Poll: Migraine and Autism - Aspergers

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How do you tell the difference?

I find that cluster headaches just lurk in my temple for a few days straight, whereas a migraine announces itself with a massively discombobulating dizzy spell that used to cause panic attacks because it was so intense. Once I thought I was having a stroke.

When a migraine's kicked in full bore it can be painful to look at anything or nothing at all.

I've had half a dozen or so migraines from my teens in 98 to the last one which was in early 2006. They start with a blind spot on my vision which, over half an hour or so, grows to almost completely blind me. As that subsides the actual migraine starts and lasts for about half an hour to an hour. The pain is so bad I feel nauseous but I've never thrown up. Man I hope I never have another one again. I think mine were light related as I seem to remember they all happened in warm or hot weather when the sun would have been bright and I've never had one at night. And it gets pretty bright down here in Aus.
Seems like, from the posts, this could be Autism related?

I voted 'Male with Migraine' even though you asked about headaches. I don't have headaches, but I have been diagnosed with migraine. I have the auras but no pain.

One time, I got a migraine so bad that I had to go see the doctor about it; walked out of her office with a script for Vicodin.

I've been having migraines since I was a newborn. The only vivid thing I remember about my early days in the cradle is seeing thousands of coloured stars falling down before my opened or closed eyes... Strange? I always thought this was normal, I mean, as a child I thought everyone used to see this... As a teenager I began to see coloured changing geometrical patterns or faces. And as an adult, the boring flashing zig-zag shaped scotomas or blind spots. Once I had a different visual aura: it was like I was looking through water but only with the low half of my eyes. The nausea came immediately... As a teenager I had some vomiting, but not in adulthood. Nauseas have always been there. Once I had an abdominal aura, heavy cramps and huge amount of air inside stomach and guts. The most creepy aura was getting numb and tingling sensation in my mouth, tongue, arms and hands. I thought I was having a stroke, of course.
My other symptoms are hypersensitivity to lights, scents, sounds and touch.
The headache used to come after minutes and was mainly on the left temple. It lasted for hours and I had to sleep in a completely dark and silent place. I used to wake up feeling very well and refreshed, but ultimately the headache is less painful but it lasts for days and I can't sleep at all.

I'm female, have been diagnosed with Asperger's, and have had migraines since I was 7. In fact, at this point I have two unrelated diagnoses of migraines (in that I have two types of them, that started at different ages and act very differently in me.)

My primary migraines are migraine with aura, including all the pain and a non-visual aura (auditory aura + the rest of the non-visual aura traits). I've been getting these since I was 7, and they're caused by a wide variety of triggers, though my primary trigger is exposure to cigarette smoke. These are caused by hunger, dehydration, stress, sensory overload, changes in barometric pressure, exposure to toxins in the air, and more, and while they don't occur very often in me (on average once every two months since I was 7), I literally spend most of my life avoiding migraine triggers. These migraines include enough pain that I cannot physically walk (I'll collapse when I try to), extreme sound and light sensitivity, even compared to my normal hypersensitive state, and vomiting.

My secondary migraines are new - they only started in the end of December, but have been much more common for some reason. I have no idea the triggers of any of these, I can't predict them at all. These are silent migraines - I get an aura and no headache beyond my normal state (I also have chronic tension headaches). These do include a visual aura, and also include physically shaking, weakness, being unsteady on my feet, and a type of lack of speech that I never get from other things. These last much shorter, but also are incredibly disrupting. It was confirmed through MRIs and such that these are migraines not something different.


I'm taking daily baby asprin and a medication that prevents blood vessel spasming and constriction, and at times take flonase to reduce the sensitivity of my nose. My cat alerts me to my migraines if I'm at home. Once I start showing symptoms of the normal migraines, I have about 5 minutes to get advil liquid-gels into me or nothing I do will help - that usually drastically reduces the pain (to little enough that I might be able to sleep rather than trying not to cry from pain because crying makes it worse). The second type of migraines I've yet to find anything I can do.


Also, I'm the only one in my extended family with either an ASD or migraines, and I have both.

When I get migraines I become super sensitive to outside stimuli, like light & sound. I will often sit in the dark with a blanket or hood over my head to block out the world. Sometimes my migraines are brought on by too much stimulation, like crowds, lights, malls, etc. Not fun, but I have learned to cope and try to head them off.

I get headaches, but most people get them. But I don't get migranes, only if I have the flu or something.

I get horrible migraines everyday, don't know how to stop them.

I had a lot of migraines as a kid, not so much since my late teens.

Or, at least we think it was migraines. There would be this spot sort of behind and slightly above my left eye, sort of at the top of the inside of the eye socket (specific, YES) that would hurt, and only tthat spot.

It would hurt more and more until I had to throw up a few hours later, and then after I threw up I would be fine. I would be very sleepy afterwards. Bright light made it hurt more.

I also knew that if I ate green apples (not unripe apples, but the green type) before I went to bed I would wake up with a migraine. I used that for all it was worth sometimes, when I didn't want to go to school...

I don't know of anything else I react to, like chocolate, red wine, cheese or coffee, which are all common to get migraines from.

It happened less and less as I entered my late teens and early twenties, but I do sometimes feel pressure/pain at that point behind/above my left eye, but I haven't had a full blown migraine with throwing up in years.

In your next survey, I suggest giving the option of selecting a history of migraines but not having them now. I'm like that and I think it was weather related and I've known others in this category too, one of whom I suspect was an aspie.

Yep.

Might have something to do with our sensory issues prompting migraine triggers.

I've had at least one or two really bad migraines in the past (one when I was about 12 or 13) but these days I mainly get stress headaches. They aren't any easier to endure, though. I mostly get them when I'm under a lot of stress, or haven't been sleeping or eating well.

ive had severe migraines since my early 20s,, i keep them under control by eliminating certain foods, mostly processed type stuff that i know are triggers.. I dont feel the migraines themselves are asperger related BUT autistics are more sensitive to chemicals in food and there could be a relationship that way.

They are very rare for me but I have silent migraines. I have an aura for about 30 minutes. It starts off as small blind spots...ex when reading words or parts of words disappear. Then the blind spots get bigger and turn into jagged lines. I have also had milder auras where I just see a streak of color. After getting these sensitivity to light and sound is increased for the rest of the day, which is sometimes not noticeable because I have sensitivity to light and sound everyday. I also feel somewhat off for the rest of the day. Full blown migraines with pain are common in my family.

Transgender without Migraine.