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Original poster

help with my scary night last night pls!!!

34 replies

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 17:37

last night all was fine until my vision went blurred and couldnt focus properly... i went to bed thinking it was maybe tiredness and got pins and needles quite badly in left hand and fingers then got the same but more of a numbness in the left side of my face/cheek!!! severe headache and couldnt speak properly... rang nhs dirct they phoned for ambulancs immediately when i got there bp was 130/100.... sent me home and said if any of the symptoms happened again (the numbness etc) to phone for the ambulance again... they said to get my gp to refer to nurologist!?!? any ideas??? no one seems to know what it could be. it was very scary infact i thought i was having a stroke pls help!!!

OP posts:

BooMama · 27/09/2004 17:40

Have you seen your gp yet? I would go asap. I'm sure it wasn't too serious last night, otherwise they wouldn't have sent you home.
Hopefully someone will be here soon who knows about these things.

mckenzie · 27/09/2004 17:49

the symptoms you mention are exactly the symptoms that i get leading up to a migraine, exactly.
I dont know though if there are any tests that can be done to see if that's what it was.
How are you feeling now?

Original poster

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 17:56

felt ok today... but last night i felt like i had been drugged i couldnt get my words out. i suffer with migraines, have done for a number of yrs and this was like nothing i have felt before it was very strange.xx

OP posts:

Original poster

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 17:57

forgot to add.... i seen my gp today he said he wont investigate unless it happens again... which is a very scary prospect (happening again!) xx

OP posts:

MTS · 27/09/2004 20:23

have you started on any new medication recently?

JuniperDewdrop · 27/09/2004 20:29

I had something very similar when pregnant with DS2. I had to have MRI scans (2) and numerous tests. The only thing that wasn't present was a headache. I was diagnosed eventually with a type of migraine. I think it was a type of panic attack looking back but could've been a migraine that turned into a PA as it was scary. I've had PAs since (not now) and had a lot of the symptoms but not as severe.

If you're scared I'd press for some tests. Was there anything stressing you more than usual? Had you eaten anything out of the ordinary or were you especially tired?

Original poster

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 22:54

thanks everyone for replying nope not on any medication........ i have been pretty stressed lately money and relationship worries infact just before this attack happened i had been rowing very badly infact very nearly split with p so maybe that it... could be stress.... thanks everyone

OP posts:

lou33 · 27/09/2004 22:56

I was going to suggest a migraine. It happened to me like that once, even though I had always had different symptoms before.

saintshar · 27/09/2004 22:58

Stress can bring migranes on lilsmum, so maybe that is what happened.

CountessDracula · 27/09/2004 22:58

Lav is that you?

I think you should go and see your gp and get your bp checked when you aren't under such stress.

wobblyknicks · 27/09/2004 23:01

Sounds like a very rare type of migraine I get - unlike the 'normal' ones. Had one exactly like you're describing at work once and scared everyone sh*tless because I couldn't even talk properly but it was only a migraine. The gp explained it to me as in a really severe migraine your blood vessels tighten so much that its very similar to having a stroke but you're not in any danger.

wobblyknicks · 27/09/2004 23:02

Forgot to add, there are pills you get have prescribed which relieve the effects and help to relax your blood vessels.

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 23:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

wobblyknicks · 27/09/2004 23:09

lilsmum - your gp should have suggested it could be migraines, at least to put your mind at ease but maybe he will if it happens again. It can be very scary but is honestly not 'physically' a big deal, just feels it SO much!!! But every time I have one my vision goes totally blurred, my fingers and tongue go totally numb and sometimes I slur my words but it all passes with no lasting effects (and so does the pain eventually!!! )

Original poster

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 23:14

wobblyknicks, i honestly never knew migraines could be like that!! that is scary but it does sound identical to how i was!! jus ave to see if it happens again i suppose.. hopefully not!! thanks again xxxx

OP posts:

Original poster

lilsmum · 27/09/2004 23:15

btw my g.p just looked at me like i was from the funny farm!! he did check bp while i was there though and it was fine x

OP posts:

mears · 27/09/2004 23:17

lilsmum - I have suffered over the years with migraine. They started when I was 10 yrs old and king of faded away in my early 20's. They then came back with a vengeance during and after my first and second pregnancies. I had a migraine exactly like yours when I was 34 weeks pregnant with DS2. Like you I thought I was having a stroke. That was 16 years ago and has never happened again.

I would make sure that you get your blood pressure checked regularly though. 130/100 is pretty high and should be observed by GP. Did he check it again when you were there? If not, make an appointment soon to get it rechecked. It all may well be stress related but if your blood pressure remains high it should be treated.

wobblyknicks · 27/09/2004 23:17

lilsmum - in case migraines are going to become a more frequent thing for you (I had one at 17 and then they just came more and more often) - this may help

marthamoo · 27/09/2004 23:48

I've had migraines for years but when I was pregnant with ds2 I got a very weird thing - similar to what you describe (no pins and needles though) where my vision was severly distorted (like looking through rippling water - and almost total loss of straight-on vision). I had it several times, once at an ante-natal check - when the midwife took my bp and it was through the roof. She sent me in to see the GP and she reckoned it was a type of headache-less migraine.

They stopped once ds2 was born, so I decided it was a pregnancy thing - though strangely enough I had one about a fortnight ago, it started when I was out shopping and it was very scary as I couldn't see properly to gets the kids home. That time, once the visual disturbance had stopped (about an hour) I got the migraine to end all migraines which lasted about a week.

I hope you don't get another episode like this - it is very scary.

AussieSim · 28/09/2004 05:31

I get this sometimes too. I went to an optometrist about it the first time, he said it was related to my history of stress-related Migraines (which I'd been getting for the previous 15years without affecting my sight). I think I've only had about 4 of them in the last 6 years (last one about 2 weeks ago). It is funny because at first I just think that I need to clean my glasses and then I realise it is my eyes.

I had one doctor that said that this kind of Migraine etc meant that the Pill was contraindicated - fine by me.

I have v low blood pressure 90/60 which runs in women in my family. My Nanna when she got older had mini strokes all the time - but that didn't get her in the end.

Thunderbird1 · 28/09/2004 19:27

DH had something simlar like a few years ago. He woke up in the night with really slurry speech & lack of co-ordination & dis-orientation. We rang for an ambulance as I was terrified - they took him to hospital but never concluded what the problem was. All tests done were Ok & a few hours later - all was back to normal. Thankfully it has never happened since & they put it down (very vaguely) to a virus. It was so scary though. Hope you are feeling better

luckymum · 28/09/2004 19:44

lilsmum - I had an attack like this in June. It was pretty scary as I was driving at the time and had dd with me - it was almost exactly as you described. I managed to pull over and it passed so I drove (v.carefully) home. Went to GP and my BP was up too, not hugely - 135/95 but up a lot for me as it usually barely scrapes into the 70's. I've been going back to have it checked and although its higher than usual it's not been that bad since.

I had some tests for thyroid, diabetes, anaemia and they all came back OK. The practice nurse wondered about a migraine, but said they may never know what it was and it may never happen again - not too reassuring but there you go. She also had the cheek to mention my age - gawd I'm only 41 so hope I'm not menopausal quite yet
Hope you are feeling OK now!

sck · 28/09/2004 20:45

I too get migraines. I don't get very severe ones. I've never had the numbness, pins and needles, or blurred vision. But,I get them often (like every couple of weeks). You shouldn't take it if you are pregnant. But, there is a medicine (which is my lifesaver). Triptans. It is actually a family of medicines. Sumatriptan. Elotriptan. NAratriptan... Ther are more. They will abort the migraine within an hour or two. The migrain will come back for some people. My life wouldn't be the same without these drugs. I recommend them to everyone I know who gets migraines because they are truly my miracle drug.

They are available on the nhs. If your doctor won't prescribe them, go to a new doctor.

wobblyknicks · 28/09/2004 22:20

Yep, I have Sumatripan and it really does shift the effects of the migraine, tho sadly for me not the pain which can still lay me out for a couple of days. But at least they can shift the loss of sight, the numbness etc.

sck · 29/09/2004 14:16

Wobbly, have you tried any of the other triptans? Or a stonger dose? Sumatriptan comes in 50 and 100 mg.

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