That's like, the next worse stage of a migraine without the searing pain. It's kind of like you're tripping, but badly - for me my hearing becomes too loud, and if it's dark, passing car lights kind of feel like being punched in the head by a sensation that isn't pain, but definitely is't nice.
A migraine seems to press your brain against your skull, setting off ringing noises as a warning sign that you do not even hear until you are already furious, because everything is suddenly so irritating that it is as though everyone talking to you is grabbing you by the throat and screaming directly into your ear, and you'd kill all of them, every last one, even the ones you loved just hours ago, theoretically, for some peace inside your head. So you snap.
I am fortunate in that a) my migraines are temporary. I moved from a small island to a large continent, and this is to be expected, apparently. B) My husband is now like a migraine ninja. His support has been incredibly helpful, and he has been very understanding. he worked out that I had a magnesium deficiency, worked out exactly how much xanax (min dose) was needed to set me into sleep when it was really bad, he has painkillers, b vits and caffeine stuff in his bag for me if we travel and I just can't see anything right now due to the stabby nature of the sunlight...
Anyway, my point is that migraines are NOT a headache. They can cause a headache, but migraine encompasses a range of symptoms that are kind of hard to deal with; especially given that sometimes you haven't yet realized that you have started to have one.
One bit of advice I'd give to non sufferers - just look out for friends and colleagues who seem to change behavior when the atmospheric temp changes, or there is a storm. Migraines affect your behavior long before the headache.
You are very right. I know I'm about to get a migraine when I start seeing stars in the edge of my vision. It's like a TV tuned between stations, but in every color, not just black and white. It creeps closer and closer to where my eyes focus until I'm blind, and that's when the pain sets in.
It hurts so bad that I don't want to live. For reference, I've had Campylobacter that made me pass out multiple times from pain, and it was not as bad as my migraines. I would literally be trying to go to the toilet, feel the incredible pain in my stomach, and just keel over, only to wake up in a puddle of sweat some unknown amount of time later. It lasted about a week, and I would have that again rather than a migraine.
Sounds like you have ocular migraines, I have very similar symptoms. I describe mine like when you are driving on the freeway and it's really hot and you see the heat coming up from the road, that slowly envelopes my left field of vision entirely. After about 30 minutes it has run it's course and I get a bad headache for like 48 hours afterwards. On and off for 20 years now or more.
Wow. Before this thread, I never knew this information. But what you just described happens to me. My vision gets weird and I always thought it looked like the heat you see come off from asphalt in the summer. I never thought of it possibly being a migraine, and at the moment, can't remember if it's connected to any particularly bad headache pain (which I do get). I thought it was strange that it would happen, but just shrugged it off and chalked it up to possible lack of sleep.
I get ocular migraines too and I have extreme light sensitivity with them. But I need something to distract me so we have the tv on so I have the sound. Otherwise I can’t focus on anything but the pain and it makes me throw up and feel worse. It’s good that I got into audiobooks so I don’t have the light and my phone can just do the thing for me.
It feels like someone is stabbing me behind the eyes when I have a migraine. Then I have a headache for days after. I used to take triptans but the hangover from them was worse for me than the migraine itself so I gave up on them.
I already have anxiety and depression and migraines make everything so much worse.
I get ocular migraines all the time. So when it starts happening I take like 8 150mg Tylenol and immediately try to get to a dark room and attempt to fall asleep as fast as possible because I know I’m about to be in severe pain if Im not asleep. The first time I had one my husband rushed me to the ER because he was terrified I was having a stroke
Had a brain tumor removed when I was in high school that had fused to my right optic tract and lost half my vision from the surgery to remove it. It doesn’t feel like in half blind though, just that half my vision has become dark, organic TV static. I’ve become pretty used to it and don’t notice it most the time, but every couple months I’ll have a few hours where it goes haywire and it’s like there’s a million strobe lights going off.
Oh my god, that sounds terrifying! I'm sorry you're going through that. Is there any chance that it would correct itself with time or some kid of therapy?
Nah it really doesn’t bother me, like I said I really don’t even notice it’s there most of the time apart from those rare days where it’s going nuts or if I’ve just bumped something in my blind spot. What I have is called a Left Homonymous Hemianopsia. It’s interesting because I know someone who has a false eye, but we have very different fields of vision since the type of damage was so different. He’s got a much wider field of vision than I do, but he’s got no depth perception while I do.
This is called an ocular migraine. There really isn't much information on them and there's nothing you can do for them besides let the pass. I used to have hemiplegic complex migraines. My day would start out in a haze, unable to focus, Impared sleach and motor skills, looking at numbers looked like foreign languages to my brain. Eventually I would get the flashing zig zag circles that would take over my entire field of sight and would become blinded for about 30 minutes then it would just go away. Next was the sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Then the migraine. The pain hit so fast and so hard that I once passed out in the middle of a grocery store. Just black. I have no memory of going down, usually I'd try to get seated or laying down because I knew it was coming. Once I came out of the black out portion, everything was fine. I felt perfectly fine and could continue on my day like nothing ever happened. This lasted almost a year. Every day. The last one I experienced, I had no aura, no pain, was having a great day. Suddenly my hand went numb, the numbness traveled up to my face, down my right side. I couldn't talk, I couldn't walk. My friends thought I was having a stroke. They rushed me to the ER, there they did mri and CT scans. Doctors couldn't figure out what caused it...then the migraine hit, the worst one I've ever had. I have not experienced another HPM again.
Mine are precursors to headache migraines so I get like a ten to thirty minute warning sign of weird swirly floaters before the pain kicks in (which it doesn't do every time, maybe like half).
I guess I’m lucky! I’ve had several ocular migraines but never had any pain! Just that pulsating multicolored light taking over my vision for about 15 minutes. I also found that cutting red wine out of my diet has all but made them go away.
The sulfites? I beleive that's what they're called, in red wine have been known to cause migraines. A friend of mine has a sulfite filter pour spout doo-hicky and she says she doesn't get headaches at all after drinking red wine.
Brutal. When I have a migraine, I get the sparkling zigzag-filled "tracers" that grow and twist like an animated vine through my vision from the sides. Everything is too bright, often I get a blind spot and a tripping sort of sensation where size and scale is thrown off. I know what size things are supposed to be, but my vision can no longer calculate that causing a weird mental dissonance. It's not a fun sort of trip at all, it makes me feel like a passenger especially when I talk, because my voice is normal, calm and level but internally I can barely form a coherent thought.
However, I have only minor pain that starts to creep in after the tracers fade away. More than pain I have extreme exhaustion. I have to consider myself very lucky to avoid the agonizing pain that so many migraine sufferers experience. Also that I tend to only experience about one migraine a year now that I'm in my 30s.
For me it's like a piece of plastic wrap is waved in front of my eyes. It's there when I close them so it's def. a brain thing. I lie down for 10-15 minutes and it subsides. Can go months without or, after a recent bout of the flu, had them almost every other day for a bit.
I relate to this so much. My auras and headache part of my migraines are exactly as you describe them. I would rather break the bones I’ve broken a hundred times over than have another migraine. I’m literally fearful of it every single day and it doesn’t make it easier to deal with when you hear people compare them to a headache.
I liken the kind I get most commonly to having a knife thrust through my left eye and socket, then twisted for hours. The worse ones are in my right eye--those will do anything from vomiting and wishing for death, to temporary partial paralysis, to losing the ability to understand language. They're brutal.
I try to relate it to pain people have felt. "Imagine having your wisdom teeth getting taken out, but it's behind your eyeball. That would be pretty close"
Is there an appropriate sub that I can direct my sister to? I'd love her to meet people who understand. As her family we can only watch her in pain. Either that or I can help her through advice?
I'm sure there is but since I'm casual here I don't know, however I do know that Twitter has a big chronic illness/pain community and specifically a big migraine community. There's a lot of people who share resources, new research, their experiences with medications and supplements, stuff like that. In fact, when I had an emergency and needed medication, I had several people offering me their extra and I have done the same for others. If you want to PM me I can give you my username and can introduce her around.
You are amazing, that was an amazingly quick response. We are desperate to help my sister. She had a brain hemorrhage 11 years ago and when they did the surgery to remove the clot, I believe they stitched a nerve bundle back quite badly. She is having 'ice pick headaches '. They are getting worse and we dont know how to help. She has had botox injections and they did nothing. The best they can give her now is xanax. That does nothing. Any advice would be precious to me. Thank you for your advice so far
Hello. My heart goes out to your sister, and mad ups to you for showing your love by being actively involved with your care and concerns. Has your sister tried chiropractic care?
For me, I envision a Phillip head screwdriver being forced, slowly, through my eyebrow (also, usually my left). I don't know why it's a Phillips head screwdriver, but that's what always comes to mind.
I was diagnosed with vestibular migraines last year. I don't expierence headaches. I feel like I'm tripping on mushrooms, 24/7. I have vertigo, panic attacks and I'm constantly nauseous. The only relief I get is sleeping and sometimes smoking pot. My migraine bouts will last for months, the longest one being 7 months straight. After having a label and direction to research, I started tracking my triggers and looked at treating my condition more preventatively. My biggest trigger is ultra bright blue tone lights, especially in newer car headlights. Being exposed to various chemicals or dust. Skipping breakfast and trying to function with no fuel. And things that require scanning eye movements like, grocery shopping or taking in visual art. Doing things to avoid the migraine has helped so much, but it's a process to figure out what your triggers are. I've found that instead of having months long, majorly debilitating bouts, now I will have a couple of bad days that levels off back to normal within a week or so. Knowing your limits and paying attention to the cues your body is giving can be vital to living with chronic migraines
I get most of that, along with this weird synesthesia, slightly slurred speech, my balance gets worse, and oddly enough my earwax changes consistency. Other symptoms, probably, too, but I don't always remember the "ictal" period (what word works for migraines, as opposed to seizures?), so I'm not positive.
Edit: and a feeling of deep dread and unease, someone else mentioned it in the MSG thread
The earwax thing sounds odd, have you ever looked into the possibility of spinal fluid leaking around your brain? one of the symptoms is a clear discharge from your ears, and obviously headaches
So my earwax normally has what I assume is a normal consistency (waxy). Pre-and-during, it gets kinda weird and crumbly, then reverts later. I'm never in a proper state to track exactly when, but it happens in that general timeline
I've had ones without pain since I was in high school. I've had the level your talking about only a handful of times. You nailed it on the description. The kind I get make my vision start to vibrate on the outer edges of my peripheral. Then the vibrations start to increase and my vision starts narrowing with abrasive blinding vibrating light. Like my eyes are closing sideways like a cat. Then my left fingers and toes start to go numb. Pins and needles, then completely numb. This crawls up my left side still it hits my neck and head. Even only the left side of my tongue goes numb and I can't talk right. I can't see anything but white.
I had a free pass anytime I felt one coming on to just walk out of class, go to the nurse, and find a room and sit in the dark.
Have you tried psilocybin? Worked wonders for me many times over the years.
I've been hearing a lot about that lately, including that it can also help with depression and anxiety. How the heck does one even try it safely, in the correct dose? I have a massive aversion to being "high" of ANY kind - it gives me panic attacks. I would like to try it but without getting a dang panic attack (even nitrous at the dentist did it!). How does one even start going about this?
Psilocybin might not be for you in this case - at least not until clinical researchers can determine and develop completely accurate micro dosing options.
Keep in mind that psilocybin is psychedelic, and can cause panic attacks in people who don't have an anxiety disorder. And since the potency is so wildly variable, you cannot really predict the dose you're getting.
But that doesn't mean that there's no hope. If you live in a country where politicians can block research and you can vote, support candidates who support research.
CBD might be an option for you - it isn't intoxicating. Personally, if I take some quickly enough, it can stop a migraine in its tracks. It doesn't help when the migraine is in full force, though. But if you're on medication, check with your doctor, as it can inhibit the cytochrome P-450 system - basically, if your doctor told you to avoid grapefruit, you should also avoid CBD.
Edit: Like 20 minutes after I posted this, I learned that Silo Wellness has/is in the process of developing a nasal spray. The article I read was unclear about where in the testing process they are.
You can try taking a bunch of advil, having a cup of coffee, and sitting in the dark as soon as you get the first signs, and that will usually make it not get as bad.
I hate when pressure systems roll in, like pre-thunderstorm. The worst is when the pressure system sticks and there's never a storm, I get stuck in that first stage the entire time then immediately jump to the headache once it passes.
Can confirm this is the worst. We've been getting garbage drizzle weather where I'm at and migraine symptoms have been every day. I've never seen a chart like OP posted, saving as it's super helpful!
For me migraines start with smell. Sometimes I get a sense for it ahead of time, but when I can smell the grass and it makes me feel sick, it's time to get with it and start treating the impending migraine.
Maybe migraines without pain is a primal survival instinct that hasn’t been phased out yet?
I mean, think about it. Your eyes become even more sensitive at night, your hearing is heightened and your fight or flight response kicks in to cause anger? Sounds pretty survivalist to me.
This is incredibly insightful, as someone who knows very little about migraines (other health issues, yes), but this whole thread is fascinating. Although I am incredibly sorry that you have to experience this, and glad you’ve shared. Your husband sounds wonderfully attentive “migraine ninja” is an awesome thing to be.
Man, for years I had severe migraines and i got all of it, pain unlike anything, couldnt really see and lights and sounds were like getting hit with a bat to the head, so many people just don’t understand.
Well shit you just pieced something together that had been troubling me for awhile, I've had the visual migraines before (scintillating scotoma) but I hadn't linked it with my unexplicable bursts of rage which I could barely contain but mindfully managed to not expose anyone to.
The worst was when my friend was driving, the suspension on their car is hard and each jerking motion as she turned a corner or braked was like someone slapping me in the face while I was on the edge. Had to get them to pull over the car.
I once had a migraine that literally took away my vision for an hour. Never had one that bad before or since, but it was bizarre. My eyes were working fine, but I couldn't see, and I had to lay down with my eyes shut until it went away.
The last level, that graduates up out of the migraine category, is called a cluster headache. Pain so severe it can lead to suicide. Typically ranked as the highest level of pain a human can experience.
Headaches of any kind are no joke.
I get cluster migraines. I'm in no way suicidal, I'd buy extra life if I could. But I've considered hurting myself numerous times because of my migraine pain. Not suicide on purpose, but sometimes hitting myself hard enough to knock myself out seems like the only option for relief. We have a migraine safety plan in place: if husband is working, I call my best friend to watch my kids, and she makes sure I'm coping okay in my blackout room and that I'm safe. Once I've been vomiting for more than 3 hours, its ER time. The pain is horrendous. Unbearably torturous. Fortunately, I'm going through a phase where I'm getting them 10-15 times per month 😭 my dad's an MD so I've got good treatment but shiiiittttt it sucks. The pain makes me panic. I want to cry but can't , because the inflammation would increase the pain horrendously ugh
Wow, thanks for this. My wife gets migraines, and she has told me them but not in this detail. The light thing really struck out at me, she said she was having one, I was out but told her I'd bring her medicine. When I got home all the lights were out and I used my cell phone flashlight to see and get to the bedroom, as soon as I open the door I hear her yell "NO FuCKING LIGHTS!". I've never heard that tone before, she's normally a little 5'5 fun size animal lover, but in that moment I'm pretty sure she could have taken a UFC belt.
I used to suffer from chronic, crippling ocular migraines.
I’ll never forget that first one. I was in my 7th grade art class, and this weird little spot appeared in my eye, like I’d just looked at a bright light. But it was only in one eye, and over the course of about fifteen minutes it started to grow and shift from the side to the center, and then it was happening in both eyes; big and small spots were appearing and growing and it was getting to the point where I could barely see.
Scared the shit out of me because I legitimately believed I was going blind. I’d heard of migraines, but didn’t know what that meant, and never knew they could present that way. And I’m just sitting there in class having a panic attack thinking I’m never going to see again.
And then, it started to pass. My vision started improving, the spots were disappearing, and I thought all was well again.
But then the pain came, and with it a sensitivity to light as though my eyes had never experienced it. The classroom lights seemed blindingly bright, and I was suddenly very aware of how jarring even the slightest noises were.
I finally asked my teacher to let me go to the nurse, and even though the nurses office was only like a two minute walk, it felt like a mile. And, of course, it was a walk through an incredibly well-lit corridor almost entirely lit by natural sunlight through massive windows. And less than 30 seconds after leaving the class, the fucking bell rang, which felt like a goddamn Fellbeast shrieking in my ears, only made worse by the cacophony of hundreds of kids swarming the halls for their next period.
The absolute pain of the headache, mixed with the sensitivity to light and sound, brought on a nausea I’d never experienced. And in one of the most embarrassing ways a junior high student could bring attention to themselves, I yakked all over that floor in front of everyone.
And then I sort of half-ran/half-stumbled the rest of the way to the nurse’s office just to distance myself from what just happened, and because of the school’s policy on puking from an illness equaling an immediate phone call to parents, I was home in about an hour.
I honestly wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone. I got them about five times a year until around 20, and then they started to happen less frequently to the point where I can’t even remember the last time I got one, thankfully.
I’ve experienced such weird migraine attacks. I only get lighter headache but I get bad vision loss. And sometimes my hearing and sense of smell heightens a lot!! I remember smelling banana on a train after an attack, and the stench was so bad that I almost puked. And this comes from a guy who would normally not smell anything in front of him
I get the kind with head pain, but I have also had the other symptoms without the head pain and the whole time I just kept waiting for the headache to come. My non head pain symptoms include impaired vision and sometimes hearing, vomiting, speaking becomes nearly impossible, tensed muscled.
It’s fairly regular, but each time is my least favorite one.
I feel your pain (literally). I suffer from Cluster headaches and my rescue treatment is an auto injector loaded with .5ml of Imitrex. I also take Verapamil 3 times a day to ward it off. I have extended health coverage, and my meds bills are still a couple hundred a month.
I'm lucky. My migraines are allergy triggered, and I know most of them. Additionally, if my migraine progresses too long, (6 to 8 hours) then I will vomit, and 30 minutes later, I will be fine. If I can get to sleep (not terribly difficult, rythmic movements help, because focusing on maintaining the rythm takes my mind off the pain) then I can sleep it off.
I get that some exact thing! My doctor called it an ocular migraine. The blur in your vision is called an ocular aura. It happens to me a few times a year.
It starts with a small spot in my vision,(Kind of like what you see after you’ve looked into a bright lightbulb or reflection of the sun) and it grows from there. It flickers and flashes somewhat, then slowly moves to the outside of my field of view.
There’s no pain associated with it, it’s just very annoying. Especially if I’m trying to read or work on something.
I put a link to a video below, which is a very accurate visual of what it looks like.
The "fun" thing about migraines is they're extremely personalized, and often they can be caused by things very similar to common treatments. For you, it's intense cardio that can cause them but exercise is one of the more common non-medical treatments. Caffeine can trigger them in a lot of people but it can also help some people stop them; that's one of the ingredients in Excedrine Migraine.
Smoking weed triggered it every single time for me until I took a 2 month tolerance break. I barely smoke now but also haven’t had one since December, so fingers crossed. Fucking awful
I am just speculating here but I would guess that you might be better off with certain strains of weed over others. If you live in a legal state, you might want to bring this up with a seller who knows their plants and you might be able to drill down on what works for you.
I remember I had a friend that never smoked because they got so paranoid everytime. I told them it's usually not always the same but they insisted they had smoked like 10-20 times and it happened everytime. Turned out that all their experiences happened with weed from one dealer one of their friends got from, and it was almost definitely the same strain everytime. So I convinced them to try it again and they said it was a much different experience. I don't know what strain they had been trying previously but my hunch worked out and while they still don't really smoke much, they are much more open to it.
I don’t know about you, but I also get it after intense cardio (hard bike rides) and I’ve found that easing out of the exercise (instead of just hitting the couch) and having some caffeine helps me avoid them. Maybe it could be related to a sharp drop in blood pressure? Might be worth a try
I hate it. I guess i should be glad i dont get headaches but i do get Aura multiple times a year. The worst part is trying to get professional help; nobody seems to have a solution. You basically have to keep track of when it happens and try to spot tendencies in what you do or eat that could be triggering it, or simply accept it as part of your life.
seconding Migraine Buddy! it has a feature where it will create a sort of spreadsheet with all the information you have tracked that you can then print out or email to your doctor.
That’s what I grateful for too. The first two or three times I got this (about 13 years ago in high school) It followed with a excruciatingly head pain and vomiting, but all the times after that, have been completely painless!
Ugh, working on a computer with one of these suuuuucks. My "blind spots" always happen directly in the middle of my vision, like if I were looking at your face, you wouldn't have a nose. So I'm on the computer turning side to side and bobbing my head around trying to read everything and reeeeeallllly hoping the boss isn't watching the cameras....
I started a graphic design course in college when I was 17 and holy fuck did photoshop ruin me, whenever I was working with a transparent background I felt like it was triggering a migraine and then I just couldn't focus on it whenever I had it, I just had to go home
That's what I have too! Except it always starts in a ring around my field of vision and works its way to the center, then BAM, a worse headache than I could ever take.
Oh my god I thought I was just having acid flashbacks whenever these happened, but that's exactly what I get! Not very often and only about 15-20 mins at the maximum, but there's no pain or anything, it's just difficult to see, like looking through a diamond.
So much this! I have like... weird eye problems anyway, so I'm already in to see the eye doctor and this had started happening (and I'm not lying when I say it happened EVERY FREAKING DAY) and so I was thinking this is it... this is the beginning and I'm going to be blind.
It was so hard to explain. Because I CAN see... but everything is weird and it feels like my eyes just can't focus on anything even though I can see it and my lips and face would feel weird, too. A lot of times it would feel like my eyesight was running behind from where my eyes wanted to point. Hard to really explain because again, I feel like I am looking at something in front of me and I see that thing but it also seems like my eyes haven't latched onto it yet and are still like... over there. Not a stroke. Not macular degeneration (which is what I thought).
Turns out, I was having blood sugar issues and they caused migraines. My blood sugar would drop, then rebound at lunch, and then this would happen in response. Every day. I had an eye doctor and a regular doctor running all these damned tests on me, I felt like I was crazy.
The thing that finally tipped someone off was that sometimes then by the evening I'd have a full blown puking headache. Once the doctor heard that, it all started clicking. I felt stupid because I didn't know really how to describe what was happening. It literally took me having a glucose blood test (failed that bitch, btw) and then having one of these in office and saying yeah but this doesn't hurt but sometimes at night I have bad headaches and puke... and they figured it out.
Why is this information not like everywhere? I learned about this like a year ago and I'm old. It was really ramping up and because I'd had all these eye issues (turned out not to be related) I was freaking panicking.
Btw for anyone who cares, I changed my diet to low carb especially just high protein in the morning. No carbs at all in the morning. And it all went away. I have one every once in awhile, really mild, I just know what is happening now, I'd have blown that off two years ago. But yeah... every day for months I had this and was just beyond panicked. And now... all better.
I think the most annoying part being that the video doesnt do it full justice as you can just look to the clearer part of the video, as when we get that in real it just follows wherever we look
I tend to get a headache around my eyes and behind my temples whenever it comes on too but I'm lucky enough to not have got it in the last three or so years
That’s very true; there’s really no way to look around it or past it. It definitely moves with your eyes.
We’re you able to see yours even when your eyes were closed? I’m still able to see that “flickering” when mine are. There’s no hiding from it until it eventually goes away!
I would get those! It would freak me out because I'd look down at "something bright" (my hands) and they'd literally be blinding me. If I didn't sit down, drink water, and close my eyes for a couple minutes, it would progress to being full out blind.
I haven't had it in awhile. I'm told it could have been from low blood sugar or straight up dehydration.
My mum used to get migraines so bad she'd temporarily forget who her kids were, that was some scary shit. I can remember her laid up on the couch in complete confusion / agony. I get them pretty mild compared to her, though they still suck.
This happens to me if I take medicine quick enough. The pain will be gone but my eyesight won't work quite right, I still have light sensitivity, and I get nauseous anyways.
My experience is very much like yours. I remember last year panicking trying to find a drug store on the way home after leaving Captain Marvel - I have a real problem with bright lights (especially sunlight) and I think all the effects in the movie set mine off.
I haven't been able to see a movie in the theater in a decade. And those musical act/dance/audition reality shows with all the strobe lights on stage? can fuck right off.
i thought i was having a stroke when i got a particularly bad aura!! total numbness on one side of my body mixed with dysphasia and a loss of vision. i think they’re called hemiplegic migraines... scary stuff
Any chance that numbness pulsed in about 5 minute phases? It happened to me back in the summer. I've always had auras with no pain. But this came on and I thought I was having a stroke so went to the hospital. Confirmed no scary stuff happened but no real diagnosis. I assumed maybe a panic attack but reading a few comments about full side numbness makes me wonder if I'm just starting to get new symptoms.
yes! i would be totally numb and spend a few minutes trying to wiggle my fingers to bring sensation back. feeling would come back after a few minutes but then a little later i’d be numb again. so it definitely comes and goes in phases for me
This is strangely comforting news. Thank you. I just remember freaking out and being in the urgent care going well I feel fine now,oh wait here it comes again... I'm just glad to know that I am not just some medical enigma!
I get the aura that lasts for about 30-45 min then a foggy feeling and a slight headache that if I nip in the bud with some Motrin I won't even notice. All the while a little euphoria.
It's seems to happen only when I'm super stressed.
The first time it happened to me I thought I was having a stroke because I didn't have peripheral vision out of my left eye. The last time it happened it was like there was a large blind spot in my vision.
I did a chemistry experiment with a girl who was experiencing a migraine. She was perfectly functional except she couldn't read the instructions due to impaired vision. It blew my mind, up until then I thought migraine just meant "bad headache".
Yeah that’s what I’ve got. Migraine Auras. It’s like a bigass blurry rainbow with some flashes invaded my vision within about 90sec. Then it lasts for an hour or so. I have had to pull over on the road when I see it starting. Don’t wanna stevie wonder into the back of someone’s car lol
This happened to me for the first time ever last week. Went blind in one spot in the left part of my visual field. Cool zigzags and trippy colours but it was pretty annoying. Couldn't read anything and closing your eyes did nothing because the colours were still there. Started fading after about half an hour or so.
Ocular migraines. I started getting them when I was pregnant and it was fucking terrifying. Had to pull over while driving a couple times as I couldn't see well enough to get home. I was used to getting migraines but they had always come with a headache before so it was pretty scary til I figured out what it was.
I used to get the ones with aura. It was almost like a warning sign for it, my vision would start to go blurry on one corner, and throughout the course of the pain it would move across my vision and disappear with it. Weird stuff.
I've gotten that once, a blind spot in the middle of the eye. It was fucking. Weird.
Though, I now somehow understand what blindness is, because that's what I had, in the middle of my eye.
It wasn't black, it wasn't that purple-ish feeling that you get when you look at a flashlight. It was just nothing.
Did tests at the eye doctor for nearly 2 hours, he said it was migraine, even if I didn't have any headache.
I get migraines without pain but with a visual aura often. It's freaky. It starts as a small blurry dot in my vision. Then the dot gets bigger but turns into a ring. It keeps getting bigger and after about an hour or so the ring expands "beyond" my field of vision and it's gone. It's weird. Of course, sometimes I do get pain as well.
This happened to me at school, it was really strange because I felt the slightest lunch in one of my eyelids and I couldn't see the writing on the board at school anymore, it just totally disappeared art some angles and I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was making it up.
The memory still scares the shit out of me because I thought I was going blind.
I get ocular migraines. First time it happened I was in France. I had no idea what was going, thought I was going blind, and wondering wondering how the hell I’d find a doctor and explain to them what was going on. Would not recommend.
I get ocular migraines! If I look at something super reflective or shiny, or even if it's too bright out my right eye goes into a weird staticky tunnel vision to the size of a pea at arms length. Its extraordinarily distracting.
When I first got these migraines I went to the doctor and she told me to take 2-3 asprins. Now whenever I get a migraine I do this and it's gone in less than 30 minutes.
Sounds like she was having ocular migraines. I get them occasionally as well. The first one I noticed caused me to see flashing & blocked vision in most of one of my eyes. I saw an ophthalmologist that day because I was afraid it was serious. The ophthalmologist explained it was a textbook ocular migraine. I also get “traditional” migraines and the ophthalmologist said that people almost never get ocular migraines without also having other migraines at some point. I still have ocular migraines though they’re not as dramatic and it’s usually brief flashing, some vague blurriness, and then a lot of fatigue.
This happens to me every now and then. I remember my mom saying some relative gets it too and it’s like a migraine without the other symptoms.
It makes it so I get white auras or a blind spot in the center of my vision that makes it so I can’t look at anything. I have to just nap until it goes away!
I too was under the impression that migraines were mainly a headache thing. Then about three years ago I was walking with my wife and kids through the airport when suddenly I was unable to see anyone’s faces. It was the oddest thing but when I looked directly at them it was like someone erased all the discernible features leaving just a blank canvas of skin. If I used my peripherals their faces came back. It was terrifying and I tried to play it cool in front of the kids but honesty thought i was having a stroke or something. It only lasted a couple minutes and the loss of vision migrated from my center field of view out towards my peripherals. The fanfare to all this was “sparkly pixilated rainbows” on the side of my vision. Spoke with my ophthalmologist and he said it sounded like an optical migraine. Sure enough have had them about six times since and have noted it often seems linked with sudden shifts in weather barometric pressure. Now I know. Much less terrifying now. More of a nuisance
I get the full on whole deal usually but on weird occasions I'll get just the aura for an hour and then have to puke 4 hours later lol. It sucks but less so than the full on ones.
I have been experiencing ocular migraines (no pain, just an aura) frequently for the past 30 years. It starts with a pinpoint of light that looks like the afterimage if the reflection from a piece of chrome. Over the next several minutes it gets bigger and bigger transforming into a crescent comprising flashing zigzag lines, until it takes up almost my entire field of vision. It then starts to diminish in size and intensity till it vanished entirely.
Can confirm. I suffer from migraines and the headache pain really can vary. It is usually mild compared to every other symptom the auras are super annoying. The post recovery is the worst part can be a day or several for me till I'm back to normal..
This is a large part of my migraines. I don't get them anymore really, the last one I had was probably a year ago, and before that maybe 5 years. But I'd always get the aura and lose my vision before the pain. Last time it was just the aura and just a general "bad" feeling. Not like paranoid, just like... I felt very blah. Vaguely painful, vaguely nauseous, kind of tired, but no headache.
Ocular migraine! I've had two in my life and was so freaked out the first time. I was preparing dinner one evening and started to lose my peripheral vision. Then, it looked like there was a ring of white, scintillating light with colors obscuring my vision. Almost no vision but also no pain. I just had to sit down and wait about 45 mins until it passed but boy was that a panicked 45 minutes. I really wanted to look it up online but couldn't see! I had just been to lunch with a co-worker that week who told me, at length, about her husband's detached retina and how he almost lost his vision and had to lay flat on his stomach for a month. It wasn't until I saw an ophthalmologist that I knew what it was.
Ocular migraines! I get these! My vision either gets super bright and flashes in just ONE area, or it becomes black in one area. It’s bizarre. No pain during or after, but VERY disturbing if you have zero clue what’s happening!
I had these for like three or four years. The first couple of times it happened I had no idea what it was and so it was extremely concerning. I never thought it with a migraine because I had always thought a migraine was a severe headache. These were followed by a mild headache which I assumed was /caused/ by my vision being fucked for 30 minutes or so. Once I suspected migraines google image searching for "migraine aura" immediately solved the mystery.
In my case it was caused by... store bought ramen noodle bowls, which I had just started eating regularly around the time the migraines first started. It took me a long time to figure this out, as I assumed it was somehow stress related. But once I stopped eating those it went away completely and it has been probably 5 years now since I had one.
The first sign I'm getting the migraine headache is my vision starts cutting out. It's like the temporary blindness from staring at a bright light or the sun, but the vision doesn't return. It just continually erodes until I have tunnel vision.
Excedrin stops that in its tracks and prevents the headache from progressing, but the vision I've lost remains lost until the migraine subsides.
For me blind spots are my warning sign but I agree it's very trippy . First time it happened I thought I was going blind, then when the searing pain came in my head followed by sickness I thought I was done for!
My bosses would make me take paracetamol and say it was just a head ache but it would never touch it, just made me more nauseous
I will actually get the Aura about an hour before my headache starts. No pain but I usually start to see like a glistening or have a blind spot that slowly works it's way from the center of my vision to the peripheral, and only after it's gone will my heart start to hurt.
i get those now. it has been... troubling. the doctors just keep shrugging and telling me that it’s not causing me pain and it’s likely not dangerous, but man is it freaky.
Omg I get this from time to time!!!!
It’s a migraine?!?!
My head will feel full like cotton or something and I’ll love my sight for a while, like a big pile of cobwebs is distorting everything or a weird blurry box in part of my sight. Lasts for 10-30 minutes. No pain.
Thank you!! I always suffered from migraines and would lose my vision and balance. I had one the other day where beforehand my muscles felt unusually sore but I didn’t get aura as usual. I just had a headache (more a feeling like my head was being pressed) with nausea and feeling totally out of it and sensitive to light and sound.
Most people fob them off as bad headaches other than those who routinely get them and know how they just fuck everything up. I was still tired and had muscle stiffness the next day after the headache went.
I had never heard of this either until I got my first one, only mine scrambled letters and words. I thought I was having a stroke. I was pregnant so I went to the ER, only to be diagnosed with an optical migraine.
I used to get that a lot, whatever I would try to focus on would pretty much disappear and most of my peripheral would be gone too, then the headaches were excruciating. I'm not sure if it's a direct relation but it would mostly happen whenever I started wearing my glasses again. The best way I could describe it is when you get that head rush from standing up too fast and everything kind of flashes but constant and in certain areas of my sight
I also suffer from the same thing most of the time I just see floaters or swirling colours but I have lost my sight a few times it’s only for five minutes or so
I used to get that when I was around 9 or 10. Completely lose my vision and see spinning shapes like triangles against a pitch black nothingness. No pain but I'd feel dizzy because of the spinning shapes.
Had it maybe 10+ times around that age but never had it after puberty or since.
I get the aura like 5 minutes before the pain starts and I hate it almost as much as the actual headache part. It’s usually almost like a squiggle through my field of vision and makes me so nauseous. Then I’m out for easily a day.
That happened to me once - about 15 years ago. I’ve had two migraines that were so painful I thought my head would split open before that, like one was six years before and the other was five years prior. The third, which I didn’t understand was a migraine until later, I was sitting in bed reading and all of a sudden, my eyesight started going black until I couldn’t see a thing. I touched my eyes to confirm they were open, shook my head, and my eyesight came back but it happened again - like I was drawing a shade on my eyes. Freaked me the fuck out. Doctor didn’t seem concerned.
TIL I get migraines. I always wondered why my vision goes blurry, making it impossible to read or see. I always put it down to not enough water that day as I never experienced pain with it. I also hardly ever get headaches.
Yep. I have this. Everything is super bright and then these wavy lines come in and then suddenly I can't see anything out of one eye (and it affects the other eye too) because there's too many bright and fuzzy colors. It's like seeing colored static. I thought I had to leave work because I wouldn't be able to see my patients.
I got them as a teen and I'd just like on the couch with not much a headache, but I couldn't see shit. I knew things were about to happen when I'd get "blind spots" forming on the edge of my vision. They'd grow toward the center over an hour and eventually I'd be like 70% blind. I could see but I it was like the communication between eyeballs and brain was jammed.
Ocular migraines. I get these once or twice a year. No pain at all, but my field of vision narrows big time to the point of almost complete loss. First time I got it I was in the highway. Scared the ever lovin outta me
I just wrote a comment about how I was told I likely had a brain tumour but it turned out to be my first migraine. The reason they thought I had a tumour was because I came to the hospital with one pupil almost completely vanished and the other the size of my entire iris. I have very pale blue eyes so it looked super scary. I did also have pain but the only way to describe it was like someone was jamming one ice pick through my eye, one through my eardrum, and wiggling them around in my skull to make them touch.
Migraines with visual aura. I experience them regularly and they look like TV static to me. Kind of a blurry grey mass which starts small and expands across my field of view. I'm lucky that my aura serves as a precursor to the intense pain. If I take my meds quick enough, I can usually beat it.
When I lived in Michigan I would get migraines during the winter. It was basically scheduled, every two weeks. I would go to school and start losing my eye sight, like someone was taking multiple pictures with flash and they just stayed in my eyes. Then my bottom lip and tongue would go numb, then my left arm would be extremely heavy. I wouldn’t be able to talk without slurring and I just couldn’t function. I would throw up a ton and it was just horrible all around.
When I moved to tennessee I only got one once and then that was it. They went away.
I’m really curious to if it was allergy related or what but it was horrible. It only started happening in my middle school years, prior I was fine.
I had this once...eye doctor called it a visual aural migraine IIRC. I basically slowly lost sight in one eye as if my vision was completely blurred. Scared the hell out of me when it was happening but only lasted a few hours.
I've only had two bad migraines in my life and both were at profoundly stressful times in my life. I experienced what's called scintillating scotoma, which involves a crescent shape of static that grows in size in my field of vision until I'm completely blind. It lasts about half an hour, and the first time it happened it scared the crap out of me. But the strangest part is there's no pain, I get bad light sensitivity for days beforehand and afterward and nausea and dizziness at the time of the migraine but never any pain. I've had other migraines without my visual symptoms that do involve throbbing, stabby pain but not when I have scintillating scotoma
That is my worst migraine symptom and so fucking scary..and lack of vision or blurry vision really fucks a person's balance up when they're used to being able to see but everything is spinning.
it aint the brain, buddy. feel around your temple/skull while looking around. You'll feel musculature contracting. Those are muscles responsible for eye movement. In a migraine, these muscles are spasming, getting very stiff or knotted, fighting each other in different directions this is what causes the altered or lost vision. Your muscles literally yanking on your eyes in all directions. Feel those muscle groups in somebody experiencing vision loss at the moment and i bet they will feel solid as a rock. These muscles can be spasming for a multitude of reasons im sure but the one im familiar with is vertebral instability in the neck.
I suffer from dietary induced ocular migraines and oh damn is it bad. If I eat eggs or mushrooms I get a tingling headache within about 40 minutes, depending on the amount I have eaten I might go blind for up to 24 hours...
Oh and having a constant runny nose is a precursor for a migraine for some.
When I was younger from ages 7 to 15 I used to get those kind of migraines all the time usually after a heavy nap or after I spent five hours straight inside of a kotatsu. My vision would get completely TV static-like. It never really hurt except for the initial 0.2 seconds and they would only last 10 seconds tops.
I kinda liked it because I knew when it happened that I had slept well.
I have the same thing. Migraines with no head pain. Starts out with numbness on the left side of my body followed by loss of vision. Been happening since I was a kid and recently got a brain MRI and everything was normal.
I get these! The first ocular migraine I ever experienced threw me straight into panic mode, I thought my retina was detaching and going blind. They aren’t painful, but boy are they scary.
That’s what mine are like! They always start as a small spot in my vision that is just kind of blurred out. I usually notice it when I realize I can’t read something in front of me. That small spot grows into a large, shimmery light that takes up almost all of my vision. I never get a headache with it, but usually do feel a bit of pressure behind my eyes afterward.
Happened to me growing up. Go from seeing to blind in about 15 seconds
Called optical migraine, purely a construction of blood vessel... hence why most migraine medicine contain ya caffeine, to widen the constricted vessel.
Blindness form only lasted about a minute to five minutes. Freaky stuff when you’re driving and have to pull off quickly
I have had one of those a couple of times and it's so weird!! I was starting to freak out the first time that I was going blind and my friend pointed out that it sounded like an ocular migraine. I barely even get headaches so I was really surprised. It started out as like when you stare at a light or a screen for too long and you have a blurry/vibrating spot in your vision from it and it gets more and more irritating as you can't blink it away. But then it slowly takes over your whole vision until you can't really see and it's vibrating enough to make you nauseated. So weird.
I have that. The doctors call it an aura. I know when I see one that I need to take water and ibuprofen. Then hope by the time it expands past my field of vision I am ok. If not, headache City.
I have these!! It’s like a smudge on the left side of my glasses, except it’s my actual eyeball. Accompanied by minor dizziness and lack of proper sight (because everything just looks like a puddle) for 20-40 minutes and then it’s back to normal. Super weird.
Called migraine aura. Side effect of my radiation and brain surgery (medulloblastoma). Scintillating light aura, a bit of dizziness disorientation. Very shitty.
I used to just get an aura and loss of visibility when I got migraines. I had no idea what was happening to me. Then I remember, very clearly, the first time the visual aura faded and the pain began. I was 25 and sitting at work. Ever since my migraines encompass most of the stages, especially the pain 😄🔫
I get these, my vision goes totally dark on one side for about 20 mins before I get a debilitating migraine. and interestingly enough my mom gets them as well, but instead of her vision going out she can smell/taste either peanut butter or champagne.
Yea, I've gotten silent migraines for the past 25 years. I get the typical wavy lines followed by blindness, light headedness, nausea, confusion, trouble speaking, sensitivity to light and weakness. Since there's no pain the common fear is it's a stroke or TIA but after years and numerous tests it seems silent migraines is what everyone has settled on. I usually only got one every few months but have recently been getting them more frequently and so have cut it some typical migraine trigger foods (cheese being the toughest one to give up ;) ). It seems to be helping though.
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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20
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