her neurological symptoms and pain level warrant further investigation by a neurologist. Please also help her push for that.

I have hemiplegic migraine and this sounds similar. But I only know because I once went to A&E after being fobbed off by my GP. If nothing else they can give her injections of painkillers and antiendemics. Good luck.

i'd take her to A&E and if possible one that has a good neurology dept attached. Much quicker than a GP referral. I feel her pain.

Please take her. I was in a similar position in November. They had me on a bed and given pain relief within 5 minutes and assured me absolutely I’d done the right thing attending as I was an “emergency” as it could easily have been a bleed on the brain. This is despite the huge queues. I didn’t make a fuss when I got there - I just looked like hell.

My 15 year old dd suffers from chronic migraine as diagnosed by the national migraine centre as I got nowhere with the GP. I took her to A&E as she had memory loss and weakness and numbness, just advised to see the GP, they agreed she needs a neurologist referral but so far we have waited 6 months and not even an acknowledgment of a referral.
It is very debilitating and she is trying to study for her GCSES at the moment.

If you can I would recommend an appointment with the National migraine centre, you can pay privately and get an immediate appointment or you can request a 'free' appointment but you join a waiting list. It is a charity so they accept whatever you can pay which is what I did. I think it took about 8 weeks and we had a zoom call with one of the migraine doctors.
I will now go to the GP and request what they have suggested. Our GPs highly respect the migraine centre, the NHS route is virtually non existent sadly. I learnt alot from the migraine centre.

Given it has now passed I'd go back to your GP and insist on a referral. Sometimes you need to be firm.

I don't think you'd be unreasonable to go to A&E if it's new but if something she gets regularly, what would you actually be looking to get out of it? Also I would have thought A&E a horrible place for her to be with such symptoms given the noise, lights and atmosphere

This happened to me when I was 19. Made my way to A&E and then collapsed and was told i'd had a TIA. Made a full recovery but I had been on the pill at the time and they told me to come off it and never go on it again.

I'd take her.

I was taken to A&E with what I thought was a migraine a few years ago, after a friend called an ambulance for me. I couldnt walk straight, couldn't see properly, felt I was being pushed from the head down and was being sick. When I got there they did a brain scan and found a cyst on my brain so I'm under neurology now, and have regular reviews.

After my experience I'd say it's always worth getting checked out, even if it's just a case of getting medication that can help for her so she doesn't have to feel like that.

She needs a referral to a neurologist asap ..
GP's are notoriously bad at diagnosing headache disorders , and even if this is 'only migrane' you need someone qualified to actually diagnose that ..

Thoughts are with your daughter - i know how bad headaches can be .. I suffer with chronic cluster headache syndrome and have been there screaming and banging my head on the floor MANY a time :(

I've suffered with cluster headaches, migraines and retinal migraines for 20 years and honestly, the way you've described your daughters symptoms warrants more testing. She needs an MRI which is pretty standard when you have a change in symptoms.

Oh your poor daughter . If that happens again please do take her to A&E. And check that the GP has done a neurology referral for her.
Botox as a treatment has been shown to help in some cases.

Surely your gp hasn't been managing this themselves? As others have said she needs a neuro referral and scans to rule out other causes. If she's had these and nothing has shown up I'd give her whatever prescribed meds she has and see if it settles. Or ring 111 if you can't get a GP appointment.

I'm a chronic migraine sufferer and occasionally I go to a and e as the pain is unbearable usually I get a shot of diamorphine or iv opiates which instantly take away the pain. Please take her.

To echo others the GP needs to refer her to a neurologist who will diagnose her and offer different treatment options,personally I get Botox via NHS for mine. Most localities have a specialist headache clinic which would be really useful for her to be seen by. I'm 14 years with chronic hemiplegic migraines pm me if you like and love to your poor girl it's awful x

First rule of migraine is if anything different happens, or any new symptoms happen, you should go the Dr.. so yes, in this case, i would have taken her to A&E

As others have said, it could be hemiplegic migraine, but it could also be something much more serious and it NEEDS investigating and probably an MRI.

Hemiplegic migraine. Absolutely vile.

Is she still affected by an attack?

She needs to see the GP urgently for a review and probably an MRI referral if it's passed, otherwise A&E if she still has the paralysis / numbness.

Whilst it could well be a hemiplegic migraine, they also need to eliminate a stroke / mini strokes / other brain issues like a tumour.

I get paralysis, loss of sight and aphasia with some of my migraines but I'm also under neurology for long term treatment.

Does she have an actual diagnosis of migraine? How long has she had them? I've had periods of them ramping up like this as well, but I had the diagnosis in my teens. I also have triptans for attacks.

There's significant research now which demonstrates that a failure to get a grip on episodic migraine (fewer than 15 days a month of attacks!) is exponentially more likely to lead to chronic migraine.... So getting a grip on it now might prevent her becoming as unwell as I have been.

I'm presuming it's passed now? Personally I wouldn't goto A&E now if she feels her normal self. But quite reasonable to go during an episode especially if there's any uncertainty about the cause.

I know you say GP has been useless but migraines really can be extremely difficult to manage and require specialist assessment so get referred on. Is it just that the referral is still in progress? But yes if she

I'm a paramedic and I would have gone to A&E with those symptoms on a first presentation. Only not going if it was something I knew was part of my migraine presentation and other causes had been previously ruled out.

But yes you can get those symptoms with migraines and the pain doesn't always respond well to medications/pain relief unfortunately.

I would be expecting a referral to neurology from the GP in addition to trialling some medications to test effect really.

Agree GPs are usually useless to ask. Definitely go to A&E- the migraine trust might be good people to talk to as well. https://migrainetrust.org/

GO! Honestly I got zero support for migraines until I went to A and E! Once I started going there (it was v serious) I got more help.

I went to A&E when I thought I was having a migraine (aura) but then my arm went numb and tingly. They could not have been nicer to me and I didn’t feel for one minute I was wasting their time.

Long term sufferer here. I went to A&E when I first started getting them. She needs an MRI to rule out anything more serious.