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.
Okay, so it's 8:00am exactly on Saturday, the 17th of January and I just got a Migraine attack about ten minutes ago. I don't have 100 percent vision right now, so I am not really gonna know if I spell anything wrong. (I am SOOOO glad I took keyboarding in HS!!!)
Anyway, rather than write a journal entry, I wanted to actually share exactly what I am "seeing" during this next forty minutes or so until the "aura" fades out. I started to do this several years ago - "study" the attack - for two reasons: 1) it helps my Neurologist know exactly what type of Migraine I have; and 2) If there is ever something "new" in the attack, I know this is not normal for me and I can call my doctor or get to an ER.
For now, this attack appears to be normal. I was playing Sims2 and all of a sudden, I noticed a "blind spot" on the PC screen. It is very similar to when you look directly at the sun and get that irridescent "sun spot" in the middle of your vision. But this "sun spot" also wiggles - like the fuzz we used to see on television when it would go off the air (before cable.)
The spot is visible in both eyes, but I can tell it's primarily in the left eye. I like to know this, because for me it means the pain will be primarily on the right side of my head - it's always the opposite side of where the aura appears.
For me, some attacks happen slowly - the aura takes a long time to really disturb my vision. Other times, like now, it appears quickly and grows in size, overtaking the majority of my vision even faster. For me, THIS means that the migraine pain will be quite bad.
I have already taken my pain medication (a 200mcg lozenge of Fentanyl Citrate, the generic of Actiq - I can't take pills because I will get sick not to mention I am much too tolerant of those medications.)
My eyes have already begun to feel weighted. I feel sleepy. The Fentanyl no longer makes me sleepy, so I know this is the Migraine causing this.
It's now 8:11am and about 2/3 of my L vision is covered by this "fuzzy sun spot." (Luckily my toddler is still sleeping and hopefully she won't wake up until I can see again.)
Usually I get confused about now. But I don't seem to feel that yet. I do feel like I want to just go off into a daze though. I feel pressure in my left nasal passage or sinus area. I had 3 unsuccessful sinus surgeries in September, October and November 2008 so sinus pain isn't a surprise.
I have a blood pressure monitor (I have HBP) but I don't know where it is and right now the aura has grown into a large crescent shape (it's now 8:15am.)
The only thing I notice now that I never noticed before, is that my cheekbones feel "chilly." That is strange. But nothing I feel concerned about. The crescent shape is very large but at lease it surrounds the text I type and doesn't interfere with it. So I can see the screen somewhat.
Although they say Migraine pain is one sided, I experience pain on both sides - but one side always dominates the other with pain.
8:19am - Okay, this crescent shape is growing more and beginning to curve down from the top, through the center of my vision, once again blocking my view of what I type. As I type this - **** - I cannot see the time characters at the beginning of this paragraph.
8:21am - This is a very bad one. I've not had a crescent this large in a while. The pain has not yet kicked in. I feel pressure in my head, but not pain yet. I'm sure if I shake my head, that statement might change.
8:22am - Now the "crescent", is beginning to break up and the "fuzzy" lines are spreading out across my entire vision. I won't be able to type this much longer because up until now I could at least see some of what I am typing. I'm also starting to get a bit confused and I keep stopping. As of right now, my PC screen is not causing me any sensitivity to light. I feel sooooo tired now. Luckily, the Fentanyl kicks in very quickly - it's the fastest form of pain treatment - it was originally designed for kids with cancer. But it works great if you are like me and taking pills AFTER the migraine starts, makes you sick. The medication is absorbed through the cheeks inside your mouth.
8:27am - The fuzzy lines have spread out - kindof like rolling out dough - into a less intense, but complete coverage of my vision. Still mostly in the left eye, I can see just a little bit out of my right eye - enough to still type for the moment.
I think the Fentanyl has pretty muck knocked out any pain I would have. So I haven't anything to describe there. I do feel an ever so mild pressure and ache on the right side of my head, right about where my temple is. It fades in and out.
8:30am - The defined fuzzy spots and lines are just about all gone, having spread out into a less dramatic visual disturbance. I am starting to be able to see a bit more, but what I see almost feels like how I would see things in a dream.
8:32am - Just now, as I wrote that the aura was fading away, a new and fresh "spot" has begun - a second attack. I get these back to back attacks once or twice a year. So now, as I thought it was over, it will start all over again, and YES, the pain doubles. Now I also begin to feel the pain in my left temple and my hands are starting to shake.
This second attack has disturbed my vision so I cannot go back and see how long the first attack took. For me, it's usually between 25 and 45 minutes.
8:35am - Now the pressure and aching is creeping across my forehead and over the top of my head. It does not throb. It is steady right now, but growing in intensity. I feel like my brain is trying to get out...
The pressure in my sinus area and nasal passage is getting worse too. No, this is not a sinus headache. But sinuses can be affected by a Migraine.
8:38am - OK, I'm not sure if this second attack is aborting by itself - but the intense spot that reappeared seems to have faded away without growing. NOW, I feel pain. I cannot take triptans or beta blockers. I have other health factors that make those medications unsafe to take, and I've tried many different kinds, over and over - they don't work anyway.
8:40am - Okay, it seems as though that second attack aborted by itself. The spot is totally gone. It never grew or spread out like the first one did. But I do know it was a second attack because in 98 percent of my Migraine attacks, the aura fades away completely after it has "spread out" across my entire field of vision. The other 2 percent of the time, as it fades out, an additional attack will start.
So now that I can read a bit, this attack lasted about 43 minutes - very typical for my attacks. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I am completely worn out now - I feel a huge amount of exhaustion...even my arms, hands and fingers feel tired and worn out.
Well, even though I wasn't asking for advice, I appreciate anyone who took the time to read my description of a Migraine w/blindness attack as it happens to me. I know this was long, but if it helps anyone else to know or understand their own auras so they can better share the details with their doctor, then I've accomplished something here.
It's now 8:47am and my toddler just emerged from her room. Perfect timing.
Anyway, rather than write a journal entry, I wanted to actually share exactly what I am "seeing" during this next forty minutes or so until the "aura" fades out. I started to do this several years ago - "study" the attack - for two reasons: 1) it helps my Neurologist know exactly what type of Migraine I have; and 2) If there is ever something "new" in the attack, I know this is not normal for me and I can call my doctor or get to an ER.
For now, this attack appears to be normal. I was playing Sims2 and all of a sudden, I noticed a "blind spot" on the PC screen. It is very similar to when you look directly at the sun and get that irridescent "sun spot" in the middle of your vision. But this "sun spot" also wiggles - like the fuzz we used to see on television when it would go off the air (before cable.)
The spot is visible in both eyes, but I can tell it's primarily in the left eye. I like to know this, because for me it means the pain will be primarily on the right side of my head - it's always the opposite side of where the aura appears.
For me, some attacks happen slowly - the aura takes a long time to really disturb my vision. Other times, like now, it appears quickly and grows in size, overtaking the majority of my vision even faster. For me, THIS means that the migraine pain will be quite bad.
I have already taken my pain medication (a 200mcg lozenge of Fentanyl Citrate, the generic of Actiq - I can't take pills because I will get sick not to mention I am much too tolerant of those medications.)
My eyes have already begun to feel weighted. I feel sleepy. The Fentanyl no longer makes me sleepy, so I know this is the Migraine causing this.
It's now 8:11am and about 2/3 of my L vision is covered by this "fuzzy sun spot." (Luckily my toddler is still sleeping and hopefully she won't wake up until I can see again.)
Usually I get confused about now. But I don't seem to feel that yet. I do feel like I want to just go off into a daze though. I feel pressure in my left nasal passage or sinus area. I had 3 unsuccessful sinus surgeries in September, October and November 2008 so sinus pain isn't a surprise.
I have a blood pressure monitor (I have HBP) but I don't know where it is and right now the aura has grown into a large crescent shape (it's now 8:15am.)
The only thing I notice now that I never noticed before, is that my cheekbones feel "chilly." That is strange. But nothing I feel concerned about. The crescent shape is very large but at lease it surrounds the text I type and doesn't interfere with it. So I can see the screen somewhat.
Although they say Migraine pain is one sided, I experience pain on both sides - but one side always dominates the other with pain.
8:19am - Okay, this crescent shape is growing more and beginning to curve down from the top, through the center of my vision, once again blocking my view of what I type. As I type this - **** - I cannot see the time characters at the beginning of this paragraph.
8:21am - This is a very bad one. I've not had a crescent this large in a while. The pain has not yet kicked in. I feel pressure in my head, but not pain yet. I'm sure if I shake my head, that statement might change.
8:22am - Now the "crescent", is beginning to break up and the "fuzzy" lines are spreading out across my entire vision. I won't be able to type this much longer because up until now I could at least see some of what I am typing. I'm also starting to get a bit confused and I keep stopping. As of right now, my PC screen is not causing me any sensitivity to light. I feel sooooo tired now. Luckily, the Fentanyl kicks in very quickly - it's the fastest form of pain treatment - it was originally designed for kids with cancer. But it works great if you are like me and taking pills AFTER the migraine starts, makes you sick. The medication is absorbed through the cheeks inside your mouth.
8:27am - The fuzzy lines have spread out - kindof like rolling out dough - into a less intense, but complete coverage of my vision. Still mostly in the left eye, I can see just a little bit out of my right eye - enough to still type for the moment.
I think the Fentanyl has pretty muck knocked out any pain I would have. So I haven't anything to describe there. I do feel an ever so mild pressure and ache on the right side of my head, right about where my temple is. It fades in and out.
8:30am - The defined fuzzy spots and lines are just about all gone, having spread out into a less dramatic visual disturbance. I am starting to be able to see a bit more, but what I see almost feels like how I would see things in a dream.
8:32am - Just now, as I wrote that the aura was fading away, a new and fresh "spot" has begun - a second attack. I get these back to back attacks once or twice a year. So now, as I thought it was over, it will start all over again, and YES, the pain doubles. Now I also begin to feel the pain in my left temple and my hands are starting to shake.
This second attack has disturbed my vision so I cannot go back and see how long the first attack took. For me, it's usually between 25 and 45 minutes.
8:35am - Now the pressure and aching is creeping across my forehead and over the top of my head. It does not throb. It is steady right now, but growing in intensity. I feel like my brain is trying to get out...
The pressure in my sinus area and nasal passage is getting worse too. No, this is not a sinus headache. But sinuses can be affected by a Migraine.
8:38am - OK, I'm not sure if this second attack is aborting by itself - but the intense spot that reappeared seems to have faded away without growing. NOW, I feel pain. I cannot take triptans or beta blockers. I have other health factors that make those medications unsafe to take, and I've tried many different kinds, over and over - they don't work anyway.
8:40am - Okay, it seems as though that second attack aborted by itself. The spot is totally gone. It never grew or spread out like the first one did. But I do know it was a second attack because in 98 percent of my Migraine attacks, the aura fades away completely after it has "spread out" across my entire field of vision. The other 2 percent of the time, as it fades out, an additional attack will start.
So now that I can read a bit, this attack lasted about 43 minutes - very typical for my attacks. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I am completely worn out now - I feel a huge amount of exhaustion...even my arms, hands and fingers feel tired and worn out.
Well, even though I wasn't asking for advice, I appreciate anyone who took the time to read my description of a Migraine w/blindness attack as it happens to me. I know this was long, but if it helps anyone else to know or understand their own auras so they can better share the details with their doctor, then I've accomplished something here.
It's now 8:47am and my toddler just emerged from her room. Perfect timing.
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My migraine experience is quite different from yours. I am sure the effect has many, many differences from one person to another.
I hope you are able to minimize or abort with ease in the future.
Thank you again for the interesting and informative post.