I am a 30something woman. I have been diagnosed with ‘silent migraines’ in the past and now find myself having episodic dizziness, which my doctors assume is a form of migraine. (I have had a CT scan and MRI to rule out any structural problems.)
The dizziness is hard to describe, defintely affects my eyes and my walking but nothing that I can’t fake it through. I won’t fall over but I will feel nauseated, weird, and dizzy.
I find, however, that along with the dizziness I also have a great deal of minor forgetfulness. More trouble learning new people’s names, have to make sure to write things down, and so forth. I blame this in part on the treatment, too. I have taken low dose Effexor (50 mg) in the past. I am now on occasional Klonopin (up to 1.0 mg daily) for anxiety, and I find that Klonopin can treat/prevent it too.
Hi Elisa,
This certainly sounds like it could be MAV. Although many on the forum have constant symptoms, the episodes you have are more classic in terms of what the textbooks say. I also know that klonopin has helped a lot of people with MAV symptoms so although that is not a sure fire diagnosis, it certainly points you in the direciton of this diagnosis. My symptoms are more constant.
Christine
it certainly points you in the direciton of this diagnosis. My symptoms are more constant.
— End quote
Hi Christine,
Wow, that sounds horrible! I can say that – I did have dizziness for about a whole month at one time. Triggered by hormonal changes when I had thyroid issues. I was terrified, had no idea of diagnosis and feared the worst. At that time it was cleared up with the klonopin and getting thyroid under control. Best of luck to you!
Obviously diagnosis via the internet is sketchy at best but the symptoms you are listing are certainly all things that could be attributable to migraine. Nausea, dizziness, feeling weird, minor cognitive issues such as forgetfulness, these are all things that can be symptoms of migraines. If these things are happening in an episodic fashion, and ESPECIALLY if they are triggerable (either through environment or diet) then it is very likely that they are being caused by migraine.
If your doc thinks you are having silent migraines I would definitely discuss with him/her the possibility of treating the migraines with a migraine preventative. You might even find out that some of your anxiety issues are coming from the migraines and migraine symptoms. When my MAV symptoms were at their worst, they were triggers all kinds of anxiety in me. When I got rid of the migraines, I got rid of the anxiety too.