MIGRAINE WITH AURA & NO SEVERE HEADACHE

http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/ocular-migraine.htm  Check this site out, it explains it pretty good, and helped me quite a bit. Would love to hear other people's experiences with this, maybe if we all hear about others, it will alleviate some of our worry.

  Hi, Thanks for your reply. You are right, it is really helpful and somewhat comforting to know that you are not alone. There is not a whole lot of help out there, especially if you don't have the painful migraine to treat. I worry about the potential increased risk for a stroke or brain damage?????  Mine do come in different severities also, and the time they last, anywhere from 10mins to almost an hour, which is really scary. My spouse is really supportive, but doesn't fully understand, how could anyone, who doesn't get them. I feel washed out afterwards, like i am in a fog, and worry for the next few days if it is going to come back. It is funny that i am having them so much more frequently, but can't seem to get used to and become at ease with the symptoms, they really scare me. I think the guy who wrote Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, had these, they say that is where he got his ideas for all the colours and imagery in that book/movie. Hopefully people will keep writing their input on this weird phenemona [sp]

Hi,

I have had migraine aura & prodromes WITHOUT headache for a long time. Mine started out many years ago one day with the flashing, zig zag lights, seeing stars, feeling funny, and my vision started going dark to the sides. That scared me, so I went to an eye doc who said nothing was wrong with my eyes, but said I probably had migraines without headache. The only triggers I've found are different lights, or quick flashes of light, different kinds of patterns (like houndstooth, or like black or dark blue and white striped clothing, etc...) Sometimes just while watching tv, a bright color will come on and that will set my auras off. I get all sorts of visual symptoms, but I also get ear ringing or I kind of lose hearing on & off in or or both ears while it's happening. And many times I get nausea and sudden vomiting, feeling extremely spacy and sleepy, sometimes I smell weird things very strongly that no one else smells. LIke one day driving home on the  parkway, I suddenly started smelling Flintstone vitamins! LOL Or I smell burning or other strong odors. Since last summer, though...i suddenly started getting the actual headache afterwards on several occassions, though I don't get it all the time. And one day I got a real bad aura, at least I think that's what it was....(I lost my job, so I got a grant to go back to school)..I was in class, close to my teacher, as it was a small room. She was talking, then suddenly everything looked strange to each side of her and I had a big problem focusing on her or anything else. Then I started feeling spacy, though not quite dizzy and not quite spinning. And I heard her talking (and classmates talking) but it just wouldnt sink in. I did not, however, have the usual flashing & zig zag lines, but the light in the room seemed like it was getting brighter & brighter and things got sort of fuzzy. Then my teacher suddenly asked if I was alright and everyone was looking at me (how humiliating).....my teacher & classmates told me I had looked white as a ghost. They thought I was going to pass out. So she sat me in her nice big cozy chair & put my feet up, sent everyone else out and had me stay in there. They almost called an ambulance, but i said NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! One of my teachers is a nurse, so they sent her in with me and she was concerned. But she took my blood pressure and it was very high, like 158/98. I'd never had pressure that high before. So I sat there for a few hours b/c I didn't want to go home and then said I would just go to the rest of my classes. I slowly started feeling a little better, though I felt soo tired. But even the next day, I still felt a bit off. Then a few days later it happened again, but only briefly....then went away.

And last summer my migraines started increasing in frequency suddenly. It all happened, along with other pains and problems, when steroids wore off. I feel great on steroids, but when they wear off, I get awful problems. I started getting migraines with and without auras almost every day for a while. I told my Rheum, who then prescribed Imitrex..and that works great for me. I just cannot see a neuro right now b/c I'm unemployed and the basic insurance I have has a $500 yearly cap on any diagnostic tests, which I've already met. So I cannot pay for any testing. But I just wanted to share my story with you about having just the auras for about 15 years or so. It was last summer that I started getting some with the headache.

I actually just read yesterday about some studies that were done on people with migraines with auras. Unfortunately, the studies did show an increased risk of stroke for folks who have migraine with the aura. (It did not show the risk increase for folks without the aura). Apparently many researchers thought it was due to plaque build up on arteries, but their current studies showed that was not the case. Now they are saying it seems more related to blood clots in the veins. So..that would make sense then, that the neuro has you taking baby aspirin now, since it can be used to prevent blood clots. Of course this is info I read from a medical study, I certainly can't say anything medical about it myself or say for sure these studies are right, but one never knows. I am now wondering if I should just take it upon myself to take those baby aspirins.  But it sounds like the doc might be doing the right thing for you at this time...