Why Can’t I Type or Speak? Scary Symptoms that Can Accompany Migraine with Aura

I've had migraines with auras for about eight years now and occasionally migraineless auras. In fact, just had an aura which is how I found this article. I've never had aphasia, but I do get really easily confused and feel stupid or really slow. I also get the scintillating scioma (the sparkling lights - mine are like a blind spot made of iron pyrite) and the really scary part is that I get numbness starting at the fingers of one hand, then moving up the arm and half my face, stopping right at the middle. The first time that happened I was terrified I was having a stroke. My mom gets migraineless auras, so I wonder if that isn't genetic somehow. Interestingly, I don't get as much pain as most migraine sufferers, but I get really bad light and sound sensitivity.

I don't know if I had a migraine this morning, as I have never had one before. But I had excruciating pain in my head that I could not think or focus. It made me vomit and feel extremely sick. No, about 4 hours later, my face feels numb, and from my check bones down, feels like I don't have any control over my face. My speech is not normal at the moment. Feels like I can't say what I am thinking and it is coming out in slow motion.
Was this a migraine? I must admit it scared me out of my wits.
Please help!!!

I had something similar a few years ago. I'd never had a migrane before, and I haven't had one since. It was just a one off blip. It started off as a bad headache while at my grandmas house and then I went to watch Tv. Then all of a sudden I couldn't understand what they were saying in the movie, I was really confused and went downstairs to my family to tell them about it, but found I couldn't speak or form sentences. I then attempted to write a text explaining to them, but couldn't type. I didn't know what was happening and started to panic, but couldn't inform anybody what I was going through. It was a truly scary experience, although I didn't suffer from any zig zags or anything in my peripheral vision.

I have had the auras for about 18 years now. I am currently 59. They start out as vague "sparklies" in my peripheral vision. Then the dizziness starts, and about 10 minutes later, I can't talk properly. The symptoms last for an hour or two and leave me very tired.
I have never experienced migraines, actually, I have only had a couple of headaches in my entire life. That being said, I just had an attack yesterday and it was accompanied by a headache, which I still have nearly 24 hours later. The attacks only occur every 3 - 5 years.
I have been to the doctor, who did tests and sent me to the eye specialist. Neither could find any problems that were causing the auras. I even mentioned the migraine connection to my doctor.
I don't know what to do about them now, but I do know that next time I am rushing to emergency at the hospital. Just so I can be sure they are not strokes.

Hi, I have only experienced migraines about 5 times in my life (now 41, first one at around 18) and each one is accompanied by an aura about 15-30 minutes before the intense pain hits. It affects my peripheral vision which makes it very hard to walk, focus on things, etc. My last migraine was 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my son. The aura started at work on my way to heat up some food in the microwave in the kitchen. My peripheral vision was completely gone by the time I somehow made it back to my desk. I immediately went to my computer to send an email to my husband to tell him I was going to go home (why I thought I could drive home at that point is beyond me). When I went to type the email, I found I could not figure out how to type any words - couldn't even really understand what I was trying to type in the first place. I must have tried for a full 5 minutes and I would only type random letters. The weird thing is I didn't panic at all as you would expect. I was just so confused as to why I couldn't type and why I couldn't understand the emails that were right in front of me. I felt like I was in a fog. I then picked up the phone to call a colleague who worked in my building for help. Somehow, and thankfully, I could remember his extension but when he answered the phone I could not even form a sentence. I just kept mumbling and stopping and starting because I could not manage to say anything coherent. No matter how hard I tried, I could not form any words. It was incredibly frustrating but again, I wasn't panicked, just totally confused. Thankfully, he ran right down to my office to help. He immediately called my husband to pick me up (after asking 100x if he should call an ambulance) and that's when the pain hit - the worst migraine pain I had ever experienced so far. Excruciating 45 minute car ride home. I still could not really talk to my husband but I think that may have had to do with the intense pain. I immediately went to bed when I got home and stayed there for about 6 hours before I could handle the pain. When speaking to my doctor about it afterwards at my next checkup, he was not concerned - said very flatly it was just the migraine and to take advil when I know the symptoms have started. I never followed up further and haven't had another since. After reading this article however, if I ever experience this again, I will definitely be visiting my new doctor to make sure nothing else is going on. Thanks all for sharing.

First migraine yesterday. Auras and then they went away after 30 mins. Drove home, as soon as i got in my bed i looked at my phone. then when I checked my contacts none of them could be read correctly or were mixed up . I did not know who anyone was. I was so frightened. The pictures made sense but the names did not. Like the name Joe Gonzolas looked like Oeij Lonsaeg . It was a twisted reality. I fell asleep and my head pounded the whole time waking me up. I have a Hangover feeling today and hurt all over. Still a bit nauseated . I hope if someone else sees this they understand it is not a stroke. and can get through it.

I saw the video where Branson had the aphasia and I immediately said to my wife "omg she is having a migrane.." Googled it and found this article. I have suffered from migraines maybe five times in the past 10 years, 37 of age now. Four years ago I had the exact same experience as Branson when I was at work. Suddenly I could not pronounce words, it was just jibberish that came out of my mouth. I tried to sing a song that I knew by heart but was unable to. I went to the ER fearing for my life I was having a stroke. They took it seriously and checked EKGs etc. Then a doctor came to have a chat with me and she immediately asked. "have you ever suffered from migraines?" And then I knew that was what caused it. Nontheless, it was a really frightening experience. Afterwards I had a strange headache for many days.

Joni
Finland

Happened to me last night. Got the aura, took Tylenol and iced my eyes, took a short nap. Woke up (15 to 30 minutes later) and aura was gone. Looked over at Facebook and couldn't understand the first post I looked at. I verified I couldn't read any post very well. It passed within 10 minutes. Very scary.

This happens to me as well.
Generally I get a flashing circle of light in the corner of my vision, this is when I know the migraine is coming because I haven't felt the pain yet. So I went to bed, but it was no help. Once the migraine hit I was off to struggle through the medicine cabinet, which doesn't work well when it takes 5 minutes to read even the directions!
I had an episode just the other day where all I could completely say was, "I can't talk."