Does anyone else suffer from Aura Migraines?

[Twoweekcruise]

Sorry, this isn’t an AIBU, I’ve put this here for traffic as I am so scared of these auras. I’ll get it moved if needed.
Does anyone else get aura migraines?
I first experienced them 16 years ago age 32, when pregnant for the first time then again 2 years later during my second pregnancy. I had very few after that, during my late 30’s.
I am now 48 and for the last 8 years or so I have been getting more and they seem to becoming more frequent.
My trigger must be hormonal because I get them during my period, usually the 2nd or 3rd day. My mum also got them and my younger sister also occasionally sufferers.
I absolutely HATE them. Even after 16 years they still scare the hell out of me and trigger panic attacks.
They start off like I suddenly can’t see properly, if I look at someone I can only see some of their features or on a clock face numbers will be missing, it then turns to a definite blind spot which then becomes a small curled up zig zag which slowly unfurls until I then have a huge psychedelic zig zag right across my vision. I have no choice then but to sit or lay and cover my eyes for about 20-30 mins until it passes. Sometimes a headache will follow but often there is nothing other than a weird spaced out/washed out feeling which can last a day or two.
I have mentioned it to my GP several times but they don’t seem particularly interested. I have had two this week and have booked to have my eyes tested.
Can anyone relate to this? Do you take any meds for them? Is there anything which can be taken to prevent auras starting? I drive for a job and am in constant fear I will get one whilst driving down the motorway.

Mine are menstrual related. Before the zigzags, I feel very cold & get very thirsty. Paracetamol & metoclopramide along with lying in the dark can head one off or lift it if I’ve woken up with one.

Funnily enough, I had one this morning: shimmering light in the upper left-hand corner of my vision.

I took a sumaptriptan, like I would for a full-blown migraine, and it went away after 30 minutes or so.

It's only about 5th time I've had one, and I've been having migraines for nearly 50 years.

Ditto all of you, exactly the same symptoms sometimes accompanied by pins and needles in the hands.
My go to solution is 50mg sumatriptan together with 2 Anadin extra, always seems to nip it in the bud within around 15 minutes, think it's the caffeine as a cup of tea also helps.

Yes. Worse since I had kids. I think I've been through every possible medication other than the botox and none do much.

Yes, I have them too. I also found the aura “helpful” in that I knew when to take Ibuprofen, which made the whole thing a bit more bearable. Mine was linked originally to the combined pill. They stopped when I came off it, and restarted several years later when my GP allowed me a trial couple of months on the combined pill again. They lessened significantly again once I ditched that. Now I mostly get the occasional silent migraine (the aura without the headaches). My triggers are bright lights at eye level - can’t live with the naked bulbs however good they look - disturbed sleep, and having both cheese and chocolate close together (e.g. cheesy main and chocolate desert).
A friend also has silent migraines, and the neurologist she saw said that people who get them are often also travel sick, and have pregnancy nausea. Both are the case for both me and her.

Hi..have had these (with similar aura) since I was a teenager. As an adult I once got them 3 times a month. Then the doctor prescribed sumatriptan. It didn't help much. I prefer taking migraleve and going to bed. I lived in fear of getting them while driving..makes me blind for 20 minutes and nauseous! Definitely related to periods or when I am dehydrated and have a bad cold. Anyway, zi noticed that I didn't have any when I was pregnant or breastfeeding so did my research, asked for the pill..can only have progesterone only pills but that did the trick! No more migraines. On depo for the first time and still no migraine (fingers crossed) - would that be an option for you. Its so debilitating these migraines with aura. Hope you all find something that helps!

I get migraines with the aura, I take Sumatripton from the GP, if I can take it as soon as I feel one coming on it usually nips it in the bud.
My mum used to take Naratripton, they also helped her.
My GP advised against taking co-codomal for a migraine as they can make you feel sick which can worsen a migraine, he said to avoid anything which contains codeine including over the counter pain relief like Migraleve

Bizarrely I suffer just twice a year, once at the start of summer and then once during the winter.
At the first sign of my vision going I take Migraleve and go to bed. I can usually sleep it off after a few hours, but whilst trying to get to sleep I always get a most annoying ' ear worm' song which I just can't get out of my head.
Once when I tried to fight it by not going to bed my hands & face went numb and I lost the ability to speak...I thought I was having a stroke! It was so frightening that I've never let it get that stage again.

I think mine were cured by an osteopath or physiotherapist who did something to my neck at the base of my skull, never had one since

I used to have theses (haven't had one for a couple of years, so touch wood that they've mysteriously disappeared). The one thing I found that could help was that at the very first signs of one coming on, I'd really massage my nape, pretty much as hard as I could bear. I did this because I was told by my ophthalmologist that often these migraines were linked to nerves in the back of the neck being slightly pinched (or something like that). In any case it seemed to work, it certainly won't do any harm to try.

@Fomofo

I think mine were cured by an osteopath or physiotherapist who did something to my neck at the base of my skull, never had one since

That fits in with what I wrote!

Lachatte that must have been what the osteopath did!

Yes I get maybe only one or two a year.

I will first lose the vision in my right eye and that side of face will also go numb. The 'numb sensation' moves across my face from right to left. When I get my vision back in the right eye, the left will then go fuzzy.

Once that passes I sometimes get a headache, sometimes not. But physically I feel like I been hit by bus. A good sleep sorts me out.

I had them a lot as a child but grew out of it. Never really been able to pin point what triggers it

I've had migraines since I was 15, got my first aura migraine 5 years ago while home alone with 2yo dts, I was utterly terrified.

I get them, with the added bonus of not being able to talk because it comes out as gobbledegook!

The herbal remedy feverfew helps me like no other medication.

I also have a very good idea of my triggers. The main ones are chocolate and flashing lights (but also humid weather, loud bangs, sulphites eg in red wine or too much smoked mackerel) and I avoid those very strictly to the point that I will go a long way round to avoid flashing Christmas lights on a house, or ask for flashing Christmas decorations in a cafe to be turned off if they’re in my line of vision.

Triggers are additive so I can occasionally get away with the odd chocolate biscuit if the weather’s dry and there are no flashing lights!

My grandma had them in adolescence and menopause but they went away after so fingers crossed yours will not last forever x

I had this exact thing when I was driving home from work the other day. Then a headache that got worse and worse and pins and needles that went down my arm? Very odd

Yeah I had one of these the other month out of the blue. zigzag lines just like your picture. Never had one before or since.

@LaChatte

I used to have theses (haven't had one for a couple of years, so touch wood that they've mysteriously disappeared). The one thing I found that could help was that at the very first signs of one coming on, I'd really massage my nape, pretty much as hard as I could bear. I did this because I was told by my ophthalmologist that often these migraines were linked to nerves in the back of the neck being slightly pinched (or something like that). In any case it seemed to work, it certainly won't do any harm to try.

That's very interesting. My neck has been aching and tight for decades.

I have these, not frequently enough to look into treatment though. I just try and sleep them off and they pass within a few hours.

@Imonlydoingwhatican

Yes, i get them too, blind spots and also letters jumping from the page. i also get pins and needles travel from my fingers all the way through my body till its focused on the tip of my nose and gums. I also get confusion and speech issues 9/10 i end up in a and e with suspected stroke. Very rarely do i get pain with them.

I get the pins and needles too. Found that really disconcerting at first. I’ve had an aura migraines this morning and still have the pins and needles in my left hand this afternoon.

I get them too OP. I'm in my early thirties and they started in my late twenties. GP isn't concerned. I visited optician who also isn't concerned.

My only advice is that immediately on noticing I am getting patches in my vision, I take painkillers, lie down and close my eyes. It passes after 30 minutes and I can usually avoid a migraine that way.

I absolutely hate them and can't work out what triggers them.

I get almost exactly what you describe. It is like a jagged-edged flashing "C" that starts small and grows larger and larger until it disappears off my visual field. So weird.

They happen randomly although I think more if I am very tired.

Sometimes I get a mild headache but usually not. As you say, a tired and spaced out feeling.

I thought my Entyvio infusions were increasing the frequency but my Gastroenterologist didn't seem interested.

My Dad had them too.

I would get this every month just before or when my period started. Vision would go very weird then banging headache within 30 mins. It was getting depo injections which stopped my periods that helped, never had a 'meyegraine' since

Chesirecat99 I definitely can not afford private treatment but will definitely take a look, thank you.
TatianaBis I was always lead to believe that ocular migraines only occur in one eye at a time (which I never have) and migraine with aura are what I (and it seems, many of us) sadly suffer from? I can’t take beta blockers as I have low blood pressure but I am due to ask a consultant for a prescription for Nortriptyline for another health complaint, so fingers crossed they could help with the auras too.
SirVixofVixHall I do wonder if low progesterone could play a part with me too as I have some ongoing gynae issues which I’ve been told is due to low progesterone.
Smokeahontas I too get very cold, and shivery during an episode.
FomofoLaChatte that’s interesting, my neck and base of skull often hurts after, I asked dh to massage it today and it really helped.

I have had them on and off since I was a teenager. I get a mild headache or no headache. They last about half an hour and then I feel tired for a few hours afterwards. I'm not sure what triggers them although I have noticed them a few times when eating out so particular foods could be a trigger.