Monday, February 6, 2012

Silent Panic Attack

I see this blog as a family diary of sorts.  I have no problem recording the kids' significant/embarrassing/scary/gross/"omg they'll kill me for posting this" moments
but I rarely write about mine.  (of course they rarely happen...of course...rarely)

Today, however,  I seriously (yet silently) freaked the heck out and for some reason feel compelled to share.  

This morning Matt and I were watching Good Morning America after the kids went to school.  All of a sudden in the middle of "pop news" it sounded like Lara Spencer started speaking through a voice distorter.  Her voice became muffled and I had a hard time understanding what she was saying.  I looked to Matt to see if he noticed but he had dozed off.  I'm not normally a crazy person but I just couldn't find a way to justify what I was hearing.  So then I FREAKED OUT.  Heart rate sky-rocketed, blood pressure went through the roof, and I seriously thought I could be having a stroke.  (I was also embarrassed and still trying to justify it so I kept this little panic attack to myself.)  I started reciting nursery rhymes to convince myself that my cognitive function was still there and this wasn't a stroke (silently in my head of course so as not to alarm Matt.)  Finally I got up to walk it off and while walking it off I saw the "aura" and knew exactly what it (probably) was.  A Silent Migraine.  

I get these about once a month.  I don't have any pain but I see flashing lights and "sun spots" which in the time span of about an hour move across my vision from left to right.

The following pictures pretty accurately describe what I see (and can't see) during a silent migraine.



Once I was able to justify what was going on I searched the internet for "silent migraine" and lo and behold another symptom is "disruptions in hearing."  I just never had that happen before.  I eventually told Matt what had happened.  (partially to vent and partially so he knew what was going on if it was a stroke after all, and he had to talk to the paramedics...lol)

An hour later, I was just fine but I hope to never have reason for another panic attack again.  It really freaked me out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you are okay. I guess you should be thankful you don't get the headache part too!! Since the are monthly, maybe they are tied to your period. Might be good discussion with your doctor at next visit. Take care, Grandma Jan