Anyone suffer from aura migraine? How do they leave you feeling afterwards?

[BorntoDillyDally]

Even though I have experienced these for 20 years they still never fail to terrify the hell out of me.

I got my first migraine with aura during my pregnancies then at the beginning of each period. I am now in perimenopause and they come randomly, so must be a hormonal trigger for me.

I hate them with a passion. Starts off as a blind spot in my vision which becomes a weird flashing zig zag which lasts half an hour or so. I often have no choice but to go and lie down in the dark.

I often don't get much of a headache after but they leave me feeling really weird, anxious, spaced out and so so tired. Sometimes I will very confused too.

I woke with one this morning and now feel so weird, 3 hours on. So tired and spaced out.

Does anyone else get this? After all these years I don't think there is anything I can do to prevent them happening (my mum always suffered from them and so does my sister).

I get them. I take painkillers at the first flashy bit as I do sometimes get a mild pressure headache afterwards. I tend to power through, although they do make be tired.

Interestingly, since I've started on new ADHD meds, I'm hardly getting them. I'm definitely less stressed and anxious, and see this as the trigger behind the attacks now.

Essentially, I have to look after my stress levels and keep them as low as I can.

That is very interesting as I am on a waiting list for an ADHD assessment.

I was very anaemic at one point and thought they were related to that because I had iron infusions and didn't have an aura for at least a year after.

Yes! I feel very discombobulated and a bit like I've been hit by a truck for 24 hours afterwards. It feels a bit pathetic! I guess it does something to your brain that we under-estimate!

Yes I do! Well - I think they're the same as what you're experiencing. I've been told they're ocular migraines. I don't get them often, but when I do they're usually triggered by stress. At least I think that's what the trigger is. I do suffer from tension headaches quite badly as well, so I'm not sure if the two are linked?

For me, mine start out as extreme blurred peripheral vision. I literally can't see anything clearly unless it's directly in front of my nose.

The only solution I've found is to give my eyes a rest. Close them for 15-30 mins and try and relax. Screens seem to make it worse, so no phones, TV, etc for an hour or so.

I found them very distressing when I first started to get them. I thought I was going blind! I'm entering peri now, but I'm hoping that doesn't cause them to become more frequent.

I'll be watching this thread with interest to see what others have to say! I've always wondered it they're due to a vitamin deficiency or something.

Yes I feel very... "wobbled" (for want of a better word) afterwards. Like I've been through the mill. My moods are all over the place the next day too. I do get horrific blinding headaches as part of my migraines though (after the aura) which are so bad I end up vomiting if the sumatriptan doesn't kick in properly.
In my life I also had two occular migraines (aura with no pain afterwards) where I lost my vision for a couple of hours. Those didn't seem to leave me as wobbled as the usual ones.

Mine are stress related, and thankfully I don't seem to get them very often. I take painkillers immediately, which helps take away that spaced out feeling afterwards. I can barely string a sentence together in the middle of one, but now rarely suffer any after effects.

Ignore the times on this image, because each stage can last hours or even days, but the principle is accurate.

I describe it as a migraine hangover. I have the shadow of where the pain was for days.

@PaintDecisions What a great graphic. Thanks for posting this.

Forgot to mention, mine started with peri. 5 years on, I'm nearly out the other side.

Yes I feel spaced out and tired after mine too - mine sound very similar to yours op. The aura is the worst bit, the headache and nausea I get are manageable.

My best description is feeling like I have a hangover. I get cravings for random unhealthy foods, extremely thirsty and exhausted

I get these. Probably started about 5 years ago so again likely related to peri.
I just feel really strange afterwards. Mostly no headache as such but a pressure and just feel out of sorts.

I’ve had them for many years. I do get a real sense that one is coming on. I have to lie (or sit down) depending on where I am. The fact I get a warning before the visual symptoms is helpful. I have to close my eyes and drink water and take paracetamol. The visual disturbance usually lasts about half an hour to one hour. It consists of flashing zig zags (like a hologram). I feel nauseous and very spaced out. I don’t always get a headache afterwards. Makes me feel exhausted for the rest of the day. I’ve twice had a vocal migraine as well where I can’t find words or they come out as gibberish - very scary indeed.
The things that seem to set me off are light (bright sunlight, lots or artifial light, broken flickering shop lighting.). Tiredenss and dehydration nearly always trigger an attack. Consequently I drink loads of water to try to prevent one.

I have aura and vestibular migraines...rarely any pain.

They start with bright sparkles in my vision, often my vision starts to move too slowly (like it's buffering or an 8-bit computer game), I get sharp tingling down the right side of my face and scalp, I get dizzy. I can usually sleep it off if I immediately go to bed and sleep for a couple of hours.

Afterwards I feel like I'm coming down off painkillers. Everything is fragile and distorted for 12 hours or so. I feel otherworldly, like I'm an observer rather than existing in the real world.

I remember my neurologist telling me, migraines aren't a headache, it's a neurological attack. Which makes me feel a bit better during the process.

Tiredness and stress cause mine - starts in the edge and travels across- normally blurred fuzzy movements. Oddly I don’t get a headache after but my stomach goes into meltdown (tmi) and I feel wiped out.

I've had these since I was very young, the aura for me is little bright spots but then becomes wavy/blurred making it difficult to see often becoming dizzy. The intensity of the pain/throbbing that follows is something else. They are debilitating and if possible, I have to lie down on the side which is throbbing in a dark room. The pain killers I have to take are strong and often make me feel sick. The migraine hangover lasts some time, I feel weak and exhausted. This part is often less talked about but a migraine impacts more than the attack itself. Sumatriptan helps if I can take them early enough.

I've had 3. There is a tiny bit of warning. Then the vision goes odd. 1st time I was hysterical. Good chat with the GP, so 2nd and 3rd time I simple closed my eyes, and rested head on my desk at work (warned my colleague) or went to bed. I'm OK afterwards, but am certain stress is a trigger.

Have you tried a Triptan as soon as the aura starts? Often that lessens the duration and intensity of an attack for me.

after a bad migraine I feel extremely ordinary for 1-3 days. Like I'm recovering from flu but with much more cognitive confusion. It's awful.

Mine start as a little yellow light that grows, turns to black and white zigzags with a bit of red and yellow in there, before settling into a nice, large zigzag patterned C shape, impeding my vision so I can't read for a bit. Generally only there for around twenty minutes.

Discombobulated is definitely the word to describe the after effects. Love that word.

I feel spacey and need carbs.

Mine are hormone related. The current delightful peri-menopause phase is giving me them 3 days in a row before my period starts.

I've experienced the gibberish after, that really scares me.

I suffer from IBS and the aura migraines really do a number on my digestive system too 😞

That's exactly what makes me are like.

Ive found my people.
Ive suffered migraines for years its awful to live with ive cut out all main triggers that as helped me.
But i still have them sometimes with pain sometimes not.
The migraine hangover is real i live in sunshades if i go out sometimes have them on in doors.
My symptoms are never ending from heavy arms to flashing lights awful pain in my eyes.
Or i sometimes have little halos or tiny black floaters cobweb one aswell.
My worse is like im under water then i see silver or gold zig zags had 5 of these in one day.
Sometimes i cant read because my brain cant make out words brain fog cant understand anything cant remember anything but everything is very familiar.
Then i get the im doing something but am i really doing it cant explain that one.
My classic symptom is cant get my words out even if im looking at it happened the other day i could not say bread flour i was looking at the flour and the word would not come out so i said bread powder instead.
When i get a vestibular its sometimes spinning or a slight spin if i move to fast also like being pulled from the inside.
I no longer drink tea as that was a huge trigger for my aura i now drink coffee and coke it works for me.
after a huge bad migraine im wiped out for a good 3 days.
Often have my head in a bucket oh the fun with migraines.
I have them so bad i get pip.
I could go on with this but i`ll leave it there.