today i was just sitting in class then all the sudden parts of my vision went missing and i couldnt read because chunks of the words were gone this only happens to me about 2-3 times a year its been going on for about 3 years or so i usually dont get headaches from them but today i had to leave because my vision and i had a killer headache on the left side of my head and somewhat on my eye sort of also i recognized today that i was seeing a shape in my vision that was kind of brightish i just went to the eye doctor about a couple weeks ago and they took pictures and stuff for other problems i had and said everything looked normal and okay i also felt kind of sick to my stomache like i was going to throw up I get complicated migraines where i get confused and half my body did go numb they told me to just take a one a day vitaman and Its okay, what your saying sounds like migraines with aura i would goto a doctor and see if they can do anything to help you because they do have medicines for that! Good luck heres some info!
The aura of migraines
The two main types of migraines are those that occur without aura or those that occur with aura. Aura refers to an array of psychologic or neurologic disturbances that occur shortly before migraine onset. Compared to migraine without aura, migraine with aura is the less common type, but it is perhaps more medically intriguing, and for patients who get them, more unsettling. (Aura also can occur without a subsequent migraine, a factor that can result in mischaracterization of the migraine type. More on this below.)
Auras typically last 5 to 20 minutes and involve symptoms such as vertigo (motion sickness or dizziness), imbalance, confusion or numbness; but most auras consist of visual disturbances such as partial vision loss, the appearance of "special effects" and distortion of objects. Sometimes the visual effects can be dramatic, says Dr. Mays鈥攆lashing lights, complex color patterns and shapes (e.g., triangles and dots), and floaters (the perception that some tiny foreign object is floating across the eye). An individual might also see shimmering or zig zag lines in the peripheral vision and blurriness in central vision.
"Children who develop auras prior to migraines may experience visual distortions," says Dr. Mays. "Certain objects may appear larger or smaller than they really are."
The "one-eye" migraine
In a related condition called ocular migraine, which is even less common than migraine with aura, individuals experience the same visual disturbances that occur during an aura, but the symptoms only occur in one eye. The aura that occurs before an ocular migraine is commonly followed by a migraine headache. And the same triggers that can bring on migraine with or without aura also can cause ocular migraine.
Ocular migraine can produce various degrees of vision loss or obstruction. Some patients, says Dr. Mays, report blind spots or "holes," referring to missing sections in the normal visual field, or they may experience a shade of black or gray over the visual field. Some people compare the visual phenomena of ocular migraine to the patterns produced by an old television with faulty reception, says Dr. Mays. "Others say it鈥檚 like looking through watery glass."
Ocular migraine symptoms are temporary and do not harm the eye; but they can interfere with daily activities, such as reading and driving and can interrupt the work day.
Fear about vision loss caused by ocular migraine often leads an individual to seek medical care, says Dr. Mays. In some cases, the first stop is the ophthalmologist鈥檚 office. That鈥檚 fine, says Dr. Mays, but people diagnosed with ocular migraine should also see a neurologist so that conditions such as stroke, which can cause similar visual symptoms, can be ruled out and so that the migraine itself can be effectively managed. Other conditions that produce ocular-migraine like symptoms include retinal artery thrombosis (blood clot in a vein inside the eye) and, as noted, migraine with aura.
Confusing auras
Although ocular migraine and migraine with aura are very similar experiences, one key difference is the source of the vision disturbances. In migraine with aura, the occipital cortex of the brain is the source of vision disturbances. In ocular migraine, it is the retinal blood vessels inside the eye. The retina is the thin lining on the back, inner part of the eye that prepares images for processing by the brain. An individual experiencing the aura of ocular migraine could cover or close one of the eyes and stop the symptoms. Not so for an individual experiencing traditional aura. "The symptoms affect both left- and right-sided vision," says Dr. Mays. "The source of the problem is the brain, not the eyes."
For some reason, says Dr. Mays, auras that occur without a subsequent migraine often get labeled鈥攂y patients and physicians鈥攁s ocular migraines. She speculates that it鈥檚 a combination of a lack of knowledge about migraines and the notion that if there are visual problems but no migraine, it must be an "eye," or ocular, problem.
Frequency is unpredictable
Migraine frequency varies. Some people have them once in a lifetime; others have them twice a month. Some of Dr. Mays鈥?patients have daily migraines; in most of these cases, the migraine occurs without aura.
Certain foods, such as processed meat, aged cheese and red wine can trigger migraines, but only about 10 percent of Dr. Mays鈥?patients report being affected by food triggers. Other triggers include changes in schedule, says Dr. Mays.
"I advise my patients to keep to a regular schedule, avoid missing meals and to maintain a consistent sleep and rising schedule," says Dr. Mays. "Too little or too much sleep can trigger migraines."
Weather changes also can trigger migraines, especially a rise or fall of barometric pressure.
Treating migraines
The effectiveness of migraine treatment depends on several factors, including whether a patient has identified likely triggers, how successful the patient is in avoiding identified triggers, how proactive the patient is in using treatments such as relaxation or drugs and how well the patient responds to treatment.
Drugs effective for treating migraine pain include over-the-counter anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Alleve) and aspirin (Excedrin Migraine). A newer class of migraine agents, known as triptans, has changed migraine treatment, says Dr. Mays. The seven triptans include sumatriptan (Imitrex), zolmitriptan (Zomig), and naratriptan (Amerge). Unlike traditional migraine medications, which help the body tolerate headache pain, triptans help manage the source of migraine pain by reducing "swelling" of the blood vessels in the brain and reducing inflammation, thus helping alleviate migraine pain.
Triptans are not recommended, however, for ocular migraines, because the constricting affect they have on blood vessels could cause problems in the retinal vessels, resulting in vision loss. The best treatment for ocular migraine, says Dr. Mays, is prevention鈥攁voiding triggers, minimizing stress, maintaining a consistent schedule and getting enough sleep. I get similar symptoms when it seems like the most important part of my vision is blocked out by some strange....blur or shiny ..or darkened lines and I can ever see straight. And that is a big warning that a headsplitting migrane is to come. It's probably not your eye but one of the symptoms of migrane which is seeing auras. that is definitely a migraine and you are experiencing aura. If you can sense one coming drink a lot of caffeine, it tends to help because its a vascular head ache. |
