Migraine Auras?

[haha]

I had no idea that this was so common. My girlfriend was the first person that I knew to have it. Scared me.

Ha

 

[big-papa]

I get so-called "silent" migraines. I see another poster calling them ocular migraines. I got them in middle school and early high school, then they disappeared for about 30 years. Never knew what the trigger was. Now when I get them, it's almost always after having drunk red wine and then exercising the day after. No headaches. The symptoms are strange - a portion of my vision is distorted, like looking through a crumbled up piece of cellophane. And sensitivity to light and nausea is there too. Over time, the distortion moves to the bottom of my vision field. I've found that I can make it go away in under 30 minutes with a strong shot of caffeine followed by a vow to not drink red wine and exercise.

 

[TromboneAl]

During our nine-day trip to Denver, I didn't take daily vitamins. Less Mg. Hmm.

 

[MRG]

Al, there's also a relationship between altitude and migraines, not sure about auras.

Here's a link:
https://americanmigrainefoundation....ltitude-acute-mountain-sickness-and-headache/

Key PointsHeadache and acute mountain sickness occur commonly over 8,500 feet above sea level.Actions to reduce headaches at high altitude include good hydration and gradual ascent with days of rest and sleep at lower altitude whenever possible.Take ASA, furosemide or acetazolamide several days before going to high altitude to avoid headache.


I know shortly after we moved to 7600' DW woke up with a severe migraine. She'd never had one before and we went to the ER in the middle of the night. They tried a lot of meds, dilaudid was the only thing that helped.

Since then she's had a minor one. Altitude sickness is no fun. Hope you are well.

 

[Markola]

Yep, I get them. So does my brother. The first time it happened to me, in my twenties, I was cleaning leaves off the roof of my house. I was afraid I would be stuck up there! Mine go away away after 15-20 minutes, which is a real pain if I’m driving or w*rking on the computer. Eventually, I found a book called “Conquering Headache” after hearing the author on the radio describe exactly my visual auras. I didn’t know before that it was a form of migraine. Among other triggers, that book listed many common food triggers: artificial sweeteners, chocolate, caffeine, red wine, processed meats, MSG, aged cheese, pickled foods, etc., each of which can be particular to a given person. I experimented over the years and have largely stopped the auras by avoiding MSG and Aspartame. Simply quitting eating artificially sweetened yogurt cut out half of the episodes, I found. I appreciate this post, because like Haha, I had no idea it was so common. Maybe it’s common to early retirement types. Hmmmm!

 

[Dreamer]

I have never known any one to have one and would also think they were having a stroke. I learn about so many things on this site.

 

[TromboneAl]

Had another one yesterday, and this seemed to have an interesting perspective checkerboard pattern in the middle of the scintillating C.

Thinking back, they do come in clusters, then don't happen for years.

 

[dixonge]

Wife's had them fairly regularly for most of her life. She has been unable to identify any particular trigger. No headache, so not so much motivation.

 

[happy2bretired]

I get them too and I’ve also had a torn retina. There is a difference in how they look from a torn retina. I just don’t want anyone to confuse the two. The torn retina was more like stars.

 

[TromboneAl]

Had a new twist on this today: When I sat up in bed this morning, I got VERY dizzy. It didn't get better, and I figured a "stone got loose" in the semicircular canals.

But then, an hour later, I got an aura. Some Googling showed me that those things are related (probably not just a coincidence).

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/884136-overview

 

[Rianne]

I've had this aura precursor to a migraine, although I don't get migraines regularly. It was sort of beautiful, a light headed feeling and the aura had color. A good friend of ours described his retina detachment as a swarm of bugs coming at him. It happened when he was having dinner in a restaurant with DW. Went straight to ER and the treatment was pretty awful.

 

[Teacher Terry]

When my grandma died I got a horrible migraine. Then 3 years later during my third pregnancy I had them all through it. Then a year later and 40 years later I haven’t had any. The headaches were beyond horrible with vomiting, etc. But I never had a aurora.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I have had a three - two from a change in hair products that went away when I washed my hair, and one from a particular yoga pose that tightened my neck and shoulder muscles and went away with rest and heat packs. I think the yoga induced one cut off some of the blood flow to my head and eyes and the others were pretty clearly almost immediate allergic reactions.

Some of our family members get migraines from too many high acid foods like too much coffee, and they go away with antacids. I used to think only magnesium antacids would help, but some use calcium antacids and those seem to work, too.

 

[ocean view]

Had a new twist on this today: When I sat up in bed this morning, I got VERY dizzy. It didn't get better, and I figured a "stone got loose" in the semicircular canals.

But then, an hour later, I got an aura. Some Googling showed me that those things are related (probably not just a coincidence).

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/884136-overview

Thanks for sharing this experience and the related article.

I’ve had migraine with auras in the past, triggered by low blood sugar. A careful diet has kept them away for many years. However, three times in the last month I’ve had the “loose stone” dizziness upon waking. I never would have connected it to migraines, but I’m relatively sure you have solved my health mystery.

 

[TromboneAl]

I never would have connected it to migraines, but I’m relatively sure you have solved my health mystery.

Right. If I hadn't had the aura, I wouldn't have figured it out.