blackout events

Hi
Yesterday i had a change of mood (felt wonderful) and last night felt xtra hungry and so on, symptoms I usually get in advance of a migraine. Sometimes my migraines come with/as blackout episodes. I had that today.there is a familiar feeling in my stomach and then there is kind of a warning period,. The feeling of ebbing consciousness and strength starts.  It is a very very unpleasant experience - like one member said it is no joke. there are waves of it, waves of heat. Feel like I'm going to throw up. i get myself quickly to the bathroom when I realise that is necessary and we wont go into what happens next at that stage. I have my head down between my knees. Sometimes I have the full blackout and find myself waking up on the floor. sometimes I get less and less conscious and more and more weak (for example reaching up to get my dressing gown to put on their floor to land on is too hard) and waves of heat and nausea and feel sick, but I only get to a certain point in the blackout. I have to stay with head down for quite a long time, or it comes back full strength if i ry to sit up. But eventually with these half ones I can slowly get up and i stagger around like a drunk person very very slowly, praying it doesn't come back. Next stage is lying down, or on chair. Then maybe moving slowly around. Sometimes I will get another episode, hopefully lesser, or repeated episodes through the day. I was diagnosed with basilar artery migraine by a neurologist 20 years ago though I had it a long time before that. Because I hadn't had the diagnosis I had immigran (triptan) which I later found was contraindicated . I suddenly started having migraines constantly with nothing in the middle after taking it, when I hadn't for quite a while. I realise d,my brain wasn't working properly and asked to be referred for testing brain function (neuropsychologist). This showed I had deficits all along the path of the basilar artery. No other cause had been found or even suggested, but the immigran is an artery constrictor, so is the most likely candidate. they say it cant be proven, but i have always felt the drs protect one another. We don't sue anyone in my country, I don't know how I would have done it anyway. I have a long term brain injury. You feel very alone with these sort of migraines. so I was amazed to see the number of people in this group. 

Current research indicates that basilar artery migraine is a misnomer and that it has its roots in the brainstem, not in the basilar artery, so the name of the condition has been updated to migraine with brainstem aura. Additionally, current research on our condition indicates that triptans are actually not contraindicated for this condition, according to the Association of Migraine Disorders. I am really sorry for your struggles. I believe you 100%. I simply wanted to include the most current research evidence so that you might find your answers sooner. Have they done an MR-angiogram? Personally, I think perfusion along the basilar artery may still be impacted by the origin of the cascading events neurologically driven by the brainstem, but I don't have research to support this hypothesis. I hope you find your answers and that the damage stops today. You are a warrior.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Natalie. Yes I knew the name has changed but as it has changed 4-5 times since my diagnosis I can't always keep up or remember the latest one so I just say basilar!
Re the triptans not contraindicated, I did see a study at one point but it only had eight people. Do you have any knowledge of new research with more people or any links? Thank you so much for telling me about the MR-angiogram which i didn't know about.