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Migraine 'Auras' & Other Visual Disturbances

Be really careful!
Similar visual disturbances can be down to other conditions, and if you ever feel unsure about your doctors diagnosis, kick up a fuss. Also try an optician, as they can spot problems that a GP often can't. If I hadn't, I'd be a hell of a lot blinder than I am.

I posted this on the Stick Men(again) thread-
'You mention seeing things out of the corner of your eye, well I have a condition called Chronic Intermediate Uveitus that causes all sorts of wierd effects, such as black blobs, moving shadows, shifting spectural shapes and St Hildgard style light-shows. These are caused by small bleeds into the vitreos humour ( sorry if the spellings wrong), and pressure on the optic nerve.
It lets you see the games that your brain plays with you when it fills in gaps in the information available to it from your visual field, so you will constantly see nonexistant shadows, cats on the carpet that aren't there, or birds and midges that have no basis in reality. At it's worst, luminous shapes that form themselves into faces or animals are visible even in the dark with your eyes shut, but it's only the same trick of the mind as the patterns made by the clouds in the sky.
While it may sound like fun, the treatment when it gets bad is Clockwork Orange with hyperdermics.'

The condition first starts as just floaters, and will progress to a periferal twinkling light as small tears develop in the muscles surrounding the retina.
 
That's cheered me up no end.

I'll turn into a right hypochondriac next time I get a migraine...!:rolleyes:
 
I know I need to do something about mine, but I'm at a loss. The optician saw something weird; the hospital, apart from talking gobbledegook, see nothing. The doctor says I've already seen two doctors, and there's nowhere else to send me.

I know how these things work. If I complain, change doctors, kick up a fuss, they stick together like shit to a blanket and I'm labelled a trouble-maker, hypochondriac; probably even Munchaussen :rolleyes: It's a sad, sorry state the world is in when people can't be relied upon to do their frikkin' jobs properly.
 
Don't get in a dither!
If there was to be something like retinal damage or shrinking of the vitrious sack, (Caused mainly through old age or extreme dehydration!), then it would be apparant.
I went straight to the opticians, giving them total symptoms and history, and they thoroughly examined both my eyes and found them to be perfect. The optician gave the exact diagnosis that 3 of my past doctors gave: migraine, complex occular.
You see, tearing of the retinal surface would result in that area being starved of blood, resulting in that area "dying". That would make the eye blind in that portion. Full stop.

The problems lie in the cerebral cortex, within the visual area of the brain, (the rear portion, in the central lobe). Small blood vessels contract and constrict, putting pressure on that part of the brain. It's harmless in itself, it's a symptom of something else. Stress, blood pressure, allergy etc.

Bleeding in the inner eye usually results in sudden mass vitrious floaters, blood cells which have become broken away and cast a shadow across the retina from the vitrious humor, (The pissy gelatenous gloup that keeps our eye balls from caving in!)

Unless you've got diabetes or glaucoma, or some rare condition that causes optical problems similar, you can be sure it's symptomatic of migraine; which, in itself is a bastard. But very very rarely serious.

Doctors can be crap at times, but think about it......take their word for it, rather than a mate's or someone on the net.

Helen.... 2 months is a long time to have that blotch there. Does it ever shimmer? Is it there all the time? Can you only see it when you blink that eye? Is it visible and the same colour in all types of lighting?
Have you been checked for glaucoma or diabetes?

Dave Raven.... Don't get panicky.....I read loads of shite about retinal tearing ascociated with flashing lights etc on the net, and most of it's unfounded and typically, misinterpreted bollocks spouted by institutes that need more funding!

If you've had the symptoms for ages and you can still see, then there's not much damage done is there? I think about all the time I don't have them, as opposed to the occasions I do, the latter is outweighed by the former, so enjoy the normality, and put up with the seldom sufferage. "S'the only thing to do..."

Keep the posts coming, we're helping all the other "silent sufferers".

Si thi ;)
 
I've been getting migraines on and off since my mid-teens but didn't class them as migraines (just getting over one now, in fact...) as I don't get any visual disturbance except photophobia -- it's just a headache that gets worse and worse until, if I'm unlucky, I'm vomiting all night and a team of workmen are drilling holes all over my skull.

Over the years I've trained myself to know what triggers it (prolonged stress and/or lack of sleep usually) and can pick up on the little signs (left eye twitches imperceptibly a few days before one), but I've always felt *not* having all the visual disturbances was a bit of a gyp.

Particularly for a Fortean!
 
spillage said:
Helen.... 2 months is a long time to have that blotch there. Does it ever shimmer? Is it there all the time? Can you only see it when you blink that eye? Is it visible and the same colour in all types of lighting?
Have you been checked for glaucoma or diabetes?
Click to expand...

I was checked for diabetes last year some time. The check this time around involved the doctors asking me, "Are you diabetic?" and me saying, "Not that I'm aware of." The glaucoma check I had was the usual puff-of-air-in-eye thing at the opticians.

It's there all the time. Even when my eye is closed. Some times it's worse (or more accurately, more noticeable) than others. Sunshine makes it sparkle. Normally, it's like a patch of wibbliness to the left of centre of the left eye. It's like liquid on a monitor screen - pixellated; also similar to a cheap special effect used for worm hole type things. That's about the best explanation I can give you. Also, the left eye doesn't see as well as the right in dim light. In certain lighting conditions, I get a lacy black curtain down the left side of the vision in the left eye.

At the start, it would occassionally be accompanied by sharp, stabbing pains in the eye. They, fortunately, have gone away now. I'm still left with the floating 'orb' thing. I'm sort of getting used to it, but it still looks like someone coming to the door when I'm sat watching television (at a certain angle). And it means I can't rely on peripheral vision to use the rear view mirror.

I wondered if it was stress related. I'm usually not a stressy person, really. But work has had me stressed out for some time, in varying degrees. It doesn't seem to get worse, or better, though. Just more noticeable at some times than others (if that makes sense).
 
That does sound odd. When you said that the opticians saw something dodgy, what did they tell you?
I frequently get odd points off light in one eye or the other that last a matter of seconds or minutes, then fade away as I blink. But, a few months ago, I got one in the lower region of my right eye that stayed there a week, then I got another, *One I'd noticed I got on severel occasions, but went after a few hours*, so I went to the opticians, and they thoroughly checked my eyes, using all and more of the tests. She even had a talk with me about it as I was blatantly nervous about it all. (But I do have dimples and I'm only 5 foot nine and regarded as "Cute and little lost boy type bloke!" They went after 2 weeks, (The second one lasting a week), and all was well. (Diagnosis, complex migraine). THen, 6 weeks later, on Monday last, at 07.38, I choked and coughed violently whilst brushing my teeth, (As you do!) and saw a bright spot of light in my right eye. Usually, these fade into blue, then yellow, then go the more you blink, exactly like when the sun has caught your eye and you get an after image; but this just faded a little bit. So....after an hour, I grew anxious and panicky, then opened a bottle of vodka and drank a triple with ice to calm me down. (No work that day!)
I left it for a few days to se how it went and grew more scared, and made an appointment with the GP.
I saw the GP Friday evening, and, I must admit that he was very very polite and attentive for a doctor, (Being a vegan, I'm extremely cynical about the medical practice, *Drug company puppets and all!*) He listented and offered advice and even told me my sypmtoms without me elaborating, and all exact! I was so relieved!
All I could think of, over the years, was that they were a result of scarring or scratching inside the eye, and became apparent when I was run-down or stressed. I noticed that they came on mainly when I had lost sleep or had a cold. But that would have been apparent in the eye checks. I have even made, in the past, a map of where I got them, all in the same places; this shape in the right lower field, that shape in the top left. This eye, that eye, like a water mark, like a reflective dot etc....

If yours isn't some form of damage to the inner eye, could you ask your GP for the same pills as me? (Scroll up to earlier post). Try to find out what the opthalmistopticianistsmagicians saw in your test. Think us fortunate that we get this relatively free!

I hope the symptoms go on their own very soon Helen. Good luck, let me know either on here or in PM.

Take care, Si thi,
Trev xx
 
I've had some improvement in symptoms since I started getting osteopathic treatment. I now no longer go blind during migraines, but get the colours again. They also aren't as severe when they develop, but I seem to be having a cluster of 'near misses' (anyone who has migraine will know the feeling)...
 
Hugo Cornwall said:
I've had some improvement in symptoms since I started getting osteopathic treatment. I now no longer go blind during migraines, but get the colours again. They also aren't as severe when they develop, but I seem to be having a cluster of 'near misses' (anyone who has migraine will know the feeling)...
Click to expand...

Yep, I had cranial osteopathy a couple of years ago when I was having pretty much weekly migraines, and they just disappeared after treatment. In the last year or so they've been creeping back in so I might go again and do recommend it for sufferers.

Near-misses aren't fun either :cross eye .
 
Whilst the cause of migraines is still something that's being figured out, it seems that not all are sparked off by, for example, blood vessels in the brain. Some can be set off by muscular stresses, from the neck or forehead. I remember reading about some plastic surgery patients who'd had facelifts - one operation severs a nerve in the forehead which helps to control frowning. Patients who had this op and were also migraine suffers noticed that they got fewer migraines, post op...
 
Certain blood pressure treatments prevent migraines too.
 
originally posted by Helen
It's there all the time. Even when my eye is closed. Some times it's worse (or more accurately, more noticeable) than others. Sunshine makes it sparkle. Normally, it's like a patch of wibbliness to the left of centre of the left eye. It's like liquid on a monitor screen - pixellated; also similar to a cheap special effect used for worm hole type things. That's about the best explanation I can give you. Also, the left eye doesn't see as well as the right in dim light. In certain lighting conditions, I get a lacy black curtain down the left side of the vision in the left eye.
Click to expand...

I have a similar condition in my left eye. The vision in my left eye is dimmer than the right due to a congenital defect. My opthalmologist's explanation: the membrane covering the pupil did not dissolved completely at birth (apparently all human fetuses have this membrane until 7 or 8 months? can't exactly remember!) In my case, it disintegrated into filaments which stuck to the lens of the eye. It's like looking through a dirty windscreen. Every now and then I get that black lacy curtain as well, esp when lying down! Not to worry about it too much though, not likely to get worse.

originally posted by spillage
Try to find out what the opthalmistopticianistsmagicians saw in your test. Think us fortunate that we get this relatively free!
Click to expand...

:D There! more free stuff from me! :D
 
Er, I don't think my opthalmic surgeon is wrong when he tells me about the effects the condition has on my eyesight.
Floaters caused by vitreos bleeds do not appear in large quantities in all conditions. Their buildup can be very slow and insidious.
As for the effects caused by detatching retinas, I have had these described to me in great detail by the eye hospital I have to visit, as the swelling of the uvea ( the skin around the vitreos jelly) is another symptom of my condition. This swelling puts pressure on the muscles surrounding the retina, like a weak spot in a water-bomb, and will cause them to develop tiny tears which show up as sparkling ripples in my periferal vision. I have to be aware of what this all looks like so that if it worstens, I can seek the medical help I need in time. Only a seriously detatched retina causes a shadow, and will only result in permanent damage if left. Treated in time, they can be surgically reattatched fairly successfully, as many former boxers will attest.
Unusual visual disturbances should not be taken lightly

Helen, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how long have you had the disturbances you describe? Mine are there 24/7, but it took me two doctors and two years before an optician spotted something wrong. Do you have a proper eye hospital near you? If not, go back to an optician and ask about being referred to an opthalmic specialist.
Whatever the cause is, people arn't supposed to go around with wierd patches in their eyesight. Keep trying until you feel happy with the answers you're given, as no-one you've seen so far seems to have given you very many.

I'mnot trying to make people feel paranoid, just make people aware of what can be behind the spots before their eyes!
:madeyes:
 
Originally posted by me...

Unless you've got diabetes or glaucoma, or some rare condition that causes optical problems similar, you can be sure it's symptomatic of migraine; which, in itself is a bastard. But very very rarely serious.
Click to expand...

See? I wasn't pooh-poohing your doctor or yourself..., I was simply reassuring someone that, although there is a possibility that some cases could be more serious, it's generally not.

I'd get deeper research done into it personally Helen. After all, we're in the UK and it's absolutely free.

There.......

"Told off Yorkshire Bloke*:(
 
Thats alright, Dear.
It's just that in my experience, some GPs have a tendancy to try and fob people off by saying 'Oh, its just down to ****', to avoid the hassle of a load of investigation, particially when its problems which they won't admit they know little about. The general in general practitioner is just that.
Also eyesight conditions are more common than most people realise, and sod-all publicity or help is given to them or those who have them. Because people arn't told what eye disease or damage really looks like, things can go untreated for too long.
Ten years ago it was a single floater that would'nt go away, now, even with treatment (steroids! eerrgghh!), I see the world through a hazy, swirling gnat-swarm, and most of my periferal vision is a distorted, sparkly, ripple. I can't stand bright light, its painful, but can't see in even semi-darkness and sudden changes in lighting conditions cause brilliant white flashes. Trouble is, there are hundreds of reasons why someone might have one or more of these symptoms.
So you see why visual disturbances make me twitchy!

Lets spread awareness of the various reasons why the world goes wobbly!
:madeyes:
 
Do you know any of these other reasons for the symptoms?

Since I was a kid, sometimes when it's bright and sunny, I get the odd white wriggle; like an opaque vein with white liquid shooting up it. It's tiny and very narrow and last less than a second or two, and isn't always in the same place each time. It's only sometimes and only in bright conditions. Also, for as long as I can remember, I have had vitrious floaters. Sometimes they suddenly appear and I have to flick my eyes to one side or the other, sometimes up or down to get them out of the way. That's been happening on and off for at least 30 years and it hasn't worsened.
I've had about 5 or 6 different opticians in the last 10 years and none of them have reported anything wrong, even in the slightest.
I've always been a nervous person, (One of those seemingly mad, over-energetic comedy types that are like that to compensate for their insecurity!) and the visual things make me worse; especially when it happens (as it often does!) when I'm on a winner! I end up chucking it all in and starting again. *Oh woe is me... for I shall forever be skint!

Yes, I suffer from me nerves, I drink when I'm paranoid, I'm an artist, I'm a drummer, and I love nothing more than being a (good) father. All this, despite my fears. Do I have "Migraineophobia"?

Trevelling to Ireland last month was a real achievement I can tell you! (I drank a quantity of vodka on the plane pre-take off as I've never flown before and I'm weary of heights...) GHASSSSSPSSS! Listen to me prattling on..... my severe apologies.

Dunno what to say now.....

*Runs off*
 
I've been told that sudden, white streaks and flashes caused by changes in lighting conditions are down to your eyes not being able to adjust quickly enough. Apparently its nothing to worry about, I just get it bad 'cos of the condition. Maybe you've got some small, congenital weakness, or old damage, that causes it?
You sound like you've got floaters to an annoying degree, but if any of it were a problem, I guess at least one of the opticians you've seen would have referred you by now, as on the whole, they're pretty good with stuff like this. Although the floaters can still get in the way and look like bits of clingfilm in a fishtank, I've learned to defocus on them, but I still have to 'move' them in the way you described.
The things to worry about are those that appear over a short space of time and don't go away, or if something you've had for a long while gets worse.

I can see why you get 'migraineophobia', my partner gets freaked out when he feels or sees something coming on. Must be rotten if you're prone to other unrelated visual wierdness as well.
 
I started having severe headaches when I was 7. At age 17 (they were finally definitively diagnosed when the "classical" migraines started, with visual scotoma. About 1/2 hour before the headache struck I would lose my central field of vision completely. The most likely triggers these days are alcohol (so I don't drink at all) and extreme changes in barometric pressure.

When I was really young - 3 or 4 yrs old - I used to lay in bed and watch "fireworks" at night. I've often wondered since then if they were also migraines. I still have the occasional visual field disturbance--bright white flashes, etc.
 
im a male..i suffered cluster headaches/migraines for 25+ years. i no longer have these attacks. Reason..i de-acidified my body by taking bi-carb of soda with warm water. Logic.....the only thing we dont take the Ph level of..is our bodys. It worked for me,it may work for you.
 
You may have a very good point. I used to get heart-burn all the time and couldn't work out what in my diet it was until I tried the atkins diet and realised that it was carbohydrate. Not only have I been heart-burn-free for months now for the first time in over a decade but all my headaches and migraines stopped also. Wierd.
I couldn't leave the house without Rennie and Paracetamol. If I didn't have them I would panic because it was a daily occurence. Too scaredy-cat to have the endoscopy my doctor wanted to send me for - 'don't be silly doc...just a bit of indigestion...he he!..' but I was beginning to panic a little.

The only thing is that ever since I stopped getting pain/vomiting migraines I've developed the painless visual ones. I get these perfect balls of light gently flicking in a curve up my peripheral vision. Sometimes there are just the odd ones, but sometimes there are five or six chasing eachother every five or ten minutes for a few hours in the evenings.

I've had really bad migraines since I was seven but knew what they were as I used to see my mum collapsed in bathrooms, crying, and being helped about by my Dad. Very frightening but I knew what it was, at least. My mum finally got different/decent medication by the time I was eight or nine.

And one bitchboss I had said I was faking. I was pregnant and one really got me one evening - it ruined a fun trip to Manchester to see my Brother and I vomited on the way home and all night. I phoned in sick the next day but was back the day after and she did nothing but bitch about me very loudly saying that she got migraines and that they knock you out for days and that there was no way I would be back at work the way I was. Obviously HER migraines were far superior to mine. Ps. They sacked me when they found out I was pregnant, so just goes to show what kind of people they were anyway.
 
Chant
on an esoteric level i have been told that the lights on the peripharys are us being able to see our spirit guides.
 
Sorry it's taken a while to catch up. I've been away. :D

The optician said he could see what he would expect to see in a 70 year old patient. I'm not even half way. He was very concerned, and told me I was right to be worried. He drew a few marks on a picture of the back of an eye. I suppose these may be the drusens they were talking about.

They also started talking about macular degeneration the first time I went to the clinic at the local hospital. Not sure why, as that appears to affect the central point of vision, not the peripheral, although it is linked to atrophied drusens, which they did say I had.

The second time I went, they said there was nothing there that would cause what I was describing.

The GP said there was nothing wrong, and I had already seen two doctors, and there was nowhere else to send me and no-one else to see. And why wasn't I pleased there was nothing wrong? Couldn't seem to understand that when they said there's nothing wrong, I just heard that they haven't found it yet. It's a subtle difference, but an important one, I feel.

I want some new glasses and contacts soon, so I'll get them checked out again, even though I know my prescription hasn't changed. And next time I go to the Doctor, I'll make it known that I'm still getting the problem, and I'm still not happy about it. Especially after saying that I wasn't sure if I was safe to ride my bike, the git doctor said "Don't".

So although it's free advice and everything, it's still not much good. I know that complaining will just get me labelled as a trouble maker, a hypochondriac, or even Munchaussen's.
 
I wouldn't let the Doc's get to you just yet, I used to get migraines and visual auras,even temporary blindness and had Docs tell me I had everything from MS to a brain tumor. Turned out to be nothing more than an allergy to MSG. I eat nothing with MSG now and almost never get any symptoms anymore. Now and then something with MSG slips by me and I later find what it was and make note of it so it does not happen again. Life is much better.
 
This thread has been very comforting!

I have been quietly suffering random attacks of circular, zig-jag, rainbow coloured flashes. I don't have an accompanying headache and never considered it might be a migraine.

I think now I brought them on by using a sun-bed and accidently getting an eye-full of light while adjusting the goggles. Is that possible?

Can I take anything during such an attack? (apart from a large Gin and Tonic).
 
That's great that it's been good ! Glad I started it !
Stick to the GIn (Or vodka, as I do!) ;) But I'm taking beta-blockers now and they're supposed to stop the visual aura *New stuff that I didn't know about before, the old stuff just prevented the pain and nausea*
I avoid the classic foodstuffs *Caffeine, Citrus, Cheese, Banana, and many other triggers!!!! *MANY MANY!!!!

Mine have "shifted" and I get these prolonged bouts of "male PMT" type effects with a visual water mark that lasts over a fortnight.
Perhaps better than the old rainbow zigzags blindness, but still, nonetheless scary!

Good luck, and I hope you get less and less of them ;)

Oh aye!
 
our feet are the heat xchange units for our body...if you want to re-direct the heat from your head...put your feet on a freezer brick or on ice in a bowl...worked for me i hope it can work for you.
 
That's funny Wombat, one of the ex's colleagues used to get migraines and the worst thing for her was that her feet used to feel icy cold! :D

Takes all sorts.

Augusta, I'd get any sight disturbances checked out just in case, but your symptoms do sound like migraine to me.

Lots of things can trigger it- a day looking at art in Venice set me off once. :rolleyes:

See the doctor though, as your sight and health are precious. :)
 
thank you all for your helpful suggestions.

My last rainbow attack came on in Norwich and on reflection, I had 'treated' myself to a double 'Espresso'. AHA! CAFFEINE!!!

Why do we hesitate to see the doctor?

Could it be we feel that presenting with anything other than constipation will label us with one of the following:

"hypochondria"
"Pre-menstrual"
"Menopausal"
"Work-related stress"
"Depression"
"Mid-life crisis" etc......

Strangely enough, (and this is the place to get 'strange'), the few people I would consider to be close friends or ex-lovers have suffered from migraines. Are we a TYPE?
 
Take our advice. Go see the doctor.


I went after I had an attack of partial blindness in one eye. I was sent for extensive testing, which was routine but didn't seem so for me, and foolishly asked a doctor to tell me what it might be. Go on, I can handle it. :rolleyes:

His reply was extensive and exhaustive, taking in about 6 different diagnoses of impending blindness, culminating in 'or it could just be migraine', which it later of course turned out to be.

I was horrified. Served me right! But it all turned out OK. And it will for you too. ;)

Doctors know all about migraine and you won't be belittled.
Plus, you may grow out. I seem to have done over about 10-15 years.
 
Strangely, Augustus...... A lot of my friends, and ex girlfriends, who had never even heared, let alone experienced migraine: started to have them!
I thought it was an infectious thing after a while, due to the vast ammount of people coming into contact with me getting them acutely! :eek:
I think there may actually be a link with people coming together and sympathising, or at least, empathising subconciously , with people who are typical of migraine. (Sensitive, artistic and thoughtful?)
Who knows..........
One thing's for sure: and be reassured by it.........many many many people feel your plight and go through the same thing. I just wish I'd have known all this when I started getting them because I went through hell!!!!

Go see the GP, just in case. But I think it's migraine. The caffeine is the strongest bastard in the trigger market! (Second to light!)
Potassium (bananas) is possibly the least known trigger!

Si thi, and good luck ;)
 
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