UHAM049

32 * UNDERSTANDING HEADACHES AND M IG RAI N ES

get a full-blown attack. However, I do stillfeel a little vulnerable the next day, and I am oversensitive to strong light, smells and loud noise.^??

Lila, 23

The next account shows just how alarming a migraine can be when it has effects on the body and mind as a whole. In fact, in these morę extreme cases, the person involved can even believe that he or she has experienced a stroke.

^bbl had quitesevere headaches three weeks leading upto myfirst attack which started with a strange sensation of tingling 'pins and needles' in my Left leg followed by numbness and then a feeling of total loss of control. My leg no longer moved the way I wanted it to; the only reason I knew where my leg was placed was by sight. The same sensation occurred in my left arm. I was only able to move my left arm by watching it, and often overshot the height I was trying to move it to; trying to lift my arm a couple of inches would result in it being over my head. The same sensation moved to my mouth, which became so numb that it became impossible to speak and I lost the ability to move my mouth to form letters and words. This experience was followed by severe headache and vomiting.

This experience happened four times within two weeks. The first two attacks were on the left side and the second two on the right. During the third attack I was fully aware of the order of events my migraine took and knew that there was nothing I could do to prevent it from happening. My body would be taken over by numbness for approximately 4-5 minutes, which would then be followed by vomiting. During my various stages of numbness several visual hallucinations occurred. I didn't suffer any flashing lights or colourful patterns, but while staring at a picture of a Spamsh villa decorated with green plants I saw a bright green tortoise. I also realised that in 30 minutes' time I would be vomiting, so I decided to eat some food that was soft to make the experience a little bit morę pleasurable (if there is such a thingI]. I had to plan each step in my head from getting up from the sofa to walking into the kitchen. I found myself trying to put a potato into the toaster instead of the microwave; I had a sense of total disorientation.