Ocular migraines

[glenimp617]

Salt or gtfo.

In Saffrican cinemas you get your popcorn plain and can add various flavours that are on a little table, sort of like a hot dog stand. Caramel, toffee, banana(!), and more. Some people are just mental and need sectioning. They'll let women vote next

Sorry, it was sweet and salty I had

 

[bignev72]

Im not asking for medical advice, I have already had it.

Who else gets these? They are so random. Suddenly I’ll get a small blind spot in my vision, then slowly over a few minutes, my vision gets worse and I get horrible swirling kaleidoscope patterns in my vision. After about 20 minutes they start to move into my peripheral vision and then eventually disappear. I sometimes get a mild headache after it.

Spoke to my doc and he just said it’s nothing to worry about and totally harmless. They are bloody annoying though. Lately been getting them quite a bit. They seem to be aggravated by bright LED light. Mum gets them too, so they may be hereditary.

I know you said that you're getting medical advice from your doctor but if it keeps happening you should keep on their case. Occular migraines can be a symptom of more serious illnesses.

 

[MookJong]

Does anyone else feel like their brain has been to the gym after the actual headache is gone? Like a muscle ache but in your head?

I actually quite like the feel of it as its like my head is starting to relax back again and I know it's going.

 

[something daft already!!]

I used to get this all the time but it has stopped in the last year or so. I still dunno what the trigger was.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Im not asking for medical advice, I have already had it.

Who else gets these? They are so random. Suddenly I’ll get a small blind spot in my vision, then slowly over a few minutes, my vision gets worse and I get horrible swirling kaleidoscope patterns in my vision. After about 20 minutes they start to move into my peripheral vision and then eventually disappear. I sometimes get a mild headache after it.

Spoke to my doc and he just said it’s nothing to worry about and totally harmless. They are bloody annoying though. Lately been getting them quite a bit. They seem to be aggravated by bright LED light. Mum gets them too, so they may be hereditary.

cut out aspartame - the crap found in all low calorie drinks or diet stuff.

drink water instead.

get 8 hours of sleep per night. get tested for sleep apnea if you snore. it's eye fatigue which causes it and certain stuff puts more strain on your eyes and certain chemicals which can compound the problem especially the migraines.

 

[Relentless81]

I get them all the time, flashing in my vision, no pain. Worse in the morning or when I'm hungover or dehydrated. Also when I've been to the gym I get it too.

Sometimes it disappears for months and then comes back.

 

[robfosters]

cut out aspartame - the crap found in all low calorie drinks or diet stuff.

drink water instead.

get 8 hours of sleep per night. get tested for sleep apnea if you snore. it's eye fatigue which causes it and certain stuff puts more strain on your eyes and certain chemicals which can compound the problem especially the migraines.

Funny you say that, it happens quite a lot when I’m scale modelling. Sometimes you really have to strain to fix and paint the smaller pieces.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Funny you say that, it happens quite a lot when I’m scale modelling. Sometimes you really have to strain to fix and paint the smaller pieces.

you need to rest your eyes. blink. i know you may think that is some funny advice but i find when i'm concentrating i can go like 20-30 minutes without blinking. it's something someone pointed out to me. they were like do you realise in the past 20 minutes you haven't blinked once whilst you were gaming.

also every half an hour take a break. easier said than done but take a break and stare into the distance if you can or close your eyes. your eyes are at rest when staring into the distance. our eyes have been made through evolution to help us see predators from far away. not looking at stuff 2 feet away from our faces. so regular breaks and look out of a window and blink more.

rest is what your eyes need. lack of sleep and chemicals compound the problem. blue light glasses may help also as blue light fatigues your eyes more.

 

[glenimp617]

cut out aspartame

You may be on to something saying that. The night before mine I had a can of pepsi max.
I don't often drink fizzy drinks, so maybe that set it off.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

You may be on to something saying that. The night before mine I had a can of pepsi max.
I don't often drink fizzy drinks, so maybe that set it off.

worst part is it takes up to 3 days for aspartame to be cleaned out of your system. some people are immune to it's effects and others can notice straight away when they have had a couple of cans they get migraines. one can on it's own shouldn't set it off unless you are really sensitive. did you have any in the day or two before? it's in everything low calorie and diet, etc. stevia is a much better sweetener it's why i now drink 7-up it uses stevia. the full fat but lower calorie version. i prefer sprite but they use aspartame now to replace the lower sugar content.

this sugar tax is going to end up causing more issues which are next to impossible to diagnose because GP's don't have a clue.

 

[glenimp617]

worst part is it takes up to 3 days for aspartame to be cleaned out of your system. some people are immune to it's effects and others can notice straight away when they have had a couple of cans they get migraines. one can on it's own shouldn't set it off unless you are really sensitive. did you have any in the day or two before? it's in everything low calorie and diet, etc. stevia is a much better sweetener it's why i now drink 7-up it uses stevia. the full fat but lower calorie version. i prefer sprite but they use aspartame now to replace the lower sugar content.

this sugar tax is going to end up causing more issues which are next to impossible to diagnose because GP's don't have a clue.

No, only the one can. I felt much better after I had something to eat though.....including chocolate. It's usually sugar which helps mine go away.
I used to suffer when I was little, around 10ish. Had them all the time, really nasty. Thankfull they are now few and far between.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

No, only the one can. I felt much better after I had something to eat though.....including chocolate. It's usually sugar which helps mine go away.
I used to suffer when I was little, around 10ish. Had them all the time, really nasty. Thankfull they are now few and far between.

probably wasn't the aspartame then you may be immune to it's effects or really sensitive. or it could have been a combination of things. it's impossible to nail down what does it for you because everyone is unique. caffeine is a big one for most people. my dad is allergic to it as it gives him migraines. he can have it in small amounts. like 1 can/coffee is okay but 2 or 3 and he will be in pain.

 

[Pipe & Slippers]

I've been getting largely aura-only migraines for as long as I can remember
Very rare for me to get an accompanying headache
The aura means I'm unable to read anything while I get the non-coloured kaleidoscope-type vision - these normally last 20-30 mins and most of the time both eyes are affected
I found a couple things where there's a strong correlation:

• used to have a very intense orange squash in the vending machine in work - a mouthfull of that would have me started within 10 mins or so. Happened twice, made the connection, never touched the stuff again
• I find bright daylight contrasted with dark sometimes set it off - last time I was in a solicitor's office and she was behind a desk with a large window behind her. It was bright day and she was pretty much silhouetted...by the time I had to sign some documents, I could hardly see what I was signing
• there seems to be a much weaker correlation with coke zero/pepsi max

I thought I got them maybe twice a year, but after a recent episode, I started keeping a diary, and they seem to be a lot more regular - 2 or 3 times a month

Here's the recent episode - in the office back from lunch, got an aura, (with headache this time) and within minutes I became paralysed. I was sitting at my desk trying to move my arms towards the keyboard and they just wouldn't move. I couldn't even push my wheeled chair backwards or turn my head - I though I was having a stroke. This lasted about 7 or 8 minutes - I was trying to read the clock on the PC screen. After that I sort of recovered but felt shockingly weak. Managed to get myself into a meeting room and phoned NHS Direct, then got a taxi (too weak to drive) for an emergency appt at the GPs. By this time I realised it wasn't life threatening, but it was a bit disconcerting...hence the reason I'm now keeping a diary

 

[Meaker]

With mine I start loosing vision to the right of my center. My brain guesses the gaps and it makes reading text impossible as I can't see ahead of the current word. Then I slowly loose more (I can track it by moving a finger across my eye until I can see it).

It's ALWAYS the precursor to a full blown migraine unless within about 45-60 minutes I get to a dark room and have a quick nap. Feel tired AF after but I can avoid the pain.

 

[Nexy]

UV (even sunlight on cloudy days) or any eye damage will randomly trigger me. Rockstar-level use of sunglasses and management of other triggers has reduced my migraine frequency from a few a month to a few a year. Frovatriptan aborts most of the remaining ones that do start.

Dehydration or something else pushing my salt balance out, stress (new for me), eye damage/UV, and I start getting bright splodges in my vision. Unless the Frovatriptan stops it, I'm completely blind in about 15 minutes, and will be for a couple of hours. Sometimes headache and nausea too.

First time it happened in secondary school, I was in a science lesson. The lab tech tried to take me to the nurse's office and WHAM, she walked me right into the door frame. I had the deputy head teacher asking me if I'd taken drugs, I had an ambulance, two sets of blood tests etc. No-one said "Yeah, migraine mate, sleep it off." It was undiagnosed for years.

Worst pain of my life was a sinus infection triggering a migraine. I thought I was suffering a stroke, the whole left side of my body went numb and the pain was incredible. I was just stood there blind and frozen in the shower crying and thinking I was dying, before I managed to get out and get medical attention. Once it was clear it was a migraine, it was far less terrifying.