Migraines & Auras

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The thread started by theaspiemusician made me wonder.


How many of you have Migraines and/or auras?


When I was little, I used to get migraines. pretty severe, and lights or sound were a no-no. I'd usually just go to sleep until the ordeal was over. But, for many years now, no migraines.


Then out of the blue one day, maybe 7 or 8 months ago....I got what is known as an "aura" It started with a small "dot" in the lower left of my vision....it looked & felt like a blindspot. It grew, and gew. Then it transformed into some weird fractal pattern, then it started flashing colors. The whole ordeal lasted 45-60 minutes until my vision was back to normal. No dizzyness, no headache, just vision imparement. I had never heard of an aura until this happened. I called my dad and he says he gets the same thing sometimes. It was pretty scary considering I didn't know what the heck was going on. Then I did some reading & I saw the relationship with migraines. But I haven't had a migraine in 10+ years so I don't know if that's abnormal? In the same thread by theaspiemusician the user Tuttle was talking about the relationship between migraines & seizures. I have never had a seizure, that I know of......I say "that I know of" because I'm not sure if this counts as a seizure:


So, a couple of times when I have stretched after sitting for a while(arms over head). Sometimes when you do this, you know how you can pass out from the rushing blood or whatever....well I felt this happening, so I sat down in preperation(I didn't want to fall from a standing position around my glass desk). Then I kinda passed out....but not fully. Vision was black, and my body was trying to fall over, but I still had a little bit of motor control so I would start to fall, but I would then catch myself(Not literally with my arms).....but it was all happening very fast (multiple times per second) giving the impression of shaking like someone having a seizure. But it all seemed in slow motion. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel the movements. The whole ordeal lasted what I estimate to be less than 10 seconds....but I don't know for sure because it all seemed to be in slow motion. Is this a seizure? I don't know what they feel like. I've only ever seen 1 seizure and that was way back in 3rd grade. My friend was epileptic. I'm sorry if this is incoherent, but I just don't know how to describe it with words.


Also, this has gained my interest....does anyone have an links to information pertaining to migraines, auras, and possibly seizures? I wish to learn more on these subjects, but I don't know where to begin.

The aura you refer to is called a "Scintillating scotoma". I tend to get these on a regular basis as well. Not much that can really be done about it. For me it is not always followed by migraine pain. Sometimes its just the aura and no pain. Either way it is debilitating as it leaves me essentially blind. When this happens at work or school its a total nightmare

Sometimes auras occur without the headache part of migraines following them. These are known as silent migraines.

Sometimes people start getting different types of migraines when they're older. This tends to be either around puberty or mid to late 20s, most often. This is either because of their types of migraines swap or (like in my case), they start getting additional sorts of migraines.

I'm not sure how common migraines coming back is, unless they're triggered by something that you had controlled and now lost control of. I've never stopped having migraines. I started getting them at age 7, and then only in the past month started getting a different type of migraine as well as my normal ones. My normal migraine is about a textbook case of migraine with aura except I don't get a visual aura (I do get an auditory aura and lots of the other aura symptoms though).

My atypical migraines that have started recently (and have caused me to go through multiple brain scans because my doctor was worried by them), include a different standard type of visual aura (the way things look weird when heat's rising from a really hot surface over my entire vision), and don't involve the headache part (though often have more minor headaches with them. These are a type of silent migraine. Yours would also be a silent migraine - those are the migraines without the debilitating pounding headache.

The other stuff you're talking about doesn't sound like a seizure unless you had additional symptoms. Some people, usually people who are tall and somewhat out of shape, sometimes have that happen when they stand up. However, if you had other symptoms that can also be associated with seizures from what I've read (I've never been known to have a seizure either though. Pensieve is far more useful to get information about relating to seizures.)

Unfortunately I don't have particular links about migraines and auras. I've done a whole lot of reading and can't separate out where I got different information from. However if you have particular questions, I might know the answer. My migraines, while uncommon, are easily triggered enough that they're actually the most disabling thing I have to deal with, and that on top of these new atypical migraines, has rather meant that I've done a lot of research.


I think I can answer your question with "Hi, I get migraines with auras, and silent migraines, and solidly have both the headaches and the auras."

Yes, i see the "patterns" at times - less rarely nowadays for some reason, but i do not experience any pain at the same time as the scotomas appear.

And other people i've spoken to that i met or talked to on forums in the past also did not know what it was, and there have been many guesses, some that scared the crap out of me: "What, you're seeing colours"? "Synesthesia"? "Retinitis Pigmentosa"?

As what triggers the scotomas, i haven't got a clue. When googling for an answer, you'll find that most others does not have a clue either, but there are meds that seem to be able to help to suppress, or at least reduce the effect of the event.

If the pain is unbearable - talk to a doctor. Not to random strangers on the net.

I've had migraines since I was six or seven. I have a lot of environmental triggers. I don't have aura. My migraines are both unilateral and bilateral. They were at one time very frequent, with crippling migraines every day, until I started taking an antiepileptic called Topamax. I stopped taking Topamax in October and they haven't returned in their full volume, though I do get them fairly frequently. I've started getting headaches since I went back to school this week, I've had them almost every day. Not quite migraine caliber, but headaches nontheless. I think it has to do with the amount of people who smoke in the outdoor hallway that connects my school's buildings. Cigarette smoke is an environmental trigger for me.

Tuttle, have you read "All In My Head"? About a woman who had the same headache all the time for twelve years and the various things she tried. Super good.

My migraines always begin with visual auras pretty much just like you have described. It's my warning sign so I can get to a quiet room in time before everything else hits. I once had the aura without anything else but I assumed that was because I got some meds into me and managed to just make it go away.

FYI, some known triggers of migraines include orange juice, chocolate, red wine, and cheese.

I also have had these blackouts you describe. Once I woke up in the car after having a blood test - I was about to start the car and realised I felt weird and passed out. I woke and my sister told me I was sitting there with my eyes closed, fists clenched and sort of shaking. Another time I stood up too fast and ended up falling onto the kitchen floor. I lay there watching my arms and legs convulse for a few seconds, not being able to do anything about it. And a couple of times I have blacked out, when walking across a room or in a club under strobe lights. Doctors don't seem to be very interested in any of this. I had one suggest I get tested for epilepsy but that's about it.

How's your blood pressure? Mine's normal but low in the morning, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it.

A lot of pharmaceutical migraine medications have interactions with other drugs so be sure to look into it. Rizatriptan for example has negative interactions with SSRIs

Triptans **can** have negative interactions with SSRIs but many people (including myself) can take them together without a problem. I take Zoloft to prevent migraines but I have no problem taking a triptan (I love Treximet, it works soooo well)....I've done it for years. The interaction is just something one should be aware of, not an absolute contraindication.

~Kate

I've had very few scotomas but I get migraines quite frequently. I was worried about getting one today because I went outside in daylight without sun glasses for a few minutes.

I can lookup a research journal on the differences between migraines and seizures, but essentially migraines seem to have long lasting symptoms, even the visual aura lasts longer. I get a seizure aura which is a sudden flash of light.

Ah, here it is:
http://www.jhasim.com/files/articlefile ... 58_665.pdf

One difference between them is the way they present in the brain.

I have had migraines fairly often ever since I was a teenager (and still do), but not what I would call auras, and definitely not seizures. My migraines are unilateral, almost always on the right side, and are usually triggered by changes in the barometric pressure. Our family doctor says that's a fairly common migraine trigger. I've gone through all of the usual dietary / environmental / migraine diary & monitoring, etc. etc., and none of that has ever shown anything else that could possibly be causing them. Other than feeling the pain and nausea starting to come on, the only other symptom I occasionally have is sensitivity to light. Usually I'm able to abort my migraines with Imitrex, although I've had to be taken to the hospital / urgent care twice when particularly stubborn migraines lasted for 3-4 days and wouldn't respond to the Imitrex. I also take Amitriptyline daily as a migraine preventive, which seems to have cut down on the frequency of them somewhat.

I have been diagnosed with migraine. I have auras but no headaches.

I get migraines with classical visual auras: A half-crescent shimmering, shiny image that looks like little jagged and broken pieces of glass on the outer edge of my visual field. The frequency of the headaches averages about once a month.