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've had aura migraines at three points in my life - when I started my periods, through two pregnancies in my late 20s/early 30s and in perimenopause, am now aged 50. Naturally , it makes me believe mine are triggered by hormones, though I do notice if I undereat and over-exercise, that can trigger one.

I get visual disturbances and lethargy, but no awful headache or vomiting. Afterwards I feel tired, a bit wobbly and out of sorts for a day or so, but nothing major.

I feel down when I've had one. Really low in mood and tired.
Totally freaked out the first time I had one

After a full blown migraine I usually have a couple of days of feeling drained, shaky and anxious, with residual soreness in the neck and shoulder muscles - tender to the touch - and I often have diarrhoea and stomach cramps as well. Migraines are utterly foul things.

@HundredMilesAnHour thanks so much for mentioning midrid, have just ordered some to try for the next migraine.

I have had migraine with aura since I was 7, now in 50s. The aura has changed a bit over the years, and I've had some odd ones like for a while everyone's hands looked too big. A couple of years ago an aura was people's eyes looking different sizes and wonky, super strange! I also have the usual zigzag crescent qnd a blind spot, and I often can't get words out, or understand what's being said to me. They tend to follow a progression, one after the other over a couple of hours unless I can get to sleep asap. Sometimes the aura is the only thing I experience, but other times I get a blinding headache and vomiting which can last days, often if I've not been able to get to sleep quick enough at the start. If I get the headache and vomiting it can last for a long time because I can't keep painkillers down, and I had the good idea of buying paracetamol suppositories a few years ago, so if I have a particularly bad one I have that and it really helps bring it to a close.

After a migraine I feel spaced, for a couple of days. I feel sort of oddly calm, but really out of it. I also have the funny tummy during, but after can feel absolutely starving and I need to eat much more than usual for the next couple of days, usually craving salty stuff and carbs. I need more sleep after as well.

I'm coming through peri now and they have been more frequent, I take amitryptiline as a preventative as they are so disabling, which works quite well for me. I really hold out hope that after menopause is all done they might settle!

Sorry to say but I'm post menopause and they've got worse 😭

I call it my migraine hangover. Yucky feeling that lasts at least a day after the actual migraine. Pulsating pain in my head if I bend down to pick something up, washed out feeling in general. I've had them for 30 years. Now hurtling towards menopause and worrying they'll become more frequent.

I have had them regularly for many years, just as you have described. The graphic posted above is brilliant and describes them perfectly. Mine start with a general feeling of nausea before the zigzags start. If I take painkillers at that point I can often avoid the horrendous headache but still feel bad for a day or two afterwards.

Mine suddenly became more regular after a whiplash injury. Once my neck was sorted I seemed to get them less although they havent gone away completely.

Some of mine are definitely food related. I appear to be allergic to cheese, chocolate, instant coffee, red wine, all pork and related products. Others are related to skipping meals, which I now try to avoid doing, bright lights or too much heat.

Thanks everyone, sorry you all suffer with these too.

I've felt truly whacked out all day but a little brighter now.

I get the aura before some of my migraines. I always get the headache etc afterwards.

Initially I took triptans, but now I take a combination of Qulipta and Ubrelvy, which are very new meds here in the US. Not sure if they are available in the UK, and I assume you'd have to try other, cheaper preventatives/abortives first before you got to the very new, very expensive options, but it's been life-changing for me. I've gone from 10-14 migraine days per month to 1-2 at most.

Wow, that sounds fantastic. I hope you continue to do well on them, good luck.

that graph is amazing
I’ve worked out the day before a migraine I cannot stop eating and drinking water. I couldn’t work out which caused which. Seems the migraine is the cause of the hunger.

I get them occasionally. They're usually triggered by a low sun. I find lying down with my eyes shut for 20 minutes usually helps and I don't feel particularly bad afterwards. I sometimes take paracetamol. I try to observe the light show in an interested way. It probably doesn't change anything but maybe not getting stressed by it helps it go away faster.

I've had migraines with and without auras for something like 35 years. They are indeed major neurological events that last much longer than the pain phase, and I also think of the after-phase as a migraine hangover. For me, regular sleep, regular meals, limiting caffeine and regular exercise works to reduce down the triggers to hormone shifts and stress, or rather, stress release. Magnesium helps me somehow and I also take Q10 and vitamin b supplements on recommendation from a pharmacist. And during attacks, ibuprofen and paracetamol together, or triptans. They are such weird things; mine have changed from big auras and heavy heavy headaches to small sight distortions and more frequent but less intense headaches. What remains constant is the accompanying tiredness though.

Mine last about 30 minutes with absolutely no pain and feel completely normal afterwards. Feel completely wiped out the following day though.

I have about 24 hours afterwards feeling exhausted.

But also I feel a bit like if you have a bad graze and you know that if you bump it, it will really hurt again. So I'm hyper-aware that any of my triggers can set off another attack that will probably be worse than the previous one.

Does anyone have it happen where you're really stressed for a couple of days and then once that stress has lifted that's when you get the migraine? Rather than during the time when you're stressed? This happens to me quite a lot and I don't really understand it.

Yes, I touched on this in my first post. It’s not just stress (and/or lack of sleep in my case) but it’s a dramatic change in levels of this/these that can trigger a migraine. You need to manage changes gradually to avoid this happening. Annoying I know!

I believe this is known as a silent migraine (rather than an aura migraine) where you experience an aura but without the subsequent headache.

I am getting them everyday at the moment. Been going on for two weeks. Also with terrible tinnitus and facial twitching on one side.

Bloody awful.

You have my sympathy

Yip triggered by weird lighting and realised my laptop screen was on full brightness. Also noticed them starting late 30s

Yes it is that dramatic change, you put it well. I can go from 100% stressed to phew deep relax once the event is over and that's when the migraine hits. It's so hard to keep on top of it all, the last couple of years my emotions have been all over the place. Im really going to try and get a hold on it because they're getting worse and more frequent.

I found taking a low dose of amitriptyline daily really helped reduce mine. It’s a common recommendation for pain ‘prevention’. So you could talk to your GP about this?

The only other thing (that I’ve also tried, with varying degrees of success) is to try to consistently manage your stress levels. Exercise helps (if you have time - ironically not always possible when you’re stressed out at work) and I found CBT helped too. And of course the usual breathing exercises etc. I find it all a bit tedious (that’s my ADHD speaking) but it’s worth a try if you haven’t already. I find anything which might reduce/manage the level of ‘dramatic change’ is worth a go.

Migraines are horrendous. For me, the aura is like sunspots or zigzags at first, then progresses to affecting my vision so that part of the visual field is obscured. When this happens, I try to take painkillers immediately and something with caffeine. It does seem to help a bit with the pain. But in any case I have to lie down with eyes closed.

For a day or two afterward, I also experience the migraine hangover. It's awful, but in comparison to the migraine itself it comes as something of a relief.

Migraine triggers for me are some foods and drinks which I avoid like the plague when I know about them. But stress is also a trigger and that is harder to avoid.

Solidarity and sympathy to all migraine sufferers.

I haven't had migraines since menopause, but I had them regularly as a teenager and intermittently throughout my life. I had a purple and green zigzag aura, with half my field of vision completely gone, followed by nausea, then headache. After the headache I felt wrung out, yet on top of the world, like it was the best day of my life. Sometimes I had the aura, but no headache, followed by the drained feeling, but none of the euphoria.

I don't get aura migraines but do suffer with occasional debilitating migraines which send me to bed for days.

Once the pain has worn off I usually have what I can only describe as a hangover. Nauseous, exhausted, spacey and generally really out of sorts. A few things which I find help are salty foods, quite plain food and electrolytes. I can also feel quite cold so generally get around with a hot pack for days after!