What was your first episode of slurred speech like?

I was driving in the car with my mom and sisters, and half of my face went numb. I couldn't feel my tongue and my speech became nonsensical. At first, my mom thought I was joking. Then she rushed me to the hospital because she thought I was having a stroke.

What happened at the hospital?

I was there for a couple of hours while the doctors ran tests. I had a CT scan and an MRI. My symptoms of dizziness, slurred words, tingling in my extremities, vision problems, and difficulty putting my thoughts together lasted about an hour.

Did it ever happen again?

I had two more episodes: once when I was 19, and again when I was 20. I had similar symptoms each time. My face and tongue went numb, I slurred my words, and I had vision problems. When I was 19, I had more tests, including a 24-hour EEG and another CT scan. It was at that point that I was diagnosed with migraine with brainstem aura [symptoms originating from the brainstem that cause speech and vision problems but no motor symptoms].

How did the doctors explain migraine with brainstem aura?

All I really remember is that they told me the brainstem was involved, which increased the symptoms of tingling, dizziness, difficulty speaking, and impaired vision.

Had you experienced migraines before?

I never had any type of migraine before that first episode in the car with my mom and sisters. But about a year later, I started getting bad headaches. Both my mom and fraternal twin sister also have migraines. At first I didn't recognize my headaches as migraines because they weren't the same as my twin's. She gets a type of migraine with visual disturbances known as migraine with aura.

Are your migraines without aura related to the ones with brainstem aura? How are the two treated?

I was told the two types of migraine are different and possibly unrelated. I don't take medication for the migraine with brainstem aura, and I haven't had an episode in two years. For my other headaches, I take a prescription drug, which really helps. I take it as soon as I feel the first signs of a migraine, and it nips it in the bud within 20 or 30 minutes.

Are you worried about having another episode of migraine with brainstem aura?

I don't know if I'll have one again, or when. But now that I know what it is and can recognize the symptoms, I'm not as scared about having one as I was before.