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Migraine aura

(21 Posts)
Mazgg Fri 17-Jul-26 19:17:58

My GP referred me to the TIA assessment clinic at my local hospital after a third episode of distorted vision and feeling unwell. I was thoroughly examined and had a head scan. Thankfully all was normal and migraine is assumed to be the cause. I didn't have a particularly bad headache.
Has anyone experienced this?
Any advice on avoidance strategies appreciated

petra Fri 17-Jul-26 19:26:37

I have several a week. Have done for years.
I just wait until they go.

Granaeeh Fri 17-Jul-26 19:27:47

Hi. I’m a longtime lurker on the site but thought I would post as I have suffered with migraine aura for many years. I find that if, as soon as the sight distortions begin, I close my eyes and sit quietly for about twenty minutes, they go away and I don’t get the headache.

A few months ago I was in the middle of cooking dinner and ignored the zigzag lines etc, which I had three times in succession, and ended up with dreadful head pain and vomiting and was taken to A and E. I had a CT head which was normal, and they put it down to migraine. I had not had the headache for over 30 years. Now I am very careful to take my own advice and sit quietly! I hope this helps.

foxie48 Fri 17-Jul-26 19:28:56

Yes, I get auras but don't get a bad headache. tbh If a get an aura I take a painkiller and lie down in a darkened room and generally I feel better within an hour. They don't seem to be connected with anything I do and I can go for years without having one.

Fallingstar Fri 17-Jul-26 19:53:13

I get the aura but don’t feel ok once it goes, I get a really bad headache, bad stomach, and foggy brain for several days, on occasion I have vomited.
The hot oppressive weather has brought on a couple in the past 2 weeks.

MayBee70 Fri 17-Jul-26 19:56:51

Used to get them. Was terrified the first time it happened but then got used to them. Thankfully never got one when I was driving; something that worried me.

ixion Fri 17-Jul-26 19:58:03

Like Granaeeh, I too go off and sit for 20 minutes with my eyes closed til the distortions go.
No accompanying headache for many years now.

ixion Fri 17-Jul-26 20:04:15

PS.
I seem to be very vulnerable to glare, and to things like over-bright or smudgy phone /tablet screens which can distort the vision.

NorthowramGran Fri 17-Jul-26 20:05:12

I’m 72 and had auras since I was 14 years old. Until about 10 years ago they were roughly monthly and followed by a typical migraine headache - migraleve used to help with these. I still get the auras but the migraine headaches are very rare now although the auras sometimes leave me very drowsy. I could set a timer by how long the auras last always 30 minutes from start to finish never changes!

M0nica Fri 17-Jul-26 20:27:54

Used to get them regularly, and they were real stonkers. Since my mid 60s, they have been totally random. I will have a month of mild migraines every few days, then I can go several years without migraine and then have one that lays me out for days. I have had vestibular migraine (mainly balance disturbance) and several other types I have not had before.

I have had migraine since I was about 5

dotpocka Fri 17-Jul-26 20:27:55

silence migarine i can make away a iuprefen and put a plastic waterbottle to freeze whn the hedache come add to the med wrap frozen wrap it in a soft cloth base of you skull

about 10 minutes keep your eyes closed regular ones are harder but it can help too

Maremia Fri 17-Jul-26 20:30:38

I call them 'jazz eyes'.
No pain, just a heavy feeling, and can't read properly for 40 mins.
Sun dazzle or stuffy heat can bring them on.

Maremia Fri 17-Jul-26 20:32:08

You sound as if you are experiencing classic full migraine, and not the aura type, MOnica. Dreadful.

Maremia Fri 17-Jul-26 20:35:17

Fallingstar, the same. So awful.

Maremia Fri 17-Jul-26 20:37:32

Cold at the base of skull. Thanks dotpocka.

Mazgg Fri 17-Jul-26 22:38:34

Thank you all for your kind assurances. I had no idea so many people suffered with this

M0nica Sat 18-Jul-26 08:20:29

10 million people in the UK suffer from migraine, Roughly 20% of all women and roughly 10% of men. It is confirmed in children as young as 5. I certainly had abdominal migraine (the most common form in very young children) from around the age of 5. It became migraine headaches around the age of 8.

Bassoues Sat 18-Jul-26 08:40:02

I've had just the visual migraines for about 15 years now. Bit difficult reading while that's going on and a bit of a foggy head...but i get plenty of that without the visuals! Just slightly of colour...
More of a nuisance than anything else.

Fallingstar Sat 18-Jul-26 09:28:00

M0nica

10 million people in the UK suffer from migraine, Roughly 20% of all women and roughly 10% of men. It is confirmed in children as young as 5. I certainly had abdominal migraine (the most common form in very young children) from around the age of 5. It became migraine headaches around the age of 8.

That’s tough. I only started getting migraines during my last pregnancy and have had them ever since, some years I get very few other years I get clusters, I suppose could be stress related but usually bright lights or sunshine can spark one or strangely heavy oppressive weather. Have had clusters during the heatwave.

Ladyleftfieldlover Sat 18-Jul-26 09:38:41

I have suffered from migraines since I was at Primary School. Over the years they have gone from excruciatingly painful with numbness down one side plus aura to just aura occasionally now. I am now 73 and until my 40s managed with darkened rooms and panadol. Then triptans came along and saved my life

Oreo Sat 18-Jul-26 09:38:48

Same here, going from a darker room into bright sunlight or from bright sunlight into a darker room brings one on.But not every time, can be once in six months or even longer.
Sitting with closed eyes for 20 minutes helps it go away.