Migraine With Aura Being the Worst Part of the Migraine... (Page 1)

Hey,
unfortunately, I can't give you specific advice in terms of what to do about your migraines, but I can redirect you to a place where they can. There is this web portal I have been using for my health concerns and so far I really like it. It's pretty easy to use too. It's called health site guide, Healthsiteguide.Com. I would recommend going to the "health concerns" drop-down menu on the left and clicking on headaches. It will redirect you to a page with websites that have all been pre-searched for information on headaches. If this doesn't help, the portal also has medical encyclopedias. Good luck. Tell me if it helps.

Try vaporizing some strong medical marijuana at the first sign of the auras. Vaporizing is a VERY good alternative for people who do not like to ingest smoke.

I get migraines with auras about 5-6x a year, and I've had them since 5th grade. Only recently did I discover marijuana can really calm down the entire experience.

I'm actually experiencing an aura right now and crossing my fingers.

I have been having migranes with aura since i was 13, im 19 now, iv been using tablets called migranate, available without perscription(here in ireland anyway)
There are 2 tablets, pink ones and yellow ones! The yellow ones(or is it the pink ones?!) Are taken as soon as you feel a migrane may be coming on, So like as soon as the aura begins, and,for me, when i do take the tablet at the 1st sign of a migrane, and lie in a dark room within say an hour at the aura is gone and the migrane headache didnt even get a chance to start.

Quite a few things can cause migranes like food allergies, for me its too much choclate...

Pity...cause i love choclate!

Also...beyondthevalley...what exactly does 'vaporizing marijuana', Like what do you do? I assume its different to actually smoking the stuff?! Just curious....

I am 55 years old and started getting migraines in the 6th grade. Some years I have 40 or 50 of them. Some years I have 4 or 5. It used to be the only way it would even start getting better was to vomit.
My main thing that I have to do to prevent them is to not eat certain things. Too much chocolate, caffeine (don't forget about meds that have caffeine such as Exedrin.) The aura is HORRIBLE. Really scary especially the first ones when you don't know what is going on. Keep a food diary. Also artifical sweeteners will trigger a migraine for me. Have you tried Maxalt, Imitrex, or any drugs like that? They have been a lifesaver for me. I still lay down, and I still take something for nausea and pain, but headache pain went from a 10 (or maybe a 12 or 13) down to about a 3.
I do still eat chocolate but in moderation. Oh--any kind of alcohol will trigger a migraine for me also.
I complete empathize with you. It's like some kind of curse and when you have several in a row, it's just being totally incapacitated, you feel like you indeed have a true handicap.

I have recently experience my first migraine with aura. It happened thu afternoon - no headache, i just started seeing zigzag multicoloured lines in the left corner of my eye and soon spread across my entire vision. I thought I was having a stroke! I ended up trying to leave work as I didnt want to draw attention to myself, lost feeling of my body and passed out. When I came round I still had the zigzags in my left eye which slowly went and was replaced with a headache which i am almost rid of almost 5 days later. I have been told this is probably caused by the contraceptive pill which they have now taken me off of. Anyone experience anything similar?

hcw:
Yes, I had more migraines when I was on birth control, and most any articla or book written about migraines tells you that might happen. The aura and zig zag lines without a headache are called an occular migraine? Someone correct me if I''m wrong. I have had a couple of those accompanied by a little nausea.
Give it some time and see if getting off the pill helps, and also watch some of the foods that I talked about!
Good luck, Beth

Thank you for the reply. I have been given Zomig tablets which seem to be doing the trick however still have a slight headache 1 week on. Hopefully I wont get one this bad again and I have heard that the first one can sometimes be the worst one. I remember having headaches a few years back after eating chocolate and I had eaten chocolate when my migraine with aura happened so will avoid this from now on. I have also been under quite a lot of stress recently so I am trying to relax more as I think that this may also help.

i have migraine with aura for 30 years now ,
i get the zig zag lines and the black spots in front of my eyes aswell i can get this which can last up till an hour or more , once that has subsided i get a really severe migraine which can last up to a week , im on HRT patches which i have to stay on for rest of my life i know that these patches dont help if you suffer from migraines but i have always had aura migraines . up until the last 5 months ago i was getting migraines 5 times a week some times twice a day i was really bad i was really worried that i was having that many that i would have a stroke so i aske my GP if he could refer me to a neurologist who im now under i had a MRI scan done which come back clear i was diagnosed with having Medication-overuse headache is a cause of frequent or daily headaches. It is caused by taking painkillers or triptan drugs too often for headaches or migraine. The treatment is to stop the painkillers or triptan. This is vital to cure the problem. After stopping the painkillers or triptan, you are likely to have worse and more frequent headaches or migraine attacks for a while. However, the frequency of headaches or migraine attacks should then gradually return to ''normal''.
since i was diagnosed with this my migraines are alot better i get 1-2 a week now which is a a big improvement
i found that any medication that contained triptans in them were reacting badly to me ( imagram ) they were the worse ones i was taking them on a regular bascis as i was suffer regular attacks also cocodmol was another one that was reacting bad to me aswell so i had to come off all these tablets now well i had to ween myself off them gradully all i take now for my migraines is preventers
topermite and if i get a migraine attack i can only take anti inflammigi tablets.

I have to get my experience as well, i'm in my 40 and my first experience with a migrane with aura was 9 mos ago and I just had another. Associated with this migrane was hyperventilating, loss 20 % of my voice, tired out quickly,shakes and my body is very sensitve to my heart pounding and the sensation that flows through my body. For 1 & 1/2 week, i've had it and couldn't sleep. My doctor provided me with xanax for nerves, imitrex for headaches and zoloft for depression. I've have not taken any zoloft and imitrex yet but only one pill of xanax which was to get me to sleep one night.

Has anyone out there tried to overcome the anxiety and migrane issue without the use of antidepressant. I know the aura portion with be there but has anyone try to minimize the symptom? and will this problem worsen over time? These question may be out there without forethought but I am not a proponent for using any drugs in treatment. but will have to when at my wits end. Strength to all who is suffering through this and any problem....js

My Gynocologist told me when I mentioned that I experience aura migraines that anyone who has migraines accompanied with vision issues should NEVER take any form of birth control with estrogen or any other estrogen. That it is considered a big RED X on the list of things not to mix.

The first aura migraine that I recall was in High School, although I complained of headache issues since I was in the 3rd grade. I was a picky eater and so my parents fed me a lot of ramen (second ingrediant is MSG). MSG, Nitrates...seem to set mine off. Although the last one I had was this week and I haven't been able to decide what triggered it but I keep a food journal for the future.

Maxalt seemed to be my life saver until I ran out of free samples, I don't know about the rest of you but I don't have $500 dollars to pay for 20 pills. They put me on Sumatriptan and it doesn't seem to do the trick because I have had 2 really bad ones in the last couples months versus 1 every year or so. Bad being: numbing in my limbs, face, mouth; partial vision; and nearly complete loss of the abilitiy to speak or write; vommiting... I still have lingering visual and headache issues several days later. I am considering trying marijuana because sometimes the pain is so awful I believe I rather jump off a bridge than suffer. I am 25 and despite having been around many people who smoke it have never tried...these headaches I think it is worth trying ANYTHING to make it better.

I feel like a crazy person when I have to ask my boss to go home because of a "migraine"...these are not any typical migraine. As you all must understand.

My Gynocologist told me when I mentioned that I experience aura migraines that anyone who has migraines accompanied with vision issues should NEVER take any form of birth control with estrogen or any other estrogen. That it is considered a big RED X on the list of things not to mix.

The first aura migraine that I recall was in High School, although I complained of headache issues since I was in the 3rd grade. I was a picky eater and so my parents fed me a lot of ramen (second ingrediant is MSG). MSG, Nitrates...seem to set mine off. Although the last one I had was this week and I haven't been able to decide what triggered it but I keep a food journal for the future.

Maxalt seemed to be my life saver until I ran out of free samples, I don't know about the rest of you but I don't have $500 dollars to pay for 20 pills. They put me on Sumatriptan and it doesn't seem to do the trick because I have had 2 really bad ones in the last couples months versus 1 every year or so. Bad being: numbing in my limbs, face, mouth; partial vision; and nearly complete loss of the abilitiy to speak or write; vommiting... I still have lingering visual and headache issues several days later. I am considering trying marijuana because sometimes the pain is so awful I believe I rather jump off a bridge than suffer. I am 25 and despite having been around many people who smoke it have never tried...these headaches I think it is worth trying ANYTHING to make it better.

I feel like a crazy person when I have to ask my boss to go home because of a "migraine"...these are not any typical migraine. As you all must understand.

Hi,I have suffered maybe 2 or 3 migraine auras a year but over the past 6 years I went 3 years without a single aura,then in 2007 I had the most terrifying aura lost most of my vision and then the zig zag lines,then 2 days later had another one,then a month later another one,I get terrified and it makes me have upset stomach ,and for months afterwards all I fear is another aura because they are so frightening,I then went 15 months without an aura and then this October I had another one and since then been scared of getting another one,I tried to look back on different things I have eaten and all I can put it down to is cornflakes and msg in some crisps I ate.I also have cut out yogurt completely from my diet and cheese too,its difficult to find the trigger and I am not going to try the cornflakes again just to find out although this would be the best thing to do but I am just too frightened.I am determined never to have another aura and will not eat cornflakes or msg as long as I live.I sympathise with you all and really do know how your feeling,blessing and peace to you all .

I feel exactly as you do. I'm pregnant 35 weeks and I started getting migraines in June of 2006. Visual Aura migraines. The 1st time I thought I was having a stroke, they said it to be birth control pills. Stopped taking them and still got 3 or 4 a year. Finding the trigger is almost impossible. I thought I narrowed it down to Casino for environment trigger. Different sounds, lights, noice, excitement. And food triggers, peanut butter, raisins, msg, frozen waffles and LACK of caffeine. (Odd I know) but being pregnant makes them so much worse. I just had a baby in Novemeber 2009, I had no visuals the 1st 6 months, then the last few months so frequent. 6 migraines. Then after delievery, Nothing for 14 months, the next one occuring Januaray 2011. I got pregnant again in August so this migraine was 5 months after getting pregnant. Then nothing until March. From the beginning of March until now, April 6th, I've had 5 visuals. I've had BP check and they think it is hormonal. I stress bad after getting these. I was in the ER in January because not only did I have the visual that lasted 30 minutes, 15 minutes later it started again and lasted 3 hours. I also forgot how to spell simply words like don't, cat, again... I picked up my cell phone to call a friend to tell them something wasn't right and I forgot how to spell. Went to the hospital, being pregnant they did not want to do a scan because of the baby, they did blood work, stroke test, vision test, you name it. Their diagnosis? Migraine, pattter changed due to pregancy hormones. Or was this a guess???? Not knowing for sure is the hard part and like you, I feel everything you are feeling. Waiting for the next to come. I just can't wait to have my baby. I'm tying my tubes. I can't go through this auras once a week. Terrifying. I decided to post because I just had a visual and one 5 days prior and another 4 days before then. Hearing people have the same thing helps but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. They say it is hereditary, I pray in Jesus name my children do not experience this. God bless you all and my prayers are with everyone going thru the same

I feel exactly as you do. I'm pregnant 35 weeks and I started getting migraines in June of 2006. Visual Aura migraines. The 1st time I thought I was having a stroke, they said it to be birth control pills. Stopped taking them and still got 3 or 4 a year. Finding the trigger is almost impossible. I thought I narrowed it down to Casino for environment trigger. Different sounds, lights, noice, excitement. And food triggers, peanut butter, raisins, msg, frozen waffles and LACK of caffeine. (Odd I know) but being pregnant makes them so much worse. I just had a baby in Novemeber 2009, I had no visuals the 1st 6 months, then the last few months so frequent. 6 migraines. Then after delievery, Nothing for 14 months, the next one occuring Januaray 2011. I got pregnant again in August so this migraine was 5 months after getting pregnant. Then nothing until March. From the beginning of March until now, April 6th, I've had 5 visuals. I've had BP check and they think it is hormonal. I stress bad after getting these. I was in the ER in January because not only did I have the visual that lasted 30 minutes, 15 minutes later it started again and lasted 3 hours. I also forgot how to spell simply words like don't, cat, again... I picked up my cell phone to call a friend to tell them something wasn't right and I forgot how to spell. Went to the hospital, being pregnant they did not want to do a scan because of the baby, they did blood work, stroke test, vision test, you name it. Their diagnosis? Migraine, pattter changed due to pregancy hormones. Or was this a guess???? Not knowing for sure is the hard part and like you, I feel everything you are feeling. Waiting for the next to come. I just can't wait to have my baby. I'm tying my tubes. I can't go through this auras once a week. Terrifying. I decided to post because I just had a visual and one 5 days prior and another 4 days before then. Hearing people have the same thing helps but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. They say it is hereditary, I pray in Jesus name my children do not experience this. God bless you all and my prayers are with everyone going thru the same

my god! this is exactly what happened to me this wednesday,I am 39 female, have been getting migraine with aura since I was 10 and, the last few migraines, the auras have repeated themselves and lasted for 11 hours. I am still feeling not quite myself.
The emerg doctor did all the stroke tests, ct, and blood work and said, well your migraine pattern changed.
No drinking, no drugs, legal or otherwise, and i'm at a complete loss to explain it except, weather (raining all week) and hormones (just got my period the day before)...Dreadful scary that aura! flashing zigzag lights,numbness, brain turns to absolute mush, add a panic anxiety attack (first one ever) and repeat over and over again...

I am 39 years and got my first migraine aura when I was 10 as well! I typically get about one per year. The problem I am having is the auras are getting progressively scarier. Had one last night that not only caused the visual disturbances but caused terrible anxiety, shaking and I couldn't think at all. I just think each time that I am going to stroke out! It's terrifying!!

Jobie, You seem to be going through it at the moment,Jesus healed us 2000 years ago we need to stand on his promise because he dosen't lie and we need to remind Jesus that he promised this amen.
I pray the Lord takes this out of your body and the root is pulled out and will never return again,I have prayed this for myself too I have started listening to Jospeh Primce who also has a daily devotional online on his website,lets beat this together and kick the devil out we are covered in the blood of the lamb and the devil has no authority to do this to us Amen
Dear Lord Jesus in your name I command migraine aura to come out of Jobie and never return your name is higher Amen
God Bless you Jobie we are more than conquerers x

I really feel for you jobie. I go crazy if I had them that often. Especially lasting 3 hours, I'd go to the hospital also, pregnant or not. I've been getting those headaches with auras for about 35 years now, usually once or twice a year. I have 3 kids (all of them 16 and up) and my youngest one does get them also. But he doesn't freak out like I do. I have to take a couple xanax when mine starts. I still don't know why I get mine since I've eaten different food each time. But I remember eating a chocolate bar once and got one the next morning. I also think I get them from stress. I read online they have drugs out there in form of injection and nasal spray for those type of headaches. As anyone out there ever tried them? I just like to know if they get rid of the auras faster. Those bother me the most.

I have been getting migraines with auras for about 15 years. I was recently diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. It's pretty much impossible to determine when i may have even started to develop the tumor because all the symptoms seem to be the same...its very important to discuss all medical problems with a doctor! I use sites like these for info gathering so I can ask intelligent questions at my visits. All I"m saying is sometimes a migraine can be a warning of something more.

I agree the aura is the worst. Started getting mine in early 20's after a jog on an empty stomach. I'm 52 now and over the years had a few each year if I hadn't eaten which also meant I was also under extreme stress and worry and couldn't eat. Xanax has helped calm me during attacks, and the headache comes half the time in a moderate degree, but by then I'm so glad the temporary blindness caused by those expanding, blinking and pulsating iridescent sawtooth lights have passed so that the headache at least means the end of that scary ordeal. I have never gotten used to them. I sympathize will all of you. I'm currently 3 weeks from gall bladder removal surgery and at the rate I'm going at with the stress and anxiety over it (I've had a previous bad reaction to anesthesia, amongst another drugs, including an allergic reaction to contrast medium used in a ct scan), I am close to canceling the whole thing before I explode in hysteria. After 3 years of no migraine auras, I get 2 in one week, one just an hour ago that seemed to be one spell followed by another one. One curved to the lower part of my left eye and the other grew out to the top and side---that's a first for me, 2 in a row! Awful! I was pacing with my heart pounding and took 2 Xanax. I am thinking being on this low-fat diet for the gallbladder problem is messing with my hypoglycemia and setting these off more often but honestly,I think it's more my intense fear of surgery and complications based on my bad past experiences. So one thing I do know but still haven't been able to control very well: You gotta calm down somehow.

I am a 22 year old female, this year has been the hardest on me. I was 13 years old when i got my first migraines and then they went away up until now, i think what is triggering them is birth control. Im studying to be a teacher and i will graduate in may but i am so exhausted of being absent from school because of the migraines,
today i was in class when i started seeing zig zag lines and i figured its coming! I am very scared to get the migraines when i am around people because i feel no one will believe me or understand what i go through. I hate coming home and not being able to spend quality time with my husband and baby girl because of my vision and numbness of my mouth and toungue, hands and arms. My doctor prescribed me with MAXALT which is horrible, it takes the pain and aura away within seconds but its too strong for me.

I am Mexican-American and i remember my parents and me drove to mexico when i was 13 when the migraines began and as funny it may seem & gross they fed me iguana soup and they went away for years! My grandmother said it was what they believed in many years ago and always workds for migraines. Migraines are hereditary in my family so i guess they figured out a safer way then being medicated all time. Sadly because of the situation in Mexico i will not travel so now i have to rely on meds.

cmpa2008: You're young, don't give up trying different methods of coping that are natural. The stress factor is the key, more importantly, how we handle it. I've been through it all anxiety-wise over the last 30 years with the panic attacks, constant anxiety and migraines with auras on top of that. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Who knows! Some of my stress is rational, some of it is not. I think when we struggle with something like this it builds on itself. We don't want to miss work or school so we struggle through then we miss and we worry what will become of us and isn't there anyone to really help? I've found talking with others in the same situation helps me find new ways to deal like taking time for myself-asserting myself--and resting when I know I need to or eating when I know I need to. Taking the time to do that before I trigger a migraine. Even deep breaths help. Some people say finding a good doctor that understands is helpful but I haven't found that person yet. I don't mind taking meds but at some point, I want them to be intermittently taken, not everyday. And definitely rule out a physical cause. I had an MRI years ago because I had so many migraines and balance problems. The balance is better but the migraines persist.

Shiplover:
Thank you for responding, it is always conforting when other people can understand you. I like you had an MRI and everything is normal, i have had blood work and everything if fine. The last time i went to the ER back in Feb of 2011 because of the migraines with Aura i told the doctor about my symptoms of blury vision and a numb hand and toungue and he told me it had nothing to do with migraines! I wanted to die! because i had done my research and thatwas part of Aura. After an hour of no exams what so ever they gave me tylenol and they sent me home i was so dissapointed. Two months later i get a bill from the doctor and ER of $800.00 dollars in total. I cried my eyes out but i did not pay !**@!.(Excuse my french).

But i agree with you, pilling up stress can be a trigger too, tomorrow my husband has his yearly check for cancer because when he was fifteen he was diagnosed with Lymphoma stage 4 but after chemo he was able to fight it! I thank god everyday for that. I just get stressed too much with school, and with the stress of how tomorrow will go.

*** I RECCOMEND RELPAX;migraine med my doctor gives me the samples and they are so helpful, they get rid of the migraine and you will not feel as jittery as with other meds, but again i do not want to live always relying on pills.

I'm glad you had yourself medically checked out to rule out the big things. I posted in another forum how I have gallbladder removal surgery coming up which I had to postpone last month (now it's in 2 weeks). I'm handling it better now but previously I was a *wreck*. I had 6 migraines with aura in 16 days, one at work, the others *on the weekends*. No coincidence. I was worrying incessantly all weekend about the impending operation, and making myself literally sick. I called the doctor's and they said come in, have a blood pressure check. I went in after work and was waiting over a half hour with my lovely bad headache and there are 2 families there with 5 young boys total and I said, I'm outta here. Too bright, too much noise, etc.

Best thing I could've done. I took responsibility and ended up figuring out something else to help myself, no apologies to the docs. I had already a tool at hand: xanax, which I'd taken for anxiety/stress on and off for a few months. So I decided, take one at the first inkling of feeling anxious and you know, it worked--that and being determined to not have another aura freak me out. I had to fight back and for now it's working. I can't say I won't have a bad moment and worry myself sick again, but it showed me I can manage by myself. I find ultimately it's my own courage (and courage means plowing through, even if you're scared!), a little prayer and humor that gets me through. Anxiety sucks and so do migraines with auras. Not having one again is a real motivator for me to slow down and breathe.

The best advice i can give anyone is to relax and avoid stress what else can be done with migraine headaches because they are things that you will have to live with for the rest of ur life unless u know how to control it with teas and relaxation methods. I cannot live my life restrained because of migraines. To shiplover and everyone else pray to god and do it with ur honest feelings and he will help u . I was in the er this weekend due to stress but theres nothin they can do only i can control it,

Did you get another migraine aura?