Anyone suffer from migraine with aura?

[Afternooninthepark]

And can you prevent them from occurring?
I’m 45 and since pregnant with my first child 13 years ago I have suffered on/off with migraine with aura. Weirdly, I don’t get much of a headache after but I will get a really scary blind spot in my vision which then becomes a zig-zig flashing thing. It lasts about 30 mins and then I’ll get a slight headache.
I’ve always put them down to a hormone thing due to always getting them during pregnancy (it’s how I knew I was first pregnant with 2nd pregnancy) and during my periods. I usually get about 4/5 per year. However, this week I’ve had 2 and my period isn’t due till next week.
Although my mum and sister get them and I think they could be hereditary, I absolutely hate them. They leave me panicky and scared and I hate it interfering with my vision. I’m left drained after an episode and fearful for the next one. My GP isnt much help.
Does anyone sympathise? Do you have any tips how to prevent them?
I fear that, at nearly 46 this may get worse during perimenopause 🙁

Yes I do. I get them frequently so my GP prescribed a preventative which I take every day and has dramatically reduced the number of attacks I get. I also have a better prescription treatment to use should a get an attack which works ok most of the time. Aura is scary and horrible yes.

Thanks mrs. I’ll go back to my gp, see if he can help.

The zig zag flashing are similar to this.

Yes. I started with them at the birth of my DS2. Had them very badly for a few years (like you, no headache) and was told to take an aspirin every day. Eventually they pretty much stopped and I only get them now when I'm at altitude.
I had the aura, blind spots (sometimes entirely blind in my right eye) and numbness in my right arm and hand. Sometimes a slight headache as the vision returned to normal, which apparently is caused by the capillaries opening up again and letting the blood flow restore.
I found that too much exercise, tiredness etc could bring it on.

Oh and something I learned this summer is that if you get that flash that you've illustrated above, and it doesn't go away, it's not migraine, it's a detaching retina. Ask me how I know that...

I get this too- and the key for me was working out what triggers them. I did take preventative meds for a while, but ok now if I can keep triggers under control. Could there be anything else as well as hormones for you?

For me, it's being over tired, over hungry, stress, eye strain and sometimes funny lighting.

If I do feel one coming on, 3 dispersible aspirin (quicker than tablets) and a coffee will often see it off!!! One of my GP's better suggestions 😀

I get auras if dazzled by bright/reflected light, occasionally I'll get one out of the blue, but it's almost always due to lights.

The only upside is that if I get an aura I rarely get the headache/vomiting!

They tend to last about half an hour and so I sit quietly or try to have a nap to see them off. Sometimes it is one eye, sometimes both, sometimes its a small spot that works outwards and sometimes it's a big area (half my vision) and it works inwards and then vanishes

I have beta blockers but they only seemed to have countered the banging headaches and seem not to have any affect on the auras.

Yes I’ve heard that too.

Sorry, that was to Flamingjuno

I have had exactly these - flashing auras with little headache, mine looks like a flaming zorro cross in front of my eyes, and I get blind spots.

They started after I had my children and were particularly triggered by hormones.

I had a lot of investigation after I also passed out a few times, but couldn't find anything concrete.

They seemed to get better once I got fit again, and now I have them very rarely.

So exercise may be helpful, hormones def seem to increase frequency, but after years of research I've concluded that medicine doesn't really know what causes them!

But you are not alone

I get them sometimes, usually every day for a few days then weeks without any. The best thing I have found is to take a couple of aspirin as soon as one starts. Even better if taken with a caffeinated drink, preferably sugary coke. Tiredness, the end of a stressful time, beginning of a holiday, lack of caffeine or strong smells can all set them off, but sometimes it’s random. A drastic cure is to stick my head under a cold shower, that will instantly stop them. I find they keep coming back until I let one run it’s course. I used to have headaches and lose my speech as well but thankfully those have stopped I think.

I had them when i was on microgynon (combined contraceptive) and had to come off it for that reason.

Thanks all, glad I’m not the only one, I find them so scary. I suffer from anxiety at the best of times but these really trigger off panic. I haven’t had one since April so no idea why I’ve had 2 this week? Maybe its this time of the year, all the festive stress?!!

4-5 a year - probably not enough to take a preventative. usually only recommended if you are having several a month.

Yes they are hereditary.

Working out triggers is v helpful. Classics are:

Being dehydrated, being hungry, being out of routine - going to bed too late, not enough sleep, blue light from screens - you can adjust phones to avoid this and install an app on laptops etc, caffeine, alcohol. Lighting esp strip lights. fragrance. These are all things you can adjust for.

Weather especially thunder storms will do it but you can't really change that.

Hormones - periods would be a typical cause and so having contraception to avoid them eg mini-pill can help (life saver for me)

Then you may find you are triggered by dietary things like cheese but if it's only a few times a year, I am guessing you might eat cheese more often than that?

I am triggered by all of the above bar cheese, and have gone from having a daily migraine to one a month with massive effort on lifestyle + preventative.

It did take a while to work out all the triggers but most I can do something about.

I get the scintillating scotoma but don’t get the headache after.
Arms and hands go numb at the same time.

Probably happens around 3/4 times a year.

anna that’s fantastic. I already keep a food diary but will add additional info to see if I can find a trigger.

@AnnaMagnani interesting you say about the pill - my GP refused to prescribe it as it can make them worse

One of my triggers is the fumes from furniture wax. Been doing any decorating etc recently?

I get these, not very often thankfully. It starts with what looks like heat haze and then progresses to black and white zig zags. I never have much of a headache from them, I just have to lie in the dark for half an hour or so. They scare me tbh.

Occasionally they have also affected my speech, does anyone know if it's common for migraines with aura to make you noticeably slur your words? DP was worried I was having a stroke the first time he saw me like that.

I get those. If I take ibuprofen right when I first notice that first visual interruption, I can prevent them.
First sign for me is I get a spot in my vision like I've started at a light, so I blink a few times and if it doesn't go then I will take a couple of tablets.

If I don't take it in time I lose the vision on my right side into this grey fuzzy flashy mess for about 30 minutes, then I get the tired/groggy afterwards. I can also get pre aura, with a really bad one, so losing my words, confusion, light sensitive..etc and then feel like a hangover after.

But yeah, ibuprofen at the right time works for me!

Light song, yep, they can mimic a stroke, mine do, I've scared strangers with my slurred/slow speech. You have to learn what's normal for you, and if you get one that presents weirdly, see the dr!

You must tell your GP if your on contraception- it’s very important you don’t take certain ones with migraines with aura!

Preventatives can be prescribed that can really help so definitely speak to your GP anyway

light mine will often leave me feeling a bit disoriented but I’ve had a bad one once when I got numb hands and feet and I couldn’t even remember my own name, really scary.
good I can’t take most contraception because of these.

I get the aura without headache, but like others have said you feel wiped out. Mine is like twinkling lights in peripheral vision and my vision gets narrower and narrower. It’s not pleasant; but better than a migraine (poor migraine sufferers). Triggered by bright white light, and sometimes bending down quickly.

I used to get migraines as a teenager, and maybe get one now once a year or so. The migraine aura anywhere from once a month to once every four months, and they started not long after I had my first child. I am very careful to avoid sudden flashes of bright lights so I don’t know if they are happening less because they just are, or because I’m more careful with the triggers.