Ocular Migraine Experience
15.November, 2008
Hi Everybody,
About three years ago I had my first ocular migraine. It started out as a small blank spot in the front of my vision and then spread out to my peripheral vision. I had a blind spot and sparkling lights for about 20 minutes. During this time I also had trouble reading, which scared me, so I went to the hospital. They told me I had experienced an ocular migraine so they sent me home.
After about 6 months I had another similar experience and then went another year before having another. Althogether, I have only had 3 of these migraines.
After my first migraine, however, I started noticing that almost daily I would see a single black dot in the center of my vision when I’d blink. It lasts about 10 seconds and then disappears. Eventually, I got nervous enough to go to the neuro about it and she tested me for epilepsy.
My EEGs (30 min and 24 hour ambulatory) came back slightly abnormal, but other tests (MRI, corotid artery) were totally fine. I am currently taking 500 mg of Keppra 2x day but am still seeing the black dots. They seemed to disappear when I wasn’t stressed out during the summer, but have reappeared this year (I’m in a one year Master’s program and am job hunting, etc. so I’m really stressed!!)
Does anyone have anything similar to this? I’m going to call my neuro today to see if it’s strange that the dots haven’t disappeared. She said that it could only be simple partial seizures or migraines.
Ocular Sparkle Vision
11.November, 2008
Ocular Sparkle Vision
Anyone know what an ocular migraine is? Let me walk you through it:
You begin to notice an area of your vision is blocked by a bright sparkly area, sort of as if you’d just looked right at a light bulb, but you haven’t.
As the area expands you grow more alarmed, holding your hands in front of you trying to see around the weird sparkly area.
Then you contemplate the possibility that you may have some exotic fast acting eye disease and you are actually going blind this very minute.
Then as the sparkly area begins to close around your frame of vision, limiting it to an area slightly smaller than looking through a paper towel tube and becomes more “shattery” looking, like mirror fragments,
Ocular migraines make can you slightly disoriented, partly because it’s disconcerting having your vision so messed up,
You know from experience unless you lay down, and, ideally, sleep for about a half hour this will become a splitting headache (think unanthesthitised dental work, somehow performed behind your eyeballs) in about an hour, so you lay down. When you get up about an hour later everything is back to normal .
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Identify and Treat Ocular Migraines - Ocular migraines often start with a small blind spot in the peripheral vision. Over five to ten minutes, the spot gradually increases to encompass the entire peripheral portion of vision. Either complete blindness or object fuzziness …
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Ocular Migraines and Simple Partial Seizures | epilepsy.com - Hi Everybody, About three years ago I had my first ocular migraine. It started out as a small blank spot in the front of my vision and then spread out to my peripheral vision. I had a blind spot and sparkling lights for about 20 minutes …
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Ocular Migraine Treatment - Most ocular migraines are harmless, albeit painful, although it is always worth a trip to your doctor for an accurate diagnosis if you experience these types of symptoms. While an ocular migraine is not necessarily dangerous, …
More information on Ocular Migraines
07.November, 2008
Opthalmic or eye migraine headaches, commonly called ocular
migraines, are irregularities in vision that may or may not be
accompanied by headaches. These irregularities may be caused by
changes in blood flow to the brain.
Causes of Ocular migraines
Ocular migraines can be triggered by changes in hormone levels,
flashing or flickering lights, chemical compounds in food, or
medications the patient is taking. Visual symptoms are a common
symptom of these headaches.
Some ocular migraine sufferers experience a scotoma, or blind spot in
their central vision. Sometimes the patient sees bright flickering lights,
or scintillations, around the scotoma, and sometimes they see a
shimmering jagged line inside the blind spot. The spot gets larger as the
ocular migraine headache progresses and may appear to move across
the patient’s field of vision.
An ocular headache may also be accompanied by gripping pain on one
side of the head, light flashes, and the impression of sparks appearing in
the field of vision. The headaches also come with nausea, vomiting, and
double vision.
Ocular migraines are usually harmless and do not cause usually
permanent damage or require treatment. That doesn’t mean you can go
on with your regular activities if you feel an ocular headache coming on.
If you have an ocular headache while you are doing something that
requires clear vision, like driving or working, you should stop
immediately and wait until the migraine passes or until your vision
clears enough to safely continue your activities.
Ocular migraines may be caused by a variety of factors. Common
causes include hormonal changes associated with menstruation;
changes in blood flow to the brain caused by alcohol consumption;
consumption of certain foods like red wine, hard cheese, milk,
preserved lunchmeats and bacon, and foods prepared with MSG. Thus
a strict vegan diet, which excludes all meat, cheese, and other animal-
derived food products, is thought to control the onset of the migraine
headache.
For some patients, bright sunlight or flickering sunshine and shadow
can bring on the onset of a migraine.
Ocular migraines are usually treated by allowing the patient to rest in a
quiet, darkened room until the pain passes. Patients who suffer from
frequent ocular migraine headaches should consult with their
physicians to see if, working together, they can identify and therefore
eliminate the cause of the ocular migraine headache.
If prophylactic treatment does not prevent the ocular migraines from
occurring, then a course of drug treatment may be recommended.
I suffer Migraine headaches once a month, How long does usually last?
29.November, 2008
I am 44 and going through the change of life. Right now I am right in the middle of PMS and Menopause. The doctor told me I would have headaches but they are really bad ones. I do cold packs and I take Advil for the pain. But mine last at least 4 days or more. Is this normal for headaches to last this long when going through Menopause?
Please be gentle with your answers. I am very serious and I am hurting a lot. This months period was the worst. I felt so abnormal. I was not myself at all. I felt really off balanced.
Thanks for your help
I have been under a lot of stress too which doesn't help.
Yes migraines can last days the worse one that I had lasted for about 6 days. And my daughter would get them so often that her neurologist had to put her on a preventive medication. The two that worked best for her are nuerontin and topamax. You should ask your doctor to give you something that would help prevent them. Also when she or I do get them we use Excedrin. It has 250 Mg's of aspirin, 250Mg's of the medicine in Tylenol and about 30 Mg's of caffeine. The aspirin and the Tylenol are for the pain and the caffeine helps enlarge the blood vessels in the head to allow the blood to flow more freely. Try it it really works and its the only medication that my family takes. Don't take it if you're allergic to aspirin.
(Migraine Headaches) helped after suffering since childhood
29.November, 2008
Chriss Enlow
caenlow@NOSPAMpngusa.net
256-767-1337
I’m Chriss Enlow in Florence,AL
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Do you know any good ways to help ease pain of migraine headaches?
28.November, 2008
I get really bad migraine headaches and I’m just looking for any suggestions to help the pain of them.
The suggestions of green tea or strong coffee are excellent, as well as rest. Migraine may be triggered by many things, such as allergy, but the most common trait in my experience is a stong similarity to tension headaches (in spite of the vascular changes only seen in migraine).
Analyze yourself. When did the headaches start, what was going on in your life at that time that might have been stressful to you?
For simple management, relaxation exercises to calm down and not fight the pain can be very helpful. find a quiet spot to rest, practice deep breathing. Sometimes neck massage helps. Ice packs to the neck or heat to the neck may help, depending on the stage of the headache.
There is always Immetrex and it’s new cousin for prescription, but avoid narcotics and tranquilizers unless clearly indicated by a specialist.
How to get rid of migraine headaches?
26.November, 2008
I suffer from chronic migraines and I can't afford health insurance but I make to much to get free medical help, is there way to get rid of migraines other then over the counter meds b/c they don't work? I watch what I eat and drink I know some of my triggers but not all (No bananas, avocados, peanuts or diet soda). Any alternative methods?
This is one of my favorite topics! Wanna know why?
Because I've suffered from migraines for 2 years, and my unique position as an herbalist and acupuncturist has allowed me to learn about and experiment with a number of home migraine remedy you may not have heard of.
Chinese herbal medicine is still new and unknown to most westerners. I've found some effective solutions from China that few people know about.
And now I get to share them with you!
On this page, I'm going to talk exclusively about home migraine remedy - if you want to read more about migraine symptoms, causes, and acupuncture, check out my previous articles:
What is a Migraine, anyway?
It's more than a headache. It's a neurological configuration - any number of symptoms can show up, and more than one thing can cause it.
It's as if you tend toward this neurological configuration, called migraine - like you're already on the edge of it, and certain things can push you over.
Or, it's like you're filling a water glass, but you can't stop pouring, and it overflows. In this analogy, the water is all the factors that cause your migraine, and the overflow is the migraine itself.
How do you stop the Migraine tendency?
The way to prevent it is to balance the imbalances that lead to migraine. Your home migraine remedy should take care of at least one of these imbalances.
I'm going to suggest our basic home migraine remedy, called "Relieve Constraint" that will help with a number of the causes of migraine.
Here are the major migraine contributors,
with at least one home migraine remedy each:
1. Stress and emotional constraint: Relieve Constraint herbal formula
2. Sinus congestion and sinus headaches: Relieve Constraint herbal formula, and possibly a sinus infection home remedy
3. Indigestion and dysbiosis: Relieve Constraint herbal formula, get any complicated or chronic digestive problems diagnosed and treatment by a natural medicine specialist
4. Inflammation: Relieve Constraint herbal formula
5. Neck misalignment and tension headaches (this is your author right here, sitting at a computer): Chiropractic and acupuncture, stress reduction, and Relieve Constraint herbal formula
6. Food allergies: Get good IgG and IgE food allergy tests, make sure you don't also have systemic candida, and avoid/rotate the foods you are allergic to.
If you can't afford the $100 food allergy test from your alternative medicine provider, you can instead try going 1 month each without wheat, dairy, and yeast. Those are the most common offenders. If any of them is involved, you should notice a difference!
7. Irregular eating: Eat more regularly. Identify and deal with hypoglycemia - research shows, and specialists know that hypoglycemia can cause rebound migraines. See below for eating tips.
If you don't have a regular appetite, Relieve Constraint will help somewhat, but you may want to consider medical-quality enzyme supplements.
8. Fatigue or lack of exercise: If exercise makes you worse, then you need strengthening herbs. However, you may have to wait til #1-6 above are better before you can tonify yourself.
If exercise makes you better, then you're stagnant. Keep exercising, especially aerobic like basketball, running, or swimming, and take Relieve Constraint.
Dietary Home Migraine Remedy Options:
As mentioned in the chart, hypoglycemia can lead to rebound migraines. There's some research to back that up - see the references at the bottom of the page.
How to control your hypoglycemia:
* Increase the amount of protein in your diet (meat, poultry, fish, nuts, beans) and eat smaller meals more frequently during the day to sustain energy.
* Never go for more than four or five hours without eating � preferably no more than three hours.
* If you sleep in on weekends, but find you wake with the beginnings of a migraine, keep a starchy snack by the bed.
* Eat small, starchy snacks, but not sugary or processed foods, on a regular basis. Crackers, rice, bread, and pasta are all good, as are fruits and nuts.
* Many migraine sufferers find that strenuous or prolonged exercise lowers their blood sugar levels and makes them more prone to attacks. Try taking a glucose tablet (or a teaspoon of glucose) before exercising, and a starchy snack within half an hour of finishing. This may help compensate for lost energy. However, once your diet has been corrected, glucose tablets shouldn't be necessary.
Not having an appetite is a problem!
Most people worry about their weight and want to get rid of their appetites. But for a migraineur, not having an appetite is a problem. Whether you are enzyme deficient, or your gastrointestinal system is all backed up, or both, you need to fix it.
If you don't have an appetite, you won't eat enough (leading to hypoglycemia), and even if you do eat enough, you won't be able to digest it properly. Indigestion will create more problems, like acid reflux or intestinal stagnation. Since everything in your body is connected, and migraineurs are so sensitive, all of these things can contribute to a migraine.
Herbal Home Migraine Remedy Options:
Let me tell you about a modern migraine formula, called
Relieve Constraint.
This is a modern Chinese herbal formula, a home migraine remedy. It comes from a book by Philippe Sionneau, a famous European Chinese medicine translator and author. Philippe translated it from the Chinese article written by Dr Cao De Ting in the Shan Dong Chinese Medicine Journal (1988, #1).
The full name of this home migraine remedy is the "Order the Qi and Resolve the Depression Decoction." It's based on what has become one of my favorite Chinese herbal formulas, "Yue ju wan," also known as the "Escape Restraint Pill." This formula was written by herbal master Zhu Dan Xi in the 14th century A.D.
The Relieve Constraint home migraine remedy relieves all 6 types of constraint (with the herb for each):
qi (cyperus)
blood (ligustici)
dampness (atractylodes)
food (shenqu)
phlegm (atractylodes)
heat (gardenia)
Added to the basic Escape Restraint Pill (to make the Relieve Constraint home migraine remedy) are several other herbs for emotional constraint, nourishing, moving the excess qi and blood down out of the head, relieving tension, and stopping pain. These herbs are chrysanthemum, cassia, tribulus, uncaria, peony, and licorice.
How do you use it?
Take it when you know a migraine is coming, or even before that after one of the migraine contributors has occurred in your daily life. It can help once the migraine is already there, but as with other home migraine remedy, it's much more effective the sooner you take it.
Depending on how bad and how frequent your migraines are, you might use this home migraine remedy every day, or every few days. If they're really bad, I'd take it every day for a while (2-4 weeks) until it's much better. Then, you still may need it occasionally unless you eliminate all migraine triggers, move to the countryside, and live a perfectly relaxed life 
Nutritional Supplement Home Migraine Remedy Options:
Here are some nutrients suggested to be very important in the Balch's Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing:
Calcium and Magnesium: 2000 mg daily Ca, 1000 mg daily Mg
CoQ10: 60 mg daily
Essential Fatty Acids
Multivitamin and mineral formula
Vitamin B3 (niacin) plus niacinamide: 200mg 3x daily of niacin, 800mg daily of niacinamide - but do not take if you have a liver disorder, gout, or high blood pressure
Rutin: 200mg daily
Did anyone else find that Trimspa gets rid of migraine headaches?
24.November, 2008
I have suffered from migraine’s for years. I started taking Trimpspa to curb my appetite, and it actually miraculously has gotten rid of my daily migraine’s for 16 months now. It also helps my chronic fatigue. Has anyone else had this same response? It says not to take if you have migraine’s, but I wonder if anyone else knows this?
Migraine: Normally, periodic attacks of head aches on one or two sides of the head. It may be accompanied by vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light (photo phobia), increased sensitivity to sound (phono phobia), blurred vision, dizziness, cognitive disturbances, and other symptoms. Some migrines may not include head-ache, and migrines may or may not be preceded by an aura.
http://hubpages.com/_yan/hub/All-about-Migraines
What do you take for migraine headaches?
22.November, 2008
I can no longer take Imitrex. I’ve tried Zomig and Frova and some I can’t even remember. None of these really do the trick. Can you suggest something that might work better?
sex is the best analgesic ,
Has anyone tried a "upper cervical "specific" chiropractor to treat migraine headaches?
20.November, 2008
I have been suffering from migraine headaches for 17 years. I go to a regular chiropractor at least once a week and it works to relieve the pain once I already have a headache but it does not prevent me from getting a migraine. Now after years of going to the chiropractor the headaches and the neck pain seem to be coming more often. I have been reading about upper cervical specific chiropractors, it seems like this may be my answer but it is very expensive and my insurance does not cover the cost. Has anyone out there gone to one of these chiropractors for their migraine headaches? Or if you have any other advice on how I can get ride of these migrains let me know. I am not interested in taking perscriptions though, I have done it before and it works to releive the pain but I feel that it only masks the problem.
There is a new development in migraine therapy:
http://www.neurologyreviews.com/feb04/nr_feb04_foramen.html