Ocular Migrane. WTF?

[barry2952]

I haven't had a headache since I quit smoking in 1988. I didn't have one today. I had an ocular migraine. I didn't know what was happening to me. I saw a colorful spot, like colors of a prism. It grew larger and larger and became a circle and then a "C" shape and literally blocked my vision. It came on and only lasted for about 15 minutes. What the hell do you do if you're driving at the time????????

I describe the symptoms and one of my employees says that's what he sees when he's about to get a migraine headache. I called my wife and she rushed over to pick me up and take me to the hospital. After 3 hours they cut me loose.

Scared the crap out of me. Anybody else experience this?

[G'D60]

You are old. That is all.

but seriously, were you hydrated today? Hope it don't happen again

[B4S]

Yep had those. First one was while driving, luckily a buddy could take the wheel. It has happened twice to me in 10 years, and is so slow at onset that it's easy to recognize and pull over if driving.

[pops]

I had one for the first and only time about a month ago. Scared the poop out of me, at first I thought my retina was detaching, then I thought I was going to stroke out.

It started at night on my back porch. I kept seeing this light in the peripheral vision of my left eye, but everytime I would turn that way it would disappear. I finally realized that there was a porch light on my right, that I was seeing out of my left eye! As I would turn my head more to the right, the light would move across my field of vision.

That went away in about 4 minutes, and I had that same C shape you described. Everything in the C was scinitillating and out of focus. It started in my left eye and lasted about 10 minutes, then moved over to the right eye and lasted 7 or 8 minutes.

I called my doc the next morning - after Googling and realizing what I had experienced - and he said not to worry about it. Basically, it's a migraine without the pain.

[barry2952]

They even thought I was having some type of diabetic problem, but my sugar was 78. I wasn't dehydrated, either. My BP was 155/93, not too bad for an old guy in a hospital setting. Everything else was normal.

It was a scary experience. It came on pretty suddenly with me, or I just never noticed it until it was actually blocking my vision. The distraction alone was enough to pull over if I could.

Yes, the first thought that passed was "stroke".

[PCG]

Not fun. But far more enjoyable then the headache portion of the program. At least you didn't descend into a migraine headache.

I've even had trouble speaking during the "aura" portion of a migraine headache, which is basically the prelude to the headache, which is what you experienced. My sense of smell gets wacky, everything gets very bright, in addition to the visual weirdness. A very unusual feeling and if you've never had one before you'd surely think something was seriously wrong with your brain.

Not sure if ocular migraines are set off in the same way migraine headaches are but you might do some research to see if they are triggered the same way. Flashing lights, 60 cycle light flicker, bright TV's, certain foods, weather changes, stress - it can take a while to identify what causes them.

[valfaw]

sort of, in high school I'd start to see spots/colors and when I did I knew it was coming. never blocked my vision but the spots lead to stomach ache, puking and a vicious headache.

I learned at the onset of the spots to go home and crawl into bed and go to sleep, that pretty much ended the cycle for the rest of the symptoms that would follow if I didn't.

Migraines suck, strange as it is though once past HS I, knock wood, have not had one since.

There are migraine meds now that can be taken once the initial symptoms present to reduce/eliminate them if you take it soon enough.

[Slayer]

My dad gets like one of these a year.. comes on quick, has bright spots, and a spot that gets blurry, and a sharp headache to go with it

[thisisdog]

Do you suffer from hypertension? What is your sodium intake like?

[barry2952]

Do you suffer from hypertension? What is your sodium intake like?

Nope, and average, I'd say.

[Deltac]

Seems to happens to me once a year...I think it's related to my sinuses as the killer headache I get is just above my eye...

[Mk1Racer]

Barry,

Do you have a history of migraines? Did you also feel nauseous? Did you have a crushing headache after?

Unfortunately, they still don't know a lot about migraines. They've made significant strides, but there is still a lot they don't know. I suffered w/ migraines for years, but rarely the ocular type. I think I've only had 2 or 3 of those in my entire life, out of literally a couple hundred migraines. Thankfully, as I've gotten older, the frequency has dropped way off. I think I've only 1 or 2 over the last couple of years.

[barry2952]

Barry,

Do you have a history of migraines? Did you also feel nauseous? Did you have a crushing headache after?

Unfortunately, they still don't know a lot about migraines. They've made significant strides, but there is still a lot they don't know. I suffered w/ migraines for years, but rarely the ocular type. I think I've only had 2 or 3 of those in my entire life, out of literally a couple hundred migraines. Thankfully, as I've gotten older, the frequency has dropped way off. I think I've only 1 or 2 over the last couple of years.

No, as I stated in the OP I haven't had a headache since I quit smoking nearly 25 years ago. I've never had a migraine. No headache. No nausea, just some dizziness and lethargy.

[Mk1Racer]

No, as I stated in the OP I haven't had a headache since I quit smoking nearly 25 years ago. I've never had a migraine. No headache. No nausea, just some dizziness and lethargy.

Consider yourself lucky. Hopefully it wasn't a symptom of some other issue.

[turtledub]

You weren't looking at the Juggalettes/Juggalos threads were you?

[barry2952]

You weren't looking at the Juggalettes/Juggalos threads were you?

I didn't until you said something. Now I wish I hadn't.

[Ed52]

Don't worry, the frequency of migraines lessen as you get older. Totally random - meaning there was no pattern of food consumption, activities or stress levels. Mine started when I was in my early 20's with 5 or 6 per year then, to now, that I'm early 60's with 1 + per year. They are less severe, shorter in duration but the heavy one sided headache lingers for half a day. They are hard to handle when you are a professional driver. (Never once mentioned to potential employers about this problem but I have seen this question asked on pre employment questionaires).

It's astounding what effect this condition has on the body...hard to explain to someone who has never had a migraine attack.

Migraine suffers unite...quietly - and in the dark.

[barry2952]

Luckily, I seem to be suffering no after-affects. I think the stress of being part of the slow flow of the hospital was more of a problem than the ocular migraine.

Part of the problem was the 22 days my wife spent in the hospital almost two years ago. I never want to be in a place like that again. No place for a sick person.

[Rockerchick]

I get them. Got my first one in 6th grade. I had no idea what was going on and it was near the end of the day so I just let it go. My dad picked me up and said I looked really pale and asked if I was alright. I told him about it and he said "oh, sounds like you had an occular migraine. Let's get you home". He gets them too. Got home, popped some ibuprofen, took a nap, and was fine. I had a decent amount over the next few months. Then none for a few years. Then a few in high school. Then like 1 or 2 through college. Then I had 2 back to back a few months before my wedding. That seems to happen more now...back to back. I get one at night or something, make it go away and then the next morning I get one first thing

I know the warning signs so I've gotten good at popping 3-4 ibuprofen when they start but man, they are pretty dang painful. Light and noise sensitive migraines and my head will just feel sore after the migraine itself is gone. I went to a neurologist and he wasn't concerned. Gave me some samples of some meds to try when the visual stuff starts, and it helped for sure...migraine wasn't as bad. But it didn't get rid of it. Still had to come home from work early. And driving with that migraine sucked.

Not sure how hereditary this stuff is. My dad will get the ocular migraines, my mom gets regular migraines a decent bit too. I'll tell you what's really freaky though...before the vision things start sometimes, I've had basically a numb sensation move through my body. It will start like at my toes, move to my foot, leg, and then through my arm and usually end at my fingers. Its like one little numb spot just moving around. Then I get the vision blocking stuff happen. Scared the ever living crap out me the first time it happened.

[Internal Combustion]

Migraine with aura. Tell your PCP, he can give you imitrex.

[barry2952]

No pain. Just the aura.

[10Ten]

sounds more like a cluster headache than a migraine to me. we have different treatments for those clinically, depending on the whole picture.

[barry2952]

No headache, no pain, no meds.

[GeoffD]

No headache, no pain, no meds.

Migrane mostly happens with women. Did you have a sex change recently?

[barry2952]

Just the frequency.

[Turbio!]

I didn't until you said something. Now I wish I hadn't.

Wait, is that a midget juggalette?

[Mk1Racer]

Migraine with aura. Tell your PCP, he can give you imitrex.

Imitrex doesn't work in all migraine cases. For my cousins, it was a miracle drug. For me, it made me violently nauseous.

Migrane mostly happens with women. Did you have a sex change recently?

Are there data that actually support that? I've known several people, of both sexes, that suffer from migraines. No scientific study, but my anecdotal experience doesn't indicate that one sex experiences them any more than the other.

[GeoffD]

Are there data that actually support that? I've known several people, of both sexes, that suffer from migraines. No scientific study, but my anecdotal experience doesn't indicate that one sex experiences them any more than the other.

Sure. It's 3:1. Google will point you to countless articles about it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0806094703.htm

For every man with a migraine, three women are struck by the severe headaches that often come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and aura. That means a staggering 18 to 25 percent of women suffer from migraines, making it one of the most common disabling conditions faced by women around the globe.

[GeoffD]

Just the frequency.

So your brain exploded from a "divide by zero" exception?

If that happened to me, I'd freak out thinking I was having a stroke. My dad had an irregular heartbeat and refused to take any stroke-mitigation medicine. Not even baby aspirin. He developed Alzheimers and the conjecture is that it was actually a bunch of mini-strokes. That is not the way I want to go.

[konkomania]

I've gotten these before after playing floor hockey or exercising really hard and being just completely exhausted. I'll get the different colors that distort my vision and create an almost prizm of colors. I suffer from migraines normally too.

It scared me at first because I never see colors like this prior, during, or after a migraine. Only very quick small spots occasionally.

I'll just get a bad migraine afterwards, take some medicine, and go to bed. I'm usually okay afterwards.

[barry2952]

So your brain exploded from a "divide by zero" exception?

If that happened to me, I'd freak out thinking I was having a stroke..

Yes, and I did. My first thought.

[SpeedyD]

I've had these fairly frequently over the last 15 years or so. Never any accompanying headache. Some of them have been brought on directly by stress, but not always.

[GodSquadMandrake]

I started getting these in my early 20's, then I had a pulmonary embolism this year. I wonder if they're connected? Clotting disorder maybe? I'm on enough blood thinners now that's for sure.

[stevegolf]

I had a bunch of these when I was around 15 years old. I remember I was bagging groceries for work then this little white patch formed with prism like edges which grew over a few minutes until it took over my whole field of vision. I couldn't see the belt of groceries in front of me, it freaked me out. It happened about 6 or so times. I got the ocular migraine diagnosis, i never had an actual migraine.

Since it happened several times it freaked me out and we had a CAT scan done, everything came back perfectly normal. I wasn't on any medications or anything like that. Since then I don't believe I've had one since I was 16. Occasionally I'll see a random patch in my vision and think I'm getting another one but it disappears.

[StormChaser]

Imitrex doesn't work in all migraine cases. For my cousins, it was a miracle drug. For me, it made me violently nauseous.

Imitrex is a life saver for me but it also leaves me nauseous and with a weird tingling/tension feeling in my shoulders and neck...but SO worth the side effects when I get a bad one. If I get a bad one, it's take Imitrex and lie down in a COLD DARK QUIET room for an hour.

OP, this sounds just like my "regular" migraines but without the pain and sensitivity to light and sound.