Hello, I'm new to this and thought I'd post and see if anyone experiences this and perhaps has advice. From the time I was 19 years old (I'm 39 now), I have been experiencing migraines with aura. 99% of the time I get the aura with a mild headache following and sometimes no headache at all. It starts with a a minute visual disturbance that I can't explain, but I can tell when it's coming...then I get a tiny circle of wavy lines and blurred vision...it then explands larger and larger until my whole vision is obscured by blurry, wavy lines. This usually lasts from a half hour to an hour. I then get the slight headache that lurks around a few days sometimes...i can feel it if I cough or sneeze or have any jerky head movements. it often happens a few days in a row; almost like it's lying dormant waiting to "reactivate." anyway, it is horribly annoying...it interferes with work and driving, etc. and then the fear of it coming back causes problems too. sometimes i'll pop four advil at the onslaught and i even find that a small cup of coffee sometimes works to shorten the duration of the blurry vision. Any other ideas or clues on how I can minimize this, prevent it from happening or prevent it from coming back again and again after the first one? I would appreciate any input or advice. Thanks. Nan

Consider yourself somewhat lucky. When I get the auras, I consider asking someone to knock me out with a baseball bat, because after about 15 minutes of having an aura a lot like you're describing I get an earth-shattering migraine that usually becomes so painful that my entire body go crazy and I end up spewing liquid from every opening I have. It hurts too much to go to sleep, so I have to stick through it for a couple hours until my body just shuts down. Then I'm out cold until the next day, and I have to deal with a regular bad headache for the rest of that day. Fortunately, I haven't had a migraine for a long time. I understand how it gets in the way of daily life though. When I get a migraine I'm basically out of the loop for 2 days. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice. Nothing ever helped my migraines or auras.

I agree with Ratman, when I get an aura, I'm down for the count for at least two days. I get a horrendous migraine, take meds, go to bed and usually the next day get another aura & another migraine. Then I have a "hangover" headache for a few days afterwards.

Nannie 8, I suffer from the exact same symptoms as you and I totally understand about it interfering with your life. Some people think that if you don't have that crushing ,sick feeling migraine headache for 2 or 3 days you should consider yourself lucky. That is not the case. The aura with or without headaches interferes with your life as much as the other. I don't mean to be rude but I have been reading on here for about 3 months, whenever anyone posts of this complaint everyone is so quick to tell them how lucky they are. We need help as much as the severe pounding migraine sufferers, believe me. I recently had to be prescribed an anti-depressant because I went into a panic if I was in a store and started having the aura. I have had to several times pull off the road and let the aura pass because my children were in the car and I feared for our safety. I also have had to delay leaving my house at a certain time because I had the aura. Trust me, it interferes with your life tremendously and anyone who suffers from this is NOT lucky. Since I began the Lexapro the auras seem to be better, I took Topamax which made me so disoriented I had to go the the hospital, I took Depakote ER and it made me so sick I could not function. I am currently just taking the Lexapro only because my neurologist feels that if I can take the edge off the stress in day to day life it will help the migraine auras, so far it has worked fairly well, I still have them but not near as frequent. The auras have a name as well, we suffer from OCULAR migraines. There are several kinds of different migraines and anyone who has any type of migraine suffers as much as the other. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry you haven't gotten more advice, Nan...

Hi, Like you I'm new to this, but in both senses of the word I'm afraid. I am 28 years old and have worn glasses from the age of 15. Sight has never been great but no major problems... Until this last week. On Wednesday I experienced something totally alien to me, sensations and feelings that had never occurred previously. After driving home from work i noticed my right eyes vision was blurred and then I had flashing rainbow coloured lines and dots on and off for approximately 45mins, it was very off putting and unerving, I didnt have any head-ache, though and there was nothing further that evening. On the Thursday morning i felt rather nauseus but again no head ache. Once i had got to work and begun working ont the computer my vision was blurred, i couldnt focus. I went to the opticians that afternoon who sent me staight to the eye hosptial who diagnosed me with 'aura' migraines. They referred me to my GP and told me if the same things occured with my vision to returen to A&E immediatelt to be referred to the neurologist. I am so glad I hav found this page and others alike as I like others have found this to be a really unnerving experience, and like you say it is worrying about how long it will last or if your sight will return properly. I find that also loose ability to concentrate and find it difficult to get my words out..

Good luck with yours..

xx

Hello, I'm new to this and thought I'd post and see if anyone experiences this and perhaps has advice. From the time I was 19 years old (I'm 39 now), I have been experiencing migraines with aura. 99% of the time I get the aura with a mild headache following and sometimes no headache at all. It starts with a a minute visual disturbance that I can't explain, but I can tell when it's coming...then I get a tiny circle of wavy lines and blurred vision...it then explands larger and larger until my whole vision is obscured by blurry, wavy lines. This usually lasts from a half hour to an hour. I then get the slight headache that lurks around a few days sometimes...i can feel it if I cough or sneeze or have any jerky head movements. it often happens a few days in a row; almost like it's lying dormant waiting to "reactivate." anyway, it is horribly annoying...it interferes with work and driving, etc. and then the fear of it coming back causes problems too. sometimes i'll pop four advil at the onslaught and i even find that a small cup of coffee sometimes works to shorten the duration of the blurry vision. Any other ideas or clues on how I can minimize this, prevent it from happening or prevent it from coming back again and again after the first one? I would appreciate any input or advice. Thanks. Nan

I can totally relate to these eye/occular migraines. When I was younger I suffered from migraine w/aura w/headache-I suffered from these types of migraines for about 12 years. After I had my second child, I was 34, I started suffering from eye/occular migraines usually w/o the headache. They are scary, annoying and they absolutely interfere with my life. I actually do not drive anymore for fear that I will have one of these episodes while on the road. Luckily I have been able to stay at home with my children because I don't know how I would have been able to hold down a job. As strange as it seems, I can tell which type of migraine I'm getting. If it's a migraine w/aura w/headache I usually have time to take a few tylenol and lessen the severity but my eye/occular migraines-no warnings. I just get scotoma vision, zig zags, spotty and blurry vision-a cross eyed feeling that usually causes dizziness. I sometimes will also get numbness in my tongue, teeth, gums and lips. I have problems swallowing many pills so I haven't tried any preventatives but what has made a huge difference for me in terms of severity and frequency is a bc pill that my dr suggested that may help with my migraines and it had made a huge difference. Yasmin is the bc pill. I went from having 16-20/mth to maybe 4/mth and they are usually about 5-10 mins long only.
These types of migraines (occular) are just as bad as the migraine w/headache. I've suffered from both and in my case I feel as though my occular migraines were more debilitating then my migraines w/headache.
I hope you can find something that will help you with the auras, I know how hard they are to live with and unless you've experienced them no one can understand.
Good luck, my thoughts are with you,
Chris

Hi Nannie8, I get the ocular migraines, too. Just the aura, with very mild dull headache (sometimes). Sometimes you can identify the trigger that causes them. In my case, it seems to be a sudden glare from the sun. I've had lots of eye problems, and pretty light sensitive now, so I know I will get this if I get a sudden flash (say from sun hitting a windshield or mirror). So, I always make sure to wear dark sunglasses and try to avoid really bright lights.
If I start seeing that aura, I immediatly take Ibuprophen or other NSAID to ward off any headache.
I also never had these until I hit menopause, so it may me a hormonal trigger too. My friend gets really bad migraines when her period starts. And a few other women in my office get the auras, and we're all at that menopause age. So I think homrmones are a big connection. Plus, migraines seem to hit women a lot more than men. Coincidence?
Just wanted to add my experience, in case it can help.

Ocular migraines are auras w/o the headache. Auras w/ the headache are classic migraines. It's all perspective LeeAnn. From where Midwestmom, Ratman, and I sit, we probably think you're pretty lucky if you just get the aura. Now I hate the aura more than anything. I'd probaby RATHER get a bad headache than those auras. They scare the crap out of me. But the auras pass in an hour or so. The aura + headache keeps some of us out for days. Make of it what you will. but I would be a little more sensitive to those of us who feel like you are a little luckier for only having to suffer through 1/8 of what we have to suffer through. It sucks that any of us have to suffer through this junk. We're not bitter toward you, but if we had a choice, we'd take 1 hour over 2 days or so.

I get auras that start mild and gradually get worse. They last about a half hour and then the headache hits. It's not THAT bad but it's enough to be annoying and it can linger for a couple of days. The aura can be very debilitating if you are at work, in your car, etc. I was driving and got the aura symptoms and it was a struggle to know what was in front of me or on the side of me. Usually if it happens at work, I just explain to people that I can only see "half" of their face because I"m getting a migraine. I guess if teh headache isn't that bad, I can deal with the annoyance of the auras. I will take an Excedrin Migraine as soon as the aura begins. That usually helps the headache be a little less painful.

Hi there...

I get migraines with Aura like Ratman and CalgaryGirl. Or should I say I did at one time. I have not had one in eight months and that is the longest in fifteen years I have gone without one.

I got extremely ill last Spring with multiple symptoms, heart palps., digestive issues, chills, night sweats, extreme weight loss, severe fatigue, really bad and more frequent migraines with aura, the list goes on forever...

I finally after six months of searching was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and two tick borne coinfections called Babesia and Ehrlichia. I had two negative lyme disease tests through conventional labs then went through IgeneX labs in CA and was very positive for all the above mentioned infections.

I have been treating since last November with antibiotic therapy and I have not had a migraine with aura since. I had two really horrendous ones in the first two months of treatment...one sent me to the hospital...I was projectile vomiting, the aura kept coming back over and over, and the numbness in my mouth, face and hands was not going away.

So, I don't know whether to attribute the migraine to lyme or some other bacterial infection....interesting to think about...

Anyway, I feel for all of you...I know how debilitating it can be...

NCgirl88

Hi Nan, I know just how you feel. I am 21 years old and have been getting migraines with aura since I was 17. The first time I got the aura I thought I was going blind. I get a zig zag crescent that starts as a small dot in my central vision then moves out to my perifial vision and goes away. It usually lasts about 20 minutes. I try not to freak out and just lay down in a dark room until it passes. I too get a migraine afterwards, sometime I even vomit from it. But then there are times when I get the aura and the migraine is not that bad, however I am still sensitive to light and sound the rest of the day. I am now 22 weeks pregnant and in my first trimester the migraines were so frequent and made me so sick to my stomach. I actually could'nt work for a month.
I have to tell you that in my opinion the auras are worse than the migraine pain. Honestly I'd rather just have a headache and no crazy light thing before hand. Its so horrible! Lately I have been getting a migraine about every 3 weeks, usually when its when wake up in the morning...And you want to hear the crazy thing, sometimes I can see the aura in my dream and I wake up and its really there! But I'd rather have it in the morning than when I am at work, the store, driving, or anywhere away from my home. I don't think people really know how scary it is unless they have had an aura themselves. My father also gets the same type of aura I do and when he was younger he got the migraine but he told me as he got older now he only gets the aura. Thanks for passing it down to me dad! I have had to leave work on several occasions when I got one, of course after the aura passed. But try explaining to your boss and coworkers you are having a flashing zig zag in your vision and you need to lay down and then go home. They probably have no idea. I wish there was a cure for auras associated with migraines. I'm glad I am not alone. God bless all of you.

-Amber