Migraine Headaches Support Group

Migraine is a neurological disease, of which the most common symptom is an intense and disabling episodic headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head and are often accompanied by photophobia (hypersensitivity to light), phonophobia (hypersensitivity to sound) and nausea.

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loralp 01/18/2011

hi all hope everyone is finding at least a moment or hopefully a full day of pain relief!

so after all the years of having migraines and daily headaches i'm still fuzzy about what, exactly, aura;s are!! i get the flashing lights when i close my eyes almost every day and i get this spaced out almost disorientated feeling about 6 about ahead of a migraine. are either of those aura;s? i hear about the light thing all the time but i never know if that is when your eyes are open or closed!!
the spaced out thing i assume is aura but i dont know.

so any info would help!!

as always thank you in advance!

wishing you all pain free days or at least pain free moments.

lori

deleted_user 01/25/2011

Hi Lori!
I am the part of the "lucky" 20 or so percent of those with migraines who have auras. My neurologist is a freak about them actually. The aura you speak of is a visual auras and is classified with the flashing lights, or seeing zig zaggy type patterns. It can also be blind spots in your vision, or losing part of your vision (I have no prehiprial vision during them). I believe all of this occurs when your eyes are open. There are also sensory and dysphasic auras (both of which I experience). Hope this helps.

Brenda

Notme813 01/26/2011

I've experienced aura 2x. I see the jagged lines on my left side of the vision. It last from 5 to 30 mins. It is very scary the first time and I thought I was having a stroke. Seeing this for the at time caused me to have panic attacks and it is still on going. The eye doctor says it's a muscle spam that affects the optic nerve. It is very difficult to deal with, just try to minimize your stress and watch what you eat.

deleted_user 01/26/2011

I get the visual aura before every migraine. It starts out by not seeing parts of things and then the zigzaggy lines start...I call them my psychodelic lights. It happens with the constriction of the blood vessels. When I get it I know to take my medicine. It happens both when your eyes are open and closed. There have been a couple of times when I have been sleeping and dreaming that I have the flashing and wake up to the lights and then the migraine. Another sign that a migraine is coming is that my hand goes numb sometimes one finger at a time. Hope this helps a little. Hoping you are pain free!

deleted_user 01/26/2011

bbirds, you described my aura to the letter!

deleted_user 01/27/2011

I usually get the blind spots first. Sometimes I'll be trying to read something and keep trying when I suddenly realize it's a migraine. If I'm looking at TV or the computer when one starts the zig zags come first. Either way I have a small window of time to get my meds or it goes full blown. I get the migraine hangover no matter what.

Feel better.

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