MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - Friday was a good day for Erica Carrasco, as it was one of the five or six she gets to relax each month.
Carrasco suffers from a rare type of migraine, called a Hemiplegic Migraine, described by Wolters Kluwer Health as "a unilateral weakness that accompanies a migraine headache attack."
But for those who suffer from it, like Carrasco, she says it's a lot worse than just a migraine, as it comes with stroke-like symptoms.
"That's basically what it's like," said Carrasco. "It's like going through a stroke every time you have a migraine. And like me, I have it Chronic, so every time I have a migraine, I'm basically having the same symptoms as a stroke."
Since having her first HM in 2004, Carrasco has seen plenty of doctors, and some she says, have been less helpful than others.
She said part of the reason is when they hear the term migraine, it takes away some of the severity of what's really going on.
So, she and the international Hemiplegic Migraine Foundation have started a petition, to get the term migraine replaced with disease.
"My purpose to start the petition was to get that person, that voice, their attention," said Carrasco. "So that they could help bring awareness, say hey, maybe we need to think about doing this because all of these patients are having a really tough time getting help. A lot of people are not getting disability, they're getting denied as soon as they put they have Hemiplegic Migraine."
Carrasco said that living with HM has caused her to put off certain tasks such as doing the dishes or even driving a car. She also says, it's had her miss some family events.
"If you have a migraine and you start noticing that you can't really move your leg or you can't lift your leg and it feels way different or your arm or your face starts to droop, I mean it could be a number of things," said Carrasco. "It could be a stroke, it could be bell's palsy. I mean, I would love to say go to the Emergency Room but not all the time will they know what it is."
You can find the petition here along with The International Hemiplegic Migraine Foundation Support Group Facebook page at this link.
