If you get Migraines with aura - do periods or dehydration or bright sun set you off?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Posting for traffic as it made me so panicky.

My period's due and I feel crappy - woke up this morning starving which is unusual for me, ate breakfast and ended up back in bed, so didn't drink as much water as normal this morning.

We decided to go out and pick up a salad for lunch and it was extremely bright out - I thought I was ok but in the dark shop fucking hell, gradually about half my vision became vibrating shimmering zig zags.

Oddly, it started to resolve back out in the bright sunlight instead of getting worse and was ok after lying down for about twenty mins. Eyes seem back to normal now.

My mum and gran are familiar with these auras but they sometimes used to get a lot of pain - I think they are hereditary? I do notice an odd temporary shimmer now and again but only ever had one this bad before, again out in bright sun with no sunglasses, a few years ago.

Anyone got any experience of these? They are fucking awful.

Dehydration definitely. I drink and drink as much water as I can. Helps every time.

Yes!!! Good to meet others with the same

Direct sunlight/heat, dehydration and coffee (any of these not all together). Also there’s something about this time of year brings them on. season transition/pollen maybe?

Sunshine directly into the eyes will trigger one within a few minutes.

Periods, dehydration, flickering fluorescent tube lights (awkward as a teen working in a shop!), red wine, Chinese with too much MSG, being really tired and really hungry at the same time... It's a wonder I don't get them more often really!

Luckily mine are manageable with ibuprofen and a lie down, if I'm quick I can have the aura and then only have a normal headache rather than the thumping migraine one. Still get the hungover feeling.

Yep. Also see: chocolate, strawberries, oranges, not sure how they combine but yeah. Add to the list old fashioned strip lights (these are phasing out) and lit candles, fgs.

I get migraines with aura. They have been set off in the past by all sorts of things, some of which are normally fine - strong smelling onion, low sunlight in the Winter, hormone changes, tiredness, pregnancy etc. The first indication is normally a change in my eyesight but it can be different each time. Sometimes it's wiggly lines, sometimes I just can't read words on a page and once it was like someone had cut a strip from the middle of a photo. I don't get any pain but it feels like my brain is scrambled - I can't say my name sometimes. The only way I can get rid of them is to recognise the signs early, taking 2 ibuprofen and going to sleep.

I feel for you, they are awful. If dehydration is a trigger for you, make sure you carry water with you.

Yes, me too. I tend to put a Nunn tablet in a pint of water if I think I might get one. You have my sympathy, its shit.

Thank you all, I'm sorry you all suffer, but kind of soothed to hear that it doesn't seem that unusual. Especially when you have an unfortunate combination of bright sunlight and not enough water etc.

Yep - most of my migraines (which fortunately are few and far between) have seemingly been triggered by light. I have had auras with and without headache. If I take paracetamol and go to sleep as soon as I notice the aura i don't tend to get a headache, but I feel groggy for about 24 hours regardless. I call it a migraine hangover.

Yes it seems so for me. Horrible.

So many things set off my migraines but there's nothing worse that waking up with the onset of one or getting one early in the day, I have to take a tablet, sit in a dark room with a wet flannel on my forehead and sleep, seems normal, and you have my sympathy.

I had migraines for years, especially premenstrual. I found that a low GI diet reduced them massively.

For me it tends to be being under artificial lightening for too long coupled sometimes with stress or having to think hard.
I've suffered since the age of 11, now 37.

I really struggle with sunlight and this maybe due to having very light eyes (I'm not sure if there is any truth in it) but perhaps there is a link between having light eyes and sunlight or artificial light and migraines

Bright sunlight is definitely a trigger for mine, especially if it’s reflecting off something like a window/car/sink. Light flickering can set them off too, and I generally dislike bright lights high up, in my peripheral vision.
They’re horrible, but I do find if I can lie in the dark as soon as possible they go quite quickly (the aura anyway, then I get a three day headache).

I had them whenever I saw a bright glare reflecting on something like a window.

I stopped my combined pill several years ago and haven't had one since.

I get these auras too, mostly caused sunlight, bright overhead lights or flickering lights and stress.

My triggers are period due, strong smells like perfume or deodorant, stress.

My period is due tomorrow, and I work in a secondary school. My Yr 10 class had PE before they came to be and waaaay too many of them had been at the Lynx. Cue a migraine.

Dehydration is definitely a massive trigger for me. If I’m thirsty and don’t do something about it, I will almost certainly end up with a banging headache.

I used to get cluster migraines but they have eased and I'm perimenopausal so I do wonder if that's linked. I'm very sensitive to light still though. It used to also be triggered by a too strong peice of dark chocolate or black coffee. I think there were other trigers but I can't recall.

My father and brother are both the same re migraine and light sensitivity - my phone is permanently on night mode on the darkest light setting when indoors as well as the blue light being off. We all get the zig zag auras.

Things that I find helped was taking an aspirin to thin the blood, having something sweet like a few sips of coke and then doing gentle yoga moves and gentle hand and feet massage to get the blood flowing. But I also had prescription meds.

At different times of the month I'm more prone to migraines than other times. Sunlight, dehydration, fluctuating blood sugar.... all triggers. I haven't managed to identify specific food or drink but I'm sure there must be some. Hope you're feeling better.

I think you're right about hereditary - my DM used to get them with her periods when she was younger and her sister gets them too. My DD has no chance bless her - me and DH both get them!

Bright reflections. Sometimes I get pain, sometimes not. I also get queasiness/stomach upsets and I tend to get them in a cluster, so several the same month then none for a while.

Strong smells, especially red meat cooking smells, citrusy perfumes, too bright, too stressed, hormones, being very upset all trigger mine.
Two solpadeine in water tends to stave mine off enough that I can get an early night and sleep the rest off but I can only stomach those if I catch it early on. I never found anything else to work as well, even the triptans.
If I don't take them early enough they won't stay down and I'm snookered for two to three days.

I just get the aura sometimes. I think it's prob dehydration/hypoglycaemia that trigger them for me as they tend to come on if I've been exercising hard on a hot day or when I've not eaten enough

Bright glaring light does it to me, especially when combined with a change in air pressure - it's like a perfect storm for migraine! Am usually found inside or in the shade during summer!
Lots of water and eating relatively clean helps but when they come on, for me, it's a matter of taking neurofen and a good sleep to try to avoid the worst of it.

Certain sweeteners also trigger me. Like pp said I have to sleep with a paracetamol at the first hint of a migraine and it might go away.