Migraines / Auras

Anyone within the Singletrack massive have / know someone with experience of this? My brother has been experiencing severe migraines for the last few months.The problem isn’t so much the pain although when it occurs, it is a major frikkin problem) but that he is unable to focus on anything, especially his PC monitor. Long story short, he has had his eyes tested by 2 opticians and the hospital and no problem. Two different scans showed no sign of tumour or anything heavy duty like that. Apparently, this problem is known as an “aura” but his doctor doesn’t really seem to be too interested (although he is on the waiting list to see a neurologist). His work have been very understanding so far and have offered to cut his hours to part-time. However, as my brother works with computers and cannot see the screen, he is obviously pretty worried! Sounds insignificant to non-migraine sufferers but it is really wearing him down and I’m worried. Anyone got any experience of this?

my mrs gets migraine when she plays squash – think it’s the white wall combined with movement etc

maybe he could try a non-white screen ?
(no, I have no idea how, maybe cut brightness right down ?)

hopefully neuro will sort it when he gets there (could ask GP for a “proper” migraine drug in the meantime – unless he gets ’em all the time)

First thing is to try and work out what is causing the migraines. For starters, keep a food diary. Also record how much and what types of fluids he is drinking.

I also suffer from migraines and I’ve had that visual disturbance thing but they rarely come together. I recall the first time it happened. I was driving and couldn’t read the road signs. I “knew” what they said, but my brain was unable to arrange the letters into anything coherent. 😀

I ve had migraines for about 30 years which I trace back to a blow to the head. I get distorted vision where bits are missing so when reading will see the end of a word and not the beginning or miss a car when crossing the road or once saw half a horse coming towards me. I get physical loss of sensation in my left arm and loss of memory function so can’t remember my best friends name . Then pain then throw up a lot then pain then sleep. Normally I m warned all this is coming by a sence of distance from the world and an inability to see edges . At that point I take migraleave which often stop the attack.

The key is to learn and avoid the triggers. For me they are red wine stress lack of sleep and flashing images such as poor qualiy vdus. Also overhead lights can trigger it I read about a case where an employee got different lights fitted over her desk and then compo when the employer switched back to floressent tubes to check if she was faking.

By avoiding triggers and preemptive migraleave when ever I feel iffy I have not had a bad one for two years .

I started suffering with Migraines a few years ago. At first it was visual with floating clouds of colour in my vision that I couldn’t past or around. I had a scary experience of pulling onto a motorway when an attack occurred previous to that it was sat at my computer and I’d put down to tiredness. A visit to the optician who informed me it was a migraine, around a year after that the headaches and nausea started.
I had visited the doctors and most were useless until recently when one took the time to advice me correctly. Firstly they are not caused by stress and are completely different to an headache. An headache is caused by constricted blood flow and a migraine by dilated blood vessels so taking headache cures will make it worse and I would recommend Migraleve at the first symptoms.
It was explained to me that bad posture is a great for inducing a migraine. I have since raised my monitor and tried to sit upright with arms/keyboard all correctly setup. I try and avoid any kind of tightness around my neck, ties etc and try to prevent myself from craning my neck. I haven’t had a migraine for a while so can only assume it’s working.
I feel for him as previously I dismissed them as just a bad headache and the sufferer needed to man up, how wrong I was and pay back is a bitch.

Oh – I’ve found that a way of relieving the pain is to indulge in some strenuous exercise. Running, cycling, hillwalking, sex – all work for me. However, the pain returns pretty soon after the exercise stops.

Sumatriptan may help, get mine on prescription, but know its available under a tradename over the counter, think its about 8 quid for two 50mg tablets.

Can’t comment on migraine and aura because I suffer with Cluster Headache, but worth asking the GP about meds as I know how debilitating acute headache can be

Sumatriptan nasal spray available too and I also use the self injecting form which works very quickly

I get auras and mild migraines, as above, stress, diet, dehydration, low blood sugar.

I have to go somewhere dark and sleep through it, reading or screens bring it back.

I get distorted vision where bits are missing so when reading will see the end of a word and not the beginning or miss a car when crossing the road or once saw half a horse coming towards me.

the first one I remember having, I was watching TV & I could see half a Noel Edmonds 😯

ok it was 1977ish & I was 12 – SwapShop.

I still get them occasionally, distorted vision first, then full-on aura within 10-15 minutes, then that passes after about half an hour. An hour later the pain & nausea kick in big time…

However, if I take 2 MigraLeve Pink tablets as soon as possible after noticing the distorted vision, the aura still comes but the headache is a manageable hangover type thing & the nausea isn’t too bad.

As far as I can tell, the side effects from the MigraLeve are (1) an unbeatable craving for curry and (2) constip… well, you know what I mean.

There’s a range of trigger factors. For me they were diet – citrus, cheese and chocolate, also sudden bright lights, as in walking out into strong sunlight, stress eg M25 on a Friday night, partner’s pmt. Dehydration didn’t help either.

Get a good book and a helpful GP to prescribe meds. Bro has some new stuff that’s changed his life.

I get them, starts with a slightly weird “everything out of focus” feeling, then the aura starts – at the beginning it’s a bit like when you look at a lightbulb or the sun and then look away, then that grows and covers the whole right side of my vision. Not ideal for driving… Lasts about 30min, then I get a headache for the rest of the day.

Not sure what triggers them, I’ve tried keeping a diary but can’t see any definite patterns – one possibility is blood sugar levels, doing lots of exercise doesn’t help and seems to make them more frequent too.

mogrim – Member
I get them, starts with a slightly weird “everything out of focus” feeling, then the aura starts – at the beginning it’s a bit like when you look at a lightbulb or the sun and then look away, then that grows and covers the whole right side of my vision. Not ideal for driving.

Or for anything else that requires you to see.

Go through spells of the ‘auras’ very similar to that described above. Begins with odd ‘blurred but not really blurred’ vision then a dot of shimmering fragmented shapes (looks a bit like a kaleidoscope on acid to me) that obscures vision. This then becomes a ring that slowly grows and moves out of the edges of vision.

Whole thing lasts about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour but I’ve only ever (1st time it happened 20 years ago) once had it follow up with a headache.

Won’t happen for months or years then get a period where I maybe get one or two a week for a while, like recently. Haven’t had one for a couple of weeks now though.

Happens too infreguently to spot any obvious triggers, but I suspect tiredness, eyestrain, touch of stress, or all 3.

slainte ❓ rob

I’ve had migraine with aura for about 30 yrs, always with the visual thing described by colournoise followed by a humdinger of a headache on the opposite side of the head to which the visual thing starts. Often accompanied by numbness, tingling, feeling freezing and being sick. They are horrible, debilitating and can really affect the quality of your life.

Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of medication, some preventative one (sorry can’t remember what it was called) which did work but made me put on weight. No drug ever made me feel completely OK, but Imigran goes some of the way. You need to take as soon as you feel the symptoms start which has always been a problem for me as I never knew one was coming until I couldn’t see properly 🙁

As others have said there are lots of different triggers. I never really found out what mine were but one Dr told me that you have a threshold level so you might have a glass of red wine and be OK, then a late night followed by a stressful day and still be OK, then go home and have some more wine and cheese and that tips you over the threshold and you get an attack. I might not have explained that very well but the principle made sense to me.

Most useful thing I have found is herbal medicine, not over the counter stuff but visiting a real herbalist who gave me a revolting mixture of herbs that I take every day. In the last 10 years I’ve had only 4 or 5 attacks instead of a lot lot more.

Good luck to your brother, I’m not surprised it’s wearing him down. Hope he finds the right treatment soon.

Nich

My sounds odd, But does it happen after eating cheese or chocolate?

Cheese used to give me killer migrains.

My migraines would start with silver zig zag wavy lines moving across my vision, on the left eye, then blind spots and distortions , for about half an hour.

Then i would be sick and then get an incredible headache on the right hand side for hours.

I never knew the triggers but haven’t had one for a few years.
I get palpatations now instead 😐

My migraines would start with silver zig zag wavy lines moving across my vision, on the left eye, then blind spots and distotions , for about half an hour.

Then i would be sick and then get an incredible headache on the right hand side for hours.

Pretty much identical here. I had a phase which came on suddenly, hung around for maybe four months, then left. Never did work out what caused it.

The zig-zag aura starts in my peripheral vision and works its way to the centre. When it’s in the middle I’m effectively blind, as it covers the sharp focus bit in the centre of my vision. Scared the crap out of me the first time I got it.

Cougar – Member
Scared the crap out of me the first time I got it.

Same here. Happened at work. Had never experienced anything like it before and no-one I worked with had any ideas. Always had wobbly eyes so genuinely thought I might be going blind.

Oddly, these days I quite like it. I’m lucky that I don’t seem to get the headache afterwards so the aura is getting kind of therapeutic. As long as I’m not at work I just let it run its course and look at the pretty colours. The relative clarity of vision as the sparkly ring thing moves to the edges of my sight and then disappears never ceases to be a bit of a revelation.

slainte 😳 rob

I’ve been getting them since I was a young kid (my medical records show that when I was a toddler my mother took me to the doctor as I’d complained about them then)

As I’ve got older the headaches have generally become less severe but I still get the auras and distorted vision (as described above by others) for twenty or thirty minutes. Sometimes my brain feels like an overactive electricity substation, buzzing away for a day or so afterwards and I sometimes feel mildly nauseous.

When I do get a post aura headache then I find that co-codamol is cheaper and just as effective as any other branded migraine medicine I’ve tried. (although TBH morphine would probably be the only truly effective option)

I’ve found that the main triggers are too little sleep, too much sleep, and spending too much time in front of a computer monitor without wearing my reading glasses, which I’m doing now so I’d better call it a night before it’s too late.

EDIT: Also, about ten years ago I used to work in front of computer screens for long shifts and (even with my glasses on) had a lot of migraines (2 or 3 a week) whilst doing that job.

same here, zigzag aura for 10 mins then 24 hour pounding headache.
only trigger for me seems to be bright light/daylight as i only get them during the summer, about every 2/3 weeks.
tried sumatriptan & rizatriptan, loads of diff. painkillers but nothing seemed to work.
what does work for me is ibuprofen or migraleve and a can or 2 of redbull as soon as i feel one coming on can stop it dead.
also been taking feverfew recently which seems to make them less frequent

Only thing I’ve found that touches mine is Imigran. Co-codamol is about as effective as Smarties for me.

I get migraines quite often but they infrequently start with the aura. Usually a severe headache over one eye or down one side which also makes feel generally ill / loss of appetite etc.

I take Naramig, takes a while to kick but they do a great job. More info here but prescription only

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/aches-and-pains/medicines/naramig.html

My aura migraines always happen when I’m at work staring at the computer. Anything on a white background is impossible to read. The last one I had a large piece of white chocolate cake minutes before. Never touched it since and no aura migraine’s since. Should really test that theory 🙄

Okay – so they’ve ruled out what they call secondary headaches – tumours, blood vessels etc.
That leaves what they call primary headaches. Migraine, cluster headache etc.No physical cause.
It sounds like he has been referred to neurologist – most likely he will see a neurological nurse. they should be working through the drug treatment range to find a means of prevention and control. You need to realise sometimes it takes time to find the right treatment. You do need to work through what they prescribe and as you can imagine this takes lots of time and patience. Easier said than done.
Chase that neurology appt – they are very time pressured and very specialist – so the demand is high. Ring and say you’ll take a cancellation!
The other posts are right to suggest about food diary and activities – the neurologist will ask you to do this as a matter of course. Things like sugar intake, caffeine can have a big impact – people don’t often realise how wired they are!! Also taking things like ibuprofen and paracetomol consistently and long term can cause headaches according to new research – only use them when you have too.
Don’t focus on looking at webpages – half of them suggest your brain will explode in a scanners stylie. Hope all goes well.

I see dead people.

This is the first discussion of migraines I’ve been in where someone has not jumped in and said “oh I suffer terribly with them” and then gone on to describe mild to bad headaches.

Home remedies i’ve used are vitimin b tablets taken when you feel an attack coming , makes you go hot and red forces blood round body works by getting blood to brain . Breathing technique breath naturally then stop and don’t breath for as long as possible ,I hold my nose too ,then breath naturally for a count of 10 and repeat theory is this changes the co2 balance in your blood that has some medical effect on your brain . I also grew fewaverfew and ate the leaves tastes unpleasant never caused a migraine may have stopped one.

There has been some suggestion that migraine with aura can be linked to a heart condition known as a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO). You can be tested for a PFO and it’s usually treatable with day surgery – I know a few people who’ve had the procedure after scuba diving incidents, one of them had suffered infrequent migraine with aura before the fix and hasn’t had a recurrence since. It’s not a definite cause but may be worth exploring in line with other avenues.

My brother has been experiencing severe migraines for the last few months.The problem isn’t so much the pain although when it occurs, it is a major frikkin problem) but that he is unable to focus on anything, especially his PC monitor. Long story short, he has had his eyes tested by 2 opticians and the hospital and no problem

could have been written about me.

get him to try some +1 reading glasses – they may/may not work, but they cost a tenner and they worked for me.

(no more migraines)

i can focus on a screen no problem – i ‘pass’ an eye test, but a day at work without my cheapo readers is a good way to trigger a migraine.

and no more blue cheese…

if he’s been tested by 2 opticians, and there’s ‘no problem’ then trying some +1 readers will do him no harm at all.

Being dehydrated triggers mine and I carry around Imigran just incase.

I’ve never worked out my trigger, but get one about every 4 weeks.

It could be stress- maybe dehydration. Don’t think its food.

Start off with a dot in my vision that becomes a tear- lose all peripheral vision.

They do seem to be getting worse as well. I have triptans, but they aren’t touching it anymore.

I think its time for another visit to the quacks.

Mine used to be worse (when I was 16 onwards)- i.e. it’d be 1-2 days ‘out’ of life.

Now as soon as I get the slight distance feeling I’ll head straight to the car (and/or bed) and stay there for a few hours.

I started getting them when I was 21. Then from about 30 onwards they backed off. Maybe I subconciously changed whatever was triggering them? – I don’t know.

Driving at night when people don’t dip their lights in time seemed to trigger it, and so did looking at odd patterns – black and white stripes etc. Even now I can’t look at some patterns (curtains / furniture etc) without starting to get blank spots in my eyes.

I had the same symptoms as mentioned above. Fuzzy areas in my vision with bright jagged patterns for 10 mins, followed by thumping headache and an inability to focus properly for a few hours. I found if I could take 2 of the strong anadin extra headache capsules as soon as the vision started to go, I could fend of the attack.

good luck!

It ‘worries’ me just reading this topic. So I’m out.

People have mentioned co-codomol which is paracetamol + codeine. It used to be available from the docs with 30mg codeine. It seems you now get only 8mg. Not sure why, maybe they fear addiction. Anyway 30mg used to help me, 8mg doesn’t. And don’t try increasing the dose, too much paracetamol is a killer.

Thanks very much for all the advice, there’s definitely some suggestions worth pursuing and I’ve passed them on to my bro.

Thanks again.

A friend of mine has had migraines for many years now – had to give up work – luckily had income protection insurance.

Her next stage is to have some Botchulism injected into her brain – in something like 27 places, several times a year!

He has my sympathy. I have similar problems – also work in IT so moving away from a screen-based job isn’t really feasible without a bit of a lifestyle rethink.

My migraines feature mostly the aura – starts off as a blind spot in the centre of my vision which then spreads, eventually becoming donut-shaped and continuing outwards until it’s passed. Then the headache starts, but it’s not debilitating. Usually takes 20 mins to half an hour to work through. Bright lights including white screens are a no-no for while after that too. Tried prescribed drugs via GP, but didn’t seem to make a difference. I have my monitors dimmed as low as they’ll go. Employers should also be able to provide additional screening if that helps. I also do a fair bit of terminal-based work so have those set to a dark colour scheme which helps keep the light levels manageable. Luckily occurrences are now relatively infrequent so I can live with it.

I’m also epileptic, but well controlled with pills. I don’t think the two are linked, but since I’m not seizing who knows.

Best course of action is to get to the specialists. If it’s ‘just’ migraines then hopefully some kind of regime can be worked out so that it can be managed. These things can often pass in time as well.

The important thing is to understand whether it’s a symptom of anything else and address it asap if so.

And as someone else mentioned, resist the temptation to read up too much on the internet.

Not sure this helps much, but best of luck to him anyway.

Very interesting.

I’ve had only six or seven migraines in my life, most recently a couple of weeks ago. I really feel for people who get them regularly.

Aura is a blank spot in my left eye* followed by flashing zigzag lines and then parts of the image disappearing (same eye), together with numbness in face (same side). 20-30 mins then evil headache on other side for 2-3 hours.

Because I;ve had so few, I’ve never documented the triggers, but I do seem to have some common patterns: long term stress, being cold and an insatiable desire for chocolate/sugary foods for several days before. Last time I had increasing head pains on the L/H side for around a week before.

*A sports injury has left me with a blank spot in my left eye (which my brain filters pretty well), so when I do see it there’s a bit of a gap befoe I realise it’s not just my wonky vision but a migraine.