Migraine Aura

Migraine Aura , can also feel like a panick attack and have heart palps, lots of symptoms…
jen’s feeling a bit better…

Aura (symptom)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An aura is the perceptual disturbance experienced by some migraine sufferers before a migraine headache, and the telltale sensation experienced by some people with epilepsy before a seizure. It often manifests as the perception of a strange light or an unpleasant smell.

An aura does not necessitate the onset of either a migraine or a seizure and not everyone who suffers from migraines or seizures will experience auras. Though auras tend to be unpleasant and irritating, they can be beneficial. Most injuries from seizures occur with no warning. Auras allow epileptics time to prevent injury to themselves. The time between the appearance of the aura and the onset of a **migraine **or seizure can be anything from a few seconds up to an hour. Most people who have auras have the same type of aura every time.

Auras can also be confused with sudden onset of panic, or panic attacks creating difficulties in diagnosis. The differential diagnosis of patients who experience symptoms of paresthesias, derealization, dizziness, chest pain, tremors, and palpitations can be quite challenging.[1]

An aura sensation can include some or a combination of the following:

Visual Changes.
Bright lights.
Zigzag lines.
Distortions in the size or shape of objects.
scintillating scotoma
Shimmering, pulsating patches, often curved.
Tunnel vision
scotoma
Blind or dark spots in the field of vision.
Curtain-like effect over one eye.
Slowly spreading spots.
Kaleidoscope effects on visual field
Total temporary monocular (in one eye) blindness (in retinal migraine)[2].
Auditory changes
Hearing voices or sounds that do not exist: true auditory hallucinations.
Modification of voices or sounds in the environment: buzzing, tremolo, amplitude modulation or other modulations.
Strange smells (olfactory hallucinations).
Feelings of numbness or tingling on one side of the face or body.
Feeling separated from one’s body.
Feeling as if the limbs are moving independently from the body.
Feeling as if one has to eat or go to the bathroom.
**Anxiety or fear. **Nausea.
Weakness, unsteadiness.
Saliva collecting in the mouth.
Being unable to understand or comprehend spoken words during and after the aura.
Being unable to speak properly, despite the brain grasping what the person is trying to verbalize. **(Aphasia) **The specific type of sensation associated with an aura can potentially be used in an attempt to localize the focus of a seizure.

Auras share similar symptoms with strokes, but onset is more gradual with auras.[3] Auras can last from several seconds to several minutes and can sometimes end with feelings of extreme tiredness, weakness, heart palpitation, sweating and warmth throughout one’s body.

— Begin quote from “jennyd”

Auras can last from several seconds to several minutes and can sometimes end with feelings of extreme tiredness, weakness, heart palpitation, sweating and warmth throughout one’s body.

— End quote

Or they can be 24/7 with feelings of extreme tiredness and weakness the entire time.

JJ :frowning:

OH YEA! :expressionless:

THanks for this Jen, it is really interesting.

I didn’t realise that tiredness and weakness and nausea are aura.

I feel tired, weak and nauseous all the time, but sometimes I can be overcome by a ‘wave’ of even more weakness and unsteadiness and my legs turn to jelly and I feel like I am actually going to throw up (I don’t normally do so). I always wonder why this is happening but this goes a way to explaining it.

Becky

You’re welcome Becky ,
me too… weakness :frowning:

Wow,

Going by this, I have been expereincing a type of aura since I was a kid. Everything I have ever read about auras listed them as visual, but there are auditory ones in this list that I have been expereincing since I was a kid, and a few that have been added since this all started 9 years ago.

People who know me have noticed that I get VERY irritable just before I get a migraine. This has been true for thirty years.

And auras change. I started getting visual auras in my thirties. Those are WEIRD. And I would get them and get NO HEADACHE.

Recently I have developed olfactory auras—I smell smoke. I run around looking for things that are on fire, until I realize, just like the tinnitus, IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD.

— Begin quote from “thornapple”

People who know me have noticed that I get VERY irritable just before I get a migraine. This has been true for thirty years.

And auras change. I started getting visual auras in my thirties. Those are WEIRD. And I would get them and get NO HEADACHE.

Recently I have developed olfactory auras—I smell smoke. I run around looking for things that are on fire, until I realize, just like the tinnitus, IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD.

— End quote

Thornapple,

Long time no hear from, nice seeing you post. :slight_smile:

Bumped up again - very interesting stuff :smiley:

Thanks for bumping this one up Kim! I have never seen a definition of aura quite like that and it explains a lot of my symptoms for me. Furthermore, I agree with Julie in that it can be going on 24/7 – certainly longer than minutes! Here’s why I typically get served up in no particular order:

Visual Changes (blurred vision for me)
Shimmering
Auditory changes
Hearing voices or sounds that do not exist: true auditory hallucinations (one doc tried to tell me I may have schizophrenia years ago!! lol)
Feelings of numbness or tingling on one side of the face or body (rare)
Involuntary muscle jolts in arms or legs – the sort you feel on falling asleep but happens during the day sitting at my desk!
Anxiety or fear; heart palpitations (common while sleeping)
Depression (sporadic and never lasts long)
Weakness, unsteadiness, dizziness
Being unable to speak properly (rare and for me is associated with poor word recall)

Maybe MAV is just one big never-ending aura?

Scott 8)

Before my current MAV related 24/7 8 month and counting ordeal, I had what I describe as being spotty vision, not being able to see all of what I would look at for about 15-20 minutes prior to the headache. Since this crazy MAV developed, I have had odd vision, not spotty but essentially a feeling like my eyes were not working together and things seem crisp and bright. It is with me just about all of the time and I have no or minimal headaches. During this 8 month period, I did have one time when I had a very bad visual aura - my eyes actually felt like they were crossed, not blurry or spotty but just not being able to focus on the same thing - that was a first for me and really made me feel scared! I think you guys are right and that we are in a constant state of aura.

Curtain-like effect over one eye. Rarely
Feelings of numbness or tingling on one side of the face or body. Rarely
Anxiety or fear. Nausea. A lot
Weakness, unsteadiness. A lot
Saliva collecting in the mouth. This just started about a month ago. Did not know this could be part of Aura

Vison is okay have the floaters sometimes and sometimes the flashing lights (very rapidly )

My experience with auras changed through the years. When I initially got migraines, I would have ocular auras preceding the onset of the migraine iteself. The ocular aura consisted of seeing what I could only describe as blackened out portions of what I was looking at so that everything I saw looked like a puzzle with pieces missing. Then, within 30 minutes the intense migraine pain would hit and last for hours or even days. After a few years the ocular aura stopped and changed into MAV, and vertigo spins would hit before the headache came. Now that was like a a form of torture. Eventually it even gave way to imbalance on the third day (or second day depending how long the entire ordeal lasted). That was when I knew I had to get some help and was not going to stop looking until I found it. I was missing far too much work and missing out on living in general.

Karen