Migralepsy is a rare condition in which a

migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

is followed, within an hour period, by an epileptic seizure. Because of the similarities in signs, symptoms, and treatments of both conditions, such as the neurological basis, the psychological issues, and the autonomic distress that is created from them, they individually increase the likelihood of causing the other. However, also because of the sameness, they are often

misdiagnosed A medical error is a preventable adverse effect of care ("iatrogenesis"), whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, i ...

for each other, as migralepsy rarely occurs.

Signs and symptoms

General symptoms of migralepsy are: * Flashes of light * Geometric or animate forms *

Visual hallucinations A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

Vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...

Headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...

Blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

Loss of consciousness Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

Convulsions A convulsion is a medical condition where the body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in uncontrolled shaking. Because epileptic seizures typically include convulsions, the term ''convulsion'' is sometimes used as a s ...

Cause

The connection between migraines and epileptic seizures is currently being researched and not much is known. Patients have been shown to have had migraines long before developing epileptic symptoms, creating the possibility of severe cases of migraines creating

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

."Migraine, Epilepsy, and Migralepsy: Myths and Realities" - UC Davis Department of Neurology
/ref> However, not every migraine may be accompanied by a seizure and sometimes the seizures happen without any migraine involvement. Due to this, finding the origin of migralepsy is difficult and enveloped somewhere in the overlap between both conditions. Some patients have shown that their relatives had migraines as well and even some from migralepsy, forming the possibility that migralepsy is genetic in origin and forms only rarely as both, generally resulting in only one condition or the other.

Diagnosis

Because epileptic seizures may occur with a side effect that resembles migraine aura, it is complicated to diagnose whether a patient is having a normal epileptic episode or if it is a true migraine that is then being followed by a seizure, which would be a true sign of migralepsy. Many neurological symptoms can only be expressed by the patient, who can confuse different feelings, especially when the symptoms of a migraine are extremely similar to that of a seizure. Thus, many physicians are reluctant to consider migralepsy to be a true condition, considering its rarity, and those that do believe in it are prone to over-diagnose it, leading to more problems in terms of finding the truth of the condition. However, it has been found that EEG scans have been able to differentiate between migraine auras and auras related to epilepsy. It has generally been seen that EEG scans are not as helpful in determining facets of migraines as they are with epilepsy. Though they are able to work in determining the starting and ending points of migraines and the overlap of epileptic episodes during or after them, even if the scans are still lacking in considerable necessary data and confusing results. EEG scans have been able to observe seizures that occur in between the

aura Aura most commonly refers to: * Aura (paranormal), a field of luminous multicolored radiation around a person or object * Aura (symptom), a symptom experienced before a migraine or seizure Aura may also refer to: Places Extraterrestrial * 1488 ...

and

headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...

phase of migraines and such occurrences have been termed intercalated seizures."The EEG: Differential diagnosis of migraine and epilepsy" - Epilepsy.com
/ref>

Treatment

Since migralepsy is, for all intents and purposes, a combination of migraines and epilepsy, the medication for the conditions supplied individually can be combined jointly in order to lessen the effects of both. It is also helpful that many

antiepileptic drugs Anticonvulsants (also known as antiepileptic drugs or recently as antiseizure drugs) are a diverse group of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of b ...

also work as antimigraines, lessening the number of medications that must be taken. Thus, while neither can be cured, they can be treated so that they occur less frequently and allow a patient to live a relatively normal life.

References

External links

*
"Migraine and Epilepsy: Epidemiologic connections" - Epilepsy.com
* *{{cite journal , doi=10.1007/s10072-007-0769-1 , title=Migraine and epilepsy: Clinical and pathophysiological relations , year=2007 , last1=Simone , first1=R. , last2=Ranieri , first2=A. , last3=Marano , first3=E. , last4=Beneduce , first4=L. , last5=Ripa , first5=P. , last6=Bilo , first6=L. , last7=Meo , first7=R. , last8=Bonavita , first8=V. , journal=Neurological Sciences , volume=28 , pages=S150–5 , pmid=17508163, s2cid=28524622 Migraine Epilepsy types Neurological disorders