Intro -

There's been an urge to get this blog started for quite a while now. When I got hit with a diagnosis of hemiplegic migraine following a stroke scare, I was terrified. I was sent home from a 2 day ER/OCU visit, waiting on results of my MRI and CT, plus an emergency bedside spinal, with instructions to follow up with my doctor and take ibuprofen as needed. My GP knew virtually nothing about my condition, and even family members that work in the medical field hadn't heard of it. Though I and others I know have dealt with chronic migraine and cluster headaches, no one I know had ever been through this. With a 2 month wait to see a neurologist, I started searching every avenue of the internet that I could think of, minus the social media platforms that I'm not fond of using. Most of the web pages I found gave generic info (in typical copycat format) and weren't very helpful. The medical studies were fascinating but scary, and without more info, like the test and lab results, I wasn't sure how much pertained to me. During the wait to be assesed and treated, I went from having the more traditional migraine from 3 +/- times a month, to 4-5 times a week, and was having hemiplegic migraines about 2-3 times a week. It was a lonely, scary time.

I did stumble across a couple of articles and blog posts from others who live with this condition. While it was somewhat comforting, the articles didn't list resources for more information, and the blog writers were mostly focused on other aspects of their lives, so references to hemiplegic migraine were mostly mini vent sessions, and less to do with treatment, symptoms (because there are lots, and boy do they change), or the adjustments they've made to be able to live with HM. Surprisingly, it was YouTube where I finally found info that seemed genuinely helpful. I do plan to link to channels and websites where I find helpful resources. If you aren't seeing that on this blog yet, you can search for LifeLongBrainFreeze, for one of my favorite, keep it real content creators on YouTube, and check out the series on Familial Hemepligic Migraine featured on the channel called Lifey Health. For the latter, there are some errors in the statistical information given, but the explanation for what happens neurologically in the HM vs. most other types of migraine was not only helpful for me, but to family members and coworkers trying to understand what happens when they see that whole melting face thing starting to kick in. Watching videos continued to be helpful when treatment began, especially when the HORRIBLE medication they put me on (more on that later) made it impossible to read. When that crap was out of my system, I resumed searching online for written content and was still only finding what I'd already seen. My hope for this blog is to be able to post some resources along with my experiences, and to inspire other people out there who are experiencing HM to share what they can, as well.

~Becca