Aura migraine - any other sufferers out there?

[ImaHogg]

I’ve just woken up with one.
I absolutely hate them.
I’ve had them for 15 years and mine must be triggered by hormones because they started in my first pregnancy, then the second and now I get them in the 2nd or 3rd day of my period and getting worse (I’m 48).
They start as a sudden blind spot which progressively gets bigger, from that blind spot I lose my vision (ie can’t see a full clock face or only see half of someone’s face), the blind spot then turns into a psychedelic zig-zag flash which goes right across my vision and gets bigger u til it moves away. I then have to lay down with eyes covered as I basically can’t see much at all. It lasts around half an hour and quite often I don’t actually get much of a headache but they leave me exhausted, nauseous and feeling very weird and spacey. Some very bad ones have left me with numb hands and lips and feeling very cold and confused.
I absolutely hate them and have never gotten used to them. They scare the hell out of me and I worry about strokes as they run in my family and apparently you have a greater risk of stroke as an aura sufferer!
My mum and sister get them too.
Doctors and opticians don’t appear that interested tbh.
I take neurofen to ward off a headache but nothing stops the aura.
I fear mine will get worse as I head into Perimenopause.
My day will be buggered now I’ve had one this morning.
Any fellow sufferers out there? Have you found anything which helps?

I've had them all my life, but since starting HRT at the age of 52 they've been a lot less frequent. I don't seem to be triggered by anything in particular, but I just sudden realise I can't see people's noses when I'm looking straight at them, or I'm missing the middle of the tv screen. Then the zigzags start like an arch shape, which gets bigger and more spread out, until it disappears from view off to my right. Takes about 40 to 50 mins from beginning to end.

Same here OP. Mine are definitely hormone related. The aura don’t hurt but I am wiped out for the rest of the day after one. I also get regular migraines.

I have had aura migraines since. I was 13.i remember feeling quite worried about my first aura and my mother calmed me down but I was so ill for 2 days. Vomiting, banging headache, feeling dizzy and wobbly etc. Over the years I have tried different medications but the only pain medication that works at all is cocodamol 30 /500mg that I take for something else. They are not always as bad as they used to be. Sometimes after I have taken pain meds I only get a very minor thump and I can carry on but now and again they still make me need to lay down.

What helped me was triptans, then menopause.

Fellow sufferer here. Nothing you can do I don’t think. I dislike them a lot, especially as for me they are also a warning that a migraine is on it’s way. They last about half an hour.

I’ve tried for many years to ignore them. However I’ve found myself doing mad things like chairing a meeting with them, unable to read the agenda... just soldiering on.

I've had 2... kaleidoscope ocular migraines. Both in our local Asda, so I'm guessing a combination of perimenopausal hormones and the lighting...

I am 49 and have had migraines, some with aura, since I was 18. Mine are definitely hormonal.

Two things have really helped me. I take a low dose of Amitriptyline for prevention and am also on a new contraceptive pill designed for women in their 40s/early 50s. The pill, called Qlaira, is HRT based, with much safer estrogen than the synthetic estrogen in regular birth control pills, so it’s safe to use even of you're a migraine sufferer. It’s massively me.

• helped me

Push your GP for a referral to a neurologist xx

@BeyondMyWits there must be something about the lighting in Asda. Ive taken aura migraines in a few different Asda stores within minutes of going in. It doesn't happen in other supermarkets.

I'm another one who's had several kaleidoscope ocular migraines, terrifying and amazing at the same time. Things start to look distorted, then the flashing zig zags take over my whole vision for about 20 minutes. I get no headache at all and feel fine but a bit shaken afterwards. I've no idea what sparks them off.

I've lost three close family members to strokes though, dear me.

Ugh hate these I get one every so often

Started when pregnant with dc2 I was at the shops and thought was having some sort of stroke or something. Rang midwife who said was a migraine

They're horrible. I don't get much of a headache but feel sick after

Yeah it's awful, have some kind of migraine most of the time, sometimes its just the aura without much of a headache but have bad vestibular and hemiplegic symptoms. Am basically treatment resistant as have tried everything with v limited success, but there are a lot of preventative treatments that work for a lot of people so worth a try if you are getting migraines more than a few times a month.

I’ve suffered with aura migraine since age 11. I now take topiramate daily to reduce the frequency and rizatriptan melts at the first sign. The rizatriptan will stop the headache starting or get rid of the headache if I don’t take it in time. Proper medication that works changed my life. Nurofen or any other OTC are not strong enough to even bother with. I can’t take the combined pill due to migraine but take the mini pill which also has had the happy advantage of stopping periods, haven’t had one for 12 years now - bonus!

I get aura and classical migraines. Triptans prescribed by my GP seem to work pretty well for the aura ones. I get Ondansetron / Zofran for nausea & vomiting. If I take my pills ASAP it can literally stop the migraine before it happens. I got my first aura migraine when I was 22 yo.

For the classic migraines (had since puberty) I use ergotamine (cafergot). It’s an old fashioned vasoconstrictor (like my grandfather used to use this medication it’s that old ). I’ve had trouble sourcing it in Australia but it was available when I lived in the UK. I now buy it from some dodgy website that ships it from Thailand or India. I’ve been buying it this way for about 10 years now.

migraine.com/blog/mthfr-genetic-mutation-affecting-migraine-treatment

I get these too. No headache or pain thankfully, just starts with a spot of light in the centre of my vision which slowly becomes a C-shaped arc of zig-zaggy sparkly stuff, sometimes arcing to the left, sometimes to the right? It slowly grows and there's about 5 to 10 minutes where it's really annoying, and then it's like a huge pulsating arc which grows outwards until it's completely around my field of vision, until it's so 'outward' that it's no longer there at all. I get a sense of relief and mental clarity when it's gone. The first time it happened scared me, but now I know what it is I just ride it out. I find it helps to turn the lights off and pace up and down in a darkened room while I wait for it to take its course.

I get them. No pain but aphasia and the sparkly zigzag thing, almost like a rip in my vision. Mine are hormones related. I’ve also noticed a weird phenomenon when they’re imminent- I start to think I recognise people. That feeling when you see someone familiar but you can’t quite place them, like if you bump into the doctors receptionist at the swimming baths - you think it’s someone you know but the context is confusing - well that.

@ImaHogg

Urgh! I got another at 4.30 this afternoon, not sure if I have ever had two in a day which is a bit disconcerting. JamieFrasersBigSwingimgKilt I will definitely try those, willing to try anything. sonsmum wil get some in thank you Thanks all for the tips

Sorry to hear that but I really hope the isoflavones work for you. The aura migraines are so disconcerting. After watching Davina's show on HRT I'm seriously considering talking to a doctor. I have so many annoying symptoms. Good luck!

I've had these regularly since my 20s. Never worked out what triggered them but I suspect it is hormonal as I have far fewer since I had a coil fitted a few years ago

I get these too and stress and tiredness trigger mine. I get the aura for 30 minutes or so followed by a migraine. I find trying to sleep during the aura part can sometimes let me sleep through the worst of it. The migraine can last for ages though- I’ve recently been prescribed triptans by the doctor but fortunately haven’t had the opportunity to try them yet.

[quote dylanthedragon]@BeyondMyWits there must be something about the lighting in Asda. Ive taken aura migraines in a few different Asda stores within minutes of going in. It doesn't happen in other supermarkets.[/quote]
I’m another Asda migrainer. I always got them as a teenager if I went to Asda with my mother. I’ve never been altogether happy in fluorescent lights and put it down to that.

I have had aura migraines since I was about 15 . I can still remember getting my first one on my way home from school. Got home and cried as there was no one there and I didn’t know what was happening.
I find aspirin tends to work if I take it as soon as it starts , also sometimes I can sleep it off .I generally get them in a small cluster and then nothing for a long time .
I’m not sure if wine , chocolate and cheese triggers it or if I crave them when I’m tired/ hormonal. Definitely too much screens or lack of sleep doesn’t help though .

This is so interesting because I've been reading this thread while feeling unwell. I couldn't describe it - I went to my friend's funeral and suddenly felt very dizzy and utterly exhausted for 2 days afterwards. This culminated in feeling nauseous and throwing up.

I get the 'conventional' migraines with striking headache over one eye, but hadn't had one of these before. Looking back, as I was driving away from the funeral, the sun was blindingly bright, I wished I'd had my sunglasses and I felt a bit like I was dehydrated. There were some strange flashes across my eyes. I wonder if they actually began a few hours before that, as I played music in my car and had an odd sense that the music was a bit too meaningful to me.

My DH gave me some of his meds - one of the triptans - and it worked. I fell asleep in a dark room yesterday evening with a t-shirt across my eyes (I normally don't sleep in the evening!).

Does this sound like one? The abdominal pain was very unusual, but I'm wondering now if I have had them in the past and not realised. I've been under quite a lot of stress this week, too.

That does sound like a migraine TheCreationOfDistance