PLEASE DOESN'T SOMEONE JUST HAVE AURAS WITH NO HEADACHE

Hi!

I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I am a member of another message board/forum and there are several people who deal with the same thing. I'm not sure what they take as far as meds are concerned...

Hang in there

I just found this site.  For the past 30+ years I have had infrequent auras without the migraine pain. The incidence of the auras started to increase when I went through menopause (age 50).  I had started hormone replacement therapy, and subsequently ended up quitting HRT, and the incidence of the auras declined.  About 3 months ago, the auras started up again, some days as many as 3-4 times, some days nothing.  Again no pain to speak of.  During the same time frame, I have been experiencing "dizzy" type spells - nothing to make me faint or fall over, but disconcerting.  I have been to my primary doctor once regarding these spells, but with no clear answer.  I had begun to think it had something to do with all the artificial sweeteners I ingest in the various diet pops, sugar free products, etc. I have pretty much stayed away from these products for the last 3 weeks, and unfortunately I'm still getting the auras.  So scratch that theory.  So if anyone else has any input, I would appreciate it also. 

Yep, they're called ocular migraines.  My complicated migraines turned to ocular for about 5 or 6 years, but now they're back to their old tricks again.  I was on aspirin therapy and it helped.  If I took an extra dose of aspirin when I saw the first signs of distortion, it would decrease the length of the attack.

Hope this is helpful.

~Lauren

 Mikeym. In response to your auras with no headache yupppp me too. Except I have a gp that thinks its psycological. But my auras are like black diamonds and squares danceing around sometimes they shoot in and out or seem like they dance over my head sort of.I know it sounds weird but try explaining this to a neurosurgeon.Im on topamax but its helping with the headaches and vertigo but the depression is horrible,are you taking anything?I also take maxalt if they get really bad.

Hello All,

I am a regular in the Lupus forum here at HW.

I get (rarely) a crescent shaped starry pattern with no pain (can't see out of that eye) and the doc calls them "ocular" migrains . . . but its not exactly an aurora. I am happy to report that my lifetime of painful migrain headaches came to a long lull . . . but has recently increased again . . . am hoping they will go away for good.

Yep, I've heard of it, when talking to my family doc. about my migraines, my doc. said he just gets the aura, I think its called ocular or something, I can't believe your this would be something new to your neurologist, weird.... 

 

        All I can say is try to take it day by day I do know that it makes you feel worst when a doctor tells you I sure you heard this befor.

 

I going to try this meds are change to that med , are the best one yet is I going to send you to this doctor and that doctor sends you to a different doctor, are just gives you more meds.

 

Sometimes the side affect a lot of time the side effect is a lot worst then the pain cause you hurt have bad headach take all this pain meds and that puts you in bed which causes more pain are different kind of pain.

 

I new at this I will say I understand my headach are not 100% migrands they are what you call mix headach which are 4 different kind of headach in one.

 

hope this helps everone but I take it day by day and do the best I can and that is all anyone can ask of you.

 

 

What to here what realy makes me mad are UPSET is these people that do not ever get heachachs they get a headach and say that took 2 aspens and it went away...

 

that is what so funny

 

thanks

rdixon100

Wow. This is interesting! I just came here for the very first time in search of migraine info. I have been having what I believe to be migraines without headache for some time now. Only recently they have become very frequent and bothersome to the point of beginning to seek help.

I have had exercise induced auras for years - mine show up as black and white pinwheels dancing around in my field of vision. I am a triathlete and swim practice almost always produces one - but no other symptoms.

For the past few years though I have had also had bouts with dizziness, and have had brain MRIs and other things done to try do determine the reason - with no improvement.

For about 2 months I have been having regular auras - both yesterday and today upon waking I had an aura, but I am also dizzy and nauseous. Recently I have been noticing a bit of vertigo, and computer games make me dizzy when they never did before, and last evening my wife and I went to a movie and the movie made me dizzy - first time ever for that.

It is 1pm and I'm still nauseous - I rose at 5am. I was looking around at migraine trigger info today and found that dairy and cheese can be triggers - here is an interesting coincidence - I've been lactose intolerant for 20 years, and about 2 months ago I discovered a product that with 1 pill per day allows me to eat dairy like a normal human - so I've been going crazy eating milk, cheese, and other dairy items! I cut out the coffee a few weeks ago and am on no other drugs or alcohol.

My mother has been a lifelong migraine sufferer. She gets the debilitating headaches, too. Hopefully I don't have that to look forward to. She told me that sometimes her migraines make her feel exactly like she has a virus or a cold but she knows she does not. THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL! No one could have described it better. She also told me my grandmother has had aura without headache for her lifetime as well.

I guess I got migraine, eh? Looks like I'm not alone. I'm going to see her neurologist soon.

If it turns out that this is what has been causing my odd symptoms for the past few years, it will actually be a relief.

  i was just recently diagnosed with ocular migranes through my retinal specialist.im 26 and have live with macular degeneration since birth and they had believed that my lose of perifial vision and black outs in my left eye were signs of another diesease.its good to know they werent but my doc said they were caused by spasming blood vessels in my eye.if there anything anyopne else can tell me about it????i have enough problems with my eyes already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks, starry eyes

My aura's are perhaps similar to tigertiger's.  I am a 64 year old male.  I have almost no headaches - maybe one a year.  No migraines.  I take only a blood pressure medication, but the auras started before my blood pressure problem started.

My first aura was maybe 15 years ago and I've had an average of one or two a year since then.  Only a few have occurred as often as daily.  At the time of the first one, I had no idea what was happening or what the cause was.  A nurse at work found a book with a 1-paragraph mention of visual auras.  After my third aura, I kind of figured out that they were associated with my eating perhaps too much of one particular type of onion greens.  A few days ago I had one shortly after eating a 1/3 pound microwaved onion.  Maybe I just like onions too much.

The aura is difficult to describe.  Mine have all been visually similar, identical for both eyes, and sometimes I get a mild dull ache in the back of my head near the end of the aura, lasting maybe 1/2 hour.  All of the auras start out as a blanked out place just to the left and below the point I am trying to focus on.  The blanked out area is medium gray.  On my computer desktop, the icon I focus on is just not there, but all the icons around it are visible and perfectly readable.  Within maybe 5 minutes, the blanked-out area has about trippled in size, but now has some features.  The main feature is a bright white line, kind of C shaped.  The top of the C is kind of horizontal and the left side is kind of vertical, and the bottom is kind of horizontal.  The whole line of the C is very crooked - kind of jagged all along its length, something like lightning, or a sawtooth wave.  The crookedness seems to constantly be changing, and but I can't see what exactly is changing.  The top and left are well defined and the bottom is less-well defined.  The blanked out area is the area close to the C-shaped line.  Over a period of about 1/2 hour, the C expands and becomes less well defined, until it is out of my field of vision.  Since the blanked out area is a narrow area near the line making up the C, about 10 to 15 minutes after the start, the icon I focus on is perfectly visible and the jagged C is around it and the icons outside the C are perfectly visible.

Because I am a procrastinaor and the aura's haven't upset my life much, I have not had them medically diagnosed or treated.

-PaulR

my auras are similar to others on this page. usually cresant shape, but simetimes full circle. diamond shapes, shimmering colors of bLUE, yellow, red. last abour 20 minutes. i'm glad to know other people have similar experiences. i haven't talked about this for 35 years, since i gave up on the doctors.

ANY RESPONSE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Mickey,

When you say "aura's" please explain. There are a lot of different signs and symptoms of migraines. If your head doesn't hurt, how can they be classified as migraine? (scratching head)

 

"Lefty"