The strangeness of migraine auras

[CathyA]

I've had migraines since I was 8 and visual auras since I was 22. But in retrospect, I'm realizing that I may have had other brain-type auras since I was about 9.
Fortunately, since I'm in menopause, I don't get the horrendous headaches anymore.
But.....I'm still getting some visual auras and other brain-type phenomena that I can pretty much still associate with hormone fluctuations.
I get the usual colored, flashing, zigzag lines in my vision for about 20 minutes and lose most of my vision, then get a mild headache.

But......the stuff that really scares me is the other stuff I can get. This has happened to me several times...............I'm doing something (like getting dinner ready) and I start trying to remember something, which I can't quite remember. Then I start trying to remember several things, which I just can't remember. Its sort of like deja vu, but different. Then, before I know it, I'm lost in my head. I don't know what I was thinking about and feel like I'm in a dream. Its VERY disconcerting.

Shortly after one of these last evening, I got a mild headache and today I feel sort of yukky.

These episodes almost seem like what a TIA (transient ischemic attack) might be like. They are very scary.

Anyone else with migraines get these types of auras?
They're no fun at all.

[earthshepherd]

That not-remembering stuff just sounds like classic menopause to me! :)

My daughter has had migraines since early childhood. Her childhood migraines gave her an upset tummy and just flattened her for most of a day. Later, after puberty, she started getting auras as you describe -- wavy lines, blank spots in her vision, then a horrible headache. My dad reports that his migraine years gave him similar aura warning signs of strobe-light style flashes, waves of squiggles, blank spots in his vision. He had debilitating migraines for many years, but they stopped when he was about 60, about 25 years ago.

They really are miserable, even the mild ones where you can still sort of function, which is what I get from time to time. I had one real one when I was 30. I will never forget how awful it was. I'm glad I experienced it, actually -- I can understand and sympathize with my many family members who suffer with them now. Blessings Cathy. That is true suffering!

[Float On]

I get the ocular migraines - starts with a small horseshoe shap of bright white flashing lights growing bigger into the zigzag pattern covering my whole field of vision. Lasts about 20 min. and then I'm fine. I don't get any pain or risidual effects from those. At first i always panic because I have blind spots in both eyes (retinal burns) and I always think "oh no....this is it...I'm losing my whole vision now" and then I remember what my ocular migraines look like and I just calm down and take the opportunity to lay down for 20 min. till it passes.

When I get bright flashes of lights coming from the sides then I know I'm going to get a painful migraine unless I can take my med within 5 minutes.

They are getting less and less as I get older. I use to get the ocular ones maybe once a week and now its about every other month.

[Aqua Blue]

CathyA. I have something similar. I am in my late 50's and unfortunately my migraine did not get better, I would say if anything they got worse. Since menaapause I have had a lot more visual stuff and more confusion , like I just can't think something thru at all. I worry that I will miss a strokes early warning signals because of this. I also think no physician has taken me seriously because they brush them off as migraines. To add to the fear, my dad died of a rutured anerism in his brain.

[treehugger]

I have had migraines since puberty and the severity and related symptoms have changed a lot through the years. And with the onset of perimenopause, they are changing again. But I do occasionally get auras; most frequently they are black spots in my vision, but sometimes they are blank spots, which are really disconcerting (and hard to describe). But hey, when the visual aura precedes the pain, that can be a helpful signpost to take some medication right away.

These days I get several/ongoing headaches the week before and during my period (even though I am on a low-dose BC pill, taking 4 packs consecutively and not supposed to even have a period). They aren't as bad as they used to be though, I usually don't have to take days off of work.

Kara

[reader99]

But......the stuff that really scares me is the other stuff I can get. This has happened to me several times...............I'm doing something (like getting dinner ready) and I start trying to remember something, which I can't quite remember. Then I start trying to remember several things, which I just can't remember. Its sort of like deja vu, but different. Then, before I know it, I'm lost in my head. I don't know what I was thinking about and feel like I'm in a dream. Its VERY disconcerting.


Could that be petit mal epilepsy? The ocular migraines I've had didn't have a memory/confusion component.

[Nella]

I also used to get the aura associated with migraines that many have described here. I also experienced the "migraine" symptoms you described later in your post: "Its sort of like deja vu, but different. Then, before I know it, I'm lost in my head. I don't know what I was thinking about and feel like I'm in a dream." I've learned that, when I feel this way, it's related to very low sodium levels in the body. This can be serious as extremely low sodium levels puts one in danger of your heart skipping beats and/or stopping. You need to be sure though not to self-diagnose, and to have a physician check out these new symptoms. If you are experiencing episodes of low sodium the treatment is easy. When I find myself having these symptoms, I eat salt in the form of salty snacks or just a small quantity of salt right from a shaker. Hope this helps.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone.
Aqua Blue.....Can you talk your doctor into ordering MRIs of your brain? That would put your mind at ease about an aneurysm. I had an MRA and MRV for my pulsatile tinnitus and it was very comforting to know something wasn't about to blow! Have you seen a neurologist?

Treehugger........my migraines got horrible during perimenopause, but I was on HRT, so I don't know if that made them worse. I also discovered that the proton pump inhibitor I was on for GERD gave me daily headaches too. My perimenopause lasted a long time. Sometimes, at 61, I think I'm still going through it. When I was on a migraine forum, there were alot of women who had hormone-related migraines. Good luck with yours. They're no fun.
I took Maxalt for a number of years. Then I discovered that the judicious use of caffeine would help alot.

reader99.......that's an interesting possibility and I've wondered that myself. I've had lots of brain tests, but never during one of these episodes. I knew someone once with petit mal seizures, and all that would happen was that her eyes would go up for awhile. She could even talk during it. Very strange.

Nella.......That's a good thing to remember. I'm very salt sensitive, and I also dehydrate easily. Its been so hot here lately. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks again everyone. The brain is so complex, I guess its not strange that some of us have these strange happenings occasionally.
One thing I wanted to mention which was very strange.........when my children were young (like 7-8 years old), both of them at one point acted sort of strange. When I asked them what was wrong, they said "I feel funny. I feel like I'm in a dream." I had never mentioned this feeling to them. Maybe this feeling is more common than we realize? Very curious.

[Aqua Blue]

I wish I could afford a MRI. My health insurance is a 5k deductible and Migraines are excluded, along with other things. I simply don't have the $$ to do it. Besides, what would I do different? I dont know that I would be willing to have surgery etc. But it is in the back of my mind.

[CathyA]

I can relate about the deductible.....ours is $6,000. It sure makes me think twice before going for an appointment that might lead to alot of $$$.
I don't think your father having a ruptured brain aneurysm is a hereditary thing, fortunately.
So many weird things can happen to women when they're going through menopause (I had them all!). I think as long as you've had a neuro check up and your migraine symptoms don't extend.......and get drastically worse, I think you're probably okay. Even so, those episodes can be very frightening, for sure!
Are you on any medication for them?

[Midwife]

I used to have migraines with the same kind of auras as you Cathy... When I stopped eating gluten strictly, the migraines went away, and NEVER came back! If I accidentally get gluten, I will wake up in the middle of the night with a horrendous headache, but have not had a single migraine since stopping gluten. It has been about six years now since I stopped :)

[poetry_writer]

I've had migraines since I was 8 and visual auras since I was 22. But in retrospect, I'm realizing that I may have had other brain-type auras since I was about 9.
Fortunately, since I'm in menopause, I don't get the horrendous headaches anymore.
But.....I'm still getting some visual auras and other brain-type phenomena that I can pretty much still associate with hormone fluctuations.
I get the usual colored, flashing, zigzag lines in my vision for about 20 minutes and lose most of my vision, then get a mild headache.

But......the stuff that really scares me is the other stuff I can get. This has happened to me several times...............I'm doing something (like getting dinner ready) and I start trying to remember something, which I can't quite remember. Then I start trying to remember several things, which I just can't remember. Its sort of like deja vu, but different. Then, before I know it, I'm lost in my head. I don't know what I was thinking about and feel like I'm in a dream. Its VERY disconcerting.

Shortly after one of these last evening, I got a mild headache and today I feel sort of yukky.

These episodes almost seem like what a TIA (transient ischemic attack) might be like. They are very scary.

Anyone else with migraines get these types of auras?
They're no fun at all.

Cathy your description of what you feel is very good. you put into words what I have! I have had MRIs, CT scans and been told I was having panic attacks! I have always felt it was some kind of migraine or seizure type issue. It is VERY unpleasant and no one has a clue what to do about it. I also get headaches, severe ones, when it is going to rain. They dont believe that either.

[CathyA]

I think some of us have neuro systems that are just ultra sensitive. I know alot of people have migraines with weather changes. I had a friend who was on MAO inhibitors to control her's. And she should get migraines when the weather front was coming from the south.
I think women are especially affected because of their hormones. It took me a long time to not totally freak out with some of these sensations. They can be very scary. Once you know you're not going to die from them, they're a little easier to take........but not much! I was just glad I was home when this last one happened.
I think "panic attacks" can happen for reasons other than psychological. I think our bodies can do some bizarre things and it sets off alarms in our brain, and we just respond to those alarms.
There's so much that doctors don't know about the body. And when they don't know something, they tend to say it doesn't exist, or that we are imagining it.
I'm sorry you have these spells too poetry_writer. Its bad enough to have the visual aura and the migraine, but these other sensations are just really hard to deal with.

[baybay]

Hi Cathy,
I get migraines, occasionally the visual auras (white zigzaggy lines), but nothing like you mention. However, I'm in nursing school and we just covered migraines and according to my book, for some people, auras can be visual, motor (weakness or paralysis) or dizziness, confusion, and even loss of consciousness. So even though what you've been experiencing is scary, it is within the realm of migraine aura. I hope this brings you some comfort since you are limited with your health insurance right now.

Also, please try to remember (and let your family members know) the acronym FAST for stroke warning signs since early treatment can restore brain function and since migraineurs are at a higher stroke risk.

FACE Ask the person to smile--does one side droop? ARMS:Lift both arms. Does one drift down? SPEECH: Repeat a simple sentence "The sky is blue." Is the person's speech slurred or strange? TIME: If you see any of these signs, call 911 immediately!

[Gingerella72]

I've gotten the flashing zig-zag lines aura a few times, but it doesn't come with headache pain. The first time it happened to me I freaked out and went to the doctor and he explained what was happening. The next time it happened I didn't freak out since I knew what it was and just waited for it to subside.