The Mindful Migraine

I want to add to my series of blog posts the occasional post about other people and how migraine effects their lives. The first in this series comes from an event I remember from 13 years ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long!). A reporter named Serene Branson was standing in front of the news camera, delivering a live feed, when something went wrong. As she spoke, her sentence dissolved into slurred words and gobbledygook. Her face stayed passive, but there was a hint of panic in her eyes. She mumbled an incomprehensible apology and the camera cut back to the studio.

I remember the internet going crazy; she was having a stroke live on TV – she was drunk – she was on drugs. As it turned out, she was experiencing a migraine.

In interviews after the event, Ms Branson acknowledged that she had a headache leading up to the moment. Just before the camera started rolling, she looked down at her notes and all she saw was a blur. Her thoughts weren’t forming in her mind with their usual clarity. Her right hand began to tingle, and then she realized she couldn’t feel her whole right arm. When she started to talk, she immediately realized something was wrong. She later told interviewers she was scared, confused, and embarrassed. She revealed that staff took her to sit down and gave her water. No one seemed to know what was happening, but they knew her well enough to know she wasn’t drunk or stoned. Paramedics were called, she was assessed, and sent home.

It wasn’t “just a migraine” she was having, it was migraine with aura.

For many people who suffer ‘aura’ it is a visual disturbance that might include wavy or zig-zag patterns over their vision, blurriness, black spots or flashing lights. For others, however, the ‘aura’ is language related, and is termed ‘transient aphasia’.

Ms Branson noted that she had been having migraines since she was a child but had never experienced anything like this before. She also noted that besides the headache, there was nothing prior to the event to suggest she was about to have a migraine attack. In a ‘one-year-later’ review, the event was described as a ‘medical emergency’ and Ms Branson noted that it was a wake-up call to better look after her health. She also revealed that she had watched her mother go through similar episodes but was surprised when it happened to her.

To her credit, Ms Branson went on to use the episode to raise awareness of migraines and their neurologic impact.

For myself – the moment on TV is all too familiar. I was diagnosed with hemiplegic migraine with aura years ago. I have never experienced visual disturbances, but have had several migraines where it felt as if I had suffered a stroke. I recall crawling across the floor on one occasion, because I could not get my right leg to work. Another time, I couldn’t ask my husband to help warm up a heat pack because the words were stuck like thick honey in my mouth. The worst migraine I ever had (my number 10 on my personal pain scale) involved me trying to use a television remote control to call an ambulance, that would never have come regardless, because no words would escape my ‘chunky’ yet ‘floppy’ lips. Luckily for me, these events are very rare. Each one, when it does arrive, is terrifying all over again. Even knowing all that I do, it feels like this time for sure I’m having a stroke.

[Disclaimer: This might be a good time to remind readers that my only qualifications in this area are 40 years of lived experience with migraines – I’m not a doctor – anything I write is my best endeavor understanding of the material, but it should never be used as medical advice. Always seek professional feedback from your health care providers if this, or any other post has raised concerns or queries.]

Here’s a link to two newspaper articles about the event, and a video review of what happened (may not be available in all countries):

Reporter’s on-air gibberish was due to migraine (today.com)

A Year Later, Serene Branson Looks Back On Her On-Air Medical Emergency (cbsnews.com)

(3 mins) Reporter Serene Branson: Not a Stroke Just a Migraine (02.18.11) (youtube.com)

If there’s a moral to the story, it’s the reminder that migraines are not regular headaches. They are neurological disturbances… sneaky beasts, who have a bad habit of catching us unprepared, no matter how prepared we are. The more people are aware of the traumatic side effects migraine can entail, perhaps the more empathy there will be for ourselves and each other.

Take care, as always, and some, Linda.