Posted 11/21/2010 9:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hello. I'm a 32 year old white male. For the past three years, I've been suffering from what I've come to believe are auras associated with migraine headaches. The episodes generally last about 15-20 minutes, and consist of a lightning bolt/flashing light/curved strobe light object that originate in the center of my field of vision, and drift slowly to either the left or the right. The first attack occurred a little over three years ago, while I was driving. Luckily, I was within a mile of my doctor's office. I was instructed to drive to the hospital immediately, which I did (the episode was "winding down" and I could see better). I was given a CT scan, and nothing came up. No stroke, no blood on my brain, etc. The doctor suggested I see an ophthalmologist, but I never went.
Over the course of time, I've done some research about my experiences and I've concluded that these are indeed auras that I am experiencing. In fact, some of the illustrations of them in a google image search are remarkably similar to the "thing" that I see. There is no pain associated with these episodes, except for a slight headache afterward that I attribute to squinting throughout the experiences. These things usually come and go rapidly, and I'd say they've occurred six or seven times over the past few years.
TODAY however, it happened TWICE. As I type this, my vision is slowly returning to normal. The episodes were about an hour apart, and I'm troubled by that....this has never happened before. I hate these things, and the 15 minutes that they last is pure hell for me. Frankly, they're terrifying and I can never get used to them. It's just so bizarre and disorienting. Is there anything I can do? What could be causing these? Finally, should I just chalk it up and consider myself lucky that I only experience this one bizarre, unpleasant, and almost psychedelic trait of a migraine headache?...Because I know the pain is horrific.
ANY advice, insight, or help would be greatly appreciated!