My Story: Ian Sager, migraines
“My first thought was: I’m having a stroke.” Ian has dealt with migraines for decades, but recently, he experienced a new – and frightening – symptom: aphasia. Hear how Ian navigated that moment – and how he’s moving forward.
Transcript
I was sitting there and I was talking to my kids and we were looking at the fish in the fish tank. And suddenly I couldn't process what
was happening in front of me. My first thought was, I'm having a stroke. [MUSIC PLAYING]
I first started noticing my migraine symptoms as a really young kid. I was having these strange sensations in my body.
I didn't know what this tingling feeling meant, but what usually followed it was this blinding headache and this incredible pain.
It feels like every decade of my life I have had different symptoms. In those 30 years, my symptoms have changed dramatically.
I woke up on the day that I was going to get married, on the day that I did get married, and I realized that I had no way to control my migraine.
I decided that that was going to be the end of the portion of my life where I wasn't seeking treatment for my migraines
because I needed to control them. I recently for the first time in my life experienced aphasia with migraines.
I was sitting there and I was talking to my kids and we were looking at the fish in the fish tank. And suddenly I couldn't process what
was happening in front of me. The words came out all like gobbledegook. When I said them, they were all mixed up, they were backwards,
they were upside down, they were chopped up. My first thought was, I'm having a stroke.
I'm in a doctor's office, so that's a good thing. But I'm with my young children who are going to be terrified. And within five minutes, the symptoms ended
and the migraine came. I took my medicine and within half an hour I was in a much better place and the symptoms were mostly gone.
But it was something that I won't ever forget and I truly hope I never have to go through it again.
I'm very lucky. I've gotten to the point where migraines don't define my life. They don't set the pace for my life.
They don't help me organize my day. They don't force me to reorganize my day. They are just something I live with, that I notice,
that I am aware of. And I, for the most part, know how to keep it at bay. It's also important that parents know
how to look for migraine symptoms in their children. Watch for changes in mood and behavior. Sometimes, your kids may not have the words
to say what's going on. And they may understand what's going on. But I know as a parent now I will be much more alert to these sorts of issues
headaches migraines
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