Occular Migraines - Page 2

LonestarBabs · ‎06-26-2011

I get ophthalmic migraines, too.They started about 15 years ago. Even my ophthamologist gets them! No pain, and the whole episode is over in about 20 minutes. They are not frequent (maybe once or twice a year), but I recently had two within about 2 months which was unusual. I think mine can be triggered by too much screen time (computer or TV) and stress. I just take either my allergy med or one aspirin, close my eyes, and the episode passes. I will feel a little sore behind the eyes afterward but that's the extent of the effect.

It starts with gradually missing the center of my field of vision in one eye, then the bright jagged line appears when I close my eyes.

vsm · ‎05-08-2010

Yes, @hick , I have had many over the last several decades, and like you, I never get a headache with them. At first, my doctors thought they were associated wth a serious medical condition I have had throughout that time, but they ultimately concluded the two were unrelated. The OMs tend to occur when I'm especially tired or hungry, or when I'm a little off-schedule in taking the medication for the other condition. In other words, there are "triggers" for them. The doctors told me to regard them as warnings that I need to eat, rest, etc., but that -- in my case -- they are not dangerous in themselves.

May I ask what medication, or class of meds, you're on or were on for your balance problems? I'm prone to BPPV (vertigo), which -- like the ocular migraines -- is also unrelated to the medical condition I mentioned.

godi · ‎03-09-2010

I get these also. I know it's coming on because I get all anxious and dizzy spells. This one I am having now is a doozy. I have nausea with it. So it's me and the couch today. ❤️🙏

Kadilac · ‎03-27-2010

I also get them occassionally but cannot figure out what brings them on though sometimes it might be bright lights. If I take an Excedrin immediately it seems to help and definitely prevents the headache. Glad to hear I'm not the only one because they are scary. I usually notice a blind spot in my vision before it starts so I have time to prepare.

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

@hick

My mother had that issue - and I seemed to have inherited it!

Yes, for years. If I recall, mine started in high school in the 1950s. Early on there was associated pain and nausea.. I haven't had any associated pain since the mid 1960s. Sometimes dizzy just before the onset of the fuzzy vision.

It now happens after taking NSAIDS, and some other meds. Lipitor was the absolute worst!

Over these many years and many doctors - none of my doctors (ENT, PCP, Opth, etc.) were concerned.

Rather odd - but sometimes a peppermint lifesaver helps - something that I discovered by accident.

MJM22 · ‎02-06-2021

Yes, I have gotten them for several decades. I can't take any OTC headache remedies, so I use Hyland's Migraine Headache Relief. It is a homeopathic product that works very well for me. Hope this helps.

kitty60 · ‎03-13-2010

I have had these off and on for years, although as I've gotten older they seem to have subsided some. They would come on in a flash, literally, it was as if someone had taken an old fashioned picture with a lightbulb and I could pretty much see nothing. The only remedy I would have was to shut off the lights and sit or lay in a dark room.

BriggsiePeawiggle · ‎03-09-2010

I'm curious how you were diagnosed. I started getting them after having had 2 hip replacements -- anesthesia twice within 5 months and oxycodone for several weeks each time. My mother-in-law passed right after the second hip replacement so lots of stress -- cleaning out 60 years of stuff from her house. Suddenly I would notice that the lines on television -- like the stuff that would appear in print -- wouldn't line up....then my vision would start to go completely. I thought it was something like blood sugar problems and went to get checked out. All normal. CT scan of brain showed normal. I went to a neurologist -- top notch one in the big medical center here. Nothing was abnormal....I had all the tests. I called my regular doc the next day after researching myself online and read about occular migraines. He said right then, "OMG I should've thought of that (he's not a neurologist). I had them when I was in junior high!" So now that I know what they are, I don't worry. Usually now it's stress related, ziggy zaggy stuff in my vision, low grade headache, sometimes dizziness and sometimes it affects my speech a little. If I just close my eyes and rest for about an hour it all goes away but the crummy headache which lingers. The next day I feel kind of beat up.

Caligurll · ‎07-20-2014

@Kadilac wrote:
I also get them occassionally but cannot figure out what brings them on though sometimes it might be bright lights. If I take an Excedrin immediately it seems to help and definitely prevents the headache. Glad to hear I'm not the only one because they are scary. I usually notice a blind spot in my vision before it starts so I have time to prepare.

@Kadilac I've noticed for myself I get them if I've been on the computer for too long with not enough lighting.

I've been getting them for almost 50 years, but they have declined in intensity and frequency as I've gotton older. Certain foods used to trigger mine also.

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

@violann wrote:
@hick wrote:
I'm just curious if any of you have experienced these occular migraines.
About 3 years ago, I was having them very frequently. I never get a headache with them, just the jagged lights in my eye.
At the time, I was having balance problems. I had a brain MRI that was normal.
I started taking meds and my balance problems resolved and I haven't had an occular migraine until several months ago. Last night, I had another one.
Just curious if any of you have experienced this.

WOW, am I glad you posted.

I'm in week 4 of a Covid infection, learning slowly that while everyone sort of finds out "the basics" of having Covid, it also comes with some curiously unexpected zingers.

And you JUST put your finger on my last 3 or 4 days- an odd change in hearing, feeling as though my balance is uncontrollably shifting from one side to the other, the "fireworks" in my left eye- BINGO!

MY headache free migraine symptoms USUALLY show up in high stress periods of my life, and yeah, not knowing whether you're going to need to be hospitalized is mighty stressful for me.

Before I was diagnosed Covid positive my BP was higher than typical for me, but now for the last few days, it's been fine. I keep an eye on it (no pun intended) when I have THE MIGRAINES.

@hick, THANK YOU, and hoping your issues disappear soon!

@violann

I truly think mine began from a sinus infection. Then they just kept coming when I had no sinus infection. I developed trigeminal neuralgia and then optic neuritis and was diagnosed with MS, but my son has ocular migraines and has no signs or symptoms otherwise of MS. His are definitely sinus-related.