How to stop a hemiplegic episode
So I have been diagnosed with hemiplegic migraine by a neurologist back around 2018, but he was kind of a jerk. At first he diagnosed me with being a woman. But after testing and reviewing my records, he decided it's intractable migraine with aura plus HM and shuffled me back to my family doctor (as is custom in Canada) with a recommendation to take vit B2 and magnesium as preventatives. However, I was negative for familial type so I'm still skeptical. But it's the best answer I've got, so...
I had a good amount of time where I was rarely getting HM symptoms, just my standard daily migraines with or without aura. Nothing has ever prevented them, but I also have other health issues that limit my ability to take a lot of the common meds (like beta blockers, amitriptyline, etc). Can't afford Botox. So I'm really stuck with rescue/treatment meds.
I did some time with Imitrex which I now understand can be dangerous for HM. Stopped working and made me feel literally like I was dying anyway for an hour each time. About 18 months ago, I was given Ubrelvy and it was either amazing or completely nothing. Now it pretty much never works.
The regular migraines are awful, but I've started getting hemiplegic symptoms again which sucks. I've read about MUMS and some of it fits, except my migraines began at birth and the HM ones started around 14 I think? But either way, doctors here won't treat migraines properly. I have had to ask for most of the meds I've tried as they don't suggest anything.
My migraines seem to go in cycles for a while. Never fully go away, but it's pretty common for me to have a group of symptoms that will recur for a few weeks or months. Then turn into something else. This has been most of my life. So now the HM is back and I'm worried. In the past I have had full on loss of use of my legs for up to 5 days in a row because they were so heavy feeling they would shake when I tried to stand up (imaging ruled out MS even though it presented like it) and I'm so scared of that happening again as I'm a working, car-less, single parent... and that just can't happen as I have no one to ask for help. T_T I need a rescue med that works.
TDLR; What has worked for you to stop hemiplegic migraine symptoms? I'm on day two of numbness/tingling, very heavy weak face/lips/shoulder/arm, leg with foot drop... I can use my left arm, but it feel like I was just lifting weights for hours with it.
Posted Oct 2, 2025, 1:41 PM UTC