Migraine auras / ocular migraine?

[mzlk]

Hi all

I used to get these zig zag lines im my vision with my first pregnancy (3ish years ago)
move recently just had my second baby 3 months ago and suffered with them again in my second pregnancy
I’ve just had 2 in the last 3 days
I’ve never had an issue with high bp
assuming it could be caused by hormones/stress?

does anyone suffer with these?
I thought it was just a pregnancy thing but now that I’ve had 2 outside of pregnancy I’m a bit worried

will ring gp on Monday but they’re probably so sick of me at this point lol (I have bad health anxiety)

I've had these when we were busy with end of year at work and I was really stressed. None any other time or when I didn't have those high-stress projects and I've not had one for a couple of years now

Hmm I am extremely stressed atm tbh. High needs baby and a lot of health anxiety/PPD. I’m on edge everyday. Probably what’s causing them for me.
I just haven’t heard anyone I know talk about them so a bit worried

Mine started post pregnancy with dc1 and then were very infrequent (and normally related to dehydration) until I was pregnant with dc2 a few years later where they became much more severe in the last few months of pregnancy meaning that I was forever up at the hospital getting monitored/bp checked etc.

After that there was definitely a hormone connection and they've ramped up again now that I'm perimenopausal.

It's still worth getting checked out though and not assuming though if things change.

Yeah, they're horrible. Much worse than a normal headache. I tend to have other symptoms after the vision disturbances.

Haven't figured out the trigger for mine but I'm thinking probably stress/tiredness/hormones.

Sympathy OP 💐

I get migraines regularly, many are hormonal. I have had a handful of visual migraines - zigzag lines and unable to focus, like when you look at a bright light but it doesn't settle for around 25 minutes and there is no actual headache - when I've been very stressed.

If you are you concerned go and see the GP and get checked out. There are some very effective medicines for migraine which make a huge difference.

Ocular migraines can be checked out at Specsavers. My last one was in an emergency appointment and they were amazing. They can check to see what's going on and rule out other things. They send a letter to your GP recommending meds and a care plan. That's what happened to me in December X

Go to an optician and get your eye health checked first before you see a GP.

I’ve had an optician check my eyes when I had these during pregnancy. Couldn’t find a cause and said they just be ocular migraines and left it at that. They didn’t seem concerned so I just got used to them.
Will mention it to my GP, who probably also won’t be concerned (midwives weren’t either because my bp was okay)

I get these. Hate the zig zags so much! usually lasts for about half an hour and then the headache starts. I do find that if I take 2 paracetamol and 2 ibruprofen as soon as I notice them that the pain isn’t as bad as if I hadn’t had the early warning and I can pretty much carry on as normal once the annoying vision stuff wears off.

Triggers seem to basically be stress, (but like after the stress, so a weekend after a busy week or first day of holiday) lack of sleep, dehydration, drop in blood sugar. Basically everything to do with a small baby! I’ve never pinpointed anything specific like a certain food. It’s also definitely hormonal as I went on the pill and had so many in the first 3 days that I swapped immediately to the mini pill. Also had many in early pregnancy.

I have these, but mine are also hemiplegic migraines, so my first signs are the 'aura' like you describe, eventually leading to pretty much temporary partial blindness, weakness/paralysis of one side of my body, slurred speech and the usual thumping headache and brain fog. Usually one will trigger a cluster, and they can come and go for up to about 3 weeks.

Ive had them since I was 8, never found a cause. Had a break for almost 7 years of nothing then a few years ago they came back. Again, who knows why.

I'm currently 6 months postnatal. I had a couple during pregnancy, which then led to pre eclampsia (not sure which came first, bit of a chicken and the egg scenario really 😂) but not had them in the postnatal period. My theory was that this was the most stressed and sleep deprived id ever be, yet still haven't had one, touch wood.

I was on triptans to abort a migraine if they occurred but they rarely worked. And propanalol as a preventative prior to falling pregnant and throughout my pregnancy.

There are medications available to help you manage if you want to explore them with your GP.

Best of luck though, they really are grim so you have my sympathy. I've lost weeks and months to migraines in the past ❤️

Thank you for sharing your experiences!
I don’t really like taking medication so I just want to be able to prevent them from happening. I think my health anxiety is extremely bad atm. But it’s reassuring to hear that it’s actually pretty common.
just not ideal right now as I’m struggling with motherhood! And transitioning to 2 kids.
feeling so overwhelmed!

Interesting to hear about other people's experiences! Mine last for about 25-30 minutes as well and sometimes a slight headache or a bit tired afterwards but not a full-on migraine.

I asked an optician about it and they didn't suggest that there was any cause for concern. Hope that reassures you OP!

Epilepsy?

Yes it does! @user6757539345

i read that people who get these types of migraines are more likely to have a stroke in the future?! I think that’s what set my anxiety off 😭

Hi all,

New here! Just experienced an Ocular migraine early this evening, had a few in the past.
So terrifying, luckily at home this time.
Zig zag zines, lost sight in one eye. Had a little trouble communicating too. All lasted around 1.5 hours.
Headache after. Ok now

Any advice welcome please

Thanks 😊

Please do see your GP just in case, but I have had all these symptoms with no underlying issues with blood pressure etc.

What I will say is that a couple of months ago they started getting very frequent (several in one day although just visual aura, passing within 30mins) and it was because I needed reading glasses, so worth a visit to the optician as well.

Absolutely hormones. Mine went away with pregnancy and also later when I got mirena coil (progesterone stabilises on mirena).