Do you all have auras on a daily bases without headache? i have floaters everyday and have started having almost what I call a blind spot in my right eye…or in the peripheral vision part of my right eye. It is like when a bug flies in front of a light and makes it flicker…it has been happening more ofter as of late as many as ten or more times a day. I have no headache just the aura…or i assume that is what it is. My eyes were checked in November and he said they were fine.
is it possible to have them that often without headache , i guess the dizziness is another form of aura per say? Just strange new symptom or old one in a different form.
is it possible to have them that often without headache
— End quote
Yes, absolutely.
I have what I consider to be auras constantly. I have visual snow and slight shifting in my vision 24/7. I have floaters often. All of the those come without a headache. In addition, I experience blind spots and zig zag lines occasionally, but these usually precede a migraine headache.
I recently saw a neurologist who suggested that my dizziness is persistent aura. She actually diagnosed basilar type migraine with persistent aura. I am not sure how accurate that diagnosis is as I have previously been diagnosed with vestibular migraine.
However I think the persistent aura thing makes sense with regard to the dizziness. It also explains why abortive medications don’t work on the dizziness/vertigo. They are designed to act on a different part of the brain and alleviate pain.
Who knows why we are the ‘chosen few’ who get this bizarre form of unrelenting and persistent aura.
I also get other types of aura - I regularly have blurred vision. I once had lightning flashes in my vision and went momentarily blind in one eye I also get a sensation visually that things are too near and too far simultanously and a sense that my arms don’t ‘belong’ to me. All these things are far less frequent than the damn stupid dizziness, which, metaphorically speaking, is a long term guest in my house who has overstayed their welcome by many years.
Before I knew what was causing all my symptoms, every once in awhile I would get a half moon shape color kliedescope in periphial field…that has since changed to one bright light spot in my periphial vision, just before my period begins. Not sure if my aura changed due to meds or just how symptoms tend to change and wax and wane!!!
The typical zig zags always signal a big one (3 day migraine at least). Others I experience are black tadpoles, black lace, sandstorm, many small half moons, blurred vision regularly.
Christine
What Causes the Vertigo Associated with Migraines?
The most commonly accepted theory regarding the pathophysiology of migraine-associated vertigo is the Cortical Spreading Depression theory (CSD). Multiple authors propose that episodes of dizziness are similar to that of a migraine aura or are actually part of the aura.
But since only about 20% of migraine sufferers actually experience an aura, researches attribute the vertigo as part of a fluctuation of nerve cell ion channels. Recent understandings in a particular type of migraine – Familial Hemiplegic Migraine (FHM) have shown two genes responsible for controlling ion flow across nerve cell membranes.
These two genes affect changes in calcium, sodium and potassium channels. This alters the electrical conduction potentials of nerve cells. The result is a transient wave front that suppresses central neuronal activity. This depression spreads in all directions from its site of origin. These changes result in a reduction in cerebral blood flow in the areas of spreading depression.
Two authors have suggested that when dizziness is unrelated to headache, the dizziness occurs from the release of neuropeptides, including substance P, neurokinin A, calcitonin and gene–related peptide [CGRP].
Multiple authors propose that episodes of dizziness are similar to that of a migraine aura or are actually part of the aura.
I wonder how it’s different for sufferers of constant dizziness rather than episodic.
Two authors have suggested that when dizziness is unrelated to headache, the dizziness occurs from the release of neuropeptides…
Did they mean specifically unrelated to headache, or unrelated to migraine? One of the current ideas seems to hold that any migrainous dizziness/vertigo/etc is related to neuropeptides. Not unrelatedly, the vertigo of migraine is often not time-locked to a headache – or as Dr. Cherchi says, the “pain” and “non-pain” symptoms can follow entirely different schedules, with or without overlap.
Okay so the last two days I have had another type Aura that I have never had before the first day it was limited mostly to the left side and then yesterday it was limited to the right side and it looked more like a circle with zig zag lines…it was constantly moving and lasted about 30 minutes or so each time…no headache pain …perhaps a little more dizzy …but very tired once it was gone.
Yesterday taking a baby aspirin seemed to help it diminish quicker, any thoughts as to why?
Full circle like this but the colors of the zig zag were like the first photo and solid instead of in two separate lines.
Do our symptoms just continue to change over time…this I have never had before…
Could something trigger the Aura just like would have in the past triggered the headache? Or does this happen due more to a chemical reaction in the brain.
I get this migraine with aura (ocular migraine). The aura always last 20-30 minutes and then I’m left with a dull headache. Before this MAV occurred, I would notice that I was also very out of it the rest of the day. But now I hardly notice as I’m ALWAYS exhausted and out of it. Interestingly since having MAV, my migraine with auras are very rare. Boy do I miss the days of just the migraine with aura.
Hi Timeless
Before medication I had persistent aura,
Yellow Vail of lattice like a web, (I still have this one all the time)
Then twice a day I’d have
Blobs of colors
Bright white and blue balls of light
Black holes
Strobe flashing (I knew when I saw this one I was going to have to go to bed)
My auras have settled now, I seem to have them mostly around my period.
I used to suffer from Alice in wonderland syndrome as a child and teenager.
Oliver Sacks describes the aura of migraine as remarkable in its diversity:
— Begin quote from ____
The manifestations of aura are exceedingly various, and include not only simple and complex sensory hallucinations, but intense affective states, defecits and disturbances of speech and ideation, dislocation of space and time perception and a variety of dreamy, delirious and trance-like states. — Begin quote from ____
Sacks goes on to say that the diversity of visual hallucinations is itself remarkable. The picture which Timeless shows is known as a fortification spectra (due to the jagged lines). There is also scintillating scotoma (shimmering, flickering or luminous images) and negative scotoma which denotes an area of total or partial temporary blindness.
Personally, pre MAV, my migraines were always a scintillating fortifcation spectra thingy, always in the right eye, coupled with feeling completely out of it and panicky, usually not followed by a headache but hours of feeling really hung over/run over by a truck.
For a catalogue of migraine auras in all their crazy glory (with case studies) I do recommend Sacks.
Given the variety of symptoms I’ve had with MAV I can say for sure, migraines do change over time. I fought against this idea as for 20 years my migraines had always been exactly the same, but my neurologist and my MAV experience say otherwise!
P.S Aspirin (not paracetamol or ibuprofen) may work. Something to do with constriction of blood vessels (although I believe that theory is in dispute). At the first sign of visual weirdness I take some (usually three). If I do it early enough it can cut it off at the pass or diminish it, but only if it was pretty low level to start with. When the big one comes, nothing helps.
Sometimes I have wondered if the dysarthria that I have is actually an aura. Since I am deaf, I don’t notice it as much as other people notice it- they tend to freak out when I can’t talk (I am a late-deafened adult). It tends to happen just before or at the same time as a bad migraine. I have the Oliver Sacks book but haven’t finished it. Perhaps I will research this more.
